Keras: Guardians of Hades Series Book 7

by Heaton, Felicity

  “Oh sh—” Cass ducked and Daimon grabbed her, stepping with her as a double-bladed axe cut through the air where she had been.

  The demonic brute grunted and swung again, aiming at Esher instead. Esher stood his ground, lifting his hand and curling his fingers into a fist. Keras waited for the daemon to go down as Esher used his power over water to stop the male’s heart.

  Only he didn’t.

  Esher’s black eyebrows rose, a look of disbelief crossing his face in the split-second before he teleported too.

  Daimon reappeared with Cassandra beside Keras.

  “This is bad,” Daimon muttered.

  Keras was inclined to agree.

  Enyo stepped forwards. “They are just three little daemons. I can handle them.”

  Keras was not inclined to agree with that. He grabbed her arm as she lifted her sword and readied herself, his heart lurching painfully at the thought of her attempting to battle these daemons alone.

  “We do this together.” He held her gaze as she glanced over her shoulder at him, kept their eyes locked until he was sure that she was listening to him and wasn’t going to attempt to battle the daemons alone.

  Together they were strong enough to handle these males.

  At least, he hoped they were.

  He shifted his gaze to them and studied them. Wards protected not only their skin but their entire bodies. The enemy didn’t have that kind of power at their disposal, and he had never heard of using wards on someone like this before.

  He frowned as it hit him.

  Because they weren’t wards.

  They were a spell.

  Magic.

  Keras looked at Cass as Esher appeared beside her and he and Daimon leaped into action, tackling the wave of weaker daemons that surged towards them.

  “We need to reach the furie.” Keras glanced at the blonde where she was still working to open the gate, a wall of daemons between them. The gate was slow to respond to her, which gave him hope. Whoever’s blood she had in her possession, the power in it had faded enough that the furie would have to exert all of her will to convince the gate to open. He focused on it again, undoing her hard work, and she loosed a frustrated scream. His gaze darted to Cass. “But something tells me that’s going to be harder than it sounds. This is witchcraft, isn’t it?”

  Cass nodded, drew down a breath and closed her eyes as she held her right hand out. A twisting orb of violet and green light blasted from her palm, shooting over the heads of the daemons, heading straight for the furie.

  Who didn’t even bother to move.

  The spell collided with a barrier close to fifteen feet from her and a wave of blue light rippled outwards.

  “Someone knows my tricks.” Cass scowled at the barrier as the light chasing over the dome slowly faded but made it far enough to reveal the size of it. “It seems they have found themselves a witch.”

  “Does she need to be nearby to keep this barrier up?” Keras had learned that Cassandra had to be close to any barrier she cast in order to keep shoring it up, but he wasn’t sure whether that was because all barriers required that sort of care or because of the type of spell Cass used required it.

  Cass nodded, her blue eyes scouring the darkness. “She’s here somewhere.”

  “Find her.” Keras fixed his sights on the furie as the central disc of the gate finally finished forming and flashed brightly. “And if you could break that barrier somehow, it would be greatly appreciated.”

  “Doing both might be a bit much, even for me.” She flicked him a look. “In this case, violence solves everything. Hit that barrier with all you have and it will crack.”

  Something Keras didn’t want to risk.

  Hitting the barrier with all he had meant going all out and he wasn’t strong enough to handle that right now.

  Enyo cut down a daemon who strayed too close to him. “I could hit it with all I have.”

  She could, but Enyo’s power was brute strength. She would have to be close to the barrier in order to strike it.

  Keras didn’t want her among the daemons. She might have been born a goddess of war, might be skilled and competent, capable of taking care of herself, but that didn’t mean he had to like the thought of her fighting.

  “I’ll go with you,” he said.

  She nodded, and then smiled, the shadows that had been crossing her delicate features lifting like a cloud had parted to allow sunlight to shine through. “It will be like old times.”

  He couldn’t hold back his own smile as he realised why she looked so happy all of a sudden. “It will.”

  It had been too long since they had fought at each other’s side.

  He launched into the fray with her, using his shadows to trap and devour any daemon who got too close to her, and finishing off ones she had cut down with her sword as she carved a graceful path through the throng.

  One of the demonic brutes turned his sights on her, crimson eyes flashing fire as he shoved the smaller daemons aside. The male picked up pace and Keras moved to intercept, calling on his shadows at the same time. He grinned as the black tendrils shot towards the male, and growled as the glyphs inscribed on his body shone and repelled his shadows.

  Not good.

  Enyo twisted and slashed, and unleashed a frustrated growl of her own when her blade bounced off his skin. It didn’t even leave a mark. She ducked and rolled as the male swung a huge sword at her, narrowly avoiding it. It sliced through several unfortunate daemons, decapitating one and injuring the others.

  Keras grabbed them with his shadows as Enyo sprang to her feet and hurled the wretches at the male as he made a lunge for her. The daemon grunted as his comrades hit him, knocking him back a step and blocking his path to Enyo.

  Keras stepped and placed himself between her and the male as she battled another group of weaker daemons. The demonic male grunted, bared fangs and spread his wings. Keras braced himself as wind battered him, mustering his shadows, waiting for the male to strike.

