Wasteland

by Lynn Rush

  She hugged them to her back like a cape, gave me a quick smile, then pulled herself up and out of the car. The sound of a parachute snapping open as it caught wind had me jumping to the window to see. Her wings were open and we zoomed ahead of her.

  “Beka,” I yelled as the car approached us for another hit.

  She appeared, flapping her powerful wings, and she matched the speed of the vehicle next to us. She punched her hand through the top and peeled the metal back.

  A sword shot through the roof, nicking her arm. She projected upward, still matching their speed, and went to the driver’s side and smashed her hand through the window. Another set of headlights sped up behind us.

  “Abraham, you better hit the gas, we have more company,” Russell said.

  “What’s happening, Russell?”

  “Guess your Master didn’t appreciate us coming in to get you and your contract.” Russell moved to the end of the long car, near Abraham and mumbled something to him I couldn’t make out.

  Demons pursued us in cars. This was so new to me, always having fought either on foot or on horseback. Vehicles, especially one this big, moving at high speeds, complicated things. I stood, half of my body out the top of the moving car through the moon roof. Beka fluttered beside us, dodging swords while trying to grab the driver. The car from behind rammed ours, and I lurched forward, the side of the roof cracked into my ribs. The wind whooshed out from my lungs, and bones popped.

  I howled, and my demon took control.

  “David. Don’t. We can’t let them get you again,” Russell said.

  Beka squealed and catapulted into the air. “Russell, give me my weapon,” she yelled.

  He popped up the other moon roof holding her weapon. “My Lady,” he yelled.

  With two powerful flaps, she zoomed toward him and snatched it from his hand. Her long hair trailed behind her as she moved, defying gravity with the grace of a swan, but the lethality of a powerful Guardian.

  I ducked into the cab of our car and shuffled toward Russell. I snatched a blade from his belt, then hurried back to my window and hoisted myself onto the roof. Beka stabbed her sword into the top of the car beside us, opening it like a can opener. The car behind us rammed our bumper.

  Our car swerved and skidded on the rocky shoulder. Rocks from our skidding wheels pelted the metal pursuing us. We’d nearly gone over the edge. Sure, we’d all survive the crash, but still, I couldn’t tell how far the drop was, and it would take serious time to recover from injuries of that magnitude.

  I let out a snarl as I faced the car behind us. I crawled onto the trunk, dagger in hand. Flaming, red eyes glared through the tinted window. Elite Guard, of course. Difficult to kill, but possible. I refused to return to darkness.

  “David. Don’t,” Russell yelled.

  I jumped onto the hood of the car behind us and dug my nails through the metal to secure my position. I drove my dagger through the windshield and directly into the chest of the driver.

  I retracted my hand, snagging the cracked windshield and tossed it over the side. I grabbed the steering wheel and cranked it to the left, toward the trees.

  Squealing tires skidding on pavement rang out. The stench of burnt rubber assaulted my nostrils. With my other hand, I slid my demon nails over the driver’s throat. He disintegrated into nothing. A set of talons scored my forearm as the passenger fought for control of the steering wheel.

  The car I’d been in must have braked because I saw its long frame go by us and come up behind. The vehicle Beka worked on veered to the side. She soared into the sky with a solid flap of her wings, and the car plunged over the edge into the void.

  Beka streaked toward me. “David.”

  I sliced off the hand of the demon reaching for the steering wheel. He swung his blade. It clanked against my wrist. I collared his neck with my fingers and tossed him out. His body flopped onto the road. The car seesawed and swerved. Gravity yanked me to the side. Our vehicle rammed the back end. Abraham cranked the steering wheel. The tires locked, throwing it into a skid.

  “Jump,” Beka yelled.

  I did as she commanded. My hand met hers, and she heaved me up. We hovered, as our long car flipped to its side and slid. Sparks speckled the darkness. Metal creaked. Gasoline tainted the fresh air.

  The demon’s car skidded, but momentum pushed it over the edge.

