Awaken (Divine Hunter Series)

by L. J. Sealey

  He didn’t get chance to try.

  Out of nowhere a hooded figure jumped in front of him. He held his hand out and white hot sparks flew out from his palm while he turned slowly, taking out the whole of the first wave of demons, all of them flying backwards from the force of whatever it was the stranger had thrown at them. They lay on the ground motionless.

  Evo spun around, his eyes wide with a similar look of what-the-fuck? as what Michael had. “How did. . . What. . . Who the hell are you?” he managed.

  The hooded figure faced them with a wicked smirk. “I’m the bloke who’s about to save your arses,” he said in a strange British accent. “Now, can we save the introductions for somewhere a bit safer?”

  The stranger began to run. “Come on then!” he called back.

  They had no other choice but to follow. Unfortunately so did those horrific sounds that the demons made.

  Michael threw a look over his shoulder. Shit! That blast hadn’t killed them and they were now getting pretty close. “They’re gaining on us.”

  Evo was lagging slightly behind. “Hey! Guy with the hood. . . Can’t you fire some of that sparkly shit at them again?” he panted.

  “No. That was all I ‘ad” the guy shouted back. “Fack!” He halted suddenly and Michael nearly ploughed him down.

  “Oh shit!”

  More demons up ahead.

  The three men stood back to back watching the approaching army that had now slowed−taunting them.

  Evo began to chant words from a strange language behind Michael, but his voice sounded like it was getting quieter all of a sudden. When Michael turned his head he saw his friend walking towards the demons, holding out his arm, fist tightly clenched, aimed at the group of demonic predators.

  “Uh, you need to stop ‘im from doin’ that. Now!” The disquiet in the stranger’s voice was enough to concern Michael.

  “Why? That ring he’s got may be our only way out of this.”

  The hooded man’s next words came out in a rush. “Because Alethia said if either one of yer use that ring it’ll reverse itself on yer. Now I suggest yer stop ‘im.”

  Alethia? Oh no!

  He turned and ran towards his friend. “STOP! Evo. . . Don’t use the ring.”

  “It’s ok Mike. . . Something’s happening. I think it’s. . . ”

  “EVO!”

  Michael had no way of stopping what happened next. Time seemed to slow, noise faded to distant echoes and as he watched what was happening to his friend he froze. A bright orange light grew out from the ring and began to form a dome around Evo who had started to shake violently. Michael reached out but an invisible force pushed him backwards.

  He noticed that every single one of the demons were crouched down; cowering away from whatever it was that had surrounded Evo.

  “NOOOO!” Michael cried as he hit the ground. The light grew brighter and Evo’s body began to glow. It was so bright it hurt Michael to look at him, but he did for as long as he could until he was forced to close his eyes momentarily as everything went intensely white. Then it was gone.

  And so was Evo.

  He saw the ring hit the floor right at the spot where Evo had been standing and he ran to it. His knees hit the floor and he gripped the ring tightly in his fist.

  Those deathly screeches started up again. The demons were ready for another fight and they were about to get one.

  “Um, we need to move mate.”

  He heard the voice beside him but ignored it and crouched over. Rage was boiling up inside of him, filling his whole body with a heat that vibrated right through to his marrow. He lifted his head and through his eyes everything looked brighter: the crimson sky, the black forest that surrounded them and when he looked down at himself, his hands, which were now curled into tight fists, began to tremble.

  He saw the demons advancing from in front of where he was now on his knees and knew the ones behind him would be doing the same. He twisted his head to look at the stranger who had now removed his hood and was anxiously waiting for some kind of response from Michael. “Get down!” he ordered but whether the man listened or not was of no concern to him right now. He hunched his shoulders over, feeling the vibrations coursing through him. His head felt as though it would burst and with a final intake of breath he lifted his head, held his hands out in front of him, opened his mouth and roared.

  Through his ears he heard a deep rumble.

