Broken Vow

by Zoey Marcel

  Sonya gave him a weak smile. “That's sweet, Aramis, but you should wait for your true mate. Nimbus is my mate. When you were trapped with him inside Dante's body, you probably felt his pull toward me and mistook me for your mate.”

  “Maybe. Do you think you can kill him?”

  She swallowed down the achy lump in her throat. “Maybe, if I can get close to him.”

  “That's not what I meant.”

  She didn't want to think about what she had to do. “I don't have a choice.”

  “I've been doing some thinking. If you can't kill him, I can call Tansy and have her do the Soul Fusion spell.” Sorrow saddened his features. “That way you can be with Nimbus and he'll have a soul.”

  Her heart bled at his proposition. It was tempting, very tempting. “That's so sweet, but it's hardly fair to you to be trapped inside another body with a demon forever.”

  He brushed her cheek with his fingertips. “It'll be worth it if I can have you.”

  “I can't ask that of you.”

  “If you change your mind just say coffee beans.”

  She smiled. “Okay.”

  * * *

  Darkness set in and despite the bustling nightlife of the city, the atmosphere felt spooky with the presence of evil. Aramis wouldn't leave her side.

  Sonya saw Demornae following a drunken teenager down an alley. The young man seemed oblivious to the vampire stalking him. Demornae didn't drink her blood the night before. One bite would kill her.

  The memory of Demornae riding Nimbus in bed haunted Sonya. Demornae kissed him, touched him and made the irritating comment about how long it had been. Had they been involved one on one in the past? Had Demornae merely been trying to make her jealous for Nimbus' sake, or did she like the incubus?

  Sonya's jaw tightened and her fists clenched. It was her duty to slay vampires. She took the battleaxe from Aramis and marched over. “Stay here.”

  Perhaps Nimbus would be in agony in the abyss. The thought killed her to think of him suffering alone. Then again it pissed her off to imagine him seeking consolation in another's arms in the afterlife.

  She leaned the battleaxe against a brick wall. “Demornae.”

  The vampire spun around to face her. “How did you escape?”

  “I didn't escape. I'm one of you now.” Sonya lowered her tone to an enticing hush. “Will you have sex with me so I'm strong enough to fight? I'll let you drink my blood so you can gain immunity.”

  Demornae smiled and held out her arms. “Come here.”

  Sonya approached and the vampire caught her up in a kiss. She broke it and pierced her fangs into Demornae's neck, curtailing her struggles. The women wrestled and Demornae collapsed when the venom kicked in.

  “Are you going to finish me off with the battleaxe?”

  Sonya picked it up and glared at her. “No. I'll let the poison do that.”

  She walked off as Demornae called after her. “It was good, feeling your man's cock inside of me. His kiss is phenomenal. I came so hard when he touched me.”

  Sonya stopped and squeezed the battleaxe with white knuckles.

  “Nimbus has been having sex for thousands of years before you lost your virginity. Do you really think you're enough for him? He needs an experienced woman, someone who knows how to please him. I know what he likes.”

  Sonya walked toward her, feeling her heart harden to stone. “He faked with you, bitch. I'm his true mate. You're just another cunt.”

  She brought the battleaxe down hard and Demornae turned to dust. Sonya had never felt that way before, a smug sense of accomplishment that someone she hated was now burning in hell.

  Nimbus' voice whispered with the satisfied hush of a serpent in the back of her mind. “Demon.”

  * * *

  The city was rampant with chaos. Vampires attacked civilians and some of them managed to kill or wound a few cruxim. Harpies swooped in and carried off victims to torture and kill. Things got even more alarming when a giant Minotaur walked through the streets, swinging his club at the unfortunate cars and pedestrians in his way.

  “What the hell is wrong with those horses?” Aramis asked.

  Skeletal steeds galloped through the city with vampires on their backs as they trampled everything in their path.

  “Nightmares. Someone's using necromancy.” Sonya shuddered.

  “It's beautiful isn't it?” Nimbus spoke through their link.

  “You have to stop this.”

