Into Hell (The Road to Hell Series, Book 4)

by Brenda K. Davies

I peered at the strange phenomena in glimpses from under my arm as it became brighter before exploding. The explosion flung me back a good fifteen feet and I landed with an umph. Much like the blow River had delivered to me earlier, this blast left my skin electrified and a little singed. An oddly metallic taste lingered in my mouth.

  Shaking my head, I glanced around the clearing to discover we’d all been thrown back, even those who had emerged from the gateway Kobal had created to leave Hell. Only Kobal remained standing.

  From the tangled mass of tossed-aside humans and demons, Caim pulled himself free to crouch beside me. He set a fist onto the ground as his black wings spread out behind him. The look of wonder on his face caused my eyebrows to rise.

  Turning my head, my jaw dropped when I spotted the large man kneeling at River’s side. No, not just a man, I realized as white and gold wings unfurled from his back and he scooped River’s body into his arms. Her head fell back as he cradled her against his chest. The angel rested a hand over her heart as Kobal charged across the clearing at him.

  I’d been fighting with Kobal for nearly thirteen hundred years, and never had I seen him look as enraged as he did now. All the markings on his arms and chest pulsed as they shifted toward the angel. Fire crackled over his skin, the flames lashing out around him.

  The angel’s head snapped up when Kobal’s steps thundered through the air. Staggering back, the angel threw up his hand.

  A wave of white light shot out of the angel’s palm at the same time as a wall of fire erupted from Kobal. I’d seen many, many things over my life. I’d never seen anything like that fire smashing into the light. White and red sparks shot out to the sides, pushing those closest to them further away as wherever the sparks fell, the already burnt ground blackened further. A wall of white and red formed between Kobal and the angel as their abilities battered against each other.

  Kobal’s shoulder lowered as he pushed against the angel. The angels’ ability to wield life was supposed to be one of the deadliest, if not the deadliest force in existence, yet somehow, Kobal gained ground against it.

  Because the angel has Kobal’s Chosen.

  However, I knew it was more than that. The Chosen bond made demons stronger, but the power emanating from Kobal reminded me of the Fires of Creation, and I knew there was far more to the varcolac than I’d ever realized. Kobal would not stop until he reclaimed River.

  I didn’t think to help him; this was not a place for me. Right now, the angel or Kobal would destroy me and not even realize what they’d done. I was a demon, and this was the wrath of Gods.

  CHAPTER 34

  Kobal

  My head bowed and my toes dug into the ground as I pushed against the energy flowing from the angel. It was the same kind of power River emitted, but on a far stronger level as it battered the wall of fire before me.

  Every day, River had become better attuned to what she could do and at controlling her abilities, but she never would have been able to emit a flow of energy this deadly.

  At first, the flow of our powers felt equal as they battled against each other. Neither of us gained ground, but we didn’t lose it either. Then, I felt the smallest give in the angel’s abilities and I gained a few inches on him. I wouldn’t allow the angel to win, or keep me away from her. There was no way I’d let him do something more than the angels had already done to her. She was dead because of them.

  If I got my hands on her, I could change her, make her demon and immortal, and fuck the consequences. But turning her into a demon could make her exactly like Lucifer if she survived the change. Not only would I hate myself for that, but she would hate me too.

  Every part of me screamed to change her though, to keep my Chosen with me, to not let her go. My brain knew I couldn’t change her, but my instincts clamored to give her my blood and keep her with me.

  First, I had to stop the angel from taking her from me.

  The symbols on my arms, chest, and back vibrated as they flowed toward the wall of fire. Never had my power felt this intense, but this was River, and there wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do for her.

  The angel’s power gave way a little more, allowing me to gain a few feet.

  “Varcolac, I mean no harm,” the angel grunted, and I felt a further weakening in the energy holding me back.

  Almost there.

