I started to swipe the blood onto my pants, but Abel snatched my wrist and lifted my hand to his mouth. Keeping his eyes on my face, he licked my palm in one long sweep.
Revulsion turned my stomach as my core ached with intense need. What was happening?
“Are you a vampire?” I whispered in fear. Abel might not have the power to command me like he did the others, but he had another power over me that was equally dangerous.
He grinned, and mischief filled his eyes. “No, Waboose. I’m not a vampire.” Then he dropped my hand and stepped back.
“Valvad,” Abel called out. “At last we meet.”
“I know what you are, Abel,” the demon shouted. “You will be a prize for Okeus that will earn me great rewards.”
“Not if Kewasa kills you first.”
The demon laughed. “She can try.”
Abel was right. They were prideful. I could use that against them. “That’s right,” I said, focusing on the power in my blood. “How can a simple woman kill one of you, let alone both?”
The two demons exchanged a look. Thargos had blood on its face and claws, and it looked even more dangerous than the night I’d met it. It was hopped up on the thrill of the hunt. Valvad stood next to Thargos. Less blood covered its face and body, but the menace in its eyes told me it planned to make me suffer. I was counting on Abel’s promise, and I realized it made me bolder. More confident.
“But which one of you is greater?” I asked as I moved closer, my fingers flexing and unflexing on the dagger handles. “I think it’s Thargos, based on the way it handled its prey.”
“Thargos?” Valvad shouted. “It is lower than me. It is weak and slow.”
“That’s not what I saw,” I said. “I saw great power and cunning.”
Thargos laughed. “Even the slayer sees my strength and your weakness.”
The maligned demon released a low growl that made the ground rumble.
“Valvad couldn’t best Thargos if it tried, which it wouldn’t,” I added in a derogatory tone. “Valvad would be too afraid of failure.”
The growl became loud enough to shake the ground.
“You think Thargos is weak and stupid,” I said. “But it struck first.”
“Lies,” Valvad shouted. “I killed first. I have killed two to its one.”
“But it killed last night while you watched in hunger,” I said.
“Lies!” Valvad yelled. Several rocks tumbled down the hill onto the road. “How would you know this? You weren’t here!”
“No, but Helen was,” I said. “Weren’t you, Helen?”
She appeared on top of the bridge, a translucent image hanging by the neck from the side of the bridge. “Piper,” she said. “Savior.”
I tried to hide my surprise at her title. Savior? Had she changed her mind? Was she ready for me to free her from her earthly bond?
“Savior,” Valvad spat like it left a bitter taste on its tongue.
“Kewasa.” Thargos laughed.
Wait. Did Kewasa mean savior? Abel had said it meant deliverer.
I was losing focus—I needed to keep these two pitted against one another. “Helen, I was just telling Valvad that it is weaker and stupider than Thargos. I wanted it to know that before I kill it and send it back to hell. Don’t you agree with me?”
She gave me a blank look, and I wondered—a little too late—if it was possible for a ghost to lie.
“Yes,” she said in a smug tone. “I think you’re right. Thargos is the greater demon.”
“Thargos has to be greater,” I said. “Look at its shiny eyes and superior fangs. Perhaps if it didn’t have those, Valvad would be greater.”
“I agree,” Helen said. “And Thargos also has superior ears.”
Valvad released a frightening sound as it turned on the smaller demon, smashing it to the ground and clawing at its throat.
I couldn’t waste time. I ran behind Valvad as it remained focused on mauling Thargos’s face. Reaching around the demon’s chest, I slashed its throat with the blade, fighting my nausea as the blade sliced through flesh.
“That won’t do it, Kewasa,” Abel said. “It’s not human.”
Then how was I supposed to kill it? I focused on the power coursing through my blood, turning it on the demon. To my shock, I saw it in a different way . . . with a different type of sight. The center of its chest glowed, and I knew intuitively that this was where the souls of the people it had murdered were locked away. But closer inspection told me the only way to reach the glowing mass was from the front—the demon’s chest.