  “Now why would I do that? Just sit back and enjoy the destruction. Once the seven princes of hell come up from the underworld and establish their reign, I'll govern a province and make you my queen. Would you like that, my love?”

  His intentions horrified her even as the pet name touched her. “I'm not going to let you do this.”

  “And how will you stop me, pet? Are you going to slay me to earn God's favor back?”

  Her heart ached, but she ignored the pain. “You leave me no choice.”

  She sensed overwhelming vibes of rage and grief coming from him. “Then so be it. Come kill me. I'll be waiting for you...in my true form.”

  A disturbing roar sounded across the Seattle skyline as sinister lions with dragon wings and scorpion tails flew in to terrorize the inhabitants. Manticores. These winged nightmares were much more difficult to resurrect from beyond the grave than regular nightmares. An advanced necromancer was obviously behind this. If they could find the culprit and kill him, the chaos would cease.

  Sonya collided with Blade.

  “Good to see you. It's worse than we thought. There's a necromancer in our midst,” he said. “Michael's coming with some warriors and Cassiel's bringing more cruxim. What are you doing with a battleaxe? That won't kill Nimbus. Here.”

  He took the weapon from her and gave her a two-handed sword.

  The gem on the handles of angelic swords could be controlled with the mind and changed when necessary to modify the mode of attack. An emerald would turn the target to stone. A diamond would freeze the victim and send them encased in ice to the frozen Lake of Cocytus. A ruby would ignite the one it touched on fire. A sapphire sent the individual to the Labyrinth of Tears, a maze in hell that rendered its prisoners tormented and insane.

  Sonya felt numb when she saw that the jewel on the sword was a black pearl. That setting would kill the one it struck and send them to the abyss.

  “Make sure it's on the black pearl when you face him,” Blade instructed.

  She nodded. “Where are you going?”

  He grinned. “I'm going after the Minotaur.”

  Sonya went down another street to find Nimbus. She heard the thunderous stomping of the Minotaur and a nasty thud that sounded like a club making contact with something. A second later Blade went sailing through the air and skidded across the street.

  “You want help?” she called out.

  He dusted himself off and wiped the blood off his lip. Blade glared in the direction he'd been thrown from and stormed back over with his weapon. “I don't think so. This baddie's mine.”

  She hurried down a street, wondering where Nimbus was. The answer came when she saw thick, gray smoke rising from burning buildings and heard the rumble of heavy footsteps. The ground shook as with the commencement of an earthquake. The serpent-like hiss of a mighty reptile filled the air just before the beast came into view.

  Sonya's hands went clammy and courage failed her. The black dragon's satanic eyes glowed orange like the sun and his tail resembled a tree trunk as it slapped people aside. The rimmed horns tilted back slightly on an angle. The huge wingspan and the sail on his back only added to his intimidating height and length. Nimbus' true form.

  “Nimbus!”

  His head jerked in her direction and he hissed revealing the razor-sharpness of his teeth. They resembled giant, gleaming white spikes. His thick scales had her wondering how she was supposed to ram a sword into his heart when his body was like a suit of armor.

  “Sonya, how good to see you. See wh
at your master has done for you and our child.”

  “You're not doing this for me or Faith. You're doing it for yourself.”

  “Talk to me through our bond. It's more intimate when no one can hear what we're saying to each other.”

  “I'm here to kill you.”

  She heard him chuckling in her head. “You really are too much, sweet girl. You don't think I can't feel the way your heart moves at the sound of my voice. I could lower it to that seductive tone you love so well and you would cream for me, even in this form.”

  “That's not going to work!” She clutched the sword tighter when he took a step toward her.

  “So you insist on speaking out loud. Very well then. I wanted to keep our conversation private, but I can play your bratty little game.”

  She was startled to see the dragon's mouth move as he spoke aloud.

  “Shall we discuss your true motive for killing Demornae?” he taunted with knowledge in his haunting eyes. “You can't stand the thought of me with someone else, can you?”

  “Shut up!”