  I was only three feet away from him when something bashed into my side and staggered me sideways. Arms wrapped around my waist, and I was torn off the ground. Startled cries rang out through the clearing. As I bounced across the dirt, I saw the hounds and demons who had emerged from the gateway with me scrambling to get out of the way as the angel’s ability shot across the clearing.

  The sound I emitted would have made the hounds tuck tail and run, but arms remained locked securely around me. A black wing flattened against my back, and I realized it was Caim who had intervened as he used his wing to protect him from my fires. The stench of the skin burning on his hands and arms filled my nose as his unprotected flesh blistered before blackening.

  “Let my brother heal her,” Caim grunted in my ear. “What you will do to her will destroy her.”

  Flipping over, I snatched Caim by the throat and lifted him off the ground when I rose. His hands clawed at mine as he tried to break free. His feet kicked in the air when I spun to face the other angel. That angel had River bent over his arm and leg as he knelt on the ground.

  A golden-white glow radiated from his hand to the bloody hole in her chest. My eyes latched onto the wound she’d inflicted on herself. My hand involuntarily compressed on Caim’s throat; he gagged and his eyes bulged, but I didn’t ease my grip as I stalked toward the other angel.

  River remained unmoving, her skin the color of the snow I’d seen a few times on Earth. Against the pallor of her skin, the blood from her wound was a vivid slash of death.

  I understood what had driven Verin to her knees when Morax perished as a vast emptiness opened within me to replace the rage clawing at my insides. That emptiness had caused Verin to sob with abandon. It took all I had to draw my next breath as the loss of River spread within me. It was only a matter of time before the emptiness tore me open.

  I released Caim, unable to be bothered with him anymore. He fell to the ground, his hand on his throat as he crawled backward away from me. I stalked across the clearing to the angel and River as Caim’s words echoed in my mind.

  Let my brother heal her.

  I knew some angels had the ability to heal, but I saw no shallow inhalations and didn’t hear the thump of her heart. The angel’s purple eyes slid to me. Their color was so similar to River’s that the sight of them hit me like a punch in the gut. I bared my fangs at him in a promise of death if he didn’t do exactly what Caim said he could.

  The angel revealed no emotion before he focused on River again. I stopped beside them, my gaze on River’s face as I searched for any hint that the angel was affecting her. The hounds crept closer to me, their prowling movements making it clear they would latch onto the angel before he took flight.

  Everyone else remained where they were, hesitant to come any closer. The seconds stretching into minutes felt more like the passing of an eternity with every breath River didn’t take. I would rain death on all of those who had caused this. Starting with this angel, and ending with the unrelenting torture of Lucifer for the rest of my existence.

  Stepping closer to the angel, my hands flexed as I prepared to snatch his wing and tear it from his body. What seethed inside me now made Lucifer look sane, reasonable, and fun-loving. Madness slithered through my mind, beckoning me toward it as a haze of red blurred my vision and I craved having this angel’s blood sliding down my throat.

  I would protect the humans. I would honor River’s sacrifice, but all those who stood against me, or had aided in her demise, would know my fury as I hunted them from one corner of the Earth to the other.

  I was about to start raining down my vengeance on this angel when River gasped and her whole
body jerked in his arms. I found myself unable to breathe as she went still again.

  Had I wanted her to live so badly that I only imagined she’d breathed? My eyes remained riveted on her chest as I searched for any hint of a rise and fall there, but it remained still. The angel’s light continued to pour into her as more seconds stretched by.

  Then, the flow of the angel’s energy abruptly cut off. River’s chest rose and fell, her eyes fluttered open, and a small smile curved her lips when she saw the angel leaning over her.

  “Raphael,” she murmured before closing her eyes and slumping against his chest.

  In the following silence, the steady beat of her heart sounded like a drumbeat in my ears until my heart fell into rhythm with it. Raphael lifted his head to look at me again. I stared back at him, the emptiness within me filling, but something new clawed at my insides. I wouldn’t relax until I held her.

