Wasteland

by Lynn Rush

  “He’s probably relieved you didn’t fully turn, you would have taken his place,” Beka said. “He can kill you with blessing from Lucifer since you’re an Angel now.”

  “Russell suggested we carry him and Jessica to a hotel. He will bless it, notify the Guardians at headquarters, then hide there until they arrive.”

  “Logical. There are many Guardians, possibly near us to help. We have been out of contact for a few days now since our phones were destroyed. I would guess they’d started sending some our way anyway.”

  “We do not have time to wait.”

  “I agree.” She took a seat and dangled her legs over the edge of the branch. “Jessica says the cursed dagger will help in killing Locien.”

  “How do I do it?” I sat next to her and scanned the sea of treetops before us. The blue sky went on forever without a cloud anywhere.

  “If the dagger is jabbed in the heart of the one who cursed it, its evil intent will take him tenfold.”

  “So, behead or stab him with the cursed dagger. But stabbing means a more torturous death.”

  She rested her hand on my thigh. “I could be the one with the dagger. You attempt to behead or expose his chest, and I’ll throw it. I’m a crack shot with those things.”

  “Indeed you are.”

  “He would expect you to carry the weapon, he knows your anger, does he not? And your will.”

  “Yes. I think he would expect I show up on impulse, like I almost just did.” I covered her hand with mine. “You want to know something demented?”

  “What?”

  “He is the only father I’ve ever known. He raised me.”

  “That is sick.” She patted my thigh. “You are not his kin, David. You are a Light in this dark world. You are my husband, my mate for our entire existence.”

  “I am both dark and Light. Jessica said as much.”

  “You have a touch of darkness, held only in your wings and nails. Your heart is pure, that is what makes you the Dark Angel.”

  “Dark Angel.” I straightened my back. “Then you are my White Angel.”

  “Indeed.” She hopped to her feet. “Come, let’s hurry and rip some throats out as you would say.”

  “Leave that kind of talk to me, okay?” I spread my wings. “Let’s go.”

  CHAPTER 43

  “She hasn’t moved in a while,” Beka said as she flew next to me.

  I regarded the girl in Beka’s arms. She seemed to have shrunk five inches in the last day. When she’d held me during my transformation, she stood tall, filling her small five-foot-two frame with such confidence.

  Now, she curled up in a ball close to Beka’s chest as we flew toward town. We followed the winding road down the side of the mountain. The last sign indicated only seven miles left to a town.

  Russell shifted in my grasp. “I feel like such a girl being carried like this.”

  “I do not particularly enjoy carrying you like this either,” I said with a snicker. “We are almost there.”

  “It’s amazing flying, though,” Russell said.

  “You could say that.” I stared ahead, nerves on end. “I cannot go very fast holding you, though, and Beka and I need to speed to California. Jessica fades quickly.”

  “I’ll call in the troops, they’ll be here quickly.” He craned his head toward Jessica. “She does not look well.”

  “Has she indicated how long she thinks she has?”

  “No. The aloe slows the poison, I think. I will continue to take care of her. I just wish Abraham would have made it, he knew the healing arts very well.”

  “I am sorry.”

  Russell’s body stiffened, and his arm straightened. “There. Motel 6. See it?”

  A structure, resembling a small strip mall sat shrouded by trees. Two stories, ten navy doors on each level, and only four cars parked in the gravel lot. Perfect.

  We banked right and set down near the timber across the street. A road sign showed amenities one quarter of a mile down. “Should we move more toward the city? It is isolated out here.”

  “We’d have to walk. Russell will bless the room and bless the perimeter. Should work fine,” Beka said. She pulled Jessica close.

  “I’ll go get a room.” Russell scooted across the road.

  “David,” Jessica whispered.

  I moved toward the girl. “I’m here.”

  “Don’t listen to his lies.” Her weak voice cracked. “He is a deceiver.” She smacked her lips. “You are an Angel. The Angel.”

  “Dark Angel.”

  The corners of her pale, cracked lips flicked upward. “Dark Angel. But you fight for Light.”

