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

by Brenda K. Davies

  Lucifer’s laughter abruptly stopped when his gaze shifted to Caim. He eyed him as a wolf eyed an elk. “I have special plans for you, Caim.”

  “I’ve no doubt,” Caim replied flippantly, but his fingers twitched at his sides.

  Lucifer focused on Kobal once more. “So, like me you are not a demon, not an angel, but something more. Something superior to all those around you. There is a reason it is my daughter you claimed. You are more like me than any of them.”

  I shook my head in denial and opened my mouth to respond, but Corson was already speaking as he strolled forward to stand on Kobal’s other side.

  “Kobal is the only one of us who is born of Hell. He has ruled over us for over a millennia and been willing to die for us that entire time. I have walked through the chamber where the Fires of Creation are located. I know the power that forged my king, know what he went through to rise to lead us, and it makes him more demon than any of us!” Corson declared loudly.

  “And he’s happily killed more than a few of you,” Bale said with a smile as she raised her sword. Red stained the silver blade as she pointed it at the angels behind Lucifer.

  The other demons all nodded their agreement and crept closer to us. Kobal had not evolved like they did, he was not a demon, not really, but he was their king, and they would fight and die for him.

  “Why did the varcolac not know any of this?” I asked. Kobal had once told me he was born with the knowledge of what he was and what he was to carry out. However, he had none of the memories of his predecessors.

  Lucifer shrugged and swung his leg back and forth as he absently patted Bailey’s head. My eyes helplessly followed each of those pats until I thought my heart would explode.

  “Because the Lord works in mysterious ways!” Lucifer threw his hands in the air and waved them about his head before lowering one to Bailey’s head and patting it again. “And there are some things the being likes to keep secret. Like little angel babies.”

  His patting became faster before his movement abruptly stopped with his hand on top of Bailey’s head. I wanted to scream at him to let go of my brother, but I bit my lip, refusing to give him the reaction he sought from me.

  “A little Michael angel baby named Adam,” he murmured. “And now they’re named Bailey and Gage and River.”

  I had to get Bailey and Gage away from Lucifer now, but I didn’t know how to do that without getting them killed.

  CHAPTER 55

  River

  “You will not win this,” Kobal said to Lucifer. The quiet of his tone was more unnerving than if he had bellowed the words.

  “I won’t?” Lucifer inquired. “I have the numbers, the children, my throne.”

  “Not for long. I am the rightful ruler of Hell and that is my fucking throne.”

  “Let’s face it, Kobal, no one is the ruler of Hell anymore. Your Chosen ruined that place, not like it wasn’t a hideous pit before her redecorating, but she has made it everything it was meant to be if the varcolac hadn’t been there to protect it.” Lucifer’s eyes shifted to me as he gave a slow clap. “I knew you could bring down some of those seals, but I never expected that. Bravo, child, bravo.”

  Gage’s eyes looked about to pop out of his head. Tears streamed down Bailey’s face and snot bubbles popped out of his nose. Anger and sorrow battled within me as I gazed at them. They never should have had to endure this.

  Lucifer swung his leg off the throne arm and shifted Bailey to the side. If the hair on my arms stood up anymore, it was going to leap off my body and run away as shadows shifted in the forest beyond Lucifer and the angels. The demons and humans with us crowded closer to Kobal as more of Lucifer’s followers emerged from the woods.

  “Am I still going to lose, Kobal?” Lucifer taunted.

  Kobal turned his attention from the newest arrivals to Lucifer. When he smiled at Lucifer, I almost fell over. I’d expected many reactions from Kobal, but not that as he actually seemed amused by something.

  “Yes,” he said simply.

  Lucifer didn’t look at all amused by this response as his fingers curled around the arms of the throne. The newest craetons came closer until they were mingling with the angels. I recognized some of them as the unicorn and hare-like things I’d first seen when the seals started falling.

  Púcas, I recalled Kobal having called them when we had held up the seal housing them against my father.