Thargos threw Valvad off, catching me off guard. Valvad fell onto its back, trapping my legs and feet underneath its mass. Both daggers flew out of my hands and skittered a couple of feet across the pavement.
I was a dead woman.
In a quick move, Valvad rolled to its side, trapping me even more. It continued to roll until it was leaning over me while I lay flat on my back.
This was when Abel killed me.
But nothing came.
“Abel!”
Valvad’s horrid breath washed over my face, making me gag, while it held me pinned by the throat. A drop of its blood fell from its neck. It landed on my chest and burned.
“One long slash, slayer,” the demon said with a little too much glee. “Right across the throat, just like you did to me. I can end this mercifully, but you must beg me for it.”
“No,” I said, barely able to push out the word with its hand blocking my airway. Its long arms allowed it to rise up over me without lessening its pressure on my neck. I screamed in pain as it slashed through my shirt and scraped through the skin of my abdomen.
The demon grinned, leaning down over my stomach. I was sure it was about to eat my insides, but instead it licked the blood soaking my shirt. “The power in you is strong. It’s a shame to dispose of you. I could keep you as a pet and feed from you.” It looked up at Abel. “I can see why you dote on her.”
“She is mine. You will not keep her,” Abel said.
There was that statement again. What exactly did he mean? But I had bigger things to worry about—like this demon that clearly intended to kill me. I needed one of my daggers, but they were several feet away.
I looked above Valvad’s head. Helen was floating on the bridge, watching.
“What good is she if she is dead?” Valvad asked as it loosened its hold on my neck. “We can make a trade.”
“I will make no trade,” Abel said. “I would rather see her dead than in your presence any longer than is necessary.”
I glanced over at Thargos, who lay on the ground about six feet away. Its face had been destroyed, but it still lived. Just like with Valvad, I could now see a strange glow in its chest.
“Thargos,” I called out, trying to ignore the throbbing on my stomach. “I thought you stronger than this. You’ll let this weak demon best you?”
Thargos stirred, but it was obvious it was gravely injured.
“Valvad is about to take me as a pet. Are you going to let it do that?”
The demon rolled to its side.
“She can choose,” Valvad said to Abel. “She willingly chose you, which means she can choose me too.”
Thargos found its way to its hands and knees. “You dare to claim her power?”
Valvad turned its attention to the smaller demon.
“You want me for your own, Valvad?” I asked, my voice a little too loud and manic. “All it takes is a kiss. That’s how Abel did it.”
Abel released a low sound, a threat judging by the tone, and Valvad grinned as it stared down at me. “A demon kiss is nothing to trifle with, little human.” Then it leaned closer until its face was only a foot over my own.
Thargos looked ready to pounce.
If this didn’t work, Abel better be ready to live up to his promise.
I gave Valvad a haughty look. “If you want a girl to kiss you, you really need to do something about that breath.”
Thargos fell
to the ground on its side, and I wanted to cry. My plan to instigate a final confrontation between the two demons had failed. Valvad was about to kiss me, and from the way Abel was freaking out, that was a very bad thing.
A sudden icy breeze rushed over my face, and the heavy weight on my legs disappeared. Helen had swooped between us and knocked Valvad to the ground.
I rolled to the side and grabbed a dagger, then threw myself on top of the big demon’s chest.
Valvad swiped at my back, its claws sinking in as I plunged the dagger into its chest. My vision faded as pain burst through my body, but I focused on shoving the dagger deeper, aiming for the glowing orb in its chest with the knife tip.
It didn’t quite reach.
I wanted to cry. I was so close, but this was a situation where close didn’t matter. I was going to die before saving those souls.
Valvad growled and clawed my back again. Throwing my weight onto the dagger hilt, I shoved it down with all my strength. The tip brushed the edge of the orb, and Valvad released a loud scream that shot pain through my eardrums. But then it was gone, transformed to a pile of ash and wispy black smoke that floated into the night sky. The glowing orb lay on top of it.
