Caius let out a furious roar that silenced the clacking of the beetles. For a moment, I thought maybe he scared them off. It appeared hell beetles were stupid.
I brought my staff up as they rushed forward. Wielding it like a quarterstaff, I struck at the first to reach me, spun and sliced through a second. It dropped in half, slimy innards spilling everywhere and filling the air with the putrid stench of rotting flesh.
Leaping back from another, I swung. Its head fell to the ground and rolled away even as its body kept coming. I cut its segmented legs from beneath it and whirled, ready for the next.
The night was empty. Caius stood in a circle of about fifteen or so ripped apart beetles, breathing heavy and obviously far from calm. In fact, it looked like he was still searching for something to kill.
My dwindling energy screamed for replenisher or food, my staff flickered. I pulled on what I had left and fed it into the staff, feeling a small measure of relief when it glowed bright again.
“Put that away before you deplete yourself more.” Caius’s voice was rough and thick in his demon form. “I have no desire to deal with a broken bond because you foolishly kill yourself.”
I shot him a glare and snapped, “I’m not putting it away as long as you’re like that. You don’t want me using up any more energy? Then stop looking like you still want to kill something. In fact, stop looking like…that, altogether.”
His upper lip lifted in a snarl.
“Don’t you snarl at me. It’s not my fault you don’t know how to use bug spray in the Hells.” A small part of me tried to remind my mouth that I really didn’t want to piss him off right now.
Huffing another low growl, Caius rolled his shoulders and let out a slow breath. The demon dissolved and the human-looking Caius stood before me. My staff wavered. This time I let it go.
The reek from the beetles filled the air. My stomach lurched as I snatched the red cloak and pressed the fabric over my lower face. The scent clinging to it covered the dead beetle stench completely and I breathed a sigh of relief.
“What in the nine hells were those things?” I said through the cloth. I had only been taught about the denizens I would normally be facing. Devil beetles were definitely not on that list.
“Exactly.” Caius waved his hand and doused the fire. “We need to move.”
“Exactly? What is that supposed to mean?” I glanced at the shredded bodies. “And yeah we need to move; no way I’m hanging out with that smell.”
Ignoring my question, he started walking. “The smell is the least of my worries. This was my mother expressing her irritation at my involvement. She knows these creatures couldn’t possibly bring me down.” He glanced in my direction. “Just as she knows they could easily take you down if enough were sent. This was her saying she is displeased.”
Wait, what? How could she know we were out here? Only the two of us, Alaric and…figures. The Head of the Demonborn probably ratted us out. It was the only explanation. Should I point out it was likely his demonborn brethren that had almost gotten us killed? Sighing, I trudged after him. He probably wouldn’t believe it anyway.
***
“I don’t believe I’ve ever had someone, who wasn’t a sibling, snap at me while in my demon form. Though I smelled her fear even over the dead, she did exactly that.” ~Caius
Chapter 20
When I caught up to Caius, I said, “Thank you.”
He looked at me, clearly startled. “For what?”
“For not ditching out and leaving me alone back there.” I watched the ground in front of me as I walked. “And for taking care of most of those things.”
“What gave you the impression I would leave you?” There was a hard edge to his voice as if I had insulted him.
I shrugged. “I seem to have a talent for pissing you off. When I first woke up and didn’t see you, I thought maybe you decided you’d had enough of me.”
“If I hadn’t drawn the majority away from where you slept, you would have been in the middle of the fight.” He let out an irritated sound. “I’m not denying you test my nerves. Even so, you must have a pretty low opinion of me to assume I would leave you alone and asleep in the middle of nowhere.”
For the first time, I felt kind of sorry for letting my mouth run away. Granted, he’d been rather moody and surly, but that didn’t excuse my own behavior. It wasn’t his fault that I tended to hide behind snarky sarcasm or anger. Those emotions were just easier to deal with when things got tense. “Sorry I test your nerves.”
Caius snorted. “You may be. However, I think it’s your natural inclination.”