  Gage leaned away from a unicorn stepping close to him. The unicorn’s bright red eyes studied him hungrily as its horn nudged his shoulder.

  “Get away from him!” I snapped.

  The púca’s head turned toward me; its nostrils flared as it sniffed the air. It snorted before stomping the ground with a cloven hoof and prancing back. Shock ran through me as the hares beat their paws against the ground and more of the unicorns snorted. Some of them shifted into human form while others transformed into large cat-like creatures that could make a lion cower.

  “What are they doing?” I whispered.

  Kobal continued to smile while he studied the púca. “They’re confused,” he said.

  “About what?”

  “Lucifer organized their release, but technically you released them, and they remember that. However, you are standing with me.”

  I kind of, sort of, understood his smile a little more now.

  “And they hate you,” Caim stated.

  “And they hate me,” Kobal agreed.

  The distant roar of the drakón drew my attention to the sky as one of the gigantic, skeletal beasts soared over top of the field again. Most of those standing in the open staggered back as they sought to avoid being lunch for the fire-breathing dragons.

  “River, I’m going to step away from you,” Kobal said. “Do not go for your brothers. If Lucifer gets his hands on you, that will be the end.”

  “I won’t go for them,” I promised.

  “The púca can’t speak,” he said. “But they understand what you say to them. Talk to them, get them to listen to you.”

  “No pressure though,” I murmured and forced a smile.

  He ran his fingers over my cheek. “None.”

  His hand fell away from me and he stepped to the side. Some of the púcas moved closer as their eyes traveled between me and Kobal. Resentment blazed from their eyes when they gazed at him, but when they looked at me, I saw their confusion. Lucifer lifted Bailey and set him in his lap.

  Instinctively, I stepped forward, my hand stretching out as I sought to get my hands on my brother. I stopped myself before I went any closer, and my arm fell back to my side. When more of the púcas crept toward me, Lucifer hugged Bailey to his chest.

  “Let him go!” I cried as Kobal tensed beside me.

  I glanced over the púcas as they continued to shift while more and more demons emerged from the woods. Most of them were upper-level demons.

  “Kobal didn’t put you behind those seals. His ancestors did!” I declared unable to tear my gaze from Lucifer as he hugged Bailey closer. The coward was using my brother as a shield. “And I am the one who brought down the seals!”

  “But Kobal chose to keep them imprisoned, and I am the one who compelled you to set them free, daughter. You may have been the catalyst, but I am the one who orchestrated their freedom,” Lucifer purred.

  “You set them free so you could use them,” I replied.

  “And what do you intend to do with them?” Lucifer retorted. “Lock them away again?”

  The pucás stopped shifting, all their heads turned to me as they awaited an answer. The one closest to Gage rested its horn against his shoulder. Terror flooded me. I’d seen what it could do with that horn.

  “No,” Kobal said. “No species will be locked away again because of the actions of one, or even a hundred of its kind. Those who slip up will be punished individually and accordingly for the crime they commit. The demons who were placed behind the hundredth seal for disobeying the laws while on Earth”—a good number of the crowd behind Lucif
er leaned raptly forward—“have free reign of Earth now. There’s no reason for them to be punished anymore, unless they do something on this plane that warrants it.

  “It will be the same for all demons, Hell creatures, and escapees from the seals. Some things, like akalia vine, will have to be destroyed no matter what. That can’t be allowed to spread across the Earth, and neither can the revenirs and lanavours. However, for everyone else, new laws will be established and those who obey them will find a home here, and freedom.”

  They also need to go, I thought as a manticore flew overhead.

  “If you follow Lucifer, he will keep you enslaved,” Kobal continued, and his eyes bored into Lucifer’s. The hatred between them sizzled across the air. “He believes you beneath him and expects you to do his bidding.”

  The púca with its horn on Gage moved it off him. It glanced at its fellow creatures, and some of them backed further away. If they couldn’t speak, then they must be able to telecommunicate, I realized as more of them slipped toward the woods.

