Good Intentions (The Road to Hell Series, Book 1)

by Brenda K. Davies

Kobal had been scarce in my waking life since the day he’d sent me inside the house, but he was the one who stepped across from me on the training field now. I tried not to blush as I recalled his gaze on me in the window and the way I’d touched myself in front of him.

  I should be mortified, but I wasn’t. Instead, I found myself wanting to step closer to slide my fingers inside his shirt, then over those chiseled abs as I’d imagined doing last night.

  “Are you ready for this?” he inquired in his deep voice.

  His eyes raked over me in a way that caused my nipples to harden. I had to fight not to lick my lips. What was freaking wrong with me?

  I thrust my chin out as I tried to retain my composure. “More than ready.”

  “Do you think you can see my moves before they come again?”

  “We’re about to find out. If I can, hopefully, it will be with my ribs and lungs still intact.”

  A smile tugged at the corners of his full mouth. “That would be preferable. You’ve been out of it for a bit, so we’ll take it easy at first.”

  “I’m fine,” I insisted, not in the mood to be babied. No, I had to be so tired by the end of today that I could barely walk; otherwise, I would never rest without visions of this man playing in my head.

  Lifting my hands, I got into a fighter’s stance, staying on the balls of my feet as we danced around each other. He took a couple of swats at me that I deflected with ease. I tried to relax, tried to let my mind go free in order to tap into the visions that could roll so easily through me sometimes, but I felt nothing as we continued to move around each other.

  I took a few swipes at him, nearly connecting with his chin, but he dodged me. He honed in on me, his movements becoming more aggressive and demanding. It wasn’t some mystical power or whatever flowing through me that helped me deflect his hands, it was the training I’d endured before I’d been injured.

  I could feel the heat of his body against mine and smell the fiery scent of him. The sensation of his skin brushing over mine became overwhelming. All I wanted was to touch him, to run my tongue over his sweat-dampened skin as I tasted him.

  My head spun as he filled my entire world until there was nothing but his skin against mine and his scent in my nostrils. I felt dizzy with the sensation; my breath came in rapid pants. Then I realized that though I could see him, everyone else on the field had faded away; the wails were finally silenced as I stood alone with him on the field.

  Bewilderment filled his eyes as he stopped coming at me to stare around the strangely empty landscape. The green grass blew in the warm June breeze beneath my feet and the hills rolled endlessly onward around us, but there was no longer a wall, or people, or homes; there was only us.

  Confusion swirled through me. I had no idea what I’d done, but somehow I knew I had pulled him into this alternate reality with me.

  Slowly, his gaze came back to me, but I didn’t meet it. My attention was focused on the hill behind him as what I could only describe as monsters burst over the top of it from the direction of the wilds. They barreled toward us, their four stubby legs carrying their plump bodies faster than I would have assumed possible given their awkward build.

  There was something about them that reminded me of a boar, maybe it was their shape or maybe it was the giant tusk sticking out the center of their foreheads, but they were far more hideous than any boar I’d ever seen a picture of. Their skin, a mottled red and black, shone in the sunlight beating down on them. Plumes of smoke or something like it shot from the blowhole in the top of their extended, rounded skulls. Cloven hooves left dents in the ground and beat out a pounding rhythm as they carried the monsters over the earth.

  “What are those?” I whispered.

  “Madagans,” Kobal replied. “The beasts.”

  “They’re coming.”

  The minute the words left my mouth, the almost dream-like world I’d created slipped away, and I found myself standing face to face with Kobal. He blinked and shook his head as his gaze drifted over the people and noises surrounding us once more. The sounds of flesh hitting flesh, steel clashing against steel, and grunts filled the air. They all continued as if nothing had happened, completely oblivious to Kobal and me standing there.

  Beyond the sounds of training and fighting was the noticeable lack of the wails.

  Kobal’s focus came back to me; he seemed to be trying to assess me and figure out what had just happened. Maybe if he figured it out, he would let me know. His head turned toward the hill, his nostrils flaring as he scented the air.

