“I’m nothing like him!” I spat.
“We shall see. I wonder what else you can do.”
“River!” Corson’s bellow drew both of our gazes as he charged out from the other corner of the diner. His talons were fully extended, dripping florescent green blood onto the asphalt as he ran. The blood covered his clothes and hair. The other two demons were nowhere in view, and judging by the look of Corson, they wouldn’t be coming back either.
Azote rose to tower above me. He raised his hands and flung Corson back, pinning him to the wall of the diner. Bursts of gunshots rang out from the area where I’d left the others. I turned to find the three of them standing at the end of the alley with their guns raised. The monster before me spun, his hand flying up. I watched in dismay as the bullets slicing through the air, froze inches before his face.
“Your friends don’t realize I already have you and I don’t care if they live or not.” With a flick of his wrist, the bullets turned and sped away faster than my mortal eye could see.
“Run!” I screamed at them, but they were already fleeing into the shadows of the trucks.
A pain-filled scream rang out from the darkness. With Azote’s attention distracted from me, I jerked to the side and swung my legs out. My feet caught Azote at his ankles and knocked him back. Flames erupted at the ends of my fingers. Lifting my hand, I threw another burst at his back, but he spun around, flinging it away with his wing and sending it spiraling into the night.
“You’re lucky he wants you alive!” he spat at me.
I managed to scramble back to my feet and made it two steps before something hit me again. I cried out, my hands hitting the ground and barely keeping me up as more blood trickled from my scraped knees.
Across the way, I caught a glimpse of Corson pulling himself off the building and struggling forward. His steps were sluggish, his body bent forward and his arms out before him as he pushed onward against the invisible barrier trying to hold him back.
I pressed my hand against the asphalt, taking a deep breath as I tried to calm my rioting emotions. Fear fueled the fire, but intense emotion was what I had to draw on to dig into the life force flowing all around me. Unfortunately, fear was at the forefront of my emotions right now.
Taking another deep breath, I closed my eyes as I sought the vast conduit of life flowing through the earth. The thick slab of asphalt beneath me blocked some of its flow, but a spark flared across my fingertips.
Kobal had once said this would be my most powerful weapon, and though I’d gotten better at wielding it, I couldn’t get the flow of life to build further in me as terror coursed through my body in jolting bursts.
Azote turned back to me, his gaze landing on the golden-white sparks dancing across the tips of my fingers. The look of longing that filled his face was so raw it stole my breath. He groaned in anguish as a tremor worked through him.
I’d once speculated that Lucifer had become so twisted and ruthless because he’d somehow lost his connection to the innate flow of life all the angels felt. Looking at Azote’s face now, I knew I’d been right.
Maybe the fall from Heaven had started the corruption of the angels, but the severing of their link to all living things had completely broken them. Which meant Lucifer may have been telling the truth about me after all. I could become evil; the possibility was within me.
Azote’s gaze came back to me. The awe and yearning faded away to be replaced with a look of hatred so deep it rocked my soul.
“It’s true!” he hissed.
I swung my other hand up, and with a scream, released another ball of fire. I was tired of these pricks, every last one of them. He raised his hand up to knock the ball away, but it still caught hold of his sleeve and licked toward his face. While he was distracted by the flames, I rolled over and leapt to my feet.
Just keep running.
I didn’t look back as I ran; I was almost to the edge of the parking lot when I felt a hand grasp my neck. I didn’t have time to blink before I was lifted off my feet.
***
Kobal
At the top of the hill, my breath rushed in and out of me as I looked down upon the brightly lit truck stop less than half a mile below me. Moving too fast, I’d left Bale behind, but I knew she was coming. A burst of flame drew my attention to where River lay on the asphalt at the feet of someone I couldn’t make out against the fire coming from her hands.