  “And what of you, Kobal?” Lucifer inquired as he bounced Bailey on his knee. “I assume you think you will rule over them, force them to obey your laws, and the laws of the humans you work with—humans who are far beneath angel and demon in strength, yet they stand behind you.”

  “They stand with me,” Kobal corrected. “And I expect all of us to work together. We all need each other to survive. Your way will be the end of existence. You seek to destroy. We seek to build a new world from the ashes of Hell and Earth.”

  “And you will rule, of course,” Lucifer said and bounced Bailey faster.

  Gage threw his hands out toward Bailey when he cried out. His movement caused him to jerk against the barta who slammed him against the throne. “Don’t!” I yelled at it.

  The barta revealed all its hideously sharp teeth and released a chattering laugh.

  “Better I rule than you,” Kobal said. Resting his hand on my shoulder, he gave it a gentle squeeze. “I am stronger than you, and as you have pointed out, you may have orchestrated the seals coming down, but my queen, my Chosen was the catalyst behind it. The power she contains broke those seals, which you never could have done. She is the first and only true World Walker to exist. No one else can do what she is capable of doing.”

  “She is my daughter,” Lucifer replied.

  “I am also Michael’s daughter,” I stated and lifted my chin. I despised being considered the daughter of either of them, but my birth parents weren’t exactly prize winners either, so I didn’t see what difference it made anymore. “I am angel, I am demon, and I am human. You have no claim on me.”

  Gage gawked at me before his eyes ran over all those standing behind us. A drakón swept overhead again as all the demons around Lucifer halted. The fallen angels crept closer to him.

  “I am still the reason those trapped behind the seals are free,” Lucifer said. “If I hadn’t forced her to do it, if I hadn’t discovered a way to unleash her abilities in a powerful blast, the seals would still be standing.”

  Lucifer shifted his hold to tuck Bailey against his side, almost under his wing. My throat went dry as I realized he planned to fly away with my brother. If he fled here with Bailey, he would use my brother against me every day for the rest of our lives. He would twist Bailey to his way, turn him against us, and tear my heart out in the process.

  Gage was too far away for Lucifer to grab him too, but Onoskelis approached the barta until she stood beside it.

  “I set the demons free, and if they’re to keep their freedom, they must fight for it!” Lucifer called to the demons. “The fires that forged the varcolac were destroyed when Hell fell. Which means Kobal is the last one who can create a seal. If he lives, even if he cannot create seals on Earth, he can still open a gateway into Hell and toss you back in there, for good.”

  Malice radiated from the demons behind Lucifer as they crept closer.

  “There is no power strong enough to destroy the Fires of Creation,” Kobal stated with a certainty that had many of those gathered around us nodding their agreement. “If I die, a new varcolac will rise. Unlike me, it probably won’t be inclined to work with any of you.”

  The demons on Lucifer’s side all froze.

  “Or you could be lying about everything,” Lucifer said. “I say that having a chance to be free for the rest of your existence is worth fighting for. If you bring the girl to me, we will have control of Kobal and you will never have to fear him working against you again. If you kill him, so be it, we will destroy the next varcolac should one arise.”

  Some of the púcas approached again while others slipped away into the forest. Lower and upper-level demons vanished into the woods, but more remained. Manticores, bartas, gobalinus, an ogre, and numerous other Hell creatures closed in on us.

  “Remember to help Raphael,” Kobal said to me.

  “I will.” I glanced to my brothers once more. I love you, I mouthed to them as a bloodthirsty cry rent the air and the battle resumed.

  CHAPTER 56

  Kobal

  I knew Lucifer planned to take flight with the child. If he succeeded in doing so, he would flee as far from here as possible with the biggest piece of leverage he had over River. No matter what happened, I couldn’t allow that.

  Turning, Raphael emitted a blast of white hot energy that formed a wall behind us and allowed everyone else to focus on the threat before us. River rested her hand on my arm. Golden-blue light crackled over her fingers and my skin before she moved her hand away and placed it on Raphael’s arm.

