Continuing onward from the wolves, the flames disappeared briefly beneath the strap of his tank top. When they reappeared, the tips of the flames licked against the base of his neck but didn’t rise any higher. Hints of black beneath the tank made it seem as if there was more on his chest, but the only way to know was to see him with his shirt off—a prospect that was both scary and mouthwatering.
Unable to see any more of the tattoo, my gaze traveled to the tattoo on his right arm. Like his left arm, this one also started at his fingertips and encompassed his entire arm. It didn’t involve wolves but was made up entirely of black flames all the way to the base of his neck, just like his left side. I thought I saw something more within the flames, some strange symbols or something, but I was too far away to make out what they were.
Sensing his eyes upon me again, I lifted my gaze to his and jutted my chin out. His face remained impassive as he stared at me, but I felt his intense scrutiny. I had no idea where this man had come from, but he was unlike anyone I’d ever seen before. Even his name was odd.
My attention shifted to Mac when he cleared his throat and began speaking. “I know you’re all wondering why you’re here, and before we begin your training, you will be filled in on some of the details.” My heart thundered at the possibility of finally getting some answers. “As you all know, a war was started in this country thirteen years ago, but what you don’t know is that the war still rages on to this day.
Now he had my complete attention.
“We still fight it every day. You will be amongst those working with us to take back our once great nation from the ongoing and ever-increasing threat against it.”
People shuffled around me; I could feel their distress ratcheting up at the knowledge the war had never ended.
“The war we fight has never been waged against another country, but against an enemy none had ever imagined thirteen years ago.”
What does that mean? Were King Kong or a T. rex running around somewhere out there after all?
“There are creatures out there you never knew existed, that none of us ever knew existed,” Mac continued. Beside him, Kobal shifted. “There are beings out there seeking to destroy us and growing stronger every day. The entire world is facing this growing menace. You will be trained to face this enemy head-on and to protect those who must remain innocent to what resides on this side of the wall.”
Around me, the crowd murmured with each other. My skin crawled at his words, and despite the warmth of the May day, my bones felt chilled. I’d resolved not to look at Kobal again, but my gaze flicked to him. I wasn’t surprised to find his eyes still on me.
“Protected from what?” someone near the front blurted.
The disapproving stare Mac gave the young man caused him to blush and look away. Turning his attention back to the crowd, Mac focused on us once more. “From demons that walk the earth, demons from Hell itself.”
I heard a few scoffs from those around me, some murmured “He’s insane,” and a couple gasped. Nervous laughter moved through the group, some of them having decided Mac must have been kidding. I continued to watch Kobal, standing there with his hands clasped behind his back. Why did he keep staring at me? I could feel him sizing me up, but why? What was he expecting from me?
I didn’t know what to make of what Mac had revealed. He looked as if he actually meant what he’d said, but it simply could not be possible. Places like Heaven and Hell didn’t exist, and if they did, neither spawned creatures that would attack Earth and blow things up. Did they?
Mac didn’t try to calm the crowd again; instead, he turned and gestured toward someone, or something I couldn’t see. Then, the soldiers gathered behind him parted to allow others to move forward.
And others was the best way I could think to describe them. I somehow managed to keep my mouth shut as people, or not quite people, spread out to stand before us. I remained leaning against the wall, but inwardly my heart plummeted. My mind screamed denials at me, and my feet were ready to run away, but I remained where I was as my eyes scanned over the fifteen or so new arrivals standing beside Kobal.
They were all so different in appearance from us and from each other. Some of them were truly disturbing looking with their tails, razor-sharp teeth, and horns the size of baseball bats. Others were extremely handsome or, in the case of the woman with the bright red hair and reddish skin, stunning.
Then, my eyes slid back to Kobal. And in his case, I realized, he was fascinating.
***
Kobal
I watched River carefully as she took in Mac’s words. Her forehead furrowed, but she still showed no signs of apprehension as Corson, Bale, and the others stepped forward to reveal themselves. Some of the new volunteers gasped loudly, all of them took a step or two back. Soldiers hemmed them in on all sides, making sure none of them ran off as they had in the past. A few screams went through the crowd, and more than a dozen of them began to cry.
After the years I’d spent working around humans, I’d become accustomed to reactions such as these. I didn’t usually come to the new arrival greetings anymore, as I’d seen enough of them over the years. Corson was right about the crying and screaming being annoying, but the humans would adapt; they had no choice. By the end of the month, they would be far more comfortable with everything they would learn and see today.
I’d come today to see her. It was her reaction intriguing me most. Her gaze flickered over everyone, lingering upon Bale before sliding back to me. I saw the realization in her eyes as they ran over me before meeting and holding my gaze. She was the strangest human I’d ever encountered, and I couldn’t stop watching her and trying to gauge her thoughts.
“Silence!” Mac commanded in a loud, clear voice. The crowd quieted, but sniffles still sounded as some of them stifled their sobs. “I know this is difficult for all of you to understand and accept. It’s a lot to take in, but you volunteered to be here for this. The demons you see before you will help train you and will teach you some of the dangers you can expect to find out here in the wilds.”
