Reaper of Flames (The Artifact Reaper Saga Book 3)

by Jen L. Grey

  Not wasting any time, Dax rushes over to me. "Yes, you sure did." He reaches down around the side of the door then pushes on it where the door handle would be. It swings opens and we both fall through.

  As soon as we land on the other side of the doorway, the ground stops shaking.

  "Is this some kind of joke? The earthquake stops when we get in the cave?" Can it even be called an earthquake since we are in Hell? I have no flipping clue, but either way, why does it want us in here. That can't be a good sign, right?

  Rising to his feet, Dax's body tenses. "I don't think this is a good thing. The cave isn't dark anymore." He holds out his hand to me. "Do you mind if I take my shirt back now?"

  Oh, crap. I give him his shirt back and avert my eyes. Yeah, this is kind of awkward now that he points it out. "Sorry about that."

  A dark laugh echoes against the walls of the cave. "Oh, how sweet. This kind of innocence is usually frowned upon in Hell you know."

  Searching around me, I can't find the source of the voice. "Maybe you guys need a good influence down here."

  "Oh, sweetheart, good doesn't exist down here." His tone takes a darker tone and the temperature increases again. "That's why I'm wondering why you're here."

  Shit, what do I say here? "We aren't here to cause any trouble." Yeah right. We want to take the Flame from them. I'm sure they aren't going to be thrilled about that. "But my question is why are you hiding?"

  Dax steps in front of me and crowds me into the wall. His tone is low and urgent. "You need to stay put. He's playing with us."

  "Don't get confused. I'm not hiding." A loud thud vibrates the walls around us. Footsteps begin to come our way.

  Still I can't tell which direction the noise is coming from since it echoes all around us. If he's trying to intimidate us, I hate to admit it’s kind of working on me. I make my voice as quiet as possible. "Do you have any idea where he's coming from?"

  Dax nods and points to the left, but that's all he'll give me.

  How does he know that? To me he could be coming out of the wall right behind me. At this point, I have nothing to lose by trusting him. I turn my attention in that direction in time to see a large figure emerge.

  His hair's a chestnut brown and he stands at least six feet tall. But the most striking feature of all are his wings. They aren't the various shades of white and silver I saw in the Angel's Realm. These are black as sin... as are his eyes. All sense of humanity has been gone from him. "I just like to play with my prey a little while before eliminating them." A sinister grin fills his face. "But I do need to know why you're here."

  "Don't say anything else." Dax's body clenches and his hands clamp into fists. "He doesn't get any information from us."

  "You don't think I'll get it?" The dark angel arches an eyebrow and laughs. "Challenge accepted."

  "No, you won't." Dax pulls out his knife and raises it. "We'll be the ones getting it."

  Without missing a beat, he pulls out a large sword and laughs. "Then let's do this."

  How the hell is Dax supposed to win against an angel with a long knife? I move to help him, but he holds me back.

  "You stay here, I'm serious." He tone is gruff, and he walks toward the angel.

  The angel flies up in the air and raises his sword high and then crashes back down to the ground. "This will be a short battle." His chuckle floats toward us.

  Dax raises his knife up high and grasps the end with both hands bracing himself for the contact.

  My magic bubbles inside me, and I'm not sure why, but I push it out towards Dax. I'm hoping it might be able to help in some way. A small bubble of air surrounds his knife.

  When the sword hits the knife, a loud ringing pierces the air, but the knife holds it form.

  "How the hell is that possible?" The angel's eyes widen, and his breath turns ragged.

  Did my magic protect the knife? I have no clue at this point, I'll need to revisit this later.

  "Maybe you've been stuck in Hell too long and your power is waning?" Dax shrugs and resumes his stance.

  "We'll see about that." The angel then reaches back and delivers a punch toward Dax's face.

  Even with his speed, Dax is able to duck, and raises a leg to kick him in the side.

  It hits the angel but falls short of the expected impact. It forces him to take one step to the side. He laughs. "Maybe you need to rethink that statement."