  “They’re coming,” I said again.

  He gave a brisk nod that caused a lock of hair to fall into his eye. “Yes. Everyone be prepared!” he bellowed. Those closest to us jumped away from him, and others glanced around in confusion. Lifting his hands, he cupped them around his mouth as he looked toward the wall. “Arm the wall!”

  Through the town, the streets exploded with commotion. The shine of the sun reflecting on rifle scopes could be seen as people on the wall lifted their guns. Kobal spun back toward me as the first of the creatures I’d seen in my vision burst over the horizon. Frightened shouts came from some of the volunteers surrounding us. They were used to beating on each other and shooting at targets; they weren’t prepared for something like what was coming at them.

  And, truthfully, neither was I. My pulse picked up at the sight of them, and my stomach plummeted. We didn’t have any guns with us, but as soon as I realized it, shots rang out from the wall. Dirt exploded in front of the monsters barreling toward us. One of them squealed as it tumbled forward and slid to the ground. Plumes of dirt skidded up in front of it as its heavy body slid down the hill.

  “Stay close to me.” Kobal pushed me behind him. “Get in line behind us!” he shouted at the others as more gunfire echoed over the land.

  Soldiers from the town were running up the hill to help, but the first wave of beasts had already reached us. More screams resonated as the creatures launched themselves into the air. I cried out when the first one slammed into Kobal, knocking him back a step. I leapt forward to try to help him, but he seized the four-foot-long creature and held it dangling in front of him. The stubby legs kicked in the air as awful, high-pitched squeals rang from it. The screams and gunshots filling the air echoed in my eardrums.

  Still holding the madagan within his grasp, I watched as Kobal drove his hands inward, crushing the sides of the hideous creation. More of the monsters leapt forward, but the demons managed to keep them away from us.

  Kobal tossed aside the crushed body of the madagan and turned to take on the next one. At least fifty of them had come over the top of the hill; it was only a matter of time before the demons fighting with us were outnumbered.

  Morax fell back with a shout as one of the madagans drove its tusk through his leg and lifted him up. Verin grabbed hold of him, jerking upward and pulling him free of the tusk, but it had already become the first break in the line. Shax fell back next when one of the madagans lowered its head and barreled through him. His body flew upward, and he flipped head over heels through the air before crashing into the ground.

  Some of the volunteers turned and raced down the hill. Others fell back but didn’t retreat entirely. I tried to see where the swords and other weapons were, but I couldn’t find the box of supplies through the chaos surrounding me. I didn’t know how much good a sword would do against one of these things, but it would be a lot more helpful than only my bare hands.

  Kobal seized another one and flung away the two-hundred-pound monster as if it weighed no more than ten pounds. More creatures leapt forward, knocking back Corson and Bale. They stayed on their feet but more of the madagans broke through the line. I tried to remain close to Kobal, but I found myself being separated from him by people and madagans.

  “Fall back!” Kobal shouted.

  I took a stumbling step away as one of the monsters sprinted around Bale and raced toward me. The ground quaked beneath my feet; the vibrations rattled my tee
th as large plumes of smoke burst from the top of its head.

  “River, run!” Kobal bellowed.

  All I wanted was to sprint away from here, but there would be no outrunning this thing. Adrenaline rushed through me, and my heart leapt into my throat as those beady red eyes latched onto me like I was waving a red flag at it. Screams resonated around me as the beast reeled back on its hind legs and flung itself into the air. I raised my hands to do I don’t know what, grab it, punch it, I had no idea, but the gesture had been instinctive.

  The monster was almost on top of me when I felt a crackle of something surge through my body. Heat pooled into my hands, and before I realized what was happening, fire burst from my palms. A hideous squeal erupted from the madagan when it landed head first, ten feet back in the direction it had come from. Its stubby feet kicked in the air as flames licked over its body; its skin popped and its body blackened as the fire consumed its flesh.