  I brushed my hand over her sweat-dampened forehead. “I fight for you, sweet one.”

  My heart cracked at how frail she had become in the last few hours. She slumped against Beka’s chest again. She touched her cheek to Jessica’s forehead. “Hold on, honey.”

  “Here. Let me carry her.” Beka placed her in my arms. A bag of feathers would have felt heavier. “Let’s go.”

  We hurried across the street and Russell came out of the lobby. He held up a key, and we followed him upstairs to the room on the opposite end. He dodged into the room and to the phone. “They have some clothes in the lobby. Tourist t-shirts and stuff. Go grab some, and I’ll call in the troops. Let me know when you leave.” Russell turned his attention to the phone again.

  I set Jessica on the bed. It dwarfed her as Beka draped the flowered covers over the girl’s frail body, to her pale chin. The dark walls made for a dimly lit room, a perfect place for her to rest.

  Beka blinked, her eyes moist. “Let’s go.”

  I turned to Russell who typed in numbers on the phone keypad. “Russell, start your blessing of the room right away, we will leave for California directly from the hotel lobby after I get some clothes.”

  He offered me his hand, and I grabbed it. “Return safely, my King.”

  Despite my dislike for the title I knew he meant it out of respect. No time to argue. “Keep Jessica safe.”

  He bowed his head and hung up the phone.

  Beka stood by the open door. I plowed through and stomped downstairs. “You remember how to get to the building where you rescued me?”

  “Yes.”

  “How long?”

  “Few hours. We fly quickly.”

  We rounded the corner into the lobby. A turn-rack of folded shirts sat near the end of a tall, shiny oak desk. I snagged the first black t-shirt I saw. “This will do.”

  “Slide it on while I find some scissors.”

  I poked my head through the neck and eyed her. My face must have matched my confusion because she smiled and peeked over the front of the counter. “Hello?”

  No one answered.

  She held up a pair of scissors. “Wings, remember?” She flashed her back to me. Two long, tailored slits in her second-skin top paralleled her spine.

  What I liked most was how the fabric clung to her body. Focus, David. I showed her my back. “Have at it.”

  Her fingers trailed my spine, sending a ripple of energy through me.

  “Sorry, have to feel where to make the cuts.”

  “Torture.” Despite the danger we prepared to face, her touch still brought forth a feverish desire.

  The fabric went taught over my chest, and snipping followed. Seconds later, Beka nipped my neck. “Don’t worry, husband, once this is all over, we will have a proper honeymoon back at our home in Utah.”

  I faced her. “We have a home?”

  “It’s more like a castle. We live in the twenty-first century, David, but some of the old ways still exist.”

  “That is why Russell always calls me King or Majesty, right?”

  “You’ll fit right in with your old speech.”

  “I have much to learn.”

  “It’s difficult for me sometimes, too. We’ll do it together.” She smiled as she dropped the scissors onto the top of the chest-high desk. “Hello?”

  “Jus
t leave some cash.” I wiggled my toes. “No shoes, but at least I am no longer bareback.”

  Beka threw a twenty-dollar bill on the counter and faced me. “We need to get you boots. I know you heal quickly, but it’ll be tough on your feet and for you to blend in when we get to the city.”

  “Let us hurry. We are short on time.”

  “Okay.” She tugged my hand. “Here, out the back. It faces the trees, we can take off from there.”

  We hurried around the desk, and into a sitting room with orange-clad couches facing a dark TV. A cup of steaming liquid, and an open magazine sat on the side table and another cup on the table in front.

  I skidded to a stop, heart hammering. “Something is not right.”

  A towering demon busted through the maintenance door behind Beka. A silver sword skewered her chest. Her eyes went wide, and she stumbled forward.

  I roared, sounding like my old demon self, and attacked, nails out. The red monster grabbed my shoulders and turned my body. The wall met my back with such a force, the wind rushed from my lungs. Drywall rained.

