Unholy Torment

by Kristie Cook

  Vampires – Supernatural beings that are sustained by blood. They can also feed on fear and other emotional energy. There are vampires on both the Amadis and the Daemoni sides.

  Vanessa – Formerly one of the Daemoni’s star vampires recently converted to Amadis. Alexis’s half-sister, Victor’s twin, and Lucas’s daughter. Known abilities include stirring up trouble and pissing everyone off.

  Victor – Vanessa’s twin brother, Alexis’s half-brother, Lucas’s son and Daemoni vampire who’s not too bright.

  Warlocks – Part of the mage classification, supernatural beings who are born with the ability to wield magic and physically endowed with strength and speed, making them excellent warriors. They are not gender specific and are on both the Amadis and Daemoni sides.

  Whitby Abbey – Ancient abbey on the northeastern coast of England. The place where Dorian was found, where Alexis faced off with Lucas, and where Sophia, Rina, and Winston died.

  Witches/Wizards – Part of the mage classification, supernatural beings who are born with the ability to wield magic, usually using a wand as well as spells, incantations, potions, elemental energy, etc. While they can be quite powerful, their powers and physical strengths aren’t as strong as Warlocks or Sorcerers. Using the term Witch or Wizard was traditionally by gender, but really is up to each individual’s preference. There are Witches and Wizards on both the Amadis and Daemoni sides.

  Were-creatures/animals (a/k/a Shifters) – Supernatural beings with two combined spirits—human and animal—and they can physically shift between their two forms. There is a were-creature/shifter for nearly every predatory species on Earth, and they’re on both the Amadis and the Daemoni sides.

  Zombies – Reanimated corpses with deadly bites. Created by mixing necromancy magic with fatal and highly contagious viruses, such as Ebola. Lucas made them as an experiment and to provide meatsuits for the Demons he planned to let loose on Earth.

  Unholy Torment Playlist

  (Songs I listened to on repeat while writing this book.)

  As You Go by Red

  This Is War by 30 Seconds to Mars

  My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark by Fall Out Boy

  Indestructible by Disturbed

  Evil Never Sleeps by Above Only

  Where Did the Angels Go? By Papa Roach

  Lights Out by Breaking Benjamin

  Blow Me Away by Breaking Benjamin

  Warriors by Imagine Dragons

  Cry for Help by Shinedown

  Rebellion by Linkin Park

  Final Masquerade by Linkin Park

  Hopeless by Breaking Benjamin

  Hold Me Now by Red

  About the Author

  Kristie Cook is a lifelong, award-winning writer in various genres, primarily New Adult paranormal romance and contemporary fantasy. Her internationally bestselling, award-winning Soul Savers Series includes seven books, as well as several companion novellas and short stories. Over 1.2 million Soul Savers books have been downloaded. She has also written The Book of Phoenix trilogy, a New Adult paranormal romance series. Her books have been featured in USA Today’s HEA section, on Good Morning America, and in the Emmy’s Gifting Suite.

  Kristie also created, writes in, and publishes the award-winning Havenwood Falls shared world, a collaborative project with multiple series, dozens of authors, and countless stories.

  Besides writing, Kristie enjoys reading, cooking, traveling, getting her hippie on, and feeding her addictions to coffee, chocolate, cheese, and her latest TV obsession. She has lived in eleven states, but currently calls Florida home.

  Connect With Me Online

  I love to hear from and connect with readers. Please don't be shy.

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  Email: kristie@kristiecook.com

  Author's Website & Blog: http://www.KristieCook.com

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  BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/kristie-cook

  Word of mouth is very important for any author. If you enjoyed the book, please consider leaving a review, even if it’s only a sentence or two. This is one of the most important and appreciated things you can do for an author.

  Acknowledgments

  First and always, my gratitude goes to my Maker.

  I thank my family, too, for being so understanding and supportive of my writing career, even when it takes me away from them more than it should. Especially to Shawn, Zakary, Austin, and Nathan.

  Thank you to Brenda Pandos for being such a good friend. Much appreciation to S.T. Bende for all of your help with blurbs and endings, but most of all for your friendship. I’m so blessed to know both of you. Many thanks to Kristen and Tammi for keeping me on track and saving my sanity.

  Thank you to Lily Rowserein for the incredible covers. Kristen, Jen, and Chrissi for giving my words your critical eyes, and more thanks to the entire writing and book community.

  I have so much gratitude for my beta readers—Jessie, Heather, Debbie, Rissa, Jewels, Stacey, Claire, Mindy, and Inga—who worked on a tight deadline through the holiday season to make this book a reality. Many thanks to the rest of the Crew and to Kristie’s Warriors, who mean the world to me.

  And thank you, reader, for once again choosing to spend your time with my characters. Because of you, I am living a dream and able to share it with the world. God bless you all. (And please don’t hate me when you finish this book. All I can say is, “Have a little faith.”)