I dropped to the ground with a hard thud, and my vision faded again. I couldn’t pass out. I had another demon to kill.
Thargos stirred, transfixed by the orb, and I knew that the demon would regain its strength if it got to the orb. Those stolen souls would be lost all over again.
I got onto my knees, ignoring the screaming pain in my back and stomach. I held the blade slick with black demon blood in my right hand.
“Let me have the souls, little human,” it said in a slurred voice. “And I promise to let you live.”
“Call me slayer, demon,” I said with more force and authority than I felt. “And you’re a liar.”
“Then it’s a fight for survival, slayer,” it spat. “Kill or be killed.”
“No one’s killing me today.” I lunged forward, thrusting the blade upward through its chest, easily puncturing the smaller orb.
The demon turned to ash and smoke, and the orb burst into multiple light fragments that caught on the wind and blew away, except for one piece that floated up and was enveloped by the ghost now floating in front of me.
I watched in awe, the lights reminding me of Chinese lanterns. But as beautiful as it was, I wasn’t done. The souls Valvad had consumed were still trapped in the orb lying in the pile of ash, but I had serious doubts that I could reach it.
“Helen . . . ,” I said, falling to the ground. The air was warm, but I was suddenly freezing. Valvad’s orb was calling to me . . . I felt the tug of its power, igniting a dull hunger inside me, and I suddenly understood why the demons were so drawn to the souls.
Was that what Abel was after?
He was beside me in an instant, pride in his eyes. “You did it, Kewasa.”
“I might die yet,” I said weakly. I wasn’t being dramatic. My shirt was drenched with my blood, and it was still flowing. “I have to free the souls.”
“You’ve done your job,” he said. “You killed the demons. Now let me look at your wounds.”
“No . . .” My strength was fading fast. “I need to do this.”
He squatted next to me while I crawled toward the orb, the dagger still clutched in my hand. Though he clearly wanted to intervene, he let me complete what I needed to do. Knowing he was there gave me the encouragement I needed to crawl the few feet to reach it. I lifted the dagger, a fresh wave of pain and nausea making my vision blacken around the edges. The dagger pierced the orb, and an even bigger light show of freed souls broke loose.
I fell to my side, watching them float away, knowing that Gill was one of them. At least I’d saved him in the end. “I did it,” I murmured, my words barely audible. The dagger clattered as it dropped to the pavement.
“Yes, you did,” Abel said, his words husky.
My mission complete, Abel didn’t waste any time tugging off my jacket. He ripped the top straps of my tank top and pulled it down to my waist.
“It is bad,” Helen said with a wail.
Everything was hazy and their voices seemed very far away.
“I can save her,” Abel said, sounding slightly frantic.
“How sure are you that she is Kewasa?”
“You saw her fight them. She’s the one.”
“At what cost?” she asked quietly. “This will tie her to you even more. Think before you act, Kieran.”
“There’s little time to think.” He sounded desperate. “Besides, it likely won’t work if she isn’t the one.”
She said something in a language I didn’t understand, or maybe I just didn’t understand because everything was slowing down. I was dying.
Would I become a ghost? Would someone help me to the other side?
Then my lips were coated with something that tasted like nothing I’d ever tasted before—at once thick and sweet, rich and warm. It filled me with strength and a craving for more. I grabbed hold of the cup being held to my lips, trying to drink more deeply, only barely registering that it wasn’t a cup at all. It was a wrist.
Horror washed through me.
I was drinking Abel’s blood.
My eyes flew open, and I stared up at his worried face with fear and wonder. “What are you?” I asked again.
He smiled, but a bitterness filled his eyes. “I am your Kewasa, just as you are mine.”
“Savior?” I asked. “Not just deliverer?”
“For us, it is one and the same.” He got to his feet.
I sat up, prepared for dizziness, but I felt fine. I felt better than fine. The gashes on my stomach were gone, and I was sure the claw marks on my back had disappeared too. “That doesn’t answer my question, Abel.”