  Through his eyes he could see a shield of energy, like a shockwave, rolling outwards from his body. As it hit the demons their bodies burst into flames and disintegrated, every last one of them.

  When they were all gone, the shield returned to him as if he was breathing it back inside his body.

  Silence.

  Only the sound of Michael’s heavy breathing could be heard. His energy waned and he fell forwards onto his hands. He saw a movement from the corner of his eye and his head snapped towards it. The stranger was pulling himself up from the ground, eyes wide open and scanning the clearing in disbelief. Then he fixed his astonished stare on Michael.

  “What the fack are you? How did you just do that?” The stranger was on his feet now looking around frantically like he couldn’t believe his own eyes. “I’ve only ever been speechless once before in my life and that was when me mum told me I was the offspring of a fackin’ demon, but. . . ” he swallowed hard and shook his head slowly.

  Michael couldn’t seem to move for a moment. He closed his eyes tightly.

  Evo!

  He shot up and charged toward the stranger, grabbing him by his collar. “Alethia? Tell me what she said.” he growled as he tightened his grip.

  “Time to go,” was all the dark haired man managed to choke out before he held onto Michael’s arms and their surroundings began to shift into a swirling sea of black and crimson.

  “What are you doing?” Michael yelled, still keeping a firm hold on the guy.

  No answer.

  Michael’s hands shifted around the guy’s throat and he squeezed. “Whatever you’re doing stop!”

  The ground fell away, or they’d left the ground, he wasn’t sure but as his anger returned and the gray haze that had formed around them began to dissipate, he realised where they were and it was no longer in Hell. He was still hanging on to the stranger’s throat when he saw the walls of Lacy’s living room appear.

  “Take. Me. Back!” He didn’t recognise his own voice it was so thick with rage. “Take me back there. . . NOW!” He had to save Evo.

  The man choked as he tried to speak. His hands locked on Michael’s wrists as he tried to prize him off his throat.

  “Michael!” a female voice cried out from somewhere else in the room but he was too intent on getting that fucker to take him back to Hell to take any notice.

  “Michael please. . . Let go.” the female said and he felt small hands wrap around his left arm. “It’s me, Lacy. Let go of him, please.”

  His head snapped towards her and when he saw her face−her beautiful, concerned face−he realised what he was doing and released his grip on the man whose eyes were now a little bloodshot.

  Michael heard coughing and spluttering and saw Alethia run to the stranger’s aid.

  He threw his arms around Lacy.

  “Oh, thank God you’re back,” she said into his chest.

  A vision of the horrible chard body he’d thought was her flashed into his mind. He closed his eyes tightly and willed it away.

  Not real.

  This is real.

  He inhaled her scent deep into his lungs. The fresh, familiar scent of flowers with a hint of apple from her hair made his whole body relax.

  He felt her hitched breaths against his chest and he moved her so that he could see her face. His hands moved up her arms, over her shoulders until they stopped either side of her face. He studied her for a moment, eyes covering every inch of her and stopping at the small red mark at her temple. The healing slice she’d received from the demon that’d held her captive w
ould soon fade to nothing, leaving no trace of what happened, but Michael wouldn’t forget. This woman had somehow managed to forge a tangible mark on his heart and there seemed to be very little he could do about it.

  He wiped a tear from her cheek with his thumb. “You’re real,” he breathed.

  Her full lips curled up into a sweet, tender smile which made his heart clench. “Yes,” she said, “and you’re here.”

  He placed his lips on hers and kissed her gently. “Thank God you’re real,” he whispered against her mouth before pulling her back into his tight embrace.

  For a moment it felt like it was just the two of them, until. . .

  Cough! “Shit!” Cough!

  Then Alethia’s voice, “Ok, now?” She was standing over the dark haired man who Michael had just nearly killed and was rubbing her hand up and down his back.

  “Yeah!” he spat out as he crouched over, hands on his thighs. “But what the fack did you send me to get, Alethia?” As he stood up straight his eyes burned Michael with a hostile stare.

