Knight's Absolution (Knights of Hell Book 5)

by Sherilee Gray

  “You’re one of us now,” Eve said. “And bonus, we won’t be as outnumbered by those stubborn males.”

  Meredith snorted. “I waited a freaking long time for all of you. After I mated with Kryos, I thought, yes, finally, I’m going to have sisters. But no, Laz didn’t find Eve for another fifty goddamn years. That’s a long time with these stubborn males on my own, being totally outnumbered. The tables have finally turned.”

  Eve patted her shoulder. “You took one for the team, we appreciate it, girl, more than you know. Also, you’re the hottest seventy-three-year-old I’ve ever seen, so there is that.”

  Meredith chuckled and shoved Eve lightly.

  Eve was right, Meredith was stunning. Her features had been frozen in time, forever twenty-three. This immortality thing was no joke and Luna was so happy that these females would always be here, would always be her sisters.

  “I don’t know how you did it, Merri,” Mia said. “They don’t even try and hide their glee when they outvote us every movie night and we're stuck watching some terrible action flick.” Mia rolled her eyes. “Gunner was always the deciding vote, he’d stick with his brothers, then never show up for the actual movie.”

  “Well, I have a new appreciation for movies, and I think Gunner does, too, so you most definitely have my vote—”

  A tingle shot down Luna’s spine. Not a good one. She winced and grabbed the front of the treadmill. It happened again before she’d fully recovered, and she stumbled.

  She yanked the cord out of the treadmill, causing it to grind to a halt as a wave of sticky, oily darkness washed over her. Nausea gripped her belly, and she doubled over, panting, struggling for breath.

  “Oh god. No. No.”

  Grace was beside her immediately, a hand on her back. “What’s going on, Luna? Talk to me.”

  “He’s here,” her mind screamed, unable to get the actual words out.

  Somehow Azel had found her. Somehow, he’d found the compound. The males weren’t here. The building was filled with innocent demi, with her friends, her new family.

  The fear spiking through her grew until she could barely breathe.

  “Luna?” Grace said louder, crouching down so she could see her face. “What is it?”

  “He’s here,” Luna managed to gasp out. “Azel. He’s come for me.”

  “Contact the guys,” Grace ordered one of the other females. “How powerful is he, Luna? Can he get inside, past the wards?”

  Luna gasped for breath as another wave of darkness washed over her. His impatience, his demand for her to go to him getting stronger. “I don’t know.”

  “There are children here,” Eve said, her voice breaking. “What are we going to do?”

  Azel had come for Luna, just her. She would not let him hurt her family. The fear started to shift into something she’d never felt before. She knew anger, but nothing like this. Red and hot, pulsing through her veins.

  Luna hissed. “This isn’t happening. I won’t let this happen.” Straightening, she spun and ran from the room. Pounding down the stairs.

  Her power shifted inside her, strengthening, widening, thickening. She welcomed it, let it loose, let it grow and morph into whatever it was meant to be, whatever Gunner’s blood did to her, to it.

  She reached the ground floor, ran into the garage, and hit the door opener. Fists clenched, she stood in front of the wide door as it slowly lifted, and without hesitation, walked out into the dusky morning light.

  Azel stood behind the gates. No, she couldn’t see him through the iron, but she could feel him like a black cloud surrounding her. The gates shook, vibrating with his power. He was done waiting. Any moment he would break through.

  The distance between her and the gates yawned out between them. She started forward, striding faster, rage pumping through her. How fucking dare he come here. How dare he think he had some claim over her. She didn’t belong to him, not anymore.

  Gunner had given himself to her, and she to him freely. He was hers, and she was his, and no one was taking her from him. No one was hurting the people she loved. She broke into a run, throwing up her block, layer after layer, thicker and thicker. The gates shook harder, and she headed straight for them. He wasn’t getting inside. No fucking way.

  Suddenly, the gates exploded, iron shrieking as they blew off their hinges. Her block pushed forward, flowing from her as she ran, deflecting the debris, sending it in different directions.

  “He’s got Willow!” Grace yelled. “The ward’s down.”