River scrambled to her feet, fleeing across the lot. Corson staggered forward, seemingly released from some invisible barrier that had been holding him back. He raced for the one who had been attacking River, his claws out as he leapt up and drove his hand down. The flames extinguished and whoever it was spun to face him. River’s attacker screamed in agony when Corson’s talons tore through their side.
Corson swung up again, but without even moving a muscle, River’s attacker threw Corson into the air and away from them. Corson hit the pavement and skidded backward on his ass toward the building. Spinning back around, the creature went after River once more.
I almost bellowed her name before biting it back. I’d give anything to let her know I was coming for her, but right now, I couldn’t give up the element of surprise.
I was halfway down the hill when I realized her attacker wasn’t a demon but the fallen angel, Azote. His black wings briefly fluttered when he turned his back to me and his silver hair shimmered in the light flowing over him. His hand encircled River’s neck, lifting her off her feet. Rage caused flames to erupt from my hands and circle my wrists. No one would ever treat her in such a way and live to tell about it.
My muscles swelled and heaved as the hounds clamored to get to her. Able to move faster than me, they would reach her before I could. Throwing my left arm out, a surge of power slid over my body and down to my fingertips when I set them free. The female, Phenex, erupted from me first in a ball of fire. Flames encircled her as she hit the earth, even her eyes held fire when she lifted her head to look at me. Crux, her mate, followed closely behind her.
Turning away from me, the hounds became surging balls of fire that vibrated the ground with their heavy leaps and bounds as they ran across the earth toward River. Flames and sparks trailed behind them, growing dimmer as the fire enveloping them began to extinguish itself.
Azote pulled River back and tossed her away from him. She bounced across the asphalt before staggering back to her feet and taking a few sideways steps. Falling to the ground, she crawled forward until she made it to the edge of the parking lot. With his hands clasped behind his back, Azote whistled as he strolled after her, playing with her like a cat with a mouse. Azote hadn’t seen the hounds yet as his back remained to them, but when he did this game would end and he would do what he could to take River away from here.
She threw herself forward, her hand falling onto the earth. I saw her body shudder as her head lifted and her eyes widened at the hounds barreling down the hill toward her. I should have shown them to her before. She had no way of knowing they were her protectors, not a new attacker.
Azote took another step toward her as she flipped onto her back. Golden-white sparks of light danced across her hand before she turned her palm toward him and released the flow of life she’d harnessed in a powerful blast the likes of which I’d never seen from her before. The stream of light slammed into Azote’s chest, flinging him across the parking lot. His arms flailed in the air before he crashed onto the pavement. He skidded on his back into one of the gas pumps.
My heart soared at River’s growing ability to wield her lethal power at the same time it sank. Her ability was effective against the fallen angels.
Which meant it would work against Lucifer; she could face him.
The hounds raced past River with a bellowing howl that rattled the windows of the truck stop and reverberated the ground beneath my feet. Azote rose to his feet just as Phenex reared back on her powerful hind legs and leapt forward.
CHAPTER 26
River
I lay, gaping at where I’d flung Azote into the gas pumps. Small bursts of sparks continued to arc through my fingers as he started to climb back to his feet. The ground beneath me quaked from the impact of the beasts I’d seen racing toward us.
My heart thundered at the sudden appearance of this new enemy. My body was more bruised and battered than it had ever been before. I’d just had my ass handed to me by an angel, and now I’d have to fight off these new creatures too.
The beasts howled as they rushed past me, rattling my eardrums and causing some of the ghosts inside the truck stop to flit away from the windows. I’d never seen anything so amazing or impressive as the dying flames trailing behind the massive creatures.
Azote regained his feet a second before the first one leapt at him. The creature’s mouth was wide open and its six-inch hooked claws were ready to rip into Azote’s flesh. The beast pounced on him, sinking its fangs into Azote’s forearm. It then began to roll across the pavement like an alligator in a death roll with Azote hanging out of its mouth.
