Divya nods. “There’s your answer.”
Soon the trees thin, and the large cave comes into sight. Even in broad daylight, the inside of the cave is dark except for the icicles and ice sheets reflecting the light. It’s impossible to see what’s inside just by standing at the mouth of the cave. I tell myself we just need to make sure the monster’s there and that he’s still sleeping. Then we can leave, but that all-too-familiar feeling of anxiety creeps inside of my soul. It’s something I can’t escape even when I leave my body.
I enter the cave first. My eyes automatically adjust like they did last night. I see the large, threatening creature exactly where I left him. He hasn’t moved an inch. He’s breathing deep and undisturbed. His eyes are closed. It’s like he doesn’t have a care in the world.
I look over at Divya, hoping she’ll tell me we can leave now. Being this close to this demon, even in my astral body, is very uncomfortable. I’m afraid. Very afraid.
Divya passes by me and takes a closer look. I want to scream at her to stay away from him, but that would only make things worse—especially if he somehow heard me. I focus on trying not to fall apart as I wait for Divya to finish her inspection.
I plead with my eyes when she looks over in my direction. She gives me a subtle nod and then floats back toward me. I follow her out of the cave as we rise high into the sky.
“I’ve never seen anything like that,” she confesses. “It’s… I’ve never felt such power.”
“I have,” I say. “Arsen feels the same way.”
CHAPTER 49
Rynne
TASIA’S BODY IS LIMP and slumped at my side. Even though her soul has left, her body is still alive, still warm and breathing. It’s a little disconcerting. I’ve never witnessed astral projection before. I still feel like I haven’t witnessed it. For someone like me who doesn’t have access to a sixth sense, it’s almost like Tasia’s just fallen into a deep sleep. The only difference is her breathing is much slower and shallower than it would be if that were the case. How long can the body last without its soul?
I continue holding her hand in mine. I haven’t let her hand go through all of this. Only an hour has passed, but it feels longer. Waiting makes everything feel longer.
A subtle twitch in Tasia’s hand catches my attention.
“Tasia?”
She shifts, bringing her body upright again as she pulls her hand away from mine to stretch.
“How did it go?” I ask.
I look past her to see Divya awake now, too.
“Give us all the information you can,” Blade says from the front.
“He’s still asleep,” Divya answers.
Tasia sits stiffly at my side, her hands in her lap. I can see that she’s fighting to keep herself from fidgeting. She’s nervous.
Divya adds in a whisper, “I’ve never seen anything like it. Even in his sleep, there’s this power he exudes…”
“We’ll handle it,” Blade replies, confident.
The coming battle will be a big test for these hunters. They’ve never faced a natural demon before. I’ve never even faced a natural demon before. I only know what I’ve been told and trained for. Made demons are enough of a problem, but I’ve never heard of one leveling a town. Tasia has a right to be afraid. I’m nervous too. I know how to kill a natural demon in theory. If I can actually execute what needs to be done is a different story. The hunters are in real danger of losing members today. And Tasia. This demon isn’t Arsen. Arsen is the demon Tasia will learn to control. That’s what the Oracle said, but she hasn’t gotten to that point. I don’t like this at all.
I resist the urge to take Tasia’s trembling hands again. I hate seeing her like this. All I want to do is comfort her.
I wish I could tell her the truth about me, but humans shouldn’t know about the existence of angels or demons. Demons revealed themselves, and they’ve caused a lot of problems because of it. The fact that we’re on our way to kill a natural demon right now doesn’t bode well for any of us. This isn’t the way things are supposed to happen.
I’ll do whatever it takes to protect her, but I’m still only a made angel. I hope Imae or whoever else is watching over Tasia right now will step in and help if the situation becomes dire. Surely they will. Saving Tasia’s life is more important than keeping angels a secret. Tasia is the key to righting the wrongs done to Terra. She is the key to stopping the demons’ rise in power.
“What are you thinking about?” Tasia asks.