  Beka dropped me to the road, and I planted my feet on the centerline. She darted toward our rolling car, and I took off running. Our vehicle finally stopped. Smoke and flames ruptured from the pile of mangled metal.

  I peeked over the ledge. Russell hung onto a rock ten feet down. I stretched for him, but he was out of reach. “Where is Abraham?” I asked.

  “Here,” he said from behind me. He lay flat on the gravel shoulder fifteen feet away.

  A gust of wind sprayed me with a fine layer of dust. Beka hovered, flapping her powerful wings, above Russell.

  “Need a hand, Russell?”

  “That would be nice, My Lady.”

  With a couple graceful swoops of her wings, she descended to him and wrapped her arms around his chest from behind and lifted him up.

  “You men are so heavy.” Beka hovered near me and dropped Russell.

  He landed with a thud and stumbled toward me. I steadied him by the shoulders. Russell shook his head. “You just had to help, didn’t you, David?”

  I pushed him away.

  “Relax. I know. You were just trying to help.” He faced the steaming pile of metal. “This is going to delay things, I’m afraid.”

  “Delay what? Can someone tell me what is going on?” The scorching flame within me flared again despite the strong breeze Beka’s wings provided. “Where are we?”

  Beka set down beside me. Her feathered limbs retracted behind her so I only saw a few feathers swaying in the breeze. “David. We must get you and your contract to Jessica. Remember I told you I thought she could help you?”

  I willed my demonic self to its dark corner and faced her as David. A cool breeze filtered through my shredded clothes. Seems the demon got in some well-timed swipes. “Yes. You have found a way that she can help me?”

  “Not so much as a way has found us.” Beka stepped toward me. “But yes. Jessica can break the bonds of this contract. She need only touch you and the contract to allow you to become what you were meant to become.”

  Finally, after four hundred years, I would be rid of my demonic half. Not bound by any contract. I let out a long breath and sagged forward.

  “But, we need to get you to her. And with no car, that will slow things considerably,” Russell said.

  “My Lady,” Abraham said. “We must take shelter.” He nodded to the trees lining the road. “I am sure more demons will come, we must put distance between us and these broken cars.”

  She faced me. “Are you okay, David?”

  “Not really.”

  “Does the burn consume you?” Her left wing unfolded and draped my shoulders. “I will keep you cool.”

  The soft feathers brushed against my skin, and they felt like ice cubes to my flames. “How do you do that?”

  She threaded her arm around my waist and led me forward. “Like I said, David, much has changed since we have last been together.”

  CHAPTER 31

  The cool water washed over my skin as I descended into the stream. The current hacked away the filth clinging to my body. Thirty-five years with no bathing, no food. Nothing but the sense of fire and torment.

  The agony remained, deep within my chest, a constant reminder of the punishment Master had initiated. But it lessened each minute I stayed near Beka. Like she was a cool drink of water. Bright stars sprinkled against the deep night sky blinked as if to welcome me back to the living. So many years had passed.

  Jessica had morphed into Merus. When I’d almost touched her before I was taken, she could have banished my demon half had my skin connected with hers. The memory of that night was blurry at best. Fighting the consumi
ng fire allowed me to focus on only one thing, Beka. The rest went to the wayside.

  I got a peaceful, cool feeling when my thoughts dwelled on her. Jessica’s touch had given Beka beautiful, bright angelic wings. She was already radiant, but the majestic wings amplified her beauty, including my draw to her.

  I waded out of the stream and onto the shore. I dried off as much as possible with my shredded shirt, then slid on my frayed jeans. The meaty smell of rabbit cooking over the open fire triggered a rumble in my stomach. To eat food again after so long, even if plain and cooked on the run from demons, would taste heavenly.

  I ran my hands through my wet hair. The grime had washed away. Floated downstream, but fatigue weighed heavy on my bones. Twigs crackling nearby sent prickles down my spine.

  “Hi.” Beka emerged from the surrounding darkness.

