by Dana Archer
“It’s not an image, Kade. We will defeat Asa tonight. Our other choice is failure, and we’re both too stubborn to accept that fate.”
“As you said earlier tonight, we do have another choice.”
“What? To run from our problems?”
“Not run, exactly. You heard Jarah. He’ll accept us, and with our soul bond, your demon won’t ever escape.”
“She’ll try. She’s not defeated. I feel her hovering at the very edge of my soul as far as she can get from the light you shine upon it for a chance to break free.”
What Zoe says is true. I feel the evil in Zoe’s soul. It’s a part of her, and by association, it’s a part of me. I also feel the demon’s intent. It’s been waiting for this moment, but so have I, even if I hadn’t known it. “I made a promise to you, my mate.”
Zoe closes her eyes and peace slips over her features. She meets my gaze as my equal, my partner, my other half. “And I made a promise to you, my king.”
A bone horn is blown, the mournful sound resounding in my soul. Another wailing moan carries through the night. Then another and another, the long-drawn-out howls a haunting summons for warriors brave enough to walk through the shadows of death.
“Then let’s keep our vows, my queen. All of them.”
Zoe nods and backs up at the same time as I do, the space between us growing while the invisible bond tying us expands. Once my foot breaches the circle, I turn away from her and face the male ready and eager to take my head.
Asa waits in the center of the circle. With his shoulders squared and his stance widened, he exudes confidence while the small smile on his face suggests to me and all those watching us he knows who will walk out of here the victor tonight.
“I will spare your pride mates’ lives if they offer me their blood allegiance, and the souls of those who don’t will be released.” I stride forward, letting my words counter Asa’s expression. “This I vow.”
“As you have spoken, let it be remembered.” Jarah slams the hollowed bone horn into the ground before Asa can respond, and the ground heaves, rippling outward and across the circle to where Ilan yanks another bone horn from the ground.
A shimmering domed wall forms over the circle. The iridescent swirls and waves making up the barrier obscure the view of the world and dims the voices of those watching, but the magical obstruction meant to prevent interference doesn’t cut me off from Zoe. Nothing can. I hold her soul in mine, and I won’t ever let it slip through my fingers.
Asa shakes his hands and sharp claws replace his nails. The theatrical display would’ve been laughable if not for the black flames tipping each finger. “Your confidence turns you into a fool.”
With an air of assuredness, I kick off one loafer, then the other, before undoing my belt and pulling my shirt free. “Actually, I’d say your nephew was the real fool to have allowed a demon into his soul in the first place. Is that why you saved my beloved human’s life? To thank her for exorcising Vince’s demon? Or out of fear that what Vince called forth from Hell would return for his soul before vacating this world?”
Asa curls his lip on a snarling growl while flames leap and crackle from his fingertips. “Vince was obeying his alpha.”
With a sharp tug, I loosen my tie, then work the buttons on the bloodied dress shirt until the fabric parts. “How? By putting an end to the Conway bloodline? What happened to saving the human who’d father the prophesized ones? Wasn’t that how you were supposed to fulfill the goddesses’ prophecy so you could claim your reward?”
“A shaman bloodline powerful enough to control Hell needed to be chosen, and a father needed to prove his strength. Vince accomplished both that night with a little help from the demon I bound to his soul at his birth.”
“You planned it all. Didn’t you? From Vince going to the same preschool as Zoe to Josh nearly dying at Vince’s hands. You selected a shaman bloodline you thought would fit the goddesses’ needs and made it so Zoe and Josh had no choice but to trigger the prophecy.”
“Of course. Why do you think the mighty goddesses chose me to share their prophecy with and to offer their reward for triggering it?” Asa turns in a half-circle, sparks flying from his flaming claws and creating dozens of small fires on the cold, ice-covered grass behind him. “I’m the only Royal alive who can foresee the future, and I made what I foresaw a reality. Now it’s time to claim their promised reward.”
“And what was their reward?” He never did mention it.