River’s eyes went past me toward the rolling land beyond my shoulder. She had no way of knowing what was really out there, not yet anyway, but she would learn; they all would. If they were lucky enough, they would survive it, but if she was the one we’d been searching for these last four years, her chances were slim; most wouldn’t survive what would have to be done in order to use her.
“Now that you’ve been better informed, it’s time for your training to begin,” Mac continued. “First things first, run.”
When no one moved, Mac stepped forward and pointed to the right. “Now!” he barked.
The volunteers all jumped, a few burst into tears again. The soldiers who had been fencing them in fell back to give them room to run past them. Some of the volunteers walked forward, others remained mulling around aimlessly, but when Mac yelled at them again and the soldiers stepped forward to push them on, they all broke into a slow jog.
Except for one. She remained where she was, leaning against the wall, her striking eyes watching the volunteers fall into line amid a bunch of yelling soldiers who would lead them on a five mile run. She turned and started walking toward Mac’s house.
“Ms. Dawson, where do you think you’re going?” Mac called after her.
“To sleep, hopefully,” she muttered the last word under her breath, but I heard it.
“Not today.”
She turned back to him and lifted her hand to her forehead to shade her eyes from the sun. I tilted my head as I watched her, intrigued by the gleam in her eyes. “And what am I supposed to do today, run?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Ms. Dawson—”
“You took away my freedom, but I’m not about to fall in line like a goddamn—” She winced as her gaze went to the sky and she bit her bottom lip. “Like a child,” she finished.
“You will train with the others. You could be an important part of what we are tr
ying to do here.”
“When you figure that important part out, you let me know. Until then, I’m going back to bed.”
Around me, a couple of demons chuckled. Corson and Bale remained unmoving by my side, raptly watching her.
River went to turn away but Bernadette stepped forward and stopped her. “We could arrange for your brothers to be returned to your mother.”
River froze; her hand fell back to her side. She glared at the woman before turning to look at Mac. “I willingly left with you to keep them away from her.”
“We can do whatever we want. We could even have them brought here,” Bernadette continued.
River’s mouth parted on a breath. Her eyes dilated as they darted over all of us before she gazed at the wilds beyond the houses. She had to have heard the cries last night, and now that she knew we weren’t human, she had to know worse lay beyond the protection of this camp.
“No,” River said. “You can’t do that. They’re all I have… No. You promised they would be safe.”
“Then fall in line,” Bernadette replied.
River took a step forward, not to follow the others as they ran along the wall, but in a hostile advance toward Bernadette. I broke away from the others and strode toward them when I realized River was about to launch herself at the woman.
“It’s all right,” I said to Bernadette as I stepped in between them. “I would like to spend some time with her anyway.”
I almost felt a small amount of pity for her as River gazed helplessly at the rest of us. Almost. While I found her fighting spirit to be amusing, she was going to have to accept her new fate and make her peace with it. We all did, or had to do, things we didn’t want to.
She’d really hate what she would have to do if she was the one we’d been looking for.
CHAPTER 11
River
I couldn’t tear my eyes away from Kobal as he moved around the inside of the tent he’d brought me into. I should be terrified of this man, this demon. Instead, I found myself raptly watching the way his muscles rippled as he moved. Attraction to someone was not something I’d experienced often, but now it swelled within me as I longed to run my fingers over his bronzed skin.
Being torn away from my family had rattled my brain, I decided.
His head nearly brushed against the roof of the tent as he strode around to the chair at the end of the table and pulled it out. “Sit,” he said and gestured to the chair.
“I’d prefer to stand.”
A hint of a smile quirked his full mouth before he walked over and settled into a different chair. “So, River, do you plan to sullenly refuse to do anything for your entire stay here?”
I scowled at him as I folded my arms over my chest. Sullen wasn’t the way I’d gone about my life up to this point, but I had every reason to be more than a little bad-tempered right now. “You mean for the rest of my life? That will be my entire stay here, from what I’ve been led to understand.”
Those entirely black eyes glistened in the light of the lanterns behind him. “You are correct.”
Inwardly, I flinched at his abrupt confirmation of my fate, but I kept my face impassive. I didn’t care what he said, I would figure out a way to see my brothers again.
“I didn’t sign up for this. I’m not going to fall into place because I’m told to,” I said.
“No, your mother signed you up for this.”
I barely managed to stop myself from recoiling as if I’d been slapped. Apparently, Mac had told him what had happened yesterday. Fine, whatever, I was used to how fast word traveled in a small town. I didn’t care who knew my own mother had thrown me to the wolves… or more accurately, demons.
I hated the twinge to my heart caused by the reminder, but I couldn’t deny it. My mother, the woman who had given birth to me, avoided, berated, and abused me throughout my life, had hated me enough to send me somewhere she’d never have to see me again. Had hated me enough to send me somewhere that she had no idea what would become of me.