  Books by Kristie Cook

  Soul Savers

  A Demon’s Promise

  An Angel’s Purpose

  Dangerous Devotion

  Dark Power

  Sacred Wrath

  Unholy Torment

  Fractured Faith

  Genesis: A Soul Savers Novella

  Awakened Angel: A Soul Savers Novella

  Prophecy of the Wolves: (A Soul Savers Tie-In Novella)

  Wonder: A Soul Savers Collection of Holiday Short Stories & Recipes

  Havenwood Falls

  Forget You Not

  Lose You Not

  Break Me Not

  The Collector: Awakening

  The Winged & the Wicked (with T.V. Hahn)

  Savage Salvation (Sin & Silk)

  Sun & Moon Academy Book One: Fall Semester

  Havenwood Falls Short Story Anthology 2018

  Havenwood Falls Short Story Anthology 2019

  Book Of Phoenix

  The Space Between

  The Space Beyond

  The Space Within

  An Excerpt

  Evil reigns the world. Earth’s been ravaged. The only signs humans survived the war come from those who serve the Demons’ army. To continue his conquest of humanity, Lucas prepares to open the gates of Hell and bring Satan himself to the physical realm.

  With a soul that’s been battered and beaten by both Heaven and Hell, I hold on to a single conviction—my love for my family. My only mission now is to save their souls. But the Angels have other plans for us all.

  My faith in them, in everything is fractured . . . broken. Possibly gone forever.

  I mean, after everything, after all of the loss, who can blame me? Tristan and everyone else still believe—in the Angels and in me. I have to dig deep, though, for the tiniest bit of faith in order to defeat Lucas and win back the world. But first, I must answer the question that’s haunted me for years: How far will I go to save the souls I love—and those I do not?

  Fractured Faith

  An Excerpt

  TRISTAN

  As the world destructed upon itself, the last thing I wanted to be doing was staring into the black abyss of a Demon’s eye. Yet, here I was, standing on the marble steps of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial doing just that,
while bombs exploded throughout the city and chunks of black ice crashed into the ground, transporting more Demons into this realm. Along with the ice came a rain of fire. It ignited the dry, autumn landscape, creating an orange glow in the night sky that added to the imagery of Hell on Earth.

  The only thing I did want to be doing at this moment was to be holding my wife and son, or better yet, sweeping them off to safety. But first, I had to finish off this last son of a bitch who blocked my way to the rotunda above. The first few Demons had given me quite the beating, but I learned with each one, and had sent six, so far, chasing after their heads.

  Seven had always been my lucky number. If I believed in such a thing.

  I watched the Demon’s horned head as its membranous wings beat at the air and its barbed tail swished to and fro, while I calculated its next move. Its green and yellow dappled skin seemed to undulate like a separate being with each movement, creating a distraction for the inexperienced. But I focused on its obsidian eyes. And when it glanced to my left, I knew it would actually go right, so I feigned that way too. Then I ducked and weaved to its left and swung my foot up. My boot slammed into its lizard-like nose, shoving its face into its head with a squishing, spurting sound as if it were made out of gelatin.

  Its thick neck twisted, and a fang jutting out of its jaw hooked into my boot. When it gave a shake of its head, as though trying to throw its face back into place, it jerked me off the ground. I flew into the air, bits of black matter from its head flying with me. I flipped in midair and landed on my feet three steps above the Demon. At least I headed in the right direction.

  The Demon let out a screeching, wheezing sound through its smashed nose and mouth, and then it dove at me. Its sharp claws lashed out at my face, and I arched backward out of its reach. Then I sprang back on my hands and launched myself upward, feet first. My thick-soled boots plowed into its barrel chest. The force should have sent it tumbling away, but the powerful beast barely budged a few feet before its wings caught the air. It hung there for a moment, screaming evil curses in the old language as its eyes bulged from the pressure of its crushed nose.

  I glanced at the portico only a dozen steps above me now, straining to listen for heartbeats while trying not to draw the Demon’s attention toward that direction. I’d heard Alexis screaming what must have been hours ago, but she’d been quiet since, and I hoped she’d been hiding somewhere safe with Dorian. Hiding wasn’t like her, not for this long, but I had to hope. I could hear nothing, though, over the squawk of the Demon.

  Almost there, my love. Almost there. Her telepathy had become unreliable, so I prayed that she even heard my thoughts.

  While sliding a shuriken from a hidden pocket inside my jacket’s sleeve, I refocused on the shrieking Demon, analyzing it again so I could seize the perfect opportunity. Since they had no hearts—their bodies weren’t permanently physical—my killing power had no effect on these creatures straight from the depths of Hell. Every time I tried to paralyze them, they broke free in seconds with powerful black magic. The Ancients had once divulged to me, during my previous life when I was their pet, that most Demons were too simpleminded to use the powers they possessed. They preferred the thrill of a physical brawl.

  Which was fortunate for me.

  Because there was only one way to decommission a Demon: decapitate it. It wouldn’t die permanently, of course. It was a spirit of the Otherworld. But it would have to return to that other realm, to Hell specifically, to heal before it could take a physical form again. And decapitation required a closeness their magic would never allow if they chose to use it.