  I tossed my damp cloth to the side. I had to restrain myself from yanking her into my arms. She’d changed into a skintight cream tank top but still donned the body-hugging stretch pants and black combat boots. Her light, almost glowing, skin lured me in like nothing I’d ever experienced. Maybe because she was forbidden. Things we could not have always held more appeal.

  Maybe that was why she wanted me. I was forbidden to her as well.

  Regardless. I wanted her. More than anything.

  She took two long strides and leapt. Her body collided with mine, and she wrapped her arms around my neck. I stumbled back at the surprise of her actions, but wove my hands around her waist, and hugged her close. She rested her elbows on my shoulders while her fingers combed through my hair.

  “Finally alone.” She took my mouth with hers.

  Her tongue danced with mine with an urgency of lovers separated for years. But we were not lovers. We were not supposed to be together. My body didn’t care. It perked to life with raw hunger. A need to unite with this woman. To protect her for always.

  Her warm hands grazed over my shoulders to my neck, tilting my head for deeper access. I devoured her mouth, suckling her bottom lip. More. She leaned back and palpated her hands down my heaving chest.

  “You’re really here,” she whispered.

  “Beka, we—”

  She silenced me with a kiss. I crushed her to me, her body molding to mine. I danced my fingers up her spine, and she ducked out of the kiss.

  “Careful,” she said with a husky voice. “Sensitive there.”

  “Where are they?”

  Her chest swelled and pressed against me. “Your hands are like magic to me.” She touched a kiss to my cheek. “I’ve dreamt about this for thirty-five years, David. I ache for you to touch me. Just down the back is very, very sensitive to me now.”

  Her hands massaged my bare stomach. A current of blazing heat zipped through my veins.

  She gasped when I did and out came her wings. The gust startled me, but she curled her feathers around us, blanketing our bodies. I swept my gaze over her shining eyes. The slight curve of her cheekbones to her chin. She raked her teeth over her lip, igniting another pleasurable wave of warmth. That taunting gesture plagued my dreams while in punishment.

  Her neck begged to be nipped, but I kept sweeping my eyes downward. I trailed my finger to where the zipper met her tank top, smooth skin beckoning my touch.

  “David,” she sighed.

  I cupped her breasts, and her wings went rigid.

  She clasped her fingers behind my neck and pulled herself up to me. Her wings cooled me, but the beast within still pierced my heart with its molten claws.

  Take her.

  My hands navigated her hips and over her backside. I hoisted her up. Her legs cinched my waist, and she latched her feet behind me, kindling the inferno. Not the demonic flame, but one of lust. Desire.

  “I’ve waited for you, David.”

  “Why? We cannot be together.” I grazed on her jaw line down her neck.

  “Not yet.” She suckled my earlobe. “But soon.”

  “How? You’re betrothed. I am de—”

  “Shhh. Do not say that word ever again.” She palmed my face. “You are my David. I do not want to ever hear that evil word come from your mouth again.” She drew in her wings and slid down the front of my body to her feet.

  Her thumb brushed my lips. I held her palm to my cheek. “How are you so cool to me?”

  “The Light. It flows through my veins now. From Jessica.” Her gentle kisses spanned my chest, to the collarbone. Her hands rested on my sides.

  I lost my breath at her softness, and my body throbbed. “Please stop. I cannot bear it.”

  “I’m sorry. I just missed you so much.” She hugged me and lay her cheek against my chest. “It took years to find you.”

  “How did you?”

  “Followed demon after demon. We recognized the big ones you called the Elite Guard. They still hunted Jessica, even though her conversion had been complete.”

  “What is Jessica?” I petted Beka’s long, soft hair as she clung to me. Thankfully she’d stopped moving against me. The contrasting cold emanating from her, and the warmth of her body challenged my weakened resolve.

  “Pure Light.” Beka gazed into my eyes. “Able to convert evil to goodness just by her touch.”

  “Demons?”

  “Those not fully converted.”

  “There are more half-demons like me?”

  “No. There is no one like you, David. You’re the first of your kind, but yes, there are people who choose evil, but before they do the act required of them, take an innocent’s life, they are not fully demon.”