  “Give her to me,” I commanded gruffly.

  I was certain he would try to claim her and take her to Heaven, or anywhere away from me. He may have saved her, but the angels had never been anything other than my enemy, and I didn’t trust him.

  Raphael kept River clasped against his chest as he rose with fluid grace to stand before me. His blond hair was only slightly darker than his white robe. Over the robe, he wore a chest plate of silver armor. A broadsword hung from his waist; the blue jewel in the silver hilt caught and reflected the sun as he gazed at me.

  Only a couple inches shorter than me, he was nearly as broad through the shoulders, but he would be no competition against me, not when it came to River. Those purple eyes ran over me. I didn’t sense the same condescension in his gaze that Lucifer exhibited; his perusal was a simple assessment as he held River out to me.

  Afraid he might try something, I kept watch of him as I eased River from his arms. My hands clenched on her when her head lolled against my chest and her breath heated my flesh. That breath, and the warmth of her skin against mine, nearly caused me to groan out loud. All I wanted was to look at her, to touch her and assure myself she really was alive, but I didn’t take my eyes off Raphael as I backed away from him.

  When the hounds moved forward to stand between us, I dared a glance at her.

  She remained unconscious, but her skin had regained the color she’d lost in death and her chest continued to rise and fall with her inhalations. Despite all that, I couldn’t bring myself to believe she was alive. I’d watched her kill herself, seen her lifeless form, and felt the overwhelming loss of her threatening to devour me.

  Adjusting her in my arms, I lifted my finger to trace it over her lips. Her mouth parted on a sigh and her hands curled into my chest, but she didn’t wake.

  “It will take time for her to fully heal,” Raphael said. I lifted my gaze to him once more as Caim edged closer to us. Raphael glanced at Caim before focusing on me again. “There is much to be discussed.”

  “There is,” I agreed.

  “I think it best if we do it away from here. The gateway is closed, but there are many creatures still lurking within the woods.”

  I didn’t want the angels with us, but I did want answers. “We will travel somewhere else.”

  “Will Michael not be joining you so you can return to Heaven?” Caim asked.

  A muscle twitched in Raphael’s cheek before his head turned toward Caim. “No.”

  “Have you been thrown out of Heaven too then, brother?” Caim taunted with a smirk.

  “I made the choice to leave, to come here, to do what I felt must be done. I was not thrown out, but you know I cannot return,” Raphael replied and turned dismissively away from Caim.

  “The birds are about to start pecking each other’s eyes out,” Magnus drawled from behind me.

  “No, they’re not,” I replied. “We have no time for their petty bullshit. It is time for us to leave here.”

  As soon as I finished speaking, a drakón roared from above and something not of Earth screeched loudly in the woods. Humans and demons fell back when I turned to face them. They all gawked at River before the demons went down to one knee. I knew this gesture was not for me, but for her. She’d destroyed the seals and sacrificed herself for all of them. Yes, she still lived, but only because of a miracle.

  River hadn’t realized an angel would save her when she died, and the demons all knew it. Not only did they admire her vast power, but now they also admired her courage. They would have followed her no matter what because she was my Chosen and, as such, their queen. Now they would follow her because she had earned their respect.

  When the humans remained standing, Erin glanced at the demons before looking to River again. Tears still wet her eyelashes when she went down to one knee, followed by Vargas, and gradually the rest of the humans.

  Not only would we be the king and queen of Hell, but we would also rule here. I held River closer as I strode through the kneeling crowd toward the handful of remaining vehicles. There were things I had to do before we left, but I wanted to get her away from here as soon as possible.

  CHAPTER 35

  Kobal

  The sun had set when I called a halt to the vehicles. Overhead, Raphael flew low through the trees. He stayed out of view of anything that would make him dinner or report him to Lucifer. From the woods, beasts screamed, and not just Hell creatures, but the animals and people who resided on this planet too.