“It is all you need for now.” He turned and started to walk away.
“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” I shouted after him as I got to my feet.
“I need space. I need to think.” He wasted no time walking down the road, but I didn’t lose track of him when he rounded a corner. I could feel his location.
Oh shit. Was this the price he’d paid? That I would always know where he was? Could he locate me as well?
I ran after him, feeling like a piece of me was walking away. Was that the result of our blood oath? Our exchange of blood? Or just my own desperation for answers?
I caught up to him and grabbed his arm. “Kieran. Wait.”
He stopped, shock in his eyes. “You called me Kieran.”
I faltered. “It’s your name.”
He gave a tiny shake of his head. “Piper. Go find your friends.”
“First, I need to know what just happened.”
“You fought the demons and won. You freed the souls they’d consumed.”
“I may have killed them, but they nearly killed me,” I said bitterly. “This was no victory.”
He cupped my cheek and stared into my eyes. “We take the victories where we can. That you survived is a victory.”
I tried to ignore the urge to push my face into his hand. “Only because you brought me back to life.”
“No. You weren’t dead, but you were close. You must learn to fight, Piper. I might not be close enough to save you next time.” His fierceness was returning, but why did he seem so upset?
“What price did you pay to save me?” I asked, my fingers digging into his arm.
He smiled, but it looked bittersweet. “My own selfishness saved you. You’ll do best to remember that.”
“For your purpose.”
Tempered anger filled his eyes, but I knew he was angry with himself, not me. “I’ve been up-front about that since we met.”
“We’re bound together now, aren’t we?”
“Yes. I couldn’t resist your blood. It was a stupid thing to do, but it was further confirmation that I was right. Your soul is pure.” He paused. “Many Native Americans believe that a person’s life essence is part of a
bigger picture. When a life ends, the life force is recycled into new life. Energy is never wasted. It transfers.”
I nodded. “Jack told me it’s called the manitou.”
A dark look washed over his face. “Jack is correct. But your life force isn’t recycled. From time to time, a new soul is born. A soul that is pure. Some call these souls witness to creation because they are as pure as the beginning of time. You, Piper Lancaster, are a witness to creation. And your blood is so sweet, so pure, that only those with the greatest of restraint can resist it. I failed.”
“Kieran.”
He shook his head. “It would have been fine if I’d left it at that. But then I fed you my blood, and I bound us together.”
“I’d be dead if you hadn’t done it. I’m not sorry.”
“You might change your mind once you find out what you swore to do.”
My breath caught in my chest. “What did I swear to do?”
His dark gaze found mine. “You swore to fulfill your purpose, Kewasa. That’s why I tried to stay away from you, to make it easier on both of us. I knew the pull between us would be there, and the less we were together, the easier it would be to resist, but you needed more help than I anticipated. And then . . .” He smiled, then threw my words back at me. “I liked you.”
“What did I swear to do, Kieran?” I asked, my heart beating so fast I could barely catch my breath.
“You promised to kill me, Kewasa.” He grabbed my left hand and fisted it, then held it to his chest. “When the time is right, you will take one of those daggers and bury it deep in my chest and kill me.” He pressed my fist into his pec even harder.
I stared up at him in horror and tried to jerk my hand away. “No.”
He held on tight. “Yes. That’s why I needed you to find them. That’s why I needed you to kill a demon to prove it was you.”
This was a nightmare.
He grabbed the sides of my face and held me still as he searched my face. “I am drawn to you like no other. I wanted to hate you, but the more I’m with you, the more I want you.”
I was drawn to him too, but how much of that was magic and how much was real? My body didn’t care, pressing against his chest, wanting to get closer, closer.
He crushed his lips to mine in a greedy, demanding kiss. His tongue plundered mine, taking and claiming as one hand held my head in place and the other cupped my butt.
Of Ash and Spirit_Piper Lancaster Series Page 29