  “I’ve heard of that. Jessica can remove that evil from them with only her touch?”

  Beka nodded into my chest.

  “And she can do that for me? Remove my demon half and vanquish the contract?”

  “We just need to get you to her. The loss of our vehicle has slowed us, but we’ll get you there. If it’s the last thing I do, David, we’ll get you there. I pledge it.”

  I leaned back, forcing her to look me in the eye. This didn’t make sense. She wasn’t free to be with me. “Why are you doing all this? You’re betrothed.”

  “Your majesties.” Russell stepped through a split in the trees. “Come, the food is ready. Let’s rest and be on our way.”

  My heart slammed against my chest. “Majesties?”

  CHAPTER 32

  “Sit. Eat. You must get your strength back.” Russell handed me a piece of bark fashioned into a plate overflowing with chunks of meat. “We are far from the city.”

  I peeked at Beka, and she nodded.

  “Please, tell me everything,” I said as I shoveled the first bite into my mouth, still stumbling over Russell calling me Majesty.

  The raging campfire in front of me crackled, sending sparks up into the darkness. Trees towered over us, but I spied a flicker of the full moon through the foliage. Beka sat close to me, legs crossed, and Russell and Abraham sat on the leaf-padded ground across from us.

  “Remember how precious a treasure Jessica was?” Russell said.

  “Yes. I remember you sacrificing your Queen for her.”

  Russell coughed into his hand. “But you were there to save her. And you will soon see that Jessica was well worth it.”

  “Why is she not here?”

  “We couldn’t risk her safety to bring her to you for your rescue. She’s back in Arizona under guard,” Beka said.

  I devoured the rest of my meal in three bites and handed Russell my wooden plate for more. “Go on.”

  “When Jessica received the pure Light, with it, she received inspired sight.”

  “Inspired sight?” I asked.

  “She looks through eyes unlike anyone’s. They see deep into people, their soul, their goodness, and their evil. She shared some of her insight with me when she touched me. She confirmed me as Queen. Turned me into what I am now. A Guardian Angel.” She nestled closer to me as she picked up a piece of meat. “Part of that insight was a picture of my mate. The one who will rule with me.”

/>   I gulped a stray piece of meat lodged in my throat.

  “I’d always known I would join with someone to rule, and I’ve saved myself for that person, but when I met you, I was willing to give it up just to have you by my side.” She slid the back of her hand over her mouth. “But how could I mate with a demon? Evil could never rule over the Guardians.”

  “Exactly,” I said.

  “But Jessica sees through different eyes. When she looked at you, she saw the future. It was you by my side as my King. That’s why she had to get to you. But your Master’s Elite Guard stole you from our grasp before she could make contact.”

  “How? Why me?”

  “She sees the full prophecy, not just the little part we knew of, about my being queen and joining with an angel to rule. Your mother made a contract with Lucifer. Sold the soul of her first born into servitude. But Michael, the Archangel, knew you were destined to be more than a demon, so he instituted a clause into your contract.”

  “Clause?”

  Beka nodded at Russell. He sat up and the fire cast a dancing shadow over his face. “David,” he said. “He gave you choice. If you were to choose the life of a demon, so be it, but you had to be presented with a pure choice. Lucifer knew the fleshly needs of man—meaning—he knew how tempting sex can be to men, so he made that the deciding factor. Should you choose to lay with a woman, you would be confirmed demon, and you would lose your humanity. But all these years, you didn’t. You made it to Michael’s final moment of choice.”

  “Jessica,” I whispered.

  Beka smiled. “Yes. When you chose to give up Jessica to us, to the Light, you chose humanity over darkness.”

  “Why did I not shed my demon at that moment?” I set my wooden plate on the ground before me and rested my elbows on my knees. “If it is just choice, why continue the punishment?”

  “Jessica needed to touch your skin in order for your demon to be banished.” Tears welled in Beka’s eyes. “But you were taken.”

  “Why would Master send me to retrieve Jessica, knowing all of this? I’d never wanted to be full demon. He’s always known that. He must have known I would choose Jessica.”