Wicked Wind (Solsti Prophecy #1)

by Sharon Kay

In one swift movement, Gunnar leapt onto the path in front of the Skell, blocking its way. The creature yipped and whirled to run back the way it had come, but Gunnar grabbed its spindly arm. “What is your business in these woods?” he snarled.

  “J-just on my way home,” the creature said with forced brightness.

  “Quite a round-a-bout way to go home. Try again.”

  The Skell gaped at him, as if it had lost the ability to speak. Then it started thrashing about, trying to get free of Gunnar’s grip. He leaned closer and growled, “Your kind has been causing a lot of trouble for me on Earth. How about you fill me in on what’s going on?”

  “I don’t know anything about the ones on Earth,” it protested, still struggling. “I don’t get to leave Torth.”

  As the smaller demon twisted and flailed, Nicole saw a flash when something fell from its pocket. She darted from her hiding spot in the bush. Gunnar gave her a warning look, but she held up her hand. “Don’t start with me,” she warned. “This guy dropped something.”

  She knelt on the path, running her fingers through the carpet of leaves and flowers, and quickly found what she was looking for. A silver coin. Identical to the one she’d found in the city. Wordlessly, she held it up for Gunnar to see.

  He gripped the Skell by its upper arms. “Who do you work for?”

  “No one.” The creature was a terrible liar.

  “I’ll ask you one more time before I start relieving you of your fingers,” Gunnar hissed, and repeated his question.

  Nicole gulped. Would he really start dismembering the Skell demon? Did he do this kind of thing often? She felt a sudden pang that despite the intimacies they had shared, she didn’t truly know him as well as she should.

  “No one,” the Skell repeated in a barely audible whisper.

  “Wrong answer,” Gunnar grunted, and Nicole jumped as she heard the crunch of bone. Relief washed over her when she saw that he had merely broken its finger, not ripped it off.

  The creature howled. Gunnar glared at it, waiting. He raised its hand as if to repeat the procedure.

  “Wait!” the demon panted. “I don’t know what the Skells on Earth are doing. Truly I don’t. I don’t have the ability to telepath.”

  “But you have this,” Nicole said, still holding the coin.

  “Those are rather rare,” Gunnar growled. “Why don’t you be a good little Skell and tell us where you got it?”

  “I-I f-found it,” the Skell stuttered. “In the forest. Just like you did, j-just now when you picked it up.”

  Nicole raised her eyebrows. These creatures really were incompetent.

  Gunnar shook it by its arms again. “You try my patience, Skell. Where did you get that coin?”

  “I don’t know his name. He has a bunch of these.”

  “What’s his name?”

  The Skell shook its head.

  “Then think harder,” Gunnar hissed and broke another of the demon’s fingers.

  The Skell shrieked and tried to wring its hands, which were hanging limp beneath Gunnar’s punishing grip on its arms. It hung its long gray head. “He’ll kill me.”

  “Then it looks like you’ll see hell soon, because if your master doesn’t kill you then I will.” Gunnar’s voice was icy, calm, and loaded with menace. “Talk.”

  The Skell hesitated.

  “If you don’t feel like sharing then I’ll find another one of your friends who will, and I’ll still learn what I want to know.” Gunnar’s face darkened with rage barely contained. “I don’t have time for your bullshit.” He crunched another finger.

  “Okay!” the demon wailed. “Okay, okay, I’ll tell you. His name is Maeron.”

  “Maeron,” Gunnar repeated. “Now was that so difficult?”

  The Skell sniffled and squirmed.

  “Tell us more about him.”

  “I don’t–” the creature began, but changed his tone at Gunnar’s menacing glare. “I only know a little about him. Just that he has a lot of these coins, and he’s on Earth.”

  “What is his business on Earth?”

  “I just know that he took a lot of Skells there. I don’t know what he wants them to do.”

  “You don’t know?”

  “No,” the creature said. “I really don’t.”

  “You’ve said those words too many times today.” Gunnar slammed one strong hand forward to connect with the demon’s jaw. It immediately slumped in his grip. Gunnar looked at it for a second, then nodded, “He’ll be out for awhile.” He dropped the creature behind a clump of shrubs several yards off the path.