  Shaking its deformed head again, the Demon batted its wings, lifting it higher in the air so it was once again above me. And that was its mistake. It probably thought it had gained a vantage point, but instead, it exposed its vulnerable throat. At the same moment it twitched to lunge at me, I flicked my wrist, sending the shuriken across its neck. It grinned for a moment, likely believing I’d tried another of my powers on it. But the grin faded along with the inky shine in its eyes. A moment later, the head fell from the body, and then both parts disappeared.

  My legs pumped up the steps toward the rotunda as I shouted for my family. “Alexis! Dorian!”

  I continued calling for them, but no answer came. Where the hell were they? Why weren’t they responding? Panic rose and filled my voice as I yelled their names. My heart pounded with the unfamiliar feeling of fear as I reached the center of the portico. Only broken pillars remained, the roof and walls gone. The statue of Thomas Jefferson, where Noah had been magically bound, lay on its side. On a broken piece of wall, written in what appeared to be dried blood and taking the form of Dorian’s handwriting, were the words, “We don’t belong with you. I have to do this. Don’t try to follow.”

  Fuck! Dorian had taken Noah and left, possibly for the Daemoni. That must have been what had Alexis screaming earlier. But where was she now?

  My pulse raced even faster as my eyes swept over the piles of jagged marble and stone until they caught on something a few yards in front of me. My heart came to a screeching halt. Locks of dark coppery hair. A pale hand. A pool of crimson. And I could see nothing else of her under the rubble.

  “Oh, no.” A string of profanities poured out of my mouth as I heaved a large chunk of marble to the side. I lifted another, making my way to her still body, my stomach dropping further with each stone I moved. “God, no. Please no.”

  I couldn’t lose her. I couldn’t fucking lose her, damn it!

  When I cleared another boulder from the pile, my worst nightmare became reality.

  The word ripped out of my chest, taking my heart with it. “NO!”

  I tossed the last two chunks away and lurched forward, still refusing to believe what I saw. My boots splashed in the blood and slid on the wet marble until I crashed down next to her. My fingers automatically darted for her wrist, but I felt no pulse. No breath warmed my fingertips against her pale lips.

  No, Lexi, no. Damn it, no!

  I carefully lifted her broken body and pulled her into my lap. My arms wrapped tightly around her, probably crushing her further as I held her against my chest. But it didn’t matter.

  Because she remained so still. So cold. So . . . lifeless.

  The horrific feeling that exploded within me was unbearable. Unimaginable. Unlike anything I’d ever felt before. I knew physical pain. From all of the wars I’d been in, all of the suffering at the hands of Lucas and the Daemoni Ancients, all of the times they’d tried to take my heart but couldn’t, I knew physical pain very well. I knew emotional pain. I knew misery and regret when my son had been taken. I knew grief and sorrow from others’ deaths, especially Rina’s and Sophia’s, because I’d come to love them. But this . . .

  This unfathomable sensation inside me . . .

  This agony of my heart being bludgeoned by a dull machete with each beat it made that hers did not echo . . .

  This torture of my soul clawing and scrabbling, tearing itself apart as it searched for hers . . .

  I did not know this kind of internal mutilation. I didn’t know how to handle it, what to do with it.

  Senseless words blubbered out of me as I buried my face in her soft hair and sobbed incoherently for my beautiful bride. For my soul mate. For the one person who had loved me unconditionally. Who had taught me what love felt like. Who had warmed this heart of mine that had been cold for centuries. Whose soul had completed mine, making me whole for the first time ever.

  “Alexis, my love, don’t leave me.” My words morphed into some kind of wail mixed with a howl. A sound of desperation that made me recoil, but I couldn’t help it. I couldn’t quell it. The pain, the anger, the overwhelming grief! Emotions that were too violent to be held inside. They erupted in shouts and screams and sobs. But still, the agony remained, ripping me apart from the inside.

  When I could no longer muster the energy to yell, I silently rocked her in my arms as I recalled our lives together. The first time I�
�d seen her as an adult—young, barely eighteen and still very human, but nonetheless the most beautiful sight I’d known in my many years. I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was about her, but she’d captured me and enraptured me from the moment I set eyes on her at this very monument. Her laugh had been medicine for my damaged heart. Her love a salve for my wrecked soul.

  And when I thought I couldn’t possibly hold more love in my heart, I met our son for the first time. I’d never imagined I could produce such beauty, but of course, it had come from her. With the many hardships our poor child had suffered, he’d grown into a fine young man. But now . . . Although I’d been expecting this since the day I learned of his birth, a father could never be prepared to lose his son. I could only hope, for his soul’s sake, he’d perished in the bombs before he ever reached the Daemoni.

  They were both gone. I was left alone. With nothing left to live for.

  I pressed my lips into Alexis’s hair and murmured in her ear, praying she heard me. Or that someone heard me. “Lexi, ma lykita, I need you. Don’t leave me here alone. Come back to me, my love. Please come back.”

  I closed my eyes against the brightening sky of morning and slumped backward against a large chunk of marble with my wife still in my arms, her head pressed against my chest as though she were only sleeping. I wanted to sleep with her. The night of fighting the dark magic of the sorcerers and Lucas, and then the Demons that had kept coming, combined with more grief than any one man should have to bear, drained me.