Releasing the death hold on my legs, I lifted my mjéod and swallowed what little remained before setting it on the table. I resumed my death grip as the petite nymph returned to refill our drinks. When she finished, she gave a nervous giggle before dancing back to the bar.
“I’m in no rush to leave when things are starting to get interesting here.” And then Wrath’s fathomless, pitiless onyx eyes were on me again. “Aren’t they, Bale?”
I didn’t reply as I held his gaze and stalwartly avoided the questioning eyes of the others.
“I think they might be a lot more interesting outside the forest,” Shax said.
The smile Wrath gave me revealed all his perfect white teeth. It was a beautiful smile, and I wanted to beat it off his face. Still, I smiled back. I refused to let him know he was getting to me. Unfortunately, my smile felt more like a grimace.
Sitting taller on the chair, Wrath stretched his arms overhead in an exaggerated manner before pulling my sword from his scabbard. My teeth ground so forcefully together I was sure I’d turn them to dust. Overhead, the calamuts creaked ominously, but we didn’t need the reminder they were watching our every move.
With deft, graceful hands, Wrath laid the sword on the table and stroked the blade as he held my gaze. “It’s magnificent, is it not?”
I refused to glance at the sword, and I didn’t look at the others, but I felt their eyes on me while Wrath and I stared at each other. If the calamuts weren’t here, I’d leap across the table and shove that sword through his heart to remind him how magnificent it was. My fingers itched for my blade, a blade they had missed since I lost it.
“It’s one of my prized possessions,” Wrath said. “I achieved it in the most… interesting way.”
I was going to kill him. I did not doubt it; I would use that sword to chop off his head for this. But while I plotted his murder, my traitorous body recalled the ecstasy of the kiss we shared before I plunged my blade into him.
The others could never know about that. I was not ashamed of my actions; demons couldn’t resist the primal call of their Chosen, but things would change between us. They might not trust me, and I couldn’t lose their trust. I would never betray them.
Well, Corson would still trust me, and so would Shax and Hawk. I wasn’t so sure about Magnus. I didn’t know what the demon of illusions would do anymore. There was a time when we disliked each other almost as much as I despised the arrogant asshole across from me. Now, Magnus and I tolerated each other more, though we still enjoyed pissing each other off too.
The more I pondered it, the more I realized they would all still trust me, even Caim and Raphael. It was their pity I didn’t want. Also, they might be unwilling to kill Wrath if they learned what he was to me, and that would be worse than their pity.
They could never hesitate when it came to the horsemen, and the knowledge my life was entangled with Wrath’s might be the hesitation that ended up getting them killed.
Chapter Ten
Wrath
I rubbed the sword’s blade while I watched Bale’s stunning face for any indication of a chink in her armor. She truly was gorgeous with her high cheekbones, narrow nose, striking green eyes, and full lips begging for me to kiss them again.
The feel of her lush figure against me in the minotaur’s labyrinth was forever burned into my mind. My gaze fell to her chest; the bulkiness of her plain brown shirt and brown vest couldn’t hide the swell of her full breasts. The unattractive clothing didn’t dim her beauty; in fact, it only enhanced it.
I almost licked my lips as I imagined what it would feel like to cup those breasts in my hands and bring one of her nipples to my mouth. The amount of lust the image evoked made me shift uncomfortably when my cock hardened. I tore my attention away from her chest.
Bale’s face remained impassive, but I saw a glimmer of knowing in her eyes, and I found myself growing irritated by her lack of reaction to me. This woman had haunted my dreams. She’d caused my ability to connect with others to mutate and done nothing but torment me for the past month.
“I am going to get that back,” Bale finally said.
I smiled at her as I stroked the blade once more before lifting it off the table and returning it to my scabbard. “I look forward to you trying.”
For the first time, she showed a reaction as a muscle near the corner of her eye twitched. She didn’t look as amused by the prospect of another fight as I was. This time, I wouldn’t lower my guard around her.