  Two more demons filed in from the back door and toward Beka. She groped for the sword in her back, unable to reach it. Pinned against the wall, I couldn’t get to her to pull it out. I slashed at the demon, but my nails only met air.

  I cranked my fists down against the crook of his elbows. His grip weakened. A quick thrust forward, and I cracked his nose with my forehead. He stumbled, his heel catching the hem of the thick rug. I swung my hand but met his forearm. On his back, he whipped his legs over him into a backward summersault and bounced to his feet.

  Beka’s scream rent the air. The tower in front of me blocked my view. He wore his master’s mark on his forehead. Two more demons turned the corner and sprung at me, swords drawn.

  A table propped against the wall wobbled as I inched sideways, staring at the demon, but trying to get a glimpse of Beka and her situation. Her whimpers ripped my heart to shreds. I crouched down, nails bared and out of habit I curled my lips back. No more fangs, but still…

  “No,” Beka yelped.

  A wall of three demons blocked me from Beka. I glanced up. Cathedral ceilings. I squatted. One upsurge, and I was airborne. My wings shot out to give me height. I flipped over the demons, out of their reach and landed behind them and swung, slicing their necks from behind.

  Two demon heads rolled, but one stumbled forward, grasping his neck to stop the bleeding. I pounced on the two assaulting my wife. A short demon held the sword in her back, but her flailing arms kept them from getting her hands. They didn’t seem to want to kill her, neither impaled a dagger into her neck.

  I buried my lethal nails in the back of the sword-holder and tore him away. I eased the blade from her body. She slumped forward. The second demon leapt into the air and came down, swinging. I spun and dropped. My heel cracked against his knee. He collapsed.

  The leather surrounding his neck was no match for my claws.

  “Beka.”

  Doors crashed open from either side of us. Demons poured in the front and from the back like steady streams of tar. I picked up a chair and vaulted it to the ceiling, aiming for the highest window.

  “Beka.” I leapt. “Up.”

  Her wings unfolded, and she sprung. A demon advanced, grabbing her right wing and jerked her down. She tossed me the sheathed dagger.

  Beka thumped her other wing, banking her body around, and she planted her shoe in a demon’s face. She pulled a small knife from her ankle holster and whipped it at the demon holding her wing. It spliced his throat.

  Finally free, she fluttered to the ceiling, but unsteadily. The tip of her wing bent in an unnatural direction, but she made it to me. A quick burst sent me through the window. The glass zinged my wing, sending a sting up my shoulder.

  Beka blasted out of the window and plummeted. Three daggers stuck out from her back. Two quick flaps brought me to her. Her weight altered my trajectory, and I spun.

  I hit the ground, ribs crackling. Bursts of white light dusted the corners of my sight. Beka’s body trembled against me as she coughed, spewing crimson-stained saliva from her mouth. I reached behind her and eased the daggers from her back. Rings of bright red blood soaked the feathers near her spine. “Beka.”

  Too much blood. Too much pain for my wife. I had to protect her.

  Shuffling behind us propelled me to my feet, holding Beka close. “I’m okay.”

  I took hold of her waist and hurled her into the air. Her magnificent wings spread out in all their glory. A heavy hand anchored to my shoulder. A blunt object cracked my skull.

  “David. Fly,” Beka yelled.

  Cold steel plunged into my side, shattering ribs, slicing through muscle and tendon. My lung seized, filling with sizzling, metallic fluid. I staggered, stars biting at my vision, but kept the dagger sheathed. It would only be used on Locien.

  I dropped to my knee, holding myself steady with a palm to the ground and kicked one demon. I severed the ankles of two more standing over me. They fell back. I dove over them into a summersault. The gravel scored my skin through the fabric.

  “David, up,” Beka yelled.

  A dagger whizzed past my face, and into the forehead of a demon lunging. I sliced through the air and banked left. “Tree tops,” I said.

  Beka joined my side. We rounded the corner to behind the hotel. Three men lay on the dirt ground, facedown and motionless, arms sprawled to their sides. Probably the front desk attendant, and the customers from the lobby.