  Luna spun around, only now noticing the other females were right behind her. Willow was the witch who created the compound’s wards. Gunner had explained it to her. That’s when she spotted a female with red hair lying motionless on the ground by the gates, only the whites of her eyes showing as she stared blindly ahead.

  Azel had found her. He’d hurt her.

  Luna’s fury increased when she saw the demons lined up behind him, so many.

  “Go back,” Luna yelled at the other females.

  “Like hell,” Grace barked as she loaded a bolt into her bow. “This is our home. I’m not letting those fuckers anywhere near it or my people. And he’s sure as fuck not getting you.”

  Mia shook her head, her hair flying around her, body shaking, eyes glowing. “We’re in this together.”

  James came running out, along with a group of demi from inside, all armed. Azel started toward her, and Luna’s rage engulfed her. She pushed her block higher, wider as she moved toward him.

  He smirked at her—

  His hand shot up to his head, grabbing the side, and he frowned, gaze darting around the lot. It landed on someone behind her. Luna turned. Eve was focused on him, her blue eyes glowing and swirling from her power, rage lining her face.

  Luna widened her shield as far as she could, covering Eve, covering as many as she could.

  The demons roared and ran at them, and Mia’s hands came up, balls of fire swirling and growing in her palms. With a scream of rage, she let them fly. They hit their targets, demons screeching, burning. Grace was beside her, firing bolt after bolt into the demons still approaching.

  Luna thickened her shields, her power stronger than it had ever been, and kept walking toward Azel. He was struggling now. Eve was in his head. She was hurting him.

  He shook himself and kept walking.

  “We’ve got him,” Eve said.

  Meredith had moved up beside Eve, her hand on Eve’s shoulder, eyes closed and focusing hard. She was using her amplifying power to increase Eve’s. Blood ran from Eve’s eyes, ears, and nose.

  Azel's step faltered again, and he roared in anger.

  “I need a weapon!” Luna yelled.

  Grace kicked a knife toward her, and Luna snatched it up and ran for Azel.

  No more.

  This ends now.

  Azel shook his head like an angry bull, in obvious pain. Luna lifted her hands. He wasn’t going to hurt the people she loved—this monster who had killed her mother, who had snatched her and her brother from their lives, who had tortured her, had nearly broken her—and sent a wave of power at him with everything she had in her.

  He roared again and dropped to his knees. Luna prowled toward him, his shock and fear now clear in his eyes.

  She moved up, while she battered him continuously with her power, not letting up, and with a growl that came from a part of her she never knew existed, she fisted his hair and wrenched his head back.

  A hand came down on her shoulder, and her power surged higher, brighter. She glanced back. Eve was there, drawing strength from Luna, giving it in return. Meredith with her hand on Eve, doing the same, boosting them both.

  Luna drew in a fortifying breath and turned back to her tormentor. She looked him in the eyes. “You’re going to die today, Azel.”

  He gritted his teeth. “I did everything for you.”

  “You manipulated, used, and repeatedly raped me. And you did the same to Ronan.”

  He flinched.
“No…I…”

  “Where is he, what did you do to him?”

  His face twisted into something that resembled pain, and not the physical kind. “I don’t know.” He shook his head as if he was trying to shake it loose. “I didn’t h-hurt you, Luna. They’ve brainwashed you. I love you. I love you and Ronan both.”

  “You killed our mother!” she yelled, her voice nearly lost in the battle raging around them. “For what? For power, to be Diemos’s servant. You are pathetic.”

  “Diemos loves us, he wants the best for us. The angels betrayed me, but Diemos loves me. He should control Earth, not the humans.” His face twisted. “I did what I did for all of us, for a better world for you and me and everyone here.”

  Flames shot up around them.

  Luna fisted his hair tighter. “Bullshit.”

  Chapter 33

  The compound was under attack.

  Mia sent a distress call, and Gunner and his brothers were on the verge of losing their fucking minds.

  The demons they’d been fighting had attacked on Azel's orders, keeping the knights out of the way, so that piece of shit could go after Luna.