Bet you didn’t expect this, Mother.
I threw back my shoulders as I held his gaze. “Mac told you.”
“He did.”
I didn’t say anymore as he clasped his hands before him and rested them on the table. My gaze moved to his long, elegant fingers. His fingernails were entirely black, not dirty or painted, but naturally as black as his eyes. It was another difference between us that probably should have disturbed me, but didn’t. Had I somehow lost all sense of self-preservation and reason when they had pulled Bailey from my arms, or was it the man himself —demon, you idiot— making all my fear vanish?
“Why are you not afraid of me?” he inquired.
I tore my gaze away from his hands and met his eyes once more. “Am I supposed to be?”
“Most humans are.”
“I can see why. You’re different; they’re not used to you.”
“You’re not used to me either.”
“I’m not afraid of different,” I replied.
“Because you are different.”
“I’m no different than anyone else.”
“Your mother told Mac you see things.”
He could probably hear my teeth grinding at the reminder of how badly she’d betrayed me.
“She also believed I had the Devil’s eyes, something I’m sure Mac told you too. My mother wasn’t entirely stable.”
“He did, and as I told Mac, I know the Devil personally and your eyes are not the same color as Lucifer’s.”
It took everything I had to keep my mouth shut over that casual comment. He knew the Devil, personally? Holy hell in a handbasket, for the first time I truly realized what I was dealing with. They could parade a bunch of horned, fanged, tailed demons in front of us, but to think of them bumping elbows with the Devil himself made my knees go weak.
“Really?” I asked, unable to stop myself.
“Yes. Perhaps you should sit.” He gestured to the seat I’d refused to take earlier.
This time, I wasn’t stubborn enough to refuse it again. Walking toward him, I settled into the chair across from him, across from a demon.
“Due to the events of thirteen years ago, Lucifer can now walk the earth if he chooses,” he said.
This time, I couldn’t keep my mouth closed. It dropped open so fast I half believed it might dislocate and bang off the table. “That’s possible?” I blurted.
“Anything is possible,” he replied with an air I found far too casual considering the topic.
“Even for Lucifer himself to walk the earth?”
Kobal snorted and rose to his feet; walking over to the sideboard, he pulled a bottle of wine and two gold goblets inlaid with rubies from the cabinets underneath. The lanterns and candles flickering in the tent glinted off the goblets and caused the rubies to glisten like blood. He turned toward me and lifted the bottle of wine in an inquiring gesture. I shook my head no and watched as his large hands elegantly filled his goblet. His hand could probably encompass my entire head; I was struck by the certainty he could squish my skull like a bug.
He settled in across from me again. “He hates the name Lucifer.”
I did a double take at this odd statement. “Why?”
Kobal actually smiled at me to reveal all of his even white teeth as he leaned back in his chair and stretched his long legs before him. I realized his muscles had muscles as they flexed beneath his tank top. “Lucifer actually means shining one, morning star. It was the name he was given before he was cast from Heaven, the place where he once was the shining one. When he settled in Hell, those who called him by that name again were ruthlessly slaughtered.”
“Who would have guessed he’d be so testy about a name.”
“We are what we make ourselves. He wanted no reminder of his former life.”
If it hadn’t been for Gage, Bailey, Lisa, and Asante, I would have completely understood that statement. I loved my small town, but my mother’s betrayal would forever be stamped on my soul, wo
uld forever taint what had once been a fairly happy place for me. Whenever she wasn’t around anyway.
“And what does he prefer to be called?” I asked.
“Satan.”
I leaned forward to take hold of the goblet he’d set before me. I’d never had wine before, but this conversation called for it. His hand engulfed the wine bottle before I could take hold of it. “I will pour it for you,” he murmured.
Settling back in my seat, I watched him as he poured the wine and set the goblet down again. “Polite, for a demon,” I murmured.
“Brave, for a human,” he replied. “Or stupid. Which is it?”
I shrugged and lifted the goblet. It was heavier than I had expected and by far the most expensive and exquisite thing I’d ever held in my life. It may be beautiful, but it wouldn’t fill my belly, so it had little relevance to my life. Unless I melted it down to make hooks out of it, I thought with a smile.
“Maybe a little of both,” I admitted, but I had the insane feeling he wouldn’t hurt me, even if he probably could crumple my body and use me as an accordion if he wanted to.
I took a sip of the red liquid inside the goblet. My nose wrinkled when the bitter taste hit my tongue and slid down my throat.
“It’s an acquired taste,” he informed me.
“Apparently so.”
“There’s many misconceptions about demons, and some truths.”
“Are you going to tell me which is which?” I inquired.
“You’ll learn. We’ll be spending a lot of time together over the coming weeks.”
I didn’t know what to make of that statement. The man may not outright frighten me, but his massive size and demonic nature were more than a little overwhelming. “Why?”
“So that you can be trained properly to protect yourself.”
Good Intentions (The Road to Hell Series, Book 1) Page 8