She puts her hand back in mine and snuggles up next to me, as close as our seatbelts will allow. My initial thought is that I should look away. I shouldn’t engage or encourage this behavior any further, but then I remember what Cassius told me. He told me my feelings aren’t wrong. He told me my feelings are valid. So, I do look at her. I look at her and see the concern in her brown eyes.
“Nothing,” I whisper.
“You’re thinking about something,” she insists. Then she whispers back, “It’s okay to admit you’re scared. I’m scared, too.”
I squeeze her hand, but I don’t voice my fear out loud. She doesn’t ask me to either. She’s already seen through me.
CHAPTER 50
Tasia
THANKS TO ME AND Divya scouting ahead earlier, we’re able to take our team on a detour past the burned down town on our way to the demon’s cave. We don’t need to run into any trouble with the cops, and we certainly don’t need to mess with any of the spirits there. A spirit doesn’t have to be evil to cause some damage. I know that better than most people. The spirits hovering in that town are people who were killed in an awful way. Of course they’re going to be vengeful. Their life was ripped away from them.
We couldn’t take our vehicles much farther than the small road leading into the town, and so we parked them a few miles back from that point, to avoid suspicion. We’ve been trudging through snow ever since. I’m glad Divya knows where to go now, so I’m not the only one everyone is depending on. Between the two of us, we don’t have any trouble navigating our way through the forest. All those monsters I saw with the demon last night seem to be gone, too. We haven’t seen any sign of them. It’s a good thing they’ve stayed away. I’m nervous enough about the demon we’re going to face. We don’t need monsters on top of his already terrifying power. One hunt at a time.
I’m trying to stay focused on what needs to be done, but I don’t want to get any closer to that beast. I don’t know how it’s going to feel to be close to him in my physical body, but I’m anticipating it being worse than in my astral body. I know we still have to walk for a while longer, but that familiar foreboding is back. It’s a feeling that tells me I should stay far away from all of this. This is the life my parents were trying to protect me from. And here I am.
A pang in my chest reminds me once again how much I miss them. Fiona said they were talented hunters, but they were killed by Arsen. They were killed by a demon, and now we’re about to face another one. We’re more prepared than my parents were, but I wonder how much that matters.
Rynne’s sticking close to me. It’s like he can sense how worried I am. I’m grateful to him for it. I grab his hand because I don’t know if I’ll be able to force myself to walk any farther if I don’t. He doesn’t ask questions. He just squeezes my hand in reply.
“Maybe we should take a break and make sure he’s still sleeping,” I blurt.
Fiona shakes her head. “It doesn’t matter. We’re going to take him down whether he’s asleep or awake. We’re almost there, aren’t we?”
Divya hesitates, but responds. “Yes. We’re almost there.”
“It’s dark, though,” I point out. “Evil thrives in the dark. Maybe we should wait until dawn at least, don’t you think?”
“We’re moving forward. It’ll be fine, Tasia. Most of us have been doing this for years.”
She says that, but I don’t feel reassured because no one here but Rynne has been hunting demons.
“Blade, we do need
to be cautious. More cautious than we ever have been,” Divya says. “This… being is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Demons really are in a league of their own.”
It looks like Fiona is going to consider Divya’s words, but then she doesn’t say anything. She just keeps leading the way forward.
“It’ll be just fine, missy,” Donovan joins in. “I know you ain’t done anything like this yet, but have a little faith in us.”
Is Rynne going to tell me the same thing? I give him a pleading look, hoping he’ll see my side of this.
“We don’t have time, Tasia. If we stop to check his position, we’ll only arrive later. If we can catch him while he’s still asleep, we have a better chance of killing him than if he were awake and we had waited for daylight,” he says, but he continues to hold my hand tight. He’s nervous too.
“Well said,” Miguel agrees.
I stare at my feet as I consider their words. I hear what they’re saying. I do, but it doesn’t make me feel any better. I don’t want anyone else to die.