  Nicole watched him wordlessly. She didn’t know whether to be horrified or thrilled at the way he took charge of the situation. He has a job to do. He needed to gather information and keep her safe, both of which he did with remarkable ease. But this wasn’t the first time she had glimpsed the fury that seemed to simmer painfully close to the surface. She itched to dig deeper, to peel back all the layers that made up the impossibly handsome and lethal male before her.

  She knew instinctively that he would never harm her. It defied explanation, the certainty that she was safe as a newborn babe with him. But how much would he share with her? How close would he let her get to the thoughts that kept him up at night?

  Aware that she was staring at him, and unsure of what to say, she blurted, “Are you okay?”

  He looked at her as if she had grown another head. “Yes,” he said evenly, holding her gaze. “Are you?”

  “Yes. So, uh,” she swallowed. “Breaking fingers is all in a days work, huh?”

  He closed the distance between them and gently tilted her chin up. “Nicole, you saw me decapitate and burn several Vipers yesterday. Does this upset you more?”

  “Not exactly. It’s just that today, that...thing seemed kind of pathetic, like it couldn’t actually hurt us. The Vipers were going to kill us, so obviously you had to…kill them.”

  “You’re right. That Skell is pathetic. They all are. And it wasn’t capable of harming us. That’s why I didn’t kill it. But we needed to get any information out of it that we possibly could. And if that involved breaking a few bones, then yeah, that’s my job. And look what we learned–now we know the Domu’s name.” He lightly caressed her cheek, and it wasn’t lost on her that his hand, now so gentle, had recently caused bodily harm to another. “Our world can be vicious, Nicole. Everything has its price. And there are those of us who do what we can to maintain the balance, to keep dark forces from having too much power.”

  Blue eyes gazed down at her. “I realize your introduction to our world has been rather abrupt. I wish it could have been easier for you, but I can’t change it.” He bent low enough so his lips brushed the tip of her ear. “I’ll answer your questions and teach you what I know. And I’ll keep you safe.”

  “I do feel safe with you,” she whispered. She was burningly aware of just how much bigger he was than her, and the barest touch of his mouth sent tingles through her body. Images of their morning shower together flooded her brain. “I’m glad you found me.”

  He started to say something, but his words died on his lips as she tugged his mouth down to meet hers. She wound her arms around his neck and pressed her body against his, needing to feel his strength and heat. Tenderly, his lips moved over hers before she felt him smile.

  He looked down at her with twinkling eyes, and she felt a flutter at seeing the adorable dimples framing his grin. He shouldn’t be adorable. He was a demon, for heavens sake.

  “Such a temptress,” he said softly, tracing the contours of her lips. “But not here. You deserve better.”

  She smiled up at him. “I see the gentleman has returned.”

  “Yes, and the gentleman will have trouble walking for a bit.”

  “I’ll make it feel better later,” she whispered. That earned her a smack on her bottom and a sly grin.

  “Let’s go. And don’t worry about the Skell. His bones will be healed by the time he wakes up.”

  They
continued walking, the oaks giving way to a wide variety of trees that towered overhead. Small purple flowers, as well as pink roses on crawling vines, covered the forest floor. She stopped to take a closer look at the deep fuchsia petals, then jumped backward when the biggest cricket she had ever seen leapt out from the blooms. Gunnar chuckled at her and she tried to glare at him, but ended up smiling instead. Her body hummed with thoughts of what she was going to do to him later, when they were out of these beautiful but dangerous woods.

  A sudden sense of foreboding pricked the back of her neck, and she realized her thoughts about the woods were too accurate. Gunnar whisked her off the path when she heard several thuds. It sounded like something–or several somethings–had just landed all around them, trapping them on the trail. She stared at the beasts directly ahead of them and barely managed to stifle a scream.

  There stood two red-skinned creatures, as tall and muscular as Gunnar, but with bulging eyes and horns protruding from their bald heads. They looked like some diabolical monsters from a comic book, but these were very real. As she stared in horror, one of them opened its mouth and hissed in a gravelly voice, “Lash and fae! Don’t bother running.” Its face broke into a sinister grin. “Or we’ll shred your skin so slowly that you’ll wish you hadn’t.”