  Purple-white lightning shot down from the cloudless sky and Keras’s eyes widened as it struck the male.

  Keras twisted and hurled himself at Enyo, grabbed her and stepped just as a bolt ricocheted off the male’s skin and shot towards her.

  He landed with her in a clearing, breathing hard as he struggled to calm the darker side of his blood as it snarled for revenge, to seek out and punish the one who had come close to harming her.

  Valen.

  “Ah, fuck,” his brother grumbled in the distance. “That’s not fair.”

  Keras’s heart thundered, the darkness rising even as he tried to push it back down.

  Enyo framed his face with her palms and angled his head up, so his eyes locked with hers. “All is well. I am safe.”

  Keras cursed in his head as he looked at her, as it struck him that he was no better than Esher, was afflicted in the same way. There were two sides to him, and the worst one came out whenever the one he loved was in danger, shot to the fore and tore down the better side of him, pushing him towards a mindless rage state.

  Enyo hammered it home by continuing to whisper soft words, the same kind Daimon had been forced to use on Esher countless times to help him hold back the darkness. “I am fine. I will be fine.”

  He nodded, sucked down a breath and exhaled it, waging a war of his own as the battle raged around them.

  Fireballs sent waves of daemons flying, filling the air with the disgusting scent of singed flesh, and ice impaled those who survived the inferno, finishing them off and spilling their vile black blood. Lightning struck again, splattering the world with bits of bone and entrails, and rain hammered down to wash it away.

  “Valen,” Keras barked. “Target the furie. Hit that barrier with all you have.”

  Valen stopped with his hand wrapped around the throat of a female daemon, looked across at him and nodded. He tossed the daemon aside and lightning forked, blazing a path directly for her. She didn’t even get a chance to scream as it struck her.<
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  The next bolt his brother summoned hit the barrier, causing arcs of purple to chase across the blue dome as it shimmered. Valen hit it again. And again.

  Ares worked to protect Valen, giving any daemon who dared to turn their sights on their brother a fiery death.

  Keras pulled down one final breath and straightened as he felt back in control, as he relied on his brothers to do the fighting while he orchestrated their attack.

  Valen and Ares continued to work as a team, decimating the daemons and the barrier. Daimon and Esher were shielding Cass, using walls of ice and Esher’s power over water to devastating effect. Around them, daemons were dropping like flies.

  Good, but bad.

  Keras kept a wary eye on Esher, because his brother was weakening. Using his power to control blood and stop hearts drained Esher, and it wouldn’t be long before he wouldn’t be strong enough to keep fighting if he allowed his brother to keep going at his current pace.

  Keras worked his way towards them with Enyo’s help, lashing out with his shadows and trying to ignore how good it felt as they burrowed into the daemons who blocked their path, draining them of their energy and killing them.

  Trying and failing.

  Pleasure rippled through him as his shadows tore at the daemons, as carnage surrounded him and he sensed more daemons arriving—more for him to kill.

  To slaughter.

  Bathing his hands in black blood.

  The thought of that had heat washing through him, turned his head foggy as a desire to surrender to that need chased through him, building into a compelling urge that had him veering off course.

  Heading for the two powerful demonic males who were trying to reach Cassandra.

  Enyo moved into his path.

  She shook her head. “Do not.”

  The desire to ignore her was strong, and so was the urge to shove her aside and growl at her for daring to block his way and think she could control him, ordering him around.

  He curled his fingers into fists and pulled back on those needs, refusing to let either get the better of him.

  She was right.

  Engaging the demonic males was futile.

  As long as the spells that protected them were in place, there was nothing he could do to stop them.

  It would be a bloodbath.

  But it would be his blood bathing the battlefield.

  The consequences of bleeding were too dangerous, had him clawing back control and playing it safe, even when he wanted to hurl himself into the fight. He glanced at his brothers, seeing in the strained lines etched on their faces that he wasn’t the only one having to hold himself back. They all wanted to be out there, in the thick of it, fighting with fist and blade at close quarters.

  But it only took a drop of blood.

  If the furie could get her hands on their blood, she would find it easier to open the gate, and not only that. She would have their powers at her disposal for a short time.

  Even a short time in control of his shadows could prove devastating to this world.

  To his brothers.

  He had no doubt she would turn them against his family.

  Against him.

  Against Enyo.

  He couldn’t bear the thought of that, so he eased back a step, showing Enyo that he wouldn’t engage the males unless it was absolutely necessary.

  A bright wall of shimmering blue appeared to his right, blocking the axe of one of those daemons. The male’s crimson eyes narrowed on him and he bared fangs and flapped his wings, hunger etched on his rough features.

  Keras bared fangs right back at him.

  “I found her,” Cass said and his gaze whipped to her.

  She disappeared in a wink of crimson light, and Daimon stepped a split-second later, a scowl on his face.

  Esher snarled and dropped his right hand. A wall of water fell on the daemons crowding the space between him and the furie, sweeping them off their feet and sending them tumbling into the other daemons.

  Ares took advantage of that, unleashing a huge wave of fire at the wretches. Steam billowed as it seared them, as their cries shattered the night and heat rolled over Keras.