  Gunner was going to tear him apart. He growled. The flight home was taking too fucking long.

  His heart slammed against the back of his ribs. The air around him and his brothers was thick and silent except for the rhythmic beating of their wings as they frantically flew for home. Raw fury and anguish swirled around them and by the looks on their faces, they were right where Gunner was, deep in their heads, terrified for their mates.

  If anything happened to Luna—

  He couldn’t even think it.

  Finally, they drew close, and growls and vicious curses cracked the air.

  Jesus fucking Christ. Gunner could barely believe what he was seeing, but at the same time, he wasn’t the slightest bit surprised.

  Mia, fuck, she hovered high above the ground, hair whipping around, arms outstretched. A large circle of flames was below her, and the whole time, she was sending balls of fire, one after the next, at the demons fighting outside of it.

  Grace and James and several other demi were among the demons fighting, and there was a group of demi on the control room balcony, all with their heads down, eyes closed, powers focused on the enemy, slowing them down, causing pain, attacking the demons with whatever powers they had. And it was working. Demons clutched their heads or stood frozen, a couple looked as if they were asleep standing up.

  And in the middle of it all, surrounded by Mia’s fire, was Luna.

  His mate stood right in front of Azel. The fallen angel was on his knees in obvious pain. Luna fisted his hair, his head wrenched back, the air around them shimmering from the force of her power slamming into him, over him, pummeling him with it, with everything she had.

  Eve stood right behind her, hand on Luna’s shoulder, blood coming from her eyes, nose, and ears as Lazarus’s mate invaded Azel's mind, weakening him, attacking the fucker from the inside. Meredith was right behind Eve, hand to her shoulder, head down, boosting both Eve’s and Luna’s powers, shaking from the effort.

  “Fucking hell,” Chaos bit out.

  Several cars rolled up, and Grace’s crew jumped out and joined the fight. Silas and the hellhounds arrived at the same time, shifting and jumping in, tearing demons to shreds.

  Zenon flew to Mia, getting right in front of her. She cupped his face with one hand and threw a ball of fire at a demon with the other. Chaos shot to the ground to help Grace and James and the other demi. Zenon followed after reassuring himself that Mia was okay.

  They had enough people fighting now, and right then, Azel was the biggest threat. Even on his knees, Gunner didn’t trust him.

  Gunner, Laz, and Kryos made a beeline straight for their females and the monster with them. Gunner landed and approached Luna from the side. “Love, I’m here,” he choked out when he got a good look at her.

  Bloody tears ran down her face, fangs extended, shaking with emotion, with pain and anger.

  “You stole my life from me, my brother’s life. Now I’m going to do the same to you.”

  Azel's gaze slid to Gunner, then back to Luna. “You kill me and Diemos will only find someone else to do his bidding. You can’t stop him. This will never end, not until he’s free to leave Hell. You will lose. You will all lose,” he said.

  Gunner reached for the knife Luna was holding.

  She jerked back. “Don’t try to stop me, Gunner.”

  He looked into her bright violet eyes and shook his head. “Not trying to stop you, love, just adjusting your hold so when you slice, it goes nice and deep.”

  Azel struggled and Gunner walked behind him, gripped him under the chin, planted his knee in the fucker’s back, and wrenched his head back farther. “You’re lucky it’s Luna with the knife and not me. I sure as fuck wouldn’t make it quick, motherfucker.”

  Gunner wanted to be the one to end him, to fucking torture him. The mated male, the demon inside him, demanded it. But he wasn’t the one who had been hurt most by this twisted fuck. Luna had.

  Azel stared up at him. “She may be yours now, knight, but I had her first,” he said through gritted teeth. “It was my blood she drank first, and my cock she took first. Nothing you can do will ever change that.”

  Gunner tensed to snap his neck but didn’t get a chance. Luna cried out in rage, and fueled by all the pain Azel had caused her, she slashed the blade she held across his exposed throat.

  The fallen angel gasped, his mouth opening and closing as blood bubbled up and poured from him, eyes still locked on Luna in shock.