  Hell had found its way to Earth, and it was wreaking havoc.

  River had woken half an hour ago. She hadn’t moved, hadn’t spoken, but simply lay in my arms, flinching every time a new sound arose. Hawk’s knuckles were white on the wheel as he drove, his shoulders hunched. The bed of the truck dipped from the weight in the back of it. Every square inch of it was packed with humans and demons.

  Whoever hadn’t been able to fit into the truck, walked behind it. Before leaving the gateway, I ordered the surviving demons and humans, who had journeyed to the gateway to join with us, to return to whatever section of the wall they’d been stationed at before. They would be needed there to guard, and to prepare those still at the wall for what was coming.

  There hadn’t been enough vehicles for everyone, and some of the groups were entirely on foot. The groups on foot had been given more demons and humans to travel with so they would at least have more numbers on their side until they could find something to use as transportation.

  I’d also split the palitons that escaped Hell with us between the groups returning to the wall. Any demon who would prefer to return to Hell would be allowed to in the future, when things stabilized on Earth and in Hell.

  I had a feeling few, if any, would seek me out to return to Hell when all of this was settled. Not only was Hell an entirely different, far more treacherous place than before, but I suspected many demons had come to prefer Earth to Hell.

  However, Earth was also a far different place than the one we’d left five days ago. From what Shax told me, that was all the time that had passed since we entered Hell. Though it had felt like we’d been in Hell for longer than that, I suspected Earth and Hell ran on the same timeline. It only seemed like more time elapsed because it was impossible to mark its passing in Hell.

  River rose from my lap as Hawk put the truck in park. “Are we staying here tonight?” she asked.

  “No,” I replied. “We will not be stopping for any length of time until we are back at the wall. The humans will eat while we discuss some things with the angels.”

  Her violet eyes were weary in the moonlight filtering through the passenger-side window. “I have to get to my brothers.”

  “We will.”

  I opened the door and kept her hand in mine while she climbed out. She brought my hand up between us and held it against her chest.

  “I had to,” she whispered. “I never would have chosen to leave you, not if things could have been different. You would have done the same thing.”

  I drew her flush against me. “I would have, but I am immortal.”

  “Yes, but
even if it destroyed you, you would have done the same thing. I knew you could get free of Hell, knew you would look after my brothers, but the gateway had to be closed before all the seals fell. It might have been the death of everyone, and maybe everything, if it remained open.”

  My teeth ground together as I tried to deny her words, but I knew they were true. I would have done the same and expected River to continue without me. Clasping her cheeks, I drew her closer and kissed her until her knees went weak and she was holding onto me for support. I lost myself in the scent and taste of her as I ran my tongue over her lips before dipping inside her mouth to take possession of it. Blood flowed into my cock, hardening it against her belly. I desired her with a savagery I’d never experienced before, but now was not the time.

  Her eyes were dazed, her lips swollen when I broke the kiss to gaze down at her beloved face. It took me a minute to find my voice as I resisted the impulse to pull her away from here and take her into the woods to claim her. We wouldn’t leave here tonight though if I did that.

  “I understand. I only wish you’d never had to make the choice, that I could have protected you better, or there had been another way,” I told her.

  “You did protect me, from everything.”

  “Except from yourself.”

  “There was no other way,” she murmured.

  “I know.” And I did know. It didn’t mean I had to like it. I took her hand and placed it against my cheek.

  My attention was torn from her when Raphael landed a few feet away from us. Before he closed his white and gold wings behind his back, I spotted a starburst of gold feathers on the inside of his right wing. Those golden feathers formed a sun symbol. Unlike the fallen angels, he had no spikes coming out of the tops and bottoms of his wings. His wings were rounded and very much what humans had always imagined them to be.

  His purple eyes landed on River. When he ruffled his feathers, a small wave of gold dust fell to speckle the road.

  “Well slap me silly!” Lopan declared.