“On the night Mira’s children are born, an alpha will be chosen to lead them and the shifter world into a new era. This male will become king among alphas, feared by all.” Asa flicks his hand, tossing sparks onto the ground between us. “And tonight, I will be the one the shifter world fears.”
Tentacles creep from the nearest spark of black fire and embed themselves into the ground. The fire flares, exactly as the dozens of other small fires in this circle also do. My felines’ warnings radiate through me. I don’t need their caution. I knew Asa wasn’t going to play fair. Neither will I.
Tossing my tie and shirt over the closest burning fire, I step over the smoldering flames and approach Asa as the seconds until full moon reaches its peak count down with an urgency I feel in my bones. All the while, the tingling along my skin demands my attention. The Kagan spirit is here, and it has picked me just as my goddess chose me. My soul knows this without being told. All I need to do is open myself, and the Kagan spirit’s power will be added to mine.
“The demon possessing Zoe is the one I bound to Vince. I’m the one who called it from Hell. I’m the one who lent it power. I’m the one who gave it a purpose. And it owes me. Tonight, it’ll walk free to do my bidding permanently. And Zoe will take its place in Hell.” Asa steps forward, and his words quicken, rushing out as the pressure around us builds. “In mere seconds, it’ll use the strength I gave it and block you from her. Zoe will meet her fate and so will you—eternity in Hell.”
A shockwave rolls through the earth, heaving the dirt and opening fissures in the ground. Black fire bursts from the slashes marring the ceremonial circle. More fractures open in the area around Zoe. Pillars of black fire shoot into the sky and cut off my view of my true mate. I don’t need to see her to know the danger she’s facing, however.
Her scream echoes in my soul, then cut off, along with our connection.
I stagger with the loss of her, and strong arms band around me, crushing my chest until my ribs snap and my lungs collapse. I whack my head back, the hard thump loosening the squeezing hold, and break free. Pivoting, I drop to a kneeled crouch as the sight of my attacker tears a curse from my lips.
Black fog forms a body larger than life. Red fire burns in its eye sockets. Rows upon rows of pointy teeth fill its gaping mouth. And curled, jagged nails tip its fingers. The hellish being is straight out of my worst nightmare. However, it’s the dozens of similar demonic creatures stepping from the black fires burning around me that chill me.
Without Zoe, I’m not enough to defeat them.
Thirty-Eight
Zoe
Never have I noticed the rise of the full moon or felt its pull, but there’s power here. It’s all around me—air, earth, and heavens. Each has a heartbeat. Each calls to me. Each offers a gift to those who know how to claim it. And each is a force just waiting to be manipulated and unleashed. I have that ability. The knowledge is within me, just as I knew what gibberish to chant the night I saved Josh and my baby—the night I made a deal with my demon.
Vince awakened this part of me. Dr. Fairchild locked it away, along with the knowledge of what I am. But the awareness—the connection to this secret world—has always been here. My soul remembers learning the old ways, practicing the craft, wielding the magic.
I’m a shaman. Have always been a shaman. Will always be a shaman.
“And tonight will be the last you walk this earth.”
My demon’s voice booms through me with a resounding echo that blurs my vision and makes the
world spin. My view of the sealed-off ceremonial circle undulates along with those shifters standing near me.
“Look around you, Zoe Jane. Remember your loved ones. Remember the feel of the night air on your skin. Remember what it’s like to live.” My demon’s breath mixes with mine. Her lips brush mine. “For our time is upon us. Mine to walk free. Yours to take my place as a servant of Hell.”
“That was never part of the deal.”
“You never asked.”
“I won’t let you free.”
“You don’t have to let me free. I can walk away all by myself. Asa’s given me access to the power to do so.”
The scraping of nails trailing down my neck and over my chest heaves my gut, but it’s the sensation of my heart being pulled from my body that spreads panic through me. I lift my top, but the pressure, the tugging, the tightness doesn’t ease. It boils over.
“Here, Zoe Jane. Right here. All I have to do is steal it.”