  Shit, I don't know how to help him at this point. The knife was easy to protect, but not him.

  The angel moves so fast and swings his sword to the side hitting him right in the ribs.

  Falling down, Dax grabs his side and screams out.

  "And this is where I'll end you." The dark angel raises his sword again aiming at his neck.

  No, this can't be happening. My power swirls inside me and I let it take over. I don't give a shit about this place so let's cause some chaos. It swirls out of me and a large piece of rock from the ground swings up and hits the angel on the head.

  This makes him stumble back a few feet and breaks his concentration from Dax.

  "Run."

  Yeah that's not happening, and where am I really going to run to?

  Dark black eyes land on me. "How did you do that?"

  Great, not only did I get his attention, I now have his curiosity peaked. "I'm a really good thrower."

  "Do you think I'm stupid?" His nostrils flair and he stalks toward me. "You couldn't have picked that up if your life depended on it."

  Wow, he's a sweet talker. "Well, this is awkward. Because do you remember what just happened?" Maybe I shouldn't be snarky. I used to be able to control my mouth, what has happened to me?

  Without warning, the angel reaches out and smacks me hard against my face. "Don't speak to me that way."

  Pain radiates up my check and into my jaw. This son of a bitch is going down. I push my power toward him, and it slams him against the wall of the tunnel.

  He hits the side hard and falls to his knees. He takes a ragged breath and flies up in the air. "You will pay for that." His large wings flap causing a hot breeze to hit my face and the scent of brimstone to fill my nose.

  Promises, promises. I want this over with. "Bring it."

  Dax yells out as he slides over his knife my way. It lands at my feet.

  I reach and grab it, standing back on my feet. At least I'm not weaponless now. I hadn't realized until now how far up the tunnel goes. It looks like it is open for miles. I watch him fly higher and higher until he's just a black dot in the red sky.

  "You have to let me fight him." Dax groans as he stands and leans against the wall, grabbing at his side. Blood soaks through his fingers from where he was stabbed. "I have to protect you."

  "Oh, please." Doesn't he realize he could bleed out fast if he's not careful. "You could barely kill a fly in your condition right now. Sit back down before you get us both killed."

  Something like a sonic boom fills the air and that black dot in the sky grows quickly in size.

  Shit he's coming at me fast. My power goes crazy and I embrace the swirling blues and browns cascading and surging through me. It has to be the elements working together, because they are the exact shades the artifacts shined prior to absorbing into me.

  His body comes into view and he’s coming down in a circular motion, almost like a screwdriver. Holy crap is he going to cut through me? His wings cling to him and the feathers stick out as if they are small spikes.

  I push my power out, encompassing me, and as he lands on me, he ricochets off and falls to the ground.

  "How are you doing that?" He runs at me, swinging his blade downward, and I block it with the knife.

  He kicks out and hits me square in my stomach, causing me to fall on my ass.

  Pain radiates up my spine, but I jump back to my feet. I have to block it out or Dax and I won't make it out of here. I rush at him and raise my knife swinging down at his right wing.

  Prepared for my attack, he spins around and grabs my
arm. "You're a worthier adversary than he was." He grabs me by the neck and lifts me while he squeezes. "But still not a good one."

  My air is being cut off, but I close my eyes and focus inside. The ground shakes underneath his feet and the air begins to swirl.

  "What the hell?" He flaps his wings to fly, but I focus on freezing the air around them so his wings can't gain elevation.

  Increasing my power, I push the brown energy into the ground more, making the ground shake harder under his feet.

  He throws me hard to the ground and kicks me in the stomach. "I don't know how you're doing it but stop it." His jaw is clenched and his nostrils flair.

  I huddle in a ball, playing up my pain. We've got to get the upper hand. Underneath me, I move the knife around in my hand so it's in a striking position.

  "Now you act pathetic. Quit it." He grabs me again and turns me to face him.