  She got in his face, almost nose to nose. “I’ve already forgotten you, asshole.” Then she plunged the knife in his heart and twisted.

  Gunner let him go and stood back, letting the fucker’s body fall to the ground. He had no idea if angels needed their heads removed to stay dead, but he didn’t stop his female when, in a frenzy, she crouched over Azel's unmoving body and sliced and hacked until his head was removed from his shoulders.

  When it was done, she stood, the knife clattering to the ground beside her. His mate was breathing hard, shaking from the adrenaline, the fear, the anger.

  Gunner scooped her up, holding her close. “It’s over, love. He can’t ever hurt you or Ronan again.”

  He looked around him. The fighting had stopped, and the ground was covered in the ashy remains of the demons who dared to attack their home. Their females, warriors all, stood with their mates, or in their arms, the way Luna was in his.

  Chaos was striding to Grace who was crouched beside Willow. The witch was trying to move but failing. Willow and Chaos had been occasional lovers before he found Grace, she was also their friend, and she’d been hurt because of them. But before Chaos could reach the females, Warrick, the hellhounds’ new alpha, strode over and scooped Willow up.

  The hound growled when Chaos got close. “I’ve got her.”

  “Willow?” Grace said, asking Willow if she was okay going with the hound.

  The witch nodded. “Warrick will take care of me.” Her gaze slid to Chaos. “I’m sorry. I tried to stop him. He was…he was just too strong.”

  “You did nothing wrong,” Chaos said. “Jesus, we should have done more to protect you.”

  “No shit,” Warrick barked, then he turned and carried her away.

  Grace flew at her mate instantly and Chaos caught her, burying his face against her throat.

  Gunner looked down at Luna. “Okay?”

  She looked up at him, eyes bright and tinged pink, bloody tears smearing her cheeks. She had Azel's blood on her hands, her clothes.

  And fuck him, she was the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen.

  Luna gripped his shirt. “He’s really gone, isn’t he?”

  “Yeah, love, he’s gone,” Gunner rasped.

  “He can’t ever hurt Ronan again. He can’t hurt anyone I love.”

  It didn’t surprise him that she put everyone ahead of herself. “You
did that, Luna, and I’m so fucking proud of you.”

  He kissed her then because he couldn’t hold back another moment. His mate clung to him and kissed him back just as fiercely. Without a word, his wings sprung from his back and he lifted off the ground, Luna safe in his arms.

  A few minutes later, he was striding down the hall toward his and Luna’s apartment, shoving the door open and walking in. He kicked the door behind them and headed for the shower.

  He could smell Azel on his female, and it drove him and his demon insane. That fucker didn’t get to exist even if it was only the scent of his blood.

  Luna was tearing off her clothes before he even put her on her feet. Gunner turned on the shower and did the same, climbing under the hot spray right after his mate. The water turned pink, washing the last traces of that fucker from her skin. The satisfaction he felt made him growl.

  The need to claim Luna throbbed through him. The need to appease him and his demon both that she was theirs, that she was safe, that she was never leaving them.

  He fucking lunged for her, and Luna was ready and waiting. “I need you inside me,” she said desperately as she climbed his body, wrapping her legs around his waist.

  Gunner’s mouth came down on hers, and he kissed her with all he was feeling, all the desperate need, the anger that that fucker had tried to take her from him again, and relief that he would never get the chance again. Luna hung on tight, grinding against him, sliding the wet heat of her pussy along his length.

  Hand dropping to her lush ass, he moved his hips back and Luna burrowed her hand between them, taking him in hand, leading him right where she wanted him.

  On a groan, he pulled her down on his cock, filling her with one deep thrust. Luna dropped her head back, crying out, and he sucked and nibbled her throat, working his way back to her mouth.

  “Yes,” she said against his lips.

  He stepped forward so her back met the shower wall and planted one hand against the tiles, the other under her ass. He slid out and slammed in deep.

  Their bodies moved together, hands clutching, mouths hungry, completely lost in each other.

  Luna gasped. “More.”