  CHAPTER 10

  “SHIT. GHAZSUL DEMONS.” Gunnar sensed two more behind them. Raniero was right about these woods being more dangerous than before, because Ghazsuls didn’t live anywhere around here. The Ghazsul demons didn’t fight as well as the Lash or even the Vipers. They had decent skills with a blade, but thankfully they didn’t use arrows. Gunnar and Nicole were outnumbered. His heart hammered with the challenge to protect Nicole and fend off all four of them at the same time.

  Gunnar pushed Nicole behind him and hurled a ball of demonfire at the nearest Ghazsul. It dodged to one side, avoiding a direct hit, but the fire singed and popped along its thick upper arm. It hissed and glared at the black streak of sizzling flesh on its bicep, then turned to Gunnar.

  “Everything you do to us, Lash,” it growled, “we will do twice as slowly and twice as painfully. To her.”

  “Like hell you will.” Gunnar turned to Nicole. “Stay back. Use your dagger if you have to, but keep out of this!” He needed her to listen. The primal need to protect her filled him, taking over his senses. He vowed to keep her safe, no matter the cost to him. His life, though immortal, was expendable. Her life was extraordinary, a rare light brought into the world for the purpose of saving it.

  Long-buried visions sprang unbidden into his head, making him shake with rage. Ghazsuls grinning as throats were slashed. Screams heard and innocent blood shed as a sunny day morphed into a living nightmare. His family’s anguished cries. A frightened child who lost everything.

  A familiar rush surged through his veins, filling him with the red haze of rage. His rational mind slipped under as the fury of a berserker took control, and his single focus became killing the red-skinned demons. He would end their lives, one after another, until he eliminated the threat to his female. Calm and logic would return when he destroyed the demons, and when Nicole no longer stood paralyzed with fear. Only then would he be able to pull back from the precipice of destruction on which he balanced. Only then would the man she knew be able to speak gently to her, to hold her in his arms.

  With a snarl of fury he launched himself at the Ghazsul whose arm was still smoking. It leapt up at the last minute, his feet connecting with its chest. It stumbled back but didn’t fall, and that gave Gunnar a split second to whirl and plunge his sword into its side. Black liquid spurted out, making the ground slick beneath them. The Ghazsul cursed loudly and swung its own blade at Gunnar, who had to duck low to the ground and roll to avoid it.

  He paused, letting the Ghazsul creep closer even as its black blood continued to flow from its red body. At just the right moment, Gunnar drew upon his Lash speed and sliced upward, opening its belly completely. He followed it with a ball of fire, exploding the Ghazsul into burning bits of flesh and tissue along the forest floor.

  The next demon sprinted toward him. Gunnar stood his ground.

  “You would like to see her disemboweled, then?” It leered at him. “We’ll keep you alive long enough to watch.”

  For a split second he was back in that awful place, frozen, watching the slaughter of those he cared for. But his childhood was far behind him. Gunnar roared and charged the demon. No longer capable of speech, he swung his sword mercilessly, landing blow after blow on the Ghazsul’s torso. It grunted and drew ragged breaths at Gunnar’s assault, its sword arm hanging low.

  The tip of his sword sliced the demon’s bicep. It let out a deafening, agonized bellow and howled something in another language to one of the Ghazsuls behind him. At the same time, Nicole shrieked.

  He turned to see her struggling as one of the demons held her tightly against its chest, its claw-tipped fingers tearing the flesh of her bicep. Her arm reddened as the sweet scent of her blood filled the air. The demon’s face contorted into a hideous grin as a set of black leathery wings appeared from its back. Gunnar stared, stunned. When the fuck had Ghazsuls gained wings, let alone the skill to magically hide them and produce them when needed?

  Nicole’s anguished cries snapped him back to the moment, just before the demon in front of him took another swing. He pivoted, avoiding its blade. Renewed fury burst through his body as he surged forward. The Ghazsul stumbled on the uneven ground of the path, and Gunnar took the opportunity to sever its head.