The other creature stopped to watch the action with a tilt of its head before it changed direction and charged toward me. I scrambled backward on my elbows before staggering to my feet. They had been set on attacking Azote when they’d first arrived, but maybe they were as indiscriminate about who they killed as the madagans had been. My hands flew up, ready to blast this thing away from me, but before it reached me, it spun around to stand directly between Azote and me.
I stood gawking at the creature as it roared again, revealing fangs that would make a sabre-tooth tiger cower. Its sleek black coat shone as its hackles rose and the front of its body hunched down a little. The brilliant amber of its eyes reminded me of…
Kobal!
My head shot up, and my eyes scanned the road, but because of the complete darkness out there and the brilliant light before me, I could barely see fifty feet away from me. He was out there somewhere, he had to be, and these were the hounds he’d told me he harbored within him.
Hellhounds. As I stared at the gigantic head before me, I could see exactly why they were called that. It had a head that looked like a wolf’s, but a prehistoric wolf, one who could shred a T-Rex. Its head came up to my chin and its broad shoulders were at my chest.
This thing could crush me with one blow, but it stayed in front of me, its claws clicking on the pavement as it prowled back and forth, eager to join the fight. The other one had pinned Azote; its claws curled into his stomach to tear into the sensitive flesh. It had to be excruciating, but Azote didn’t make a sound as his hands held open the jaws trying to clamp down on his head.
I didn’t see it, but I felt the blast of power Azote released to launch the hound off of him. The creature skidded across the earth and crashed against the side of the building. More ghosts zipped away from the windows before returning to cautiously peer out again.
The hound before me released a hair-raising snarl and launched forward at the same time something leapt out of the shadows beyond the pumps to land on Azote’s back. It took me a second to recognize Kobal as his face was twisted into a mask of pure fury and his eyes burned amber fire. Despite my concern for him, relief and love swelled within me. He was okay; he was here.
Fire licked up his wrists and across his forearms and shoulders. The tips of his four fangs glistened before he sank them into Azote’s throat. Azote screamed; his hands beat over his head in an attempt to dislodge Kobal. Releasing his bite on Azote’s neck, Kobal spit out the chunk of flesh he’d torn from him.
His claws tore across Azote’s chest, slicing open flesh and spilling more blood onto the ground. The hounds paced anxiously before him, their tails swishing as the scent of Azote’s blood permeated the air. Kobal seized Azote’s throat, lifted him off the ground, and then smashed him into the asphalt.
Azote released another blast of telekinetic power I could feel from where I stood. Kobal’s hold on him was knocked off and he was propelled a few feet back, but he didn’t go flying across the parking lot like Corson and the hound had. Either Azote was tiring or his power didn’t have the same effect against Kobal.
The hound guarding me pounced on Azote and bit down on Azote’s head. Azote howled; his hands beat against the beast in an attempt to dislodge it. Shaking off the stupor clinging to me since I’d thrown Azote across the parking lot, I pulled my katana from its sheath on my back and ran toward them.
Arriving at Azote’s side, I gripped the handle tight before lifting the katana and swinging it down with all my might. The sword whistled through the air before burying itself into the side of Azote’s neck. I assumed one swing would cleave his head from his body, but it barely sliced more than two inches into him before getting stuck on sinewy muscle.
Azote’s fingers scrabbled at the blade, tearing flesh to the bone. Kobal stepped beside me, nudging me out of the way as he wrapped his hand around the handle and yanked the Katana free. Lifting it up, he swung it down with enough force to slice Azote’s head from his body. The hound swallowed it down in one gulp that caused my stomach to turn.
The katana clattered to the ground when Kobal released it. He grabbed hold of my arm, dragging me against him. The sickness in my belly eased when he wrapped his arms around me, lifting me into his embrace. My arms slid around his neck, and I flattened myself against him as I clung to him. The hounds roamed around us, rubbing against my legs as they dangled in the air over the beasts.