  Her breath sucked in, and the hair around her face waved as light washed over her. The wall of energy behind us grew until it swept thirty feet across the hill in both directions. It would not stop our winged enemies from diving down on us, but any who touched it would be destroyed.

  Humans, demons, and Hell creatures surged forward to battle with each other. I fought my way through a wave of barta demons, making sure to keep them away from River as I tossed them ruthlessly aside. River and Raphael edged forward with us as we gained ground toward Lucifer.

  I seized one barta and smashed it into the ground before decapitating it. When I lifted my head to take on the next one, I discovered the rest of them had switched course. Instead of coming for me, they were barreling toward a group of humans led by Vargas, Erin, and Lix.

  “River!” I shouted. “To the right!”

  Spinning, she placed her other hand on Raphael’s arm before releasing a wave of energy on the creatures. Raphael’s power fanned hers, making it more white in color than gold. Some of the bartas fell to their knees immediately and started shredding their chests open. Others kept going for a few feet before they started screaming.

  I grabbed the horn of a púca before it could stab me and snapped it off in one quick twist. I threw the horn aside as the creature reeled back, screaming as it spewed black blood everywhere. Lucifer rose to stand on the seat of my throne, spread his wings, and gave them a solid flap. The grass around the throne bowed down beneath the breeze he created as he rose gracefully into the air.

  Shoving aside a lower-level demon, I broke free of the craetons and covered the ten feet separating me from Lucifer in two bounds. Leaping onto the seat of my throne, I launched myself into the air after him. My hand snagged his ankle. Bailey cried out as my weight jerked Lucifer down a foot.

  Using Lucifer’s leg as leverage, I swung my other hand up and sank my claws into his stomach. I dug deeper into the soft flesh there to get a better grip on him. He grunted and beat his wings faster as his warm blood pooled in my palm. I formed a ball of fire in my hand and kept it trapped against his stomach to keep Bailey protected from the flames.

  Lucifer yelped, and his feet kicked out. One of them caught me in the jaw and jarred my fangs together, but I didn’t release him. My fire licked straight into his stomach. The cooked meat aroma of his roasting flesh and sinew filled the air as his skin sizzled and popped.

  Lucifer grunted, closi
ng his wings protectively in, but the gesture did nothing to help him protect himself as he dropped five feet. Unfurling his wings again, he swung the sharp tips at me. I dodged the first one and released my hold on his calf to lunge for the second. My blood-soaked hand slid down the tip before I got a firm hold on it. I increased the fire against his stomach until its glow could be seen behind his ribcage.

  “You want him, varcolac,” Lucifer hissed. “Then catch him.”

  Before I could respond, Lucifer threw Bailey away from me.

  “No!” I shouted and released my hold on his wing so I could swing out to catch the child, but Lucifer had thrown him out of my reach.

  Bailey shrieked, his arms and legs flailed as he plunged toward the ground, almost thirty feet below. River released Raphael and raced toward Bailey, but she would never make it to him in time.

  “No!” she screamed.

  Then, a black blur swooped into view, catching Bailey seconds before he hit the ground. To my amazement, the child laughed as Caim landed with Bailey tucked against his chest. River skidded to a halt, her head turned back to Raphael and she glanced between him and Caim.

  “Go!” Caim shouted to her. “I’ll protect the child.”

  She hesitated for a second before running back to Raphael. Returning my attention to Lucifer, I grinned at him and released a ball of fire that tore all the way through his stomach. The tops of the trees could be seen through the cauterized bits of flesh flapping over the hole I’d created in him. My fingers dug into the bottom of that hole and the charred skin there.

  His wings drooped enough that I once again grabbed the silver tip of one and yanked on it. I didn’t care what it took, I would not let him go again. He would pay for everything he’d done, for every hurt he’d inflicted on River. Killing had always been a necessity for my survival; killing him would be a pleasure.