  He looked up as the leaves in the trees rustled. The Ghazsul held Nicole in an iron grip, and it was rising off the ground, its wings beating slowly with the vertical take-off. Through the haze of rage, Gunnar’s tactical mind sprang to life. Unless she had moved the dagger from its holster on her leg, Nicole wouldn’t be able to retrieve it to stab the Ghazsul. But she could do something else.

  “Nicole! Bring it down!” he bellowed. He didn’t know if she would be able to understand him. His voice didn’t sound the same, even to himself. His ears buzzed, red clouded his vision, and his body hummed with battle rage. Nothing about him would be familiar to her right now. He prayed she would trust him, that she would not be afraid of what he looked like. He only knew that if she could force the air around the demon’s wings to bring it closer to him, then he had a chance to free her.

  Pain seared Nicole’s arm, radiating down through her entire body. The nightmarish creature held her so tightly that her skin felt the prick of each one of its claws, and the more she struggled, the more they dug in. She was sure the ones that Gunnar had fought didn’t have wings. Her heart hammered in her chest as she looked to Gunnar for help. His blazing eyes locked onto hers, his voice roaring a command that she couldn’t understand. Her blood turned icy as the creature’s wings pushed upward, creating air currents in their wake…

  In a flash of clarity, she understood. I can prevent this thing from flying! She grabbed at the air currents with her mind, turning them into powerful gusts that rocked the demon back and forth. It grunted and pushed harder.

  Nicole reached for the breezes that swayed the branches higher in the trees, turning them into gales and bringing them forcefully downward. Her arm was on fire, but she pushed aside the pain as determination sung through her blood. The Ghazsul demon’s feet bumped the ground and it stumbled, nearly falling on her as it clutched her tightly. She continued to force the wind against its wings from behind. It let out a roar of rage as it struggled. She had precious few minutes and hoped fervently that Gunnar was right behind them.

  A flash of silver confirmed her hopes as her warrior’s blade sliced down through one of the Ghazsul’s black wings. It screeched and released her. She ran for the area behind Gunnar, figuring that would be the safest spot, but the last of the red demons grabbed her before she got far. She yelped as it grasped her injured arm. Its wings were raised, their span even greater than that of its kin. Her fear turned to anger. Nicole mentally dared it to try to fly away
with her.

  She turned back to watch Gunnar, looking for a way to help him. Not that he needed it.

  His blue eyes glowed with an inner fire brighter than any she had seen in him before. His gaze seemed simultaneously far away and resolutely focused on fighting the red-skinned demons before him. The angles of his face had grown harsher. His mouth curled into a vicious snarl and, inside, his teeth appeared longer and sharper. The tips of his fingers sprouted honest-to-goodness claws. He looked like a different, more frightening version of himself. The feral growls that came from his mouth sounded nothing like the sensual timbre she had been listening to for days.

  His eyes shone as he struck relentlessly at the Ghazsul. It tried unsuccessfully to fold its wings, and now the injured wing hung at an odd angle, dragging on the ground like an unwieldy limb. The Ghazsul struck out, reaching for Gunnar’s vulnerable core, but it missed and sliced its blade across his thigh. Blood spurted from the wound, but Gunnar only grunted and kept moving.

  It seemed an eternity that Gunnar’s sword clashed and clanged against the Ghazsul’s. Neither one gave in. Riveted by the battle, Nicole worried that Gunnar’s strength wouldn’t last. He had already fought off two of the things, but the Ghazsul had incurred a more grievous injury to its wing. Then again, Gunnar seemed to have barely broken a sweat. Maybe whatever made his eyes glow so brightly, whatever had changed his features, gave him extra stamina.

  As he swung methodically at the Ghazsul, she saw that in his other hand he held a shorter blade. He struck the red demon in the thigh, slicing through muscle and down to the bone, making the creature waver. In the instant that the Ghazsul hesitated, Gunnar plunged the dagger into its neck and dragged it lengthwise, then drew his sword along the path that his dagger had taken. Black blood flew as the Ghazsul’s scream was cut short, its head already falling to the ground.

  Gunnar whirled to face her and the last Ghazsul, who still clutched her upper arms. She had the fleeting thought that she should be feeling faint from blood loss, but she wasn’t. Maybe Gunnar was right–maybe being a Solsti had given her some enhanced healing abilities after all.