Despite everything that had transpired, my body instinctively reacted to Kobal’s. The overwhelming demand to get closer fell over me like rain. My hands frantically ran over his shoulders and back as I sought to reassure myself he was really here.
“Kobal.” The coppery smell of blood and the stench of gasoline filled my nose, along with his natural, fiery aroma when I buried my face in his neck.
He nuzzled my hair as his lips traveled over my cheek, and his fingers took hold of my chin to turn my mouth to his. My heart beat a staccato rhythm in my chest when his golden eyes blazed down into mine.
Need.
Sensing this, his mouth took ruthless possession of mine in a kiss that seared straight into the core of my soul. His tongue slid against my mouth and his fangs scraped over my lips, drawing blood, but I didn’t care. My fingers slid into his hair, tugging him closer as I felt the rigid evidence of his arousal rising to press tantalizingly against my aching center.
I forgot all about where we were and all my bumps and bruises, as my world became centered on him. He was all I could taste and feel as our breaths mingled together until they were inseparable. My hands fell on his bare shoulders as he grasped my hair and pulled my head back to deepen the kiss.
“Oh,” I sighed against his mouth.
His tongue, heady and demanding, thrust against mine in a powerful dance that left me weak and trembling. I couldn’t get enough of him. I’d refused to allow myself to think I may never see him again, but it had been a constant worry in the back of my mind. Now, I never wanted to let him go.
One of the hounds growled, piercing through the haze of desire and bringing me back to the reality of where we were. Kobal’s breaths were ragged against my lips when he broke the kiss. He stared at me for a minute before lowering me to the ground.
Clasping my face, he cradled it gently within his hands as his black claws retracted. “Are you okay?” I barely recognized the roughness of his voice, the desperation in his eyes.
“I’m fine. The others…” I recalled the cry of pain I’d heard when Azote had turned those bullets back on them. “The others!”
I pulled away from him and turned to find Hawk, Vargas, and Erin standing by the corner of the building. They were all pale, their shadowy eyes hollow, but their shoulders were thrust back proudly. Vargas had his hand clamped against his upper arm, and blood trickled from between his fingers, but the others appeared unharmed as the three of them walked over to join us.
Corson stepped beside Azote’s body and kicked one of the black wings until it flopped onto
the ground. “This was a big blow to Lucifer. He just lost one of his higher-up angels.”
Though Azote was dead, Kobal positioned himself in between me and the angel. His body was rigid as his chest brushed against my arm and he stared at the mutilated body. “I know.”
I’d thought he’d be happier about that development. Instead, he had the look of someone about to attend a wake. He lifted his eyes to meet Corson’s gaze. Something traveled between the two of them, but before I could question him on it, Erin spoke.
“That was an angel?” she asked in a choked voice.
“Azote,” I murmured. “One of the angels who fell with Lucifer.”
Kobal’s eyebrows drew together sharply. “How do you know who he was?”
I glanced at him before looking back at the black blood flowing from Azote’s neck. “I just knew, somehow.”
I decided to wait until we were alone before telling him everything Azote had said and the reaction he’d had to the sparks dancing across my fingers. Sparks which had affected him far more than my fire had. I understood what had Kobal so on edge as I realized I would most likely be able to use my ability against Lucifer too. Kobal and Corson had already arrived at this conclusion.
Did I dare get that close to Lucifer in order to use my ability to wield life against him? I didn’t fear him, and I didn’t fear death; I didn’t want to die, but I would die to save those I loved and countless others if I had to. However, I worried Lucifer may somehow be able to turn me to his way. He must know what had severed the angels’ bond to the flow of life. Could he do it to me?
It didn’t matter. We still had a lot of distance to travel before we got to that point. I’d worry about it when we were closer to the gateway to Hell. Now, I had to be concerned about making it there. Turning, I surveyed the road, but saw no trucks driving down it. I spotted Bale as she jogged out of the shadows and across the lot toward us.
Carved (The Road to Hell Series, Book 2) Page 18