  With an unsteady rhythm, our wings limped us skyward. My side throbbed in time with my racing pulse. The intensity of the attack surprised me. We passed the door to our room, and it was undisturbed. Russell must have blessed the room already, keeping the beasts out.

  Twenty demons milled behind the hotel, noses to the air as if searching for something. Jessica and Russell were safe for now.

  Too broken to launch an attack on those beasts, I veered right to a thick branch atop a tree beside the hotel.

  Beka settled beside me. “Now that was most unexpected.” She covered my bleeding side with her hand.

  “I hope none of those daggers are cursed.”

  “Dark magiks don’t work on us.”

  “Only Jessica?”

  “She’s an anomaly, vulnerable to age-old sorcery. We can withstand anything, but she is not immortal like us. Only thing to end us is—”

  “Don’t say it.” The ruby line across her throat had not faded over the years. I still remember her near decapitation as if it happened five minutes ago.

  Her crimson-stained fingers grazed her throat. “Sorry.”

  The tension in my side eased as the wound healed. “How are you, Beka?”

  “Healing. Fine in a few minutes. They were Elite Guards.”

  “Vicious.”

  “What are we going to do?”

  “Seems Russell blessed the room, the demons aren’t going near it, so they are safe until reinforcements arrive.” I stretched my hands skyward, testing the healing. A slight twinge still, but the wound was closing quickly. “We must get to Locien.”

  “I’m positive Russell will enlist Durk to lead the Guardians here. He is strong. Between him and Russell, Jessica will be safe. So, you’re right, we must leave.”

  “Rushing off so quickly?” A familiar, raspy voice breached the air behind us.

  My body tensed. Beka bolted to her feet. “You heard that, did you not?” I asked, my chest heaving, and my mind brimming with doubt.

  “Yes.”

  A blur of darkness approached from my left. It zoomed at us like a rocket and left a trail of black mist behind its base.

  “What is that?” Beka asked.

  The dark mass was upon us in the next breath. I shoved Beka off the branch. An unyielding force rammed my chest. I planted my hand on the branch, bark spearing my palm, but the impact knocked me from the tall tree. Surrounding twigs encroached, razoring my wings. No chance to gain altitude.

  I tucke
d them close to my body and groped for tree limbs to slow my descent. The dried, pointy branches shredded my side, ripping my shirt with acid-laced twigs. I twisted at the waist and reached for the next branch. More scrapes, up the chest that time. The fabric snagged, slowing my descent. Another pivot, and I hugged another limb. The branch broke, and I slammed against one as big as the trunk. The jolt knocked the dagger from my grasp.

  “No.” I reached for it but caught only air. The coveted weapon ricocheted off the branches below me and fell toward the ground, out of sight.

  “David?” Beka yelled from above. She manually climbed down the tree.

  “The dagger fell.” I hugged the branch close, fighting to find some air for my aching lungs.

  “What was that thing?” Beka asked as she neared me.

  “Seems Locien has grown a pair of wings of his own.”

  CHAPTER 44

  “We have to get that dagger,” I said as I sat perched on a branch. I plucked three more twigs embedded beneath my skin. I raked my dark nails up and down my shirt until the wasted fabric slid off my body. More of a hindrance than anything.

  “I will find it, and bring it to you. Go locate Locien.” Beka flashed her bright eyes at me.

  Blood splattered her forehead and her cream shirt, but still, she smiled. Such confidence. She had no doubt this would work.

  That was okay. I had enough for the both of us.

  I cradled her neck and tugged her to me. My lips met hers hard and fast. She returned my kiss with equal vigor. I disconnected but kept her close. “Be careful.”

  Her gaze dipped. “Always.”

  I claimed her mouth one more time, then sat straight. Time to face Locien. Beka breezed her fingers across my hand as she dove off the side. Her wings crept out a little to glide down.

  I catapulted into the air to the neighboring tree and hugged its base. The bark bit into my cheek, but I held fast. There had to be an opening in this thicket for me to spread my wings.