“I’m not sure if you just complimented me or insulted me.” I tried to read his expression.
“A compliment. Always be yourself, Reaper.”
A yawn threatened and I stifled it, not willing to admit how wiped out I was. It was nice, for at least this moment, to not feel like Caius and I were complete enemies. We walked in companionable silence for the first time.
Darkness pressed in around us while overhead the clouds cleared. The Milky Way stretched across the sky in a brilliance rarely seen. With no city lights to compete against, the stars filled the darkness above the mountain peaks. Cold air huffed through my lungs, coming out as vapor as I struggled to keep up with his pace. Exhaustion weighed my limbs down. So intent on keeping up and watching where I was going, I ran right into him.
“What…?” I stepped around him. His gaze was on the night around us, stance tense and ready. What now? I strained to see and hear whatever it was he did. The whisper of the wind in the grass was all I heard. Wait, there wasn’t any wind. It had died down at some point. Something else moved through the knee-high grass.
Turning in a slow circle, I stared at the wide paths being cut through the grass all around us. “What are they?”
“Another irritation,” Caius said. “She does like to needle me.”
Oh great, his mother again. I wasn’t sure how much more I could dish out tonight. One day, I would be able to handle a lot more than this, but I was still young for a reaper and only a year into this world. I’d only been harnessing and using the energy inside me for eight months, and never as often or as sustained as I had today between the eaters on my shift and the earlier fight with the beetles.
Even so, I couldn’t just stand there. I moved a few steps away to give Caius fighting room and braced myself, waiting until the last moment to call my staff. I didn’t know what was coming, but I’d be damned if I hid behind Caius.
I was unprepared for the giant snake-like things that burst from the grass. At least thirty feet long and thicker than me—my slim body would be easy for them to swallow whole—their heads were adorned with several small horns. Most went after Caius, but a few broke away from the pack, moving with surprising speed and agility toward me.
My staff appeared as the closest lunged at me. The double row of teeth in its wide maw dried my mouth. I twisted away and swung the staff as terror dumped adrenaline into my system and lent me a burst of strength and speed.
The first snake lost its head. I swung my staff at another, it dodged with ease. Its beady black eyes watched my moves with eerie intelligence. The creature lunged, dodged, feinted and lunged again. It took everything to keep up with it. My breath rasped in my throat. This was nothing like fighting eaters or even the hell beetles which had seemed about as dumb as eaters.
“Watch the tail, Reaper,” Caius called and I could tell by the sound of his voice he’d brought his demon half forward.
I looked away from the snake’s head long enough to see that it had been slowly coiling around me while it kept me distracted. If I was like Bethany, I would be able to do a backflip right out of the coils. But I wasn’t. A year wasn’t enough time to master those kinds of fighting skills. Unsure of what else to do, I stabbed the coils with my staff, piercing through two layers of the snake’s body.
The thing shrieked like a banshee and came at me so fast I stumbled backward over the tail,
landing hard on my back. Pure terror that I was about to lose my life filled me even as the staff flickered and disappeared. I threw my hands up in front of my face, my eyes squeezing shut.
When the impact never came, I looked to see why. Somehow, a translucent bubble surrounded me where I lay. I didn’t have a clue how I had created it. I’d never achieved anything more than the staff. However it happened, I was grateful as the enraged beast plunged its head repeatedly at the shield, its double rows of teeth raking across it each time.
Caius appeared outside the bubble. Grabbing the snake in both hands he hauled it back. I looked away, bile rising in the back of my throat, while he ripped the thing in half. My shield wobbled and faded as I drained the last of my power. I struggled to stand only to smack into the ground once more as a snake sank its teeth into my leg and pulled me off my feet. Sheer agony burned through me, tearing a scream from my lips. I couldn’t summon my energy no matter how hard I tried. My hand scrabbled across the ground and found a sharp rock.