Overhead, the calamuts creaked ominously as they shifted in the rafters. I didn’t tear my gaze away from Bale to look at them; they would settle down. However, instead of the trees settling into place again, a loud groan filled the air. My brow furrowed, but I still held her gaze.
Bale looked away first, and her eyes shot up. I kept my attention on the table; she wasn’t the only threat sitting here, and I wouldn’t put it past one of them to attack me beneath the boughs of the calamuts.
I didn’t trust a single one of them, and I wouldn’t put it past Corson to try sawing off my head while I wasn’t looking. And then there was Magnus, who could cast illusions that might confuse me while I was distracted, and Shax, who could make the earth move.
No, something had the calamuts agitated, but I couldn’t tear my gaze away from these assholes. They all followed the varcolac, which made every one of them my enemy, even the ones I didn’t know.
I’d learned about Corson, Bale, Shax, Magnus, and Amalia since arriving on Earth. Everyone knew who the varcolac’s seconds-in-command were. They also knew about the demon of illusions and the one who could manipulate the earth. They knew less about the other man at the table and the other two women with them.
I knew Amalia was a jinni. I’d never liked the jinn, and I didn’t trust any of them, not even the ones who worked with Pride to help take down the varcolac. Few of those jinn remained; most of the ones who survived the Abyss died during the battle at the wall, and the few remaining ones vanished into the Wilds. I doubted I would ever see them again.
Amalia and Magnus played a significant role in Pride losing his control in the Abyss. He would not be happy to see them here. Though, no one at this table was thrilled to see any of us.
From outside, a thunderous crash shook the earth. A series of bangs rattled the walls and caused the jar holding the candle to bounce on the table followed it. The calamuts were attacking something outside, but what would be stupid enough to piss off the calamuts?
From the back hallway, a male shouted in surprise and pain. Then came the high-pitched squeal of a tree nymph; except, this tree nymph didn’t sound like she was having a good time.
“What the fuck?” the man I didn’t know at the table asked.
Corson’s eyes remained on me, but Bale kept her attention on the calamuts above us. More thunderous crashes came from outside. Those crashes were coming steadily closer.
“The calamuts are going to attack us,” she said.
“Why?” the man asked. “No one has done anything.”
“No one has done anything here,” Bale said. “Maybe in the back. The horsemen—”
“Would never be so foolish,” I interrupted.
Pushing myself away from the table, I rose and backed away as I glanced at the ceiling. The windows set high up in the walls were impossible to see out of, but as more booms quaked the ground, the glass in them rattled.
Overhead, the branches were slithering like snakes as they unraveled themselves from the rafters. She was right; they were going to attack. And once they did, it would be the perfect opportunity for my enemies to come for me.
The branches started to untwine with speed so rapid they became a blur. Their movement caused the purple leaves to break free, and they glided down to scatter across the ground. The fire in the corner leapt as the wind blowing down from the holes swirled through the room.
I brushed aside a leaf that landed on my face while the calamuts retreated from the numerous holes they created in the ceiling
. Through those holes, the thick canopy of branches spreading overhead was visible. The calamuts swayed overhead as the crashes and bangs grew louder and closer.
Rattling glasses toppled off tables and shattered on the floor. Some of those still fucking rushed to finish, while others reluctantly stopped. Bale and her friends rose from the table as more screams resonated from outside.
These screams weren’t from the nymphs but something with a deeper cry that sounded more hell creature than demon. Unsheathing my sword, I held the blade before me and studied the occupants of the bar as they stared at the doorway with an expectant hush. In the quiet, the laborious breaths of those within sounded abnormally loud.
“What’s going on?”
The whisper broke the silence, and some demons shifted uneasily as they kept their attention riveted on the door. The occupants of Bale’s table slid out to stand in front of it.
She removed the sword from her scabbard, and though she glanced at the sword I clasped, she didn’t take the opportunity to attack. None of us believed the calamuts weren’t still paying attention to this room.