  Alethia’s eyes narrowed. Keeping them pinned on Michael she asked, “What do you mean, Jaret?”

  “I mean what the facking ‘ell is ‘e?” He nursed his hand over his throat.

  Michael didn’t react; after all, it wasn’t a question he could give an answer to. He stood with Lacy in his arms but she too had pulled back a little to look at him now. Her brows were pulled tight and she looked concerned.

  Alethia walked towards Michael. “What happened? And why are you alone? Where’s Evo?”

  Michael didn’t have to tell her as she must have figured it out from his tortured expression, or pulled it from his mind.

  Her face mirrored his. “Oh, no! That stupid son of a bitch!”

  * * *

  Lacy stood looking through her kitchen window at the man sitting in the moonlight. She’d wondered where Michael had got to and when she’d spotted him sitting on her bench by the willow tree outside she’d left the light off so as not disturb him.

  When he’d appeared in her living room a little over an hour ago with Jaret she was so relieved to see him she hadn’t noticed Evo wasn’t with them. Michael’s rage had surprised her, she’d never seen him like that, and she was glad he’d stopped when he did as she suspected Jaret wouldn’t be sitting in her living room, eating the sandwiches she’d made, with Alethia right now.

  She’d felt something when she’d placed her hands on his arm as she tried to get him to stop what he was doing to Jaret; a strange sensation, like a buzz of electricity which nearly had her pulling back from him. It felt like his skin was vibrating.

  When he’d looked into her eyes just before he’d kissed her, she’d felt something completely different: a connection. She couldn’t quite explain it, but it was there as real as he’d been standing before her.

  Safe.

  Her heart had swelled as he’d kissed her and in that moment she knew how far she’d fallen. The time she’d spent without him, wondering if she’d ever see him again, had only confirmed her feelings.

  She was in love with him; she knew that for certain now and it scared her to death.

  When Michael had explained what had happened before Jaret pulled him out of Hell, Lacy’d sat speechless. She could tell in his voice that he was worried about what was happening to him. And now, more than ever, so was she.

  What would become of him?

  She grabbed the thick, navy pullover that was on the back of one of the dining chairs and pulled it over her head as she walked out into the garden, closing the door behind her.

  “I wondered where you’d got to.” She sat down on the small bench seat next to him. The crisp fall air almost burned her lungs but it was refreshing.

  Michael looked at her briefly and attempted a smile. “Just needed to clear my head.’ He sighed and tilted his head back to look at the clear night sky. She did the same.

  “The world seems so peaceful. I envy them,” he said.

  Lacy looked back at him with a questioning frown. “Who?”

  “All of them. . . the people who are blissfully unaware of the evil that surrounds them. They go about their lives normally, without fear or knowledge of the creatures that hide amongst them.” His shoulders slumped. “I wish I could go back to not knowing.”

  Michael’s hand was resting on his thigh and Lacy got an urge to hold it. She wanted to reassure him that he wasn’t on his own in this anymore. She reached out and placed hers on top of his. Without saying a word he turned his hand upward and laced his fingers with hers. They both sat quietly looking up at the dusting of bright stars that shone against the inky black sky, the moon the only source of light.

  “I hope he’s ok,” he said with a broken voice. A voice that was full of pain and guilt. Guilt he had no right to carry.

  She knew he was hurting, knew he was blaming himself. “It isn’t your fault what happened to him so don’t let yourself be burdened that way.”

  “I have no choice. I should never have let him go with me. I didn’t try hard enough to stop him.”

  Lacy shifted her body so she was turned towards him. “Hey. I haven’t known him for long but even I know Evo wasn’t going to let you go down there alone. No matter what you did. It was his choice; just like it was his choice to take the ring from Alethia.”

  He didn’t respond instead he heaved a sigh that suggested he wasn’t convinced by her words. She hated to see him like this but until Evo was found, she knew he wouldn’t think any differently.