  As soon as my body turns into his, I reach and kick him square in the balls. At this point, I'm okay fighting dirty.

  Dropping to a knee, he growls. "Playtime is over."

  "Yeah, it is." With the heel of the knife, I swing as hard as possible and hit him right under his chin, knocking him out cold. When he doesn’t move for a few seconds, I put the knife inside my jeans making sure it won’t cut me.

  "I can't believe you just beat him." Dax is limping toward me, sweat coating his forehead.

  Yeah, me neither. We aren't ready to be down here. I try to locate the flame, but I still can't get the best read on it. We need to go back and get a better game plan than this, especially with Dax injured. "We need to go back. We aren't ready for this. I still can't nail down the flame."

  Loud laughing comes just a few feet away and then five tall black demons turn our direction looking straight at us. One steps out in front of the others. "There they are. Let's get them."

  15

  My heart jumps in my throat. How did those demons find us? As far as I could tell, the dark angel never had an opportunity to call on anyone else or even consider to.

  They are about five hundred feet from us but moving fast. Their red, glowing eyes can be seen from here and they are laughing as if this is child's play.

  Dax’s hand is now red with blood and his skin is glistening with sweat.

  There is no way we are going to come out alive if we don't get out of here fast. The longer he bleeds the less likely he'll be able to transport us out anyway. "We gotta get out of here."

  His eyes flutter and he turns to me. "Dammit, I'm trying but it's not working. I don't know what's going on."

  Oh, dear God. Please don't tell me he's past the point of getting us back. "Maybe we need to connect again like we did here. Maybe that's the problem."

  The noise is increasing, and they are almost on us.

  Not even concerned with hurting him, I grab his free hand and pull him hard toward me. "Let's do this or we won't be making it home." I push the image of the last room we were in with Luke project it to Dax with a little magic.

  He lets out a deep guttural groan but soon the ground drops from underneath us. The air around us turns into a blur of swirling wind and we are leaving Hell behind us.

  It's crazy, because even though we left it behind, I can still hear the shrieking laughter of the demons. This just proves I'm losing my damn mind. We just need to hurry back and get Dax mended before it's too late.

  It takes seconds, but it seems like hours until we land back in the mansion we left behind. The air around us begins to settle and I'm surprised to find Luke sitting at the table looking through some papers.

  When our feet hit the floor, Dax crumbles to the ground.

  "What the..." Luke turns and jumps from the chair. "What happened?"

  Loud chuckles surround me. "Did you really think you could escape me?" One of the demons appears in front of me and hovers. His black shadowy claws stretching out.

  Shit, that's why I heard laughter the entire way here. It somehow caught a ride back with us. At least my sanity is still in check... maybe. I bend down and help Dax to his feet, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. "Luke, he needs help. He's severely injured." I move him over to the side, so he won't get in our way.

  When I stand back up, the demon charges me, diggings his claws into my arm. I throw him off me and use some power to slam him into the wall, causing it to crack.

  Dammit that hurt. I'm too tired from the angel to have to fight him, but I have no other choice. Blood drips down my arm, but I ignore it. I've got to get past it.

  I glance over to find Luke hovering over Dax and tying something around his waist to stop the wound from bleeding. Thank goodness. He lost too much blood down there and the heat didn't help.

  Screeching, the demon grabs my leg and pulls me up causing me to fall on my back. It hovers over me and opens its mouth revealing razor like teeth.

  My breath is knocked out of me, but my angel breath's power begins pulsing through me helping me. I can't imagine where I would be if I didn't have these artifacts at my disposal. I gather some of the power and push it out of me toward it.

  It hits him square in the chest and he flies backward, just on his feet.

  Something needs to give. I don't know how much longer I can do this. Pushing through the pain, I stand and get in the fighting stance. I rear back and punch him on the face. As usual, the coldness encompasses my skin. Why do these things from Hell always feel so dang cold? You'd think they would be hot.