“Something has entered the forest that the calamuts don’t like,” Bale said.
The tree nymphs scampered across the room and gathered behind the bar, clinging to each other as another thunderous boom caused one of the windows to shatter. Demons scattered away from the falling glass that hit the floor in a tinkling wave.
When another leaf landed on my head, I pushed it aside as calamut branches broke through the ceiling and descended. The entire floor heaved when the branches slammed into the ground before the nymphs, caging them in and away from the rest of us.
What has entered the forest? And is it a threat to Bale?
I was unprepared for the amount of fury that followed such a possibility. Fire flashed to life around my hands as from somewhere in the back hall more screams issued. No matter what was out there, I would keep my Chosen safe from it.
My thoughts drifted to Zorn. Unwelcome in the building, I’d left him outside with Death’s mount, but I wished I hadn’t. I didn’t like not being able to see him and loathed the idea of him being alone. As long as I survived, he would be okay, but I preferred for my friend to be here.
“Do you think it’s the hounds?” the man with Corson and Bale asked. “Do you think they did something to piss off the trees?”
“No,” Bale said. “The calamuts would have reacted like this when we entered the forest with the hounds if they didn’t want them here. Besides, the hounds know better than to mess with the calamuts. This is something else entirely.”
As if they heard her words, through the shadows of the doorway, a nuckal glided into the room.
Chapter Eleven
Bale
“Shit,” I breathed when the hideous creatures entered.
Once imprisoned behind the one hundredth and fifteen seal, I’d never seen a nuckal in Hell or on Earth. I wished it could have remained that way as I could barely stand to look at it, yet I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the monstrosity.
Thick, red muscle covered the skinless centaur’s body, so it looked like blood coated the creature. Lacking a nose and a mouth, the rider sat in the middle of what could only loosely be called a horse’s body. Thick muscle bound the rider’s thighs to the horse, which had four legs and cloven hooves.
The rider’s round head looked as if somebody had plopped a pumpkin on top of its shoulders, and two red eyes shone out at us. Its extremely long arms caused the rider’s claw-tipped hands to touch the ground. Those six-inch claws scraped the floor as the first nuckal, followed by more, moved further into the room.
The mutated head of the horse possessed only a single eye and nostril in the center of its face. I couldn’t see its mouth, but it was there somewhere. The nuckal fed on wraiths and its victims by using its claws to tear the flesh from its prey and shove it into the horse’s mouth.
The humans who glimpsed the nuckal through the veils named it the nuckelavee, but they never could have imagined this monstrosity actually walking the earth. It should have stayed in Hell where it belonged.
“What is that?” Aisling exclaimed.
“That is the nuckal,” Corson said.
“It’s going to haunt my nightmares until I die,” Hawk said.
I agreed and glanced at Wrath as fire consumed his hands and danced around his wrists. When his eyes met mine, red and orange flames had replaced the black of them. I could almost forget he was the enemy. In this battle, we stood on the same side. No one wanted the nuckal to leave here alive.
“I’ve never seen anything so ugly,” Wren said. “And I never thought I could say that after everything I’ve seen over the years.”
A puff of air erupted from the nuckal’s nostril in a cloud of smoke before the first one charged across the room. Its cloven hooves vibrated the floor as the sound of them rebounded off the walls.
Demons and humans scrambled to get away as the beast’s head swung back and forth in a way that revealed its mouth full of razor-sharp teeth. One demon wasn’t fast enough to get away, and the beast’s mouth clamped down on his arm. In one abrupt, rending motion, the nuckal tore off the demon’s arm.
Blood spurted around the room as screams erupted, and the rest of the nuckal burst into motion. The tree nymphs screamed, and despite the protection of the calamuts, they ducked behind the bar. When one of the nuckals was almost to us, a crash shook the room, wood exploded from above, and a calamut limb pierced straight through the nuckal.