Agony like I’ve never known seizes my body as the warmth of my blood dribbles down my stomach. My scream pierces the night. Trees topple around me. Lightning flashes, and thunder booms. The ground shakes and splinters, deep and wide fissures opening around me, and black fire shoots from the cracks, flaring dozens of feet into the sky and cutting me off from everyone around me.
Red eyes bleed into the encircling flames—dozens of eyes, dozens of souls, dozens of demons. They reach out with emaciated arms. Their bony fingers curl and coax, ready to welcome another victim. And I’m pushed into their grasp while my demon claws at my chest—my soul.
“Zoe!”
My name booms—around me and within me. Kade’s voice? Jarah’s? Ezra’s? I can’t tell. I can’t respond. Screeching cries rip from my lips as my demon emerges in a transparent copy of me—a true doppelgänger—and the creature who will damn me to Hell forever.
“And always. Forever and always.”
Her words mock me, and her laughter taunts me. But I can’t respond. I can’t do anything other than scream and watch as this demonic clone pulls away from my body. The farther she gets, the sharper her image becomes. Life fills her and fades from me. And I can’t stop it.
“Zoe!” Kade’s voice fills me, along with his strength and his love. “Fight, my queen. Fight for us.”
“It’s too late, Zoe Jane. It’s too late.” My demon steps back, finally breaking free, while inky-black arms wrap around me and draw me into the black fire. “Your soul belongs to Hell.”
The moonlight wanes, drawing a cloak of darkness around me. The warmth of life withers, spreading an icy chill through my body. My last breath slips past my lips. Silence wraps around me with a quiet calmness that urges me to stop fighting. My eyes close as a sensation of utter failure consumes me, but the featherlight brush of angel’s wings against my ear flutters my eyes and halts my slip into oblivion.
The perception of strong arms cocooning me and holding me and refusing to let me go replace the regret.
“Let me conquer your demon.”
I open my mouth, Kade’s name on my lips. He’s my angel, the only man brave enough to follow me into the darkness.
His scent floods my lungs. His exhale heats my skin. His warmth fills me. “I promised I would lead you out of the darkness, my queen. Let me be your light.”
“And let me slay your enemy.” The vow I’d given becomes a compulsion, a driving force that demands my obedience. A vow given is a vow kept. Nothing, not even Hell, will stop me from fulfilling my promise.
Kade’s counting on me.
I open my eyes. Darkness surrounds me, save for the tiny flickering flame off in the distance. I focus on the light—on Kade’s soul—and force my body to move. Digging my raw fingertips into the blackened abyss, I drag myself up.
Sharpened teeth gnaw at my legs, sending bolts of sharp pain through me to steal my breath, but I open my mouth and share Kade’s air. With every inch I climb, I lose two as demonic hands clutch at my ankles and hold me back, but I open myself to the strength Kade offers and kick at their bony hands. With every demon I beat off, two more grab me. Frustration chokes me, and angry tears blur my view of the flickering light guiding me to heaven, but determination floods me, along with Kade’s love.
He promised me. He won’t fail me.
Hiccupping, I scrub at my gritty eyes and climb higher and higher and never look away from my guiding light. With each inch, Kade’s soul shines brighter. My muscles grow stronger. Hand over hand, I pull myself up until the moon brightens my world as completely as Kade’s soul shines within me. I focus on the light, inside and out, and haul myself over the edge, the black flames snuffing out as I roll over them.
Jarah rushes to my side, but I wave him off. Movement in the woods captures my attention and directs me. Zeroing in on the woman’s silhouette growing smaller by the moment, I take off.
My demonic twin glances over her shoulder. Her eyes widen. Her mouth opens. Then she turns and flees from me.
Pumping my arms, I run after her, faster than I ever have before. The ground pushes me forward. The wind propels me. Power flows into me. The earth, the heavens, and the air feed me, fueling me and honing my strength.
I grab my doppelgänger’s shoulder and spin her, coming face-to-face with myself. I might not have called her from hell, but I’m the one who drew her from Vince’s body. “And I’m the one who’ll trap you again. Forever.”