  Around me, I felt a current of shock, but it was nothing compared to the disbelief that went through me. Even knowing the odd things I was able to do, I had never truly believed that I’d been the one to set those curtains on fire all those years ago. I had thought it was a fluke. Apparently, I’d been completely wrong.

  Turning my hands toward me, I gawked at the unmarred flesh of my palms. Where moments ago there had been flames, now there was nothing but smooth hands. I felt no heat coming from my skin and saw no signs they’d just set fire to that hideous monster, but the smoking pile of bones across from me proved they had.

  “River, watch out!”

  Kobal’s shout drew my attention away from my hands and back toward the chaos of the day. I spotted two more madagans coming at me. I didn’t have time to react before a pair of arms wrapped around my waist. The impact of Kobal’s body crashing into mine knocked us both backward. He turned as we fell to the ground, taking most of the impact with his shoulder as we bounced across the unyielding earth. The air was knocked out of my lungs and I gasped before taking a ragged breath.

  I lay still, trying to catch my breath and staring up at the clear blue sky as the ground shook beneath me. I didn’t have time to get my bearings before he was rolling us rapidly over the grass, further away from the beasts. My head spun and my stomach lurched. I closed my eyes against the spinning to try to calm my growing nausea.

  Finally, he stopped rolling across the earth. I was on the bottom now, pinned beneath his body. I’d often imagined this position with him over the past couple of weeks, but it had been a lot more fun then, and not a life-or-death situation while my stomach threatened to reveal what I’d eaten for breakfast.

  Kobal loomed over me as he hastily brushed aside the strands of hair sticking to my face. The black fingernails that had extended into three-inch-long claws retracted as he touched me. I blinked at him, my heart lurching when I saw his eyes. They were no longer the color of night, but a vibrant, amber gold with a black pupil in the center of the golden iris. They were more like human eyes now with the pupil and whites surrounding the iris, but they reminded me more of a wolf’s eyes as they burned into mine.

  “Are you injured?” he demanded.

  I was so focused on those startling eyes and the four fangs I could now see when he spoke that I didn’t answer. Two long fangs had extended from his upper canines and another set had risen from his bottom canines. They were so extremely wolf-like that I found my gaze going to the intricate tattoo on his left arm.

  “River!” he yelled, his voice harsher than I’d ever heard it before.

  “Fine,” I finally muttered. “I’m fine.”

  His hands stilled on my face as he stared at me. His fingers gently grasped hold of my chin. Those impossibly golden eyes were turbulent as they flickered over my face and his grip on my chin squeezed subtly.

  Climbing off me, he took hold of my hand and helped me to my feet. I looked toward where the creatures had come from, but the ones who weren’t already dead were turning and running back up the hill. Bullets pummeled the earth behind them, kicking up grass and dirt.

  Kobal stepped closer to my side, his chest pressing against my arm when Mac arrived, panting beside us. Mac’s gaze ran over me before going to the still smoldering body of the one I’d barbequed.

  “It’s her, isn’t it?” Mac demanded.

  The way he spoke about me, as if I wasn’t there, rankled, and I found myself glaring at the man I’d come to like during my time here.

  Kobal’s hand folded possessively around my elbow. “She’ll be staying with us from now on.”

  My head shot toward him. “What? Why?”

  Kobal ignored my questions and instead turned toward Bale as she jogged over to us. Her green eyes focused on me when she arrived. “Make sure everything is taken care of here,” Kobal commanded.

  She barely glanced at him before responding. “I will.”

  Corson and Shax walked over to stand beside Kobal, their eyes darting from him to me and back again. I thrust back my shoulders as I met their inquisitive stares. They said something to him in some language I couldn’t understand; it sounded guttural, foreign, and ancient. It made my head spin more.

  It’s their language.

  Kobal snapped something at them and they bowed their heads before hurrying away. “Come with me,” he ordered and tugged on my elbow.

  “It doesn’t sound like you’re giving me much of a choice,” I muttered as he propelled me across the ground toward the cluster of tents on the hill.

