“And yet you came after me.” I met his gaze now, defiant and challenging. “You would have lost your life for me and doomed Lilith in the process.”
His jaw worked as if he was looking for words, an explanation, an excuse, and then his shoulders drooped. “I’d walk through fire for you, Fee.”
Mal made a sound of exasperation and threw up his hands. “What do you expect us to do? We fucking love you. Coming after you was instinct.”
They both stopped talking and exchanged glances as if a thought had occurred to them.
“What?”
“Just like it was instinct for you to go after Keon,” Azazel said tightly.
Fuck this. “Going after Keon was the right thing to do. He doesn’t deserve to die. We’re a fucking team, and he matters, and yes, I care about him, okay?”
There was silence in which we all stared at each other, suddenly deflated and empty.
I covered my face. “I couldn’t let him die.”
Azazel sighed and pulled me into his arms. “I know, Fee. That isn’t who you are.”
I hugged him back, revelling in the steady thud of his heartbeat.
“You’re also forgetting something important,” Samael said. “You’re the only one who can open the fortress doors.”
Mal nudged Azazel. “We should have gone with that excuse.”
“We need to get moving,” Samael said. “We can take turns carrying the daemon.”
Azazel pulled Keon into a fireman’s lift. “Are there more of those things?”
“This was the epicenter of their habitat,” Samael said. “The nest. I think we’ll be safe.”
“Then let’s get the fuck out of here,” Mal said.
* * *
Azazel and Mal took turns carrying Keon. The tunnels were gray now and a cutting breeze filled them telling me that we were almost out of the network. About time, because it felt like we’d been walking forever.
We took a right, and the tunnel widened significantly, allowing me to walk abreast of Samael.
He looked down at me with a smile. “Are you ready for what we might face in the fortress?”
“Four against goodness knows how many?” I shrugged. “Sure.”
He chuckled. “Keon will be healed soon. We will employ stealth.”
Red light bathed the floor of the tunnel, and we settled into an incline. The exit was visible a few meters ahead, and my heart lifted. I don’t know why, because we were probably headed straight out of the frying pan and into the fire, but tunnels were now on my to avoid list, along with alleyways.
Keon groaned. “I can walk.”
I looked over my shoulder to see Azazel set him down. Keon swayed and clutched his head and then his cat’s eyes widened, and his gaze zeroed in on me.
“Are you insane?” he snapped. “You should have let me die.”
He brushed past me and clambered up the incline and out of the aperture.
So much for gratitude.
* * *
Keon didn’t say more than two words to me as we made our way across the pit on the final stretch our journey, past an area riddled with geysers that expelled lethally cold air that could freeze a demon in place. Samael navigated it all in expert fashion, leading us through the danger.
“How can you remember all this?” Azazel asked.
“I’ve always had an exceptional memory,” Samael said. His mouth turned down.
“Which is why the past few centuries have been so very difficult.” The terrain either side of us was rockier than before, rising up in icy mounds dotted with stalagmites, and Samael slowed his pace, digging in his heels. “The fortress comes into view beyond the rise,” he said. “There may be lookouts on the parapets. Stay here while I run an ariel sweep.”
“Wait.” I grabbed his hand. “You’re going to fly up there?” I pointed at the tumultuous sky saturated with toxins. “You said it was too dangerous. You said even the tincture wouldn’t provide enough protection.”
He cupped my face and peered down at me with warmth in his mercury eyes. “I will be fine child. I’ll hold my breath and be swift. Wait here.”
I wanted to protest, to make another grab for him but Azazel drew me away as Samael took two steps back and then rocketed up into the lethal atmosphere.
“He’ll be fine,” Keon said.
The first words he’d spoken to me since berating me for saving his ass.
I glared at him. “Don’t speak to me, you ungrateful sod.”
Mal snort-laughed, but Azazel’s expression was stern.
“You have issues, Keon,” he said. “I get that. But Fee saved your life.”
Keon snarled and bared his fangs. “And could have died in the process.”
He was angry that I’d put my life at risk. Angry because he cared. And just like that my ire melted.
I sighed. “You would have done the same for any of us.”
He shook his head. “No. Not for just any of you.” His cat’s eyes locked on mine intensely for a moment before he dropped his gaze. “Samael will be fine.”
He was brushing his comment aside, the fact that he would save me above all others if given the choice.
Choice.
Something that would soon be taken from him.
Saving Lilith would put him back in a box. Still, here he was. Willing to save the woman who birthed him then turned him into a puppet. Willing to be her saviour and become her slave once again.
I couldn’t let that slide. I wouldn’t. I’d free Keon. I’d find a way.
Wings beat the air, and Samael landed in the same spot he’d rocketed away from.
He stood, hand on his chest, taking deep breaths. “The air is poison,” he said. “I could feel it sipping at my skin.” He took a couple more breaths then straightened. “The parapets are empty. There are no lookouts. In fact, the fortress looks deserted.”
Why did he sound worried “But that’s good, right?”
“Looks can be deceiving,” Samael said. “Stay on your guard. We can use the rocky ridge as cover. It’ll get us close enough to the fortress to make a run for the entrance. There are no sentries visible, the courtyards are empty too, but we can’t take anything for granted.”