  Crying out, it's head snaps to the side. "You stupid, girl." He attacks me using his claws once again, swiping at my stomach.

  At the last second, I jump back and dodge any physical damage even though my tank top gets ripped. Crap, I've got to be careful. I don't want him to know about my knife yet. I've got to get him in a situation where I can use it and know it'll work.

  I spin around and hit him in the back of the head causing him to move forward and then swipe my feet from underneath, so it falls to the ground. When he lands with a thud, I jump on top and try to ignore the icy coldness between my thighs.

  Not wasting a second, I grab the knife hidden and pull it out and swing it down across his throat. That's the only way I know of to kill a demon. They have no hearts.

  He gurgles and jerks as his existence begins to vanish. Before long, the coldness begins to turn warm and he disappears beneath me.

  My first instinct is to fall forward, but my throbbing arm keeps me somewhat coherent. I take a deep, ragged breathe and stand. I turn to find Dax passed out on the floor, but the sweat has already disappeared from his face.

  Forcing myself not to stumble, I make my way to a chair and sit. I lean back in the chair and find Luke. He's standing at the table watching me with some strange expression on his face.

  "So..." He makes his way to me and stands a few feet away. "How did it go?"

  Yeah, I bet he's dying to know. If his sorry ass came, he'd wouldn't have to ask that. It's kind of funny, I'm important enough to be on the council and can still go, but he's not able to attend this adventure with me. Convenient much. "Not great."

  "Where you able to..." He bites his lips and taps his foot.

  The prick wants to know if I got the artifact. "No, I didn't get the flame. Couldn't find it. Dax thinks I was too tired, and it didn't help we weren't prepared for what was down there." I motion to the room that is now a complete disaster. "We need to regroup and try again."

  His shoulders slump, but he catches them and straightens back up. "Well, you can't go again until Dax is healed. I'm going to call the healer so he'll be seen tonight. So that'll give you time to get rested and for us to come up with a plan."

  At least he had the decency or the smarts not to pretend to be upset. I don't know or care at this point. I'm exhausted, filthy, and hungry. Right now, I want to go home, and hope Charlie is in a forgiving mood, so he'll cuddle with me. "Well, I'm going to head home."

  I close my eyes and picture my apartment and tug myself there, but nothing happens. I try again, then o
pen my eyes. "Why isn't anything happening?"

  "You're too tired." Luke frowns and lets out a deep sigh. "Why don't you stay here? You can stay in the elder room that I showed you earlier."

  No way that's happening. "Thanks, but I want to get home. How long were we gone anyways?"

  "Oh, just a few hours." He laughs and shrugs. "That's one reason I was so surprised you were back so soon."

  Well, at least it wasn't days. That should lessen the blow with Charlie. "I'll call Charlie to come get me."

  "Absolutely not." He stands and heads to the door. "You're one of us now. You can drive one of my cars home. I kept an extra one here anyways for when Margaret would get a wild hair for shopping."

  This feels strange. I don't want to owe him. "No, it's okay."

  "I insist." He walks over to where he was sitting and picks up a key chain. He takes off a key and brings it back over to me. "Here you go. Just bring it back later." He hands it to me.

  You know what, I want to get home, and don't want to wait on Charlie to get here. "Thanks, I'll bring it back soon." I get up, open the door, and walk out. I don't want any other uncomfortable conversations or interruptions.

  When I get to the front door, a butler walks out from another room.

  She smiles at me and walks pass the door. "Hi, I was requested to take you to the garage and show you the vehicle you're to use."

  Okay that would be helpful. I have no clue where what car he's letting me drive. "Thanks."

  She nods and we walk down a small hallway that leads to another door. When we walk through this door, we enter a large four car garage. There are two vehicles sitting there. One is a white, Audi A8, and the other is Lexus LX.

  "This," she says as she points to the Audi, "will be the car you borrow."

  No flipping way. "Oh ... kay. Thanks."

  "Sure." She hits a button and the garage door opens. "I'll shut it for you when you're out."