Lurching up, I smashed the rock into the thing’s head. It didn’t release me. Panic took over and I beat at the head. The sharp edge of the rock tore through its skin. Black blood splattered my hand. So focused on bashing in the snake’s head, I didn’t notice when it quit moving until Caius’s large hand caught my wrist and stopped my next swing.
“It’s dead, Reaper.”
Dazed, I stared at the creature. My rock hadn’t killed it, hadn’t done more than slice up its skin. The head was detached from the rest of its body. I finally released my death grip on the rock. Caius pried the jaws open, extricating my leg from the double rows of hooked fangs.
Gritting my teeth, I breathed in gasps through them. I’d never experienced pain like this. Clawed occasionally by an eater, but nothing like this. I’d never even been bitten by a dog in the mortal world.
Caius shoved the cloaks up to look at the damage. “It’s bleeding well. Shouldn’t take too long to heal. It would be better if you’d brought replenisher, but you’ll live.”
I stared at where a double row of punctures oozed blood in a half moon pattern that started on my thigh and ended on my calf. More tired than I’d ever been, I was ready to curl up and sleep right there. Unfortunately, that was neither safe nor a possibility.
Caius held out his hand. “Can you do this?”
Clamping my jaw shut against the pain, I nodded and took his hand, letting him pull me to my feet. Blood stained his leg in a pattern that matched mine exactly. I guess Alaric was right about a partial bond being a physical one.
“We’re going to have to keep going, Reaper.” He watched me as if waiting to see if I could stay on my feet.
Alaric had been right about the other part he’d told me as well. I could sense Caius’s reflected injury. If he could keep moving, so could I. “Then let’s go.”
He appraised me for a moment then nodded and started off. I limped along behind him. Despite the throbbing ache in my leg that brought tears to my eyes, I made no complaint as we continued to move through the darkness.
When we came across a well-traveled trail that led into the woods and he began following it, I let out a sigh of relief. The worn path was a lot easier to navigate than the ground we’d been covering. Wrapped up in my misery, I almost ran into him again before realizing he’d stopped. I limped up beside him and gazed at the sight below.
We stood atop a large hill. Below, the lights of a small town lit up the night. A river flowed past the far side of the town. It looked like the main road ran right up to the water and stopped. My eyes zeroed in on the place and my stomach rumbled with the certainty of food nearby. “Are we going down there?”
Caius started down the hill. “There will be places to sleep and food to eat.” He glanced at me. “You might even get that fried chicken.”
I snorted but didn’t comment as I followed him. It took me longer than it should have to negotiate the terrain, even on the maintained trail. Once we reached the road, it was easier as we followed it in, though my leg ached to where I could barely put weight on it.
Though it appeared most of the town was pretty normal, they had gone to great lengths to make the buildings along the main road look like it hadn’t moved much out of the gold rush era. It was quaint and cute.
I was sure in the warmer part of the year it drew quite a few people. Now that the cold was settling in, it was fairly quiet. I was also sure I would be able to appreciate it more if I wasn’t about to fall on my face and sleep in the middle of the street.
Caius took in everything as we walked. “It’s changed a bit since it was a gold rush town.”
I raised an eyebrow. “You were here?”
“With my younger brother, Malik.” He flashed me a smile that held a hint of fang. “It was good hunting.”
“Of course.” What was I expecting anyway? “That’s what everyone thinks of when they think of the gold rush.”
“No,” his smile faded, “they think of the gold, the numbers of people. how fast towns grew and died. What they don’t consider are the number of terrible people who migrated with the rest. Those willing to do anything for the gold.”
“Let me guess, you only ate the bad people.” I rolled my eyes. The exhaustion and constant pain were making me cranky.
He gave me an unreadable look before answering, “That’s exactly what I did. Why take the blood and soul of a decent person when it was practically a buffet of those who festered with evil and greed? There were so many that disappeared to find their gold and never returned.”
His answer wasn’t what I expected. Unsure how to respond, I chose to remain quiet. We walked in silence until we reached a large white building looking as if it had popped straight out of the old west.