The creature howled as the calamut lifted it off the ground and tore it through the ceiling. More wood broke free of the roof, and demons scrambled to get out of the way of the falling projectiles clattering and bouncing on the floor.
Before anyone could fully recover from what happened, more and more calamut limbs crashed through the ceiling and pierced through unsuspecting and innocent victims. Demons and humans screamed as the trees tore into them.
Cold sweat trickled down my spine as I realized the calamuts didn’t care who they killed. They were done playing nice and would destroy everyone in here if it meant keeping the nymphs safe.
We were all the enemy now.
Blood sprayed the room; screams of pain and terror ended as often as they started. Tables fell or were thrown at the nuckal and calamuts. Behind the safety of their prison, the nymphs watched with wide, frightened eyes.
Our haven had become a slaughterhouse. The room reeked of blood and fear as the occupants raced to escape, but there was nowhere to go. The nuckal blocked the exit.
I tried to follow the movements of our attackers, but it was impossible to keep track of the nuckals and all the branches. From years of battles, I kept a sense of calm. However, my heart still raced, and my throat was dry as chaos reigned around us.
“Shit!” Hawk hissed as he grasped Aisling’s arm and pushed her toward the booth.
The wooden floor splintered and thrust upward as the calamuts continued to tear into it and anyone unlucky enough to be in their way. Demons, humans, and nuckal fell beneath the calamuts ruthless slaughter.
“We have to get out of here!” Corson shouted over the chaos.
Caim took flight, and as he soared higher, he shifted into his raven form and dodged a limb that would have pierced him straight through the chest. Raphael unleashed a ball of life into the nuckal closing in on him.
The ball severed the rider’s head from its body, but the monstrous horse continued forward. Before Raphael could release another ball of energy, a calamut branch sliced through the air toward him. The golden angel barely dodged the lethal projection, but it cut across his bicep and ripped open his flesh.
Caim screeched as he descended from the air with his talons extended and his beak gaping open. He caught the next calamut branch looking to spear his brother and jerked it to the side before it impaled Raphael.
A thunderous crash sounded from behind me, and I turned as another branch pierced through the side of the brick building. I swung
my sword out and jumped back as the limb shot through the air. If I hadn’t gotten out of the way, it would have speared me through the heart.
My first instinct was to sever the branch that almost killed me, but my survival instinct was stronger, and it stayed my hand before I attacked the calamut. As it was, I didn’t know how we were going to make it out of here. Between the nuckals, the rampaging calamuts, craetons, and horsemen, it wasn’t looking so good.
Wrath’s fire spread over him as he dodged a swipe of a nuckal’s claws before taking out the creature. When a branch whipped toward his head, he wasn’t as discerning as me and severed the limb.
“Wrath, don’t!” I shouted. “You’re only making them madder!”
I didn’t think he’d set his ability free, or at least I wasn’t feeling the effects of it, but since he was my Chosen, his ability to incite rage wouldn’t affect me as strongly as someone else. However, the rest of the patrons weren’t mindlessly trying to destroy everything in their way. They were too busy avoiding the nuckals and the increasing frenzy of the calamut limbs breaking through the ceiling and the side of the building.
The entire building quaked, and a high-pitched, nymph-sounding scream resonated from the back of the building. Outside, one of the hounds howled. It wasn’t the mournful cry of one who had lost their mate, and thankfully it wasn’t a cry of pain, but something had them riled. Either more nuckals were coming or the calamuts had turned on the hounds too.
A branch swung out of the air and slapped Caim down. The black angel spiraled toward the earth, but Raphael took flight and caught him before he hit the ground. He steadied Caim before releasing him and twisting sideways to avoid another branch.
Hawk jerked Aisling to the ground as a limb swung toward them. He wasn’t fast enough to avoid taking a blow to the side of his head. Blood erupted from the wound as he hit the ground.
Edge of the Darkness (Hell on Earth Book 4) Page 6