  Valen launched another assault on the barrier and this time Keras joined him, attacking it with his shadows as Enyo battled five daemons, driving them back. He focused on the barrier, on breaking it so they could reach the furie. Another ring on the gate emerged and he split his focus between attacking the barrier and commanding the gate to close.

  Meadow twisted to face him, her eyes bright violet as they narrowed on him. She said something and the demonic males turned their sights on him.

  Enyo didn’t want him to fight them, and he didn’t want to risk engaging them either, but it looked as if he wasn’t going to get a choice.

  They shoved the daemons blocking their paths aside, picking up speed.

  “I think I can do this.” Esher didn’t sound confident.

  His brother drew down a breath and held his hand out. It shook, trembling violently as Esher closed his eyes. Keras waited, shifted his feet shoulder-width apart and flexed his fingers, ready to take on the daemons if Esher couldn’t bring them down.

  Only it wasn’t the demonic brutes that his brother targeted.

  Meadow gasped, her mouth opening wide as she clutched at her chest, as she fisted her hand against it.

  The gate stopped resisting Keras, suddenly lurched into action and began to close.

  He cast a glance at Esher. Sweat dotted his brow, sticking his black hair to it as he leaned forwards, as his head drooped.

  All three demonic males turned as one towards his brother.

  Launched at him on mighty roars.

  Chapter 18

  Keras raised his hand and a wave of shadows erupted from the grassy hilltop, rolling towards Esher as his arm dropped and he staggered backwards. The writhing black tendrils swept around him, encasing him as the three demonic brutes reached him.

  To his right, the gate began to open again, the furie recovering swiftly now that Esher was no longer working his own brand of black magic on her, attempting to slow her blood and stop her heart.

  Enyo leaped into the fray, her silver blade a bright arc as it slashed through the darkness, driving the three males back. Her sword clashed with the one the largest of the males wielded and she slammed her hand against the flat of her blade, shoved forwards with it to force him back, away from Esher.

  Everything dark in Keras roared at him to protect her, and he had to force himself to focus on shielding Esher while he was weak, keeping the two other daemons at bay as Enyo dealt with the third.

  That daemon was swift to use his wings, spread them and beat them hard, blasting her with wind as he increased the space between them. She weathered the storm and lashed out with her blade anyway. The tip of it grazed the male’s stomach, cut through the remains of his T-shirt but not through his flesh.

  They needed to destroy the spells that were protecting these males.

  Another ring formed on the gate, rainbow colours chasing around it as it grew and glyphs filled it.

  They really needed to destroy the spells.

  Or at least the barrier.

  “Ares.” He didn’t take his eyes off the battle between Enyo and the trio of males. “Cut me a path.”

  “No way. Ares, cut me a path.” Valen’s voice rang out above the shrieks as heat rolled over the battlefield again in a bright blinding burst of orange light. “I can do this. That barrier is about to go down.”

  Before Keras could protest, Ares sent a barrage of fireballs at the daemons. They carved a path through the remaining males and females, struck the barrier and exploded, engulfing the dome, but thankfully not breaking through it.

  The last thing they needed was the gate being struck by any of their powers. If it took damage, they would be forced to close it.

  Another ring formed.

  A charge built in the air, raising the fine hairs on the back of Keras’s neck and his arms
.

  Valen clicked his fingers.

  A blinding blaze of lightning shot down, white and purple bolts that spiralled together into one thick jagged stream.

  Valen was out of his mind.

  Before he could turn on his brother to tell him that and make him redirect it, it struck the barrier. A deafening boom rocked the earth as the lightning connected with it, sent everyone to the ground and had Keras’s ears ringing before the shockwave hit him. His senses jumbled, vision spinning as he gripped the grass, trying to withstand the pain as electricity surged up from the ground.

  Valen muttered a ripe curse.

  He wasn’t the only one.

  “The fuck were you thinking?” Ares slurred those words, sounding as pained as Keras felt as he struggled to get back onto his feet.

  His gaze sought Enyo.

  She shook off the aftershocks of Valen’s attack and popped to her feet, just as one of the demonic brutes shoved to his. She clashed with him again, keeping him away from Esher.

  Who lay on his back in the slick grass.

  Keras scrambled over to him, pulse thundering, blood rushing in his aching head as fear gripped him. He fluttered his fingers over his brother’s throat and sagged as he found a pulse and Esher cracked his eyes open. The relief he had felt died the moment Keras looked into them.

  Crimson ringed his irises.

  Keras was tempted to teleport him away from the battle, even when he knew it was pointless. Esher would only teleport back again, his need to protect the gate and his need to protect his family driving him to be here. The only way to stop his brother from returning would be by locking him in the cage, and Esher wouldn’t be able to handle that. Being in the cage and having his power stripped from him by it, together with the awareness that his family were fighting for their lives, would tip him over the edge again.

  So Keras helped him onto his feet instead and held onto him until he felt sure Esher could stand on his own.

  Valen yelped as water suddenly poured down on him. “Son of a bitch.”

  “You deserve a lot worse than that,” Esher grumbled, rubbing his temples and then his ears. “What were you thinking?”