  “I only slept with her a couple of times in the past before we were together and we had a fling when I possessed Dante's body before I met you again. She was a temporary fuck, nothing more. We didn't even have a relationship.”

  Sonya knew he was telling the truth. His words brought the relief and affirmation she was starving for. “Why are you telling me this?”

  “Because you need to know that you're the best I've ever had and the only woman I've ever loved.”

  His dragon eyes actually harbored tenderness and the sincerity in his words moved her nearly to tears. “Thank you.”

  He nodded once. “Now drop your sword and shift for me.”

  “I can't do that. I'm supposed to kill you.”

  “Then what are you waiting for?”

  She couldn't answer.

  “If you don't kill me, the blood of the innocent will be on your head as equally as it is on mine. I know you don't want to be responsible for more lives. Remember poor Hope and Less?”

  Sonya glared at him, trying to shake off the guilt. “Shut up! I'm pissed out of my mind at you. How dare you send that footage to Blade?”

  She sensed his jubilee. “Blade may have seen it, but I sent the film to Cassiel.”

  His answer made her sick. “Cassiel?”

  “Yes, Sonya. Cassiel saw you sweating and writhing against the bodies of demons. I'm sure he's lost all respect for you now that you've broken your vow.”

  “You abducted me! This is all your fault, you son of a bitch! You damned me!”

  “And I'm not sorry for it. Damning you was the greatest accomplishment of my existence.”

  His words left her cold and breathless. “You're evil.”

  “You sound surprised.”

  “You're the necromancer, aren't you?”

  “I am.”

  “Send them back to the underworld.”

  He snorted. “No. Were you hoping you could get out of killing me if you gained my surrender? Strike me down, Sonya. Kill me like you murdered our son. Here, I'll even make it easy for you.”

  “No!”

  He grabbed a human from out of a broken window and squeezed the air out of his lungs. Sonya hacked at Nimbus' front leg and he roared in pain. He tossed the man aside and came after her. She ran down the street as he charged, taking out cars in his path. He exhaled a chain of fire that consumed all who were swept up in its wake.

  If she had her wings she could fly to higher ground, but the absence of them put her at a major disadvantage. She tried to get close to him to strike, but he knocked her out of the way with his tail and bolted after her, barely giving her a chance to recover from the hard fall.

  She got up and busted through the door of a church, screaming when he breathed a smoking gust that set the building on fire. She stood poised in the sanctuary in the aisle separating the pews and waited for him. He would either crush the building around her and she would drive the sword into his heart, or he would stick his head through the door and she could chop it off.

  “But it's Nimbus,” her heart pleaded.

  “He's a demon,” her mind argued. If she could shove her feelings aside and disassociate herself from the heart-wrenching dilemma, she just might beat him.

  The drum-like stomps that drew near the door ceased and everything went quiet save for the fire crackling around her. Nimbus appeared in the doorway as expected, but not as an impersonal dragon. He came in as himself. His blond hair seemed to glow in the firelight, making him look like the angel she fell for. The flames danced in the olive-green eyes that could see into her soul. His insidious, masculine strides carried his strong body toward her. A body she knew too well. The hands that had comforted and caressed her carried a sword by his side.

  Slaying a demon that damned her would've been easy, but destroying the man she loved would rip her heart out. Her eyes stung and Sonya couldn't keep the tears from falling. “No. That's not fair.”

  “It is fair, Sonya. Did you really think I would make it easy for you? I'm sure Blade stressed to you the weight of refusing to strike me down. Now I want you to know the cost of doing so.”

  “You could stab me first.” She wished he would.

  His lips parted as he stared at her and finally tossed his sword aside. “I can't.”

  “What are you doing? Pick it up, you fool. I'm going to kill you.” The tears came faster.

  “Then do it.”

  She blinked in shock. He was serious. “You don't want to live?”

  His hushed tone was tender and his eyes glistened with adoration and sincerity. “Not without you.”

  “I don't understand. I thought you wanted to damn me.”