  He turned and took both of her hands in his, a desperation in his eyes that made Lacy’s stomach tighten. “I want to tell you something,” he said and the crease in his brow told her that it wasn’t something good.

  “When I was down there, I saw something that scared me. You can’t begin to know how horrible that place is and it does things to your mind; things that you are convinced are real. I saw you. . . you’d died in a fire, or so I thought−it felt so. . . ” He closed his eyes for a second and exhaled sharply. “I held you, thinking you were dead and in that moment I’d never felt pain like it.” He hesitated, “What I’m trying to say is. . . it made me realise how much you mean to me.”

  Oh, God. The breath she’d been holding left her lungs in a rush and she tried to stop her hands from trembling. Her heart sped up as she looked into his eyes which were illuminated by the soft moonlight. She’d never felt this way about anyone before, never let anyone close to her heart, so how he’d managed to find his way through so quickly she had no idea.

  He leaned in and placed his lips on hers. She responded as he placed both arms around her waist and pulled her towards him. She slid along the bench until there was no space between them and she was encapsulated within his strong arms. Her arms went around his neck and as he broke away from his sweet, tender kiss and buried his face in her neck, his warm breath on her skin made her shiver.

  They embraced each other tightly. She had no idea what this meant for them, had no idea if any of this was even possible, but right now it felt very real.

  She felt his lips move lightly on her neck and realised that he’d begun to kiss her; small, soft kisses which made her flesh tingle. He began to move up towards her ear and she suddenly lost all of the strength she needed to hold her head up, leaving it to flop to the side. He nibbled her lobe, the sound of those tantalisingly wet kisses, combined with the sting of the cold air made her whole body prickle with a need that was overwhelming.

  His name left her mouth on a whisper and she ran her fingers through his hair while he continued his soft torment underneath her chin and around to the other side. When his mouth finally reached hers she kissed him slowly at first but then it turned into something more and she was filled with a desperation that she’d never felt before. Mouths wide, tongues frantically duelling with each other, this was nothing like how they’d kissed last night before they’d made love, this was full of smouldering passion and if she didn’t keep control of things they’d end up having sex
right here under her kitchen window and that was definitely not a good idea.

  Somehow, through the fire that had now ignited her whole body, she managed to pull herself away from him.

  “Bad idea,” she said through panted breaths. Her voice came out in a shaky whisper.

  Michael’s eyes were heavy as he looked at her. He swallowed hard and leant his forehead against hers, clearly struggling with the same internal battle as she was. “Thank God one of us was thinking straight.” He smiled. “That could have gotten awkward.”

  They both laughed and Lacy leaned into him as he twisted himself around and tucked her under his arm. He placed a small kiss on top of her head and heaved a sigh.

  She knew what that sigh was for and it pained her to think about what was happening.

  She was falling hard, for someone who wasn’t even human and may not be around for much longer. Right now, she wouldn’t allow herself to think of the future and what might happen to him. Right now they were together. So instead, she would embrace what they had for however long they had it.

  Like Michael, she didn’t know what he was, and was scared to think about that too deeply, but she knew deep down in her heart that whatever he was, he wasn’t a monster like those other things. There was no way. Alethia was right: It wasn’t evil inside his heart.

  “We should get back inside.” Michael’s voice vibrated in her ear. “Alethia is going to see her father and I should talk with her before she leaves.”

  After things had calmed down, Michael had hardly spoken after nearly suffocating Jaret. And even though Alethia’s ex-husband was still wary of him, he’d said he understood why Michael had reacted the way he had. Jaret had even offered to take him back but Michael had refused, saying that he needed more information about Alethia’s ring and where Evo would have been sent to before attempting to go looking for him.

  “Jaret’s offer still stands. He wants to help.” Lacy sat herself up.

  Michael laughed softly. “After I almost killed the guy? Why would he want to help me?”

  “Because he’s a good guy. And Alethia seems to be good at persuading him to do things.” She smiled.