I don’t want anyone else to die.
Now we’re almost at the cave. I wonder how well everyone is going to be able to fight with limited visibility. We have a variety of flashlights, but still. That skin-crawling sensation I feel coming from the cave isn’t unbearable. I hope that means the demon is sleeping.
“Okay,” Fiona says. “You know what to do, teams.”
Divya and I are to stay behind. Our abilities as psychics makes us too valuable to be sent out front. As much as I don’t want to face that demon, I resent that fact. It makes me feel even more helpless to protect anyone. A handful of other hunters are staying behind with us. They’ll act as support if those on the front line need them.
“We’ll be right back,” Rynne tells me.
He somehow manages that perfect smile of his, like this whole thing isn’t a big deal after all. But I know the difference now. This is his calculated smile, his practiced smile. I can’t hold it in anymore. I wrap my arms around him. I squeeze him as tight as I can, but only for a couple seconds before I extract myself from his warmth.
“Be safe,” I order, and then I turn away to walk back to the trees with Divya to get a little more coverage.
I can’t look at Rynne right now. I might end up crying, and that’s not going to help anyone.
But then someone grabs my hand from behind. I startle a little, but I recognize that warm touch. It’s a warmth that can be felt through gloves. I take an experimental peek over my shoulder to see the boy I’m in love with.
“We’ll be back, Tasia. Believe me.”
I wish I could.
CHAPTER 51
Rynne
I’M GOING TO MAKE this quick.
I sneak to the front of the hunters as we all make our way into the cave. We’re all shining lights and circling around the large sleeping figure of a demon. The evil energy oozing off of him is poisonous. After looking at the size of him, I’m relieved I brought my silver sword. A silver knife would certainly harm him, but it’ll be easier to carve out his heart this way. I just need to get a hold of his heart. Once I have it, the rest should be easy.
The demon is sleeping on his stomach, so I’ll just have to cut through his red-skinned and muscled back. I ready my sword and inch closer when the beast takes in a quivering breath. I stop dead in my tracks. He sucks in more air through his nose. Then he moves. He places his hands down in front of him and pushes himself off the rock floor of the cave. His eyes are still closed, but I know things have already gotten much worse. I don’t bother retreating like the rest of the hunters do. Blade even reaches forward to try and bring me back with her, but I leap forward instead. If I don’t act now, I don’t think I’ll get the chance to again.
But the demon is ready for my impulsive move. He moves swiftly, with the kind of speed one doesn’t normally associate with giants. I gasp as he fixes both of his arms around my rib cage and squeezes.
“I thought I smelled something righteous,” the demon bellows. His voice is so low the sound of it almost doesn’t register in my ears, but I can feel the tremendous vibration of it, like energy quivering from his body and into the ground, just waiting to force the earth wide open.
“I thought I was in some trouble,” the demon continues. “But mere mortals cannot hope to defeat me.” He squeezes me harder, to the point that I can’t think and I feel like my head is going to pop off my body.
The cries of the other hunters as they leap out at the demon sound far away. The red giant doesn’t even need to free his grasp on me in order to send them flying back. The crunching noises echoing through the cave must mean at least a few of the hunters hit the walls of the cave hard enough to break bone.
I can’t save them. I’m not strong enough. My vision starts to fade, and I feel tired. So tired. I wait for the darkness to completely consume me when the pressure around me is suddenly relieved and I find myself face to face with the rock floor below. The ground is shaking beneath me and blood is pooling at the rocks to my right. I watch as pebbles jump up and down on the ground, and then my hearing returns and I hear the low rumbling and pained scream of the demon that was holding on to me.
“Get up!” Blade shouts as she yanks me backward.
My head’s clear enough to process what’s happening now. The demon’s arms were almost severed clean. Blade and Donovan stand beside me with bloody silver swords. The other hunters make jabs at the demon now that they have a chance. It seems I should have given the hunters more credit. Thank God they listened to me when I told them silver is one of the best weapons against demons.