It took less than ten minutes to get to the fortress, an obsidian monolith planted smack bang in the middle of an icy wasteland. With the red sky above, the scene looked like something out of a horror fantasy and we were about to go inside.
Samael led the charge across the open land toward the fortress. I expected arrows to fly at us, for guards to charge out of hidden doors, but nothing happened. We hit the steps to the entrance, huge, wide slabs of stone that led to a door that was fit for a giant. A smaller door was cut into it and this was where Samael led us.
He pulled a dagger from a holster at his waist. “Are you ready, blossom?”
I held out my hand. The dagger was so sharp I barely felt its bite and them my palm burned as blood welled along the cut.
“Press it to the door,” Samael instructed.
I did as he bade me. For a moment nothing happened, and my stomach flipped with apprehension, but then there was a soft crackling sound. My palm tingled, and with an ominous click the door swung inward.
Keon slipped forward. “Wait here,” he said.
And then he was gone.
“What now?” Mal asked.
“Now, we wait,” Samael said.
I stared into the darkness beyond the door. Please be safe Keon. Please be safe.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Cora
We land in the foyer of the Keep, smack bang in the middle of a troop of demon guards. For a moment nobody moves, and then it’s weapons central as every blade in the vicinity is trained on us.
Grayson and Hunter break into menacing growls.
“Not helping guys!” I hold up my hands. “We come in peace. We’re not the enemy. We’re friends of the Dominus.”
“You smell wrong,” one of the guards wearing a blue jacket s
ays. “You’re no demon.”
They close in on us.
“Never said I was.” I keep my voice even because I’m not entirely sure I can jump out of this situation in time to avoid getting stabbed. My power is super glitchy here, and attacking the guards goes against the whole we come in peace speech. “I’m Seraphina Dawn’s best friend, and these are her Loup mates.”
Having several spears pointed at your head isn’t the most comfortable position to be in, and when you have two hot-headed alpha Loup with you who don’t take kindly to being threatened, things can quickly go from bad to worse. I need to keep things cool.
“Look, I need to speak to whoever’s in charge. Is Seraphina here? Azazel? Malachi? Conah?”
I rattle off the names, hoping that my knowing them will get the guards to back off, but I’m also aware there’s a high chance none of my friends are still here.
“Get Asmodeus,” The guard in the blue jacket says.
Asmodeus? That name rings a bell. Mal’s mentor. “Yes, get Asmodeus.”
The guard glares at me and makes a jabbing motion with his sword.
Irritation flares in my chest. “Hey. Watch it with that. You hurt me and the Dominus will have your pretty blue jacket.”
I don’t know why I think that’s important to him, but he’s the only one with one on, so it must be a rank thing, and when his face pales I know I’ve hit my mark.
He lowers his blade a fraction. “If you are who you say you are, then you will have my apologies, but in this time of war, precautions must be taken.”
Grayson and Hunter have stopped bristling, which helps take the tension down a notch.
The clip of boots echoes down the corridor and the guards part to reveal a tall, broad-shouldered, dark-haired Adonis striding toward us. His gaze rakes over me and then the guys, and his dark brows snap together in a frown.
“Who are you? Spies of Mammon?”
I smile sweetly. “If we were spies, we’d be pretty shitty ones to get caught so easily.”
“Or maybe your goal is to be caught and lie your way into our confidence.”
Oh boy, this isn’t going to be as easy as I thought. “Are any of the Dominus here? Either one of them can verify who I am, or even Minuel, Lilith’s advisor. He knows me.”
Asmodeus’s eyes narrow, and he jerks his chin in the direction of the blue jacket. “Fetch Conah.”
Conah is here. Oh good.
Long minutes pass and not a single guy bats an eyelid as they keep their weapons trained on us and then Conah sweeps toward us like a welcome summer breeze trailed by the blue jacket.
“Cora?” His attention zeroes in on me. “What are you doing here.” He notices the guys and his mouth pops open. “How the fuck did you two get here?”
The guards tighten formation, this time focused on Grayson and Hunter.
“Stand down!” Conah’s voice lashes out like a whip and the guards immediately back off, lowering their weapons. “These are guests of the crown and will be given every courtesy.”
Asmodeus looks down at Conah. “I see you have this situation under control.”
Conah nods curtly. “Apologies for interrupting your meeting.”
Asmodeus inclines his head in our direction and retreats.
The blue jacket barks orders to his troops and they file out the main doors, leaving me with the guys.
Conah crosses his arms. “So, you didn’t answer my question.”
* * *
Conah leads us through a network of fancy arches and plush carpeted corridors to a room that Belle would have had an orgasm over. So many fucking books it makes my brain hurt to think about reading them all.
Conah, however, seems in his element here. Grayson and Hunter filled him in on the Tribus deal along the way.
“This is fascinating,” Conah says. “A Tribus.” He grabs a quill and jots a note on a parchment that already has shit loads of scrawls on it.
I can’t help but be touched by his enthusiasm. “New information gives you the feels, huh?”