I hobbled along behind him. Now that we were safe—or as safe as we could be—the pain, extensive power use, lack of food, and lack of sleep came crashing down. I barely paid attention to Caius paying for a room. The lady behind the counter gave my double layer of cloaks a strange look that turned to concern when her gaze finally met mine. I could only imagine how I looked.
“Come on.” Caius pulled on my sleeve to get my attention.
I followed him like a zombie to the room. The two queen sized beds were all I saw as I stumbled to one and fell into it. The last thing I was aware of was the throbbing in my leg and the quiet sounds of Caius moving around the room.
***
“Her fortitude surprised me. Not many can take the bite of a seran and keep going.” ~Caius
Chapter 21
Bright light flashed through my closed eyelids and I ducked my face under the covers.
“Up.”
Caius’s voice penetrated the haze of heavy sleep. I rolled slightly and moaned. “What?”
“Get up.”
“No,” I mumbled, snuggling deeper into the pillow and clutching it.
“You can’t sleep all day; we still have a Watcher to find.”
Cool air brushed my skin as he yanked the covers away. Groaning, I pried my eyes open and sat up. The cloaks were draped over the back of a chair. I didn’t remember taking them off. Or my socks and shoes…and how did I get under the covers? I blinked up at Caius.
He pulled me off the bed and pushed me toward the bathroom. “Take a shower then we can get food.”
I glanced at the window that was full of sunshine with the curtain pulled back. “What time is it?”
“Almost noon. Get a move on, Reaper.”
My sluggish body got me to the bathroom, out of my clothes, and into the shower, though the effort of washing was almost too much. It was good to see the injury to my leg was almost healed. The marks were nearly gone, leaving only a faint ache that lingered deep in the muscles.
After shutting off the water, I grabbed a towel and did my best to dry off before wrapping it around my hair. My legs were weak and shaky as they carried me from the shower. I reached for my old clothes and paused when I found a clean pair of jeans and a t-shirt folded on the sink.
I picked up the deep burgundy shirt, the material soft against my fingers. Where had it come from? Under the shirt, was a pair of panties and a bra. Frowning, I picked them up. Too tired to look a gift horse in the mouth, I got dressed. A simple comb was on a shelf above the sink and I used it to get some of the tangles out of my hair, though a brush would have worked better.
I left the bathroom and headed toward the bed.
“Nope.” Caius steered me toward a chair with my boots sitting next to it.
I flopped into it and grudgingly pulled my socks and boots on while I gazed longingly at the rumpled bed. It looked so warm and comfortable. I wanted nothing more than to crawl into it and sleep again.
Unfortunately, Caius was ready to be on the move. He grabbed our cloaks and I followed him from the room. A minute later, when he led the way into the hotel restaurant, I was glad I had.
As soon as we were seated in a booth, I snatched the menu with the idea of ordering everything on it. The scent of food filled the place, making my stomach cramp. Everything looked good, but then I was ready to start eating the table.
We ended up ordering every appetizer they had available. I went on to order their biggest hamburger piled with caramelized onions, mushrooms, cheddar cheese, and bacon. I also got their crispy chicken burger to go with it.
Caius ordered two of the same type of hamburger, a bowl of salmon chowder, which I thought sounded good so added it to my order. He also selected a chicken avocado burger. The waitress gave us a dubious look as we gave our order then asked if we were waiting for anyone else to arrive. She seemed doubtful when Caius informed her it was just us.
I was too busy chugging on my soft drink to say anything beyond my order. The high sugar content of the soda was already making me feel better, but it didn’t stop the desperate hunger. I tapped my foot impatiently while we waited for her to return with the food.
It took two of them to bring it all. Soon our table was completely covered in dishes. I took a huge bite of my hamburger before diving into the crisscross fries that were piled amongst layers of cheese, bacon, sour cream, onions, tomatoes, and salsa.
Unveiled (Raven Daughter Book 1) Page 13