  “No, I want you with me, regardless of whether that's in heaven or hell. I'm tired, Sonya. I can't kill God for claiming your devotion and I can't have you. My existence without you has been torture.” His eyes were tragic and weary. “If it's redemption you want, then take it. Ram your sword through my chest. Put me out of my misery.”

  Sonya's eyes burned and her heart broke as she watched him free the topmost buttons on his shirt and expose his chest to her. Her voice came out in a broken whisper. “What am I supposed to tell our daughter?”

  Nimbus' expression radiated with affection and seriousness. “Tell her I love her.”

  She choked on a sob. “You're the father of my baby.”

  “I'm also the demon who damned you. If you don't destroy me, you'll burn in hell forever. Is that what you want?”

  She shook her head through a tortured whimper.

  “Then drive your sword through my heart. If you don't raise our daughter, Jude likely will and I know losing another child to evil would break your heart.” Nimbus undid the remaining buttons and unveiled his chiseled torso. “Do it, Sonya. I'll forgive you.”

  Her hands trembled as she lifted the sword, blinded by tears and rested the tip against his sternum. The firelight cast a warm, erotic glow on his ripped structure that resurrected a thousand different memories, some X-rated, some sweet and playful.

  With the flames dancing around them it wasn't hard to be reminded of the repercussions of failing her mission. The fire struck a chord of fear in her, but not of the abyss. Dark creature that he was, Nimbus was the only light in her life and if she snuffed him out, the fire would be gone. There would be no warmth, no passion. Life would be cold, empty and dark – hell.

  She lowered the sword and started bawling uncontrollably. “I can't do it! I don't want to lose you! It hurt so much when I lost you the first time, but at least I had the hope of seeing you again. If I lose you this time, it'll be forever.”

  “If you don't, you'll be thrown into the abyss someday. That should make you afraid.”

  “It scares me so bad, but the thought of losing you scares me more.”

  His eyes glistened with sorrow. “You say that now, but as soon as a heavenly being reprimands you you'll be on your hands and knees begging forgi
veness. You'll leave me.”

  The pain in his eyes broke her heart. “I won't. I want to be with you.”

  “You don't know what you want.”

  “Yes, I do.” She closed her eyes and wept. “I don't want to do this anymore. I don't want to slay vampires or fight you. I just want to be with you. I want you to put a shiny ring on my hand and raise our baby with me. I want you to make me wear a collar and spank me when I'm a bad girl. I want to see the world with you, make a home somewhere far away and forget this battle between good and evil. I want that more than anything and I don't care if I have to burn for it.”

  Nimbus looked touched. “Prove it.”

  “How?”

  He folded his arms, face becoming hard and determined. “I want to hear you say that you choose me over God, word for word.”

  She cringed inside. “We're standing in a church.”

  “You swore an eternal oath to me when we mated in the underworld temple and then you desecrated it by leaving me. Now I'm going to defile this shrine with your blasphemous words.”

  She sniffled and shook her head. “You're such an ass. Isn't it enough that I damned myself for you? Why do you want me to say something like that?”

  “Because that is what you're saying!” he growled as he pried the sword from her and tossed it across the sanctuary. “I'm not going to let you bury your head in the sand any longer. You're a demon, Sonya, and you've made an idol out of me. Refusing to admit the truth doesn't negate it. You're choosing me over God. Now say it.”

  Sonya swallowed as the harsh reality of his words sank in. The truth was awful, but when she looked up into Nimbus' eyes, she knew she'd passed the point of no return. “I choose you...over God.”

  Guilt pummeled her conscience, but a sense of relief at being open about her feelings accompanied it.

  He stepped closer to her and her breath caught when she saw the hard-on he sported. “And why is that, Sonya?”

  She softened her voice to a caring whisper. “I love you more.”

  His eyes closed for a second as if he'd just been granted his only wish. They quickly opened and he yanked her toward him and crushed his lips against hers. His aggressive mouth willed her surrender as their lips parted and their tongues danced in a forbidden mating. His boner pressed insistently on her tummy, driving her wild.