  “I’m not,” he retorted.

  I shot him a fierce look as I struggled to keep pace with his relentless strides. The color of his eyes had faded back to their midnight color. I could still see the outline of his fangs against the inside of his mouth though. Reaching the tent, he threw back the flap and gestured for me to enter first. The rustle of the flap sliding into place caused a strange sense of finality to descend over me.

  I turned toward him as he loomed in front of the exit, his arms folded over his chest while his gaze surveyed me from head to toe. I swallowed heavily, uncertain of what to expect or what had happened. One minute, I’d been going about my training, trying not to throw myself against him and lick him, and the next, I’d been in some strangely hushed world before it had shattered and flames had erupted from my palms.

  Turning my hands over, I once again stared at my palms. Not normal. I’d always known I wasn’t normal, but now I was beginning to question exactly what I was. These demons were looking for someone, I would be staying with them now, and I’d shot fire from my freaking hands.

  Lowering my hands, I took a deep breath before focusing on Kobal. His jaw clenched, and a muscle jumped in his cheek when his eyes raked over me again. I didn’t think this visit was going to be as pleasant as our last one.

  CHAPTER 20

  Kobal

  River’s violet eyes were guarded when they met mine. She folded her arms over her chest and stuck her chin out as she stared at me. My gaze slid over her slender frame, rounded hips, and long legs. She appeared far too fragile and human to be the one we were searching for, but there was no denying what she’d just done.

  I’d been hunting for her for years, and she may be the key to ending all of this. I may finally be on the verge of putting everything to right again, but I would have given anything for it to be someone other than her.

  She may not survive this.

  At the thought of losing her, wrath slithered through me like a serpent. She will survive, I decided. No matter what it took, I would make sure she survived, but in order for her to do so, she was going to have to start telling me the truth.

  “Why didn’t you tell me about the fire?” I demanded.

  Her eyes flashed over me. “I wasn’t aware I had to tell you everything about me.”

  I took a step toward her, hoping to intimidate her in some way, but she merely tilted her head back and narrowed her eyes. I didn’t think she had an ounce of knowledge as to what she might be capable of, yet she was still brazenly coura
geous.

  “I asked you once what else you could do.”

  “And I told you what I was aware of, mostly,” she added the last word as an aside.

  I stepped so close that my chest brushed over her folded arms, but she didn’t relent in anyway. “Mostly?” I growled. “What else can you do, River?”

  “I don’t know,” she replied and her eyes fell away from me.

  Taking hold of her chin, I tilted it up so she had to look at me. “How did you bring me into your world on the hill?”

  “My world?” she asked in confusion.

  “Your vision, world, whatever you call it. How did you draw me in?”

  “I… uh… I don’t know.”

  “Tell me, River.”

  I moved closer as I struggled not to shake the infuriatingly stubborn woman standing before me. She had me so on edge that I couldn’t get my fangs to retract. They throbbed to rip into something and tear it to shreds. To destroy anything that ever dared to endanger her again.

  “I don’t know!” she cried in exasperation. “I don’t know what brings on the visions. They just come to me sometimes! And today you were on that field with me and you were all I could see, smell, and feel before it happened. You were so…”

  “So what?” I demanded when her voice trailed off.

  “So there! So overwhelming!”

  Her arms fell away from her chest, and she pushed back a strand of hair that had fallen into her eye. The musky aroma of her sweat mingled with the lingering scent of her lemon-scented soap, and dirt streaked her golden skin.

  “And then we were alone and they were coming.” Her gaze went past me to the wall of the tent, but I had the impression she was looking beyond it. “I have no idea how it happened today, but once before, I shared the same dream with my brother, Gage.”

  Without meaning to, my thumb stroked over her chin before I released it. “So you can enter other’s dreams?”

  She frowned at me. “No… I mean, maybe. We had the same dream one night.”

  “What else?”

  This time, she did take a step back from me when I moved further into her personal space. “There’s nothing else!” she snapped and placed her hands on my chest to push me away.