He shoots me a frown. “Knowledge is power, Cora.” He straightens. “What brought you here?
“Knowledge.” I pull out a seat and take a load off. “Cain is coming for Samael. We believe he wants revenge for having been locked up in Purgatory for centuries.”
“You’re certain?” Conah looks unconvinced.
“He broke into a Magiguard beta site and took the super vamps,” Hunter says. “And a concentrated form of the reaper virus.”
Conah curses softly. “He’ll use it to clear a path to Samael.”
“Yes,” Uri says. “The Oracle in the Beyond was clear that if he isn’t stopped then a world will fall. I believe this one, but I don’t understand how Samael’s death could bring about the end of the Underealm.”
Conah lowers himself into the seat at the head of the table, his expression somber. “I do. There’s a story that young demons are told about the liberation of the Underealm from Satan’s grasp. The story speaks of the three fallen who went forth into the pit to vanquish the daemon who’d terrorized the Underealm and ruled with tyranny. It speaks of the unshackling of this world from the daemon’s grasp.”
“Unshackling?” Grayson asks.
“Legend has it that the Underealm was born from the beating of the high daemon, Satan’s, heart. That the echo created the mountains and the rush of his blood the seas. That the entity known as Satan was a primordial being as old as the divine himself.
“And with his last breath he spewed poison into the air to consume the land and undo all that was done,” he quotes. “The stories say that the poison was meant to spread all across the Underealm, killing everything and everyone. To stop it, Samael consumed Satan’s heart before it could cease beating. This halted the spread of the toxins and saved the Underealm.”
“That’s impossible,” Hunter says. “You’re saying Samael has two hearts?”
“I’m not saying anything,” Conah says. “I’m telling you the stories, that coupled with what the Oracle says, might have some truth in them.”
If Samael dies, his heart will stop beating and so will Satan’s and then… Then the Underealm will be undone.
“We can’t take any risks.” Uri says. “We need to get Samael to a secure location.”
“Samael’s gone,” Conah says. “He went to the pit with the others.”
“Shit,” Uri says. “Cain could arrive here at any time.”
“And Mammon is hovering on the horizon,” Conah reminds us. “We need to focus on the immediate threat. But we won’t be doing nothing.” He smiles. “Lilith didn’t sit idly by after the reaper virus devastated our population. She set the brightest minds to work on a vaccine, should the virus make its way to us.”
“You have a vaccine?”
“We do, but it was never administered.”
“Why not?” Grayson asks?
“The first rounds of testing resulted in severe side effects and several deaths. Lilith ordered the scientists to stop. No more deaths.”
“So, what now?” Uri asks.
“Now, we start trials again,” Conah says. “If Cain is bringing the virus to us, we need to be prepared.”
My mind whirs over this damn virus and its existence, the fact the Magiguard have a concentrated version. Ursula called it an insurance policy, but that doesn’t sit right with me. The Ouroboros are supposedly a secret government organisation and they created the super vamps.
It all comes together in my mind. “The humans did this deliberately, didn’t they?”
Conah’s smile is wry. “Nothing was ever proven.”
“But they did. They targeted you. They knew about you.”
“The highest circles of human power have always been aware of the existence of supernatural life,” Conah said. “It’s a covenant as old as time, and yes, Lilith did suspect the virus was an attack on the Underealm, one that had unfortunate side effects on the human population.”
Allowing humans to see
ghosts and decimating the reaper numbers, thus changing the way death plays out.
“But why? Why attack?”
“We have something they want. Something Lilith refuses to share.” He waves a hand to indicate the room. “The power that runs our world is generated from Chaol, a clean fossil fuel that doesn’t damage our atmosphere. Humans want it, but Lilith knows the greed of man. That once we give, all they will do is take. She denied them, and a few years later, we were hit by the virus.”
“Wait, how do they even know about the fuel?”
“Not all demons reside in the Underealm,” Conah says. “There are plenty who have chosen to live amongst humans, coveting positions of power among the elite and the highest ranks of government.”
It all makes perfect sense now. “I think they were planning on another attack. Using super vamps to deliver the virus, to cut through your defences and take what they want.”
“Yes, I believe you might be correct,” Conah says.
“And now Cain has the virus.” Grayson sighs.
Conah pushes back his chair. “I’ll send a message to the Luna labs to resume work on the vaccine.”
He’s almost at the doors when they burst open and a charred guard staggers in.
“Dominus, we’re under attack.”
“Attack? What?” Conah looks stunned. “Mammon’s troops are here?”
The guard groans and drops to his knees. “No, Dominus, it’s a Dragomite.” He falls forward onto his face.
“No,” Conah shakes his head. “They’re extinct…”
Uri rushes to aid the guard, feeling for a pulse, and then he shakes his head solemnly. “He’s gone.”
I lock eyes with a stunned Conah and watch as his jaw clenches in rage. “Con, what’s a Dragomite?”
“A monolith. A monster,” Conah says. “And it breathes everfire.”
I have no idea what everfire is but… Oh fuck.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Keon
Reaper Unleashed: Deadside Reapers: Book 7 Page 18