“It’s too late for that, little human. I’m free.” She grips my shoulders and throws me aside, then widens her stance. “And I’m never going back.”
“You don’t have to go back there.”
“You’re right, because nobody can make me. Not Asa. Not your soon-to-be-headless mate. And not you.”
“Are you sure about that? I was strong enough to rip you from Vince’s body. I didn’t even know what I was doing then. Now I have the power of the Alexander pride within my grasp. Should we fight and see who wins? Or should we make another deal?” I take a step forward. “And my deal will save you from going back to Hell tonight. Or tomorrow. Or for eternity.”
“We already made a deal.” She flexes her hands, black flames replacing her fingernails, and flicks a burning ember at the ground. Tentacles grow from the smoldering fire, digging into the hard ground and cracking the earth. Black smoke seeps through the fissure. “You’ll take my place. Suffer as I have. Die as I have, a thousand times over.”
Emaciated arms reach out. Bony fingers curl and coax. Whispers drift to me, along with a baby’s wailing cry. If I listen closely enough, I can even hear BJ’s laugh, but none of my demon’s tricks can entrap me any longer, not with Kade sharing my soul.
I lift my arms to the sky and chant. Gibberish falls from my lips. I don’t question the words, wondering what they mean, or curtail my hands as I pull on the air, drawing forth snow from where there was none. My soul remembers what my mind never learned, and my body responds to the power welling within me. I trust myself to be enough.
Wailing wind blows the snow, churning the flakes into a blizzard and blocking out the world around us as completely as the encircling flames had done moments ago. With a flick of my hand snow settles over the black fire my demon lit, filling the fissure and snuffing out the unnatural flames, while an ice-spun cord wraps around my demonic twin, squeezing her as the demonic hands had crushed me.
“No!” She bucks and fights, but the ice spreads, stretching to her neck and feet and encompassing her in ice as the black abyss had me.
“I’ll make a new deal with you.” I approach my demonic twin until the chill of the icy prison locking her in place cools my skin. “And this one will ensure you won’t ever have to return to Hell.”
“We had a deal! You promised I could walk free among humans if I saved your baby and your brother. I did so. I saved them. Now I get to walk free. That means I don’t have to go back. It means I’m free!”
“Yes, we did have a deal. It was a fine deal. A perfect deal.” I offer her a mocking grin, much as she did
to me not long ago. “But I never said how long you could walk among humans.”
“You tricked me!”
“As you tried to do to me.”
“I’m not going back! I’m not. I’ll fight you.”
“You did and lost.”
“I’m stronger than—”
I press a finger to my demon’s lips. “Kade makes me more powerful than you will ever be.”
“Kade’s going to die! Asa will make sure his soul is cast to Hell too. He has that power. All alphas have that power.”
With gentle fingers, I caress my demon’s face as the full moon’s peak wanes along with Kade’s strength. Only sheer will keeps him fighting. “And if my soul-bonded mate is sacrificed, we’ll follow him. You and me. I’ll drag you with me. This I vow.”
Color drains from my demon’s face. She shakes her head. “No, no. Let me go. Please, let me go. I don’t want to go back. It’s cold there. Dark. Lonely. I don’t want to go.”
“I’ll make you a deal.”
“Anything.” Her lips quiver. “Anything.”
Smiling, I step closer until the icy vest trapping my demon presses into my chest, then I wrap my arms around her and squeeze. The layer of ice between us melts, then flows around us, locking us together.
Panic flashes across my doppelgänger’s face. “No, no, no! I take it back. I don’t—”
“It’s too late for regrets. We made a deal.” I speak the words against her lips and hug my demon, drawing her inside me until only the cool mist wafts around me.
No evil twin stands before me. No icy prison or snow-packed fissures. No glimpse of Hell.
Green grass spreads out from where I’m standing, even as snow lightly falls on the lush blades. A sense of victory settles over me, knowing I out-tricked my demon, but in the next heartbeat, I turn, leaving this spot behind, and run toward the ceremonial circle while praying to whatever goddess or god will hear me.