Blade says. “Glad we practically brought our entire armory.”
“Amen,” Donovan replies.
“Finish him!” Miguel shouts as he rushes for the demon.
We surround the monster, but only have the upper hand for a few seconds before the demon’s arms heal themselves. He catches a hunter in the same hold he had me in, but he doesn’t hold back and he squeezes. I wish I could have averted my gaze, but I couldn’t look away. The hunter is crushed, crumpled and bleeding. The demon drops her inconsequentially to the ground below as he bellows again. This time the whole cave reacts to his cry. The rocks above start shaking and stalactites rain down, ready to skewer anyone below.
“Look out!” I scream as I shove both Blade and Donovan, the two hunters closest to me, away from the danger above. By the time I’ve done that, I barely manage to evade the stalactite that pierces and shatters the very place I was standing just a moment before.
“We need to get out of here!” another hunter yells.
I couldn’t agree more. We’re sitting ducks in here.
“Everyone out!” Blade orders.
As hunters scramble for the mouth of the cave, the demon bounds forward. Despite the cave collapsing, none of the debris falls on him. It’s like wherever he goes, his surroundings stabilize. I’ve never seen anything like it before. This must be his power to control the elements. It’s something Imae told me about, something natural angels and demons can do.
We’re in more trouble than I thought.
The demon plows through a couple more hunters as he aims to cut us off at the cave’s mouth. We won’t make it in a race against him. I use the confusion to hurl myself back at him. I slide underneath him and stop myself by grabbing onto his leg. I pull myself off the ground and jump onto his back, burying my sword deep into his left shoulder blade. I meant to aim a little lower, but at least I hit something. My blade sinks through his flesh easily, as if it were gelatin.
The demon growls and thrashes. It takes all of my strength to keep myself from being thrown off of the wild animal. I was hoping I’d be safe from the flying rocks by doing this, but that’s not the case. Rocks and pebbles come shooting at me from all around the cave. I get a few cuts and bruises before I flatten myself against the demon’s back, but even then the barrage continues as the rocks fling themselves at me like I’m a target.
“You’re a
stubborn creature,” the demon acknowledges.
By now, every mobile hunter has made it out of the cave. That’s all I could ask for.
“Too bad your sacrifice will end up being in vain.” The demon laughs, but his laughter sounds more like rolling thunder.
I need to get off his back and get out of the cave before I’m buried alive with him. The cave’s mouth is filling up with large boulders, and Blade is screaming at me to get out of here. It’s now or never. I grab my sword and pull it free from the demon’s back, but I’m not fast enough. He slams his back against one of the cave’s walls, and I feel my spine snap just as the cave’s entrance seals closed.
The pain in my body is tremendous. My vision is swimming with black holes, and I can’t move. I’m a prisoner inside this cave with a demon now. Maybe if I could shi—
Just when my injury starts to heal, the demon throws me against another of the cave’s walls. I gasp as the air is knocked out of my lungs, and my spine is fractured again. The pain makes my eyes water.
“I’m going to kill you slowly, and then I’ll go after your friends,” the demon informs as he crouches down and stares at me with piercing yellow eyes.
He wraps his fingers in my hair. I grunt when he yanks my head back. My neck and scalp feel like they’re on fire. Isn’t there another angel watching over Tasia? Why don’t they show themselves? I’m not going to be able to hold on much longer.
“How much life essence do you have inside of you, I wonder. Would I rather torture you to death or take your life essence for myself?” the demon muses.
An explosion from the blocked mouth of the cave sends a spray of rocks spiraling toward me and my tormentor. The demon leaps back while I stay on the ground and cover my hands with my head.
“Rynne!”
Tasia?
My heart starts beating erratically in my chest as I look up to see her, Blade, Divya, Donovan, Miguel, Sherri, and the other hunters who were just outside of the cave.
Demon Snare (These Immortal Vows Book 1) Page 32