I resisted the impulse to throw myself around Fiora and weep until I couldn’t anymore. The others were waking up while she remained trapped inside this thing, and I had no way of knowing if she was aware of it or not.
Maybe these statues aren’t waking up because they’re already dead. I bit back a sob as my head bowed and my hand trembled against her cheek.
Wrath released my arm and rested his palm on my hip. “I’m sorry.”
And he was. Before he walked into that nymph bar, before he brought me here, I would have believed this man incapable of experiencing anything other than his selfish desires, but I’d been wrong. He was sorry, and he did care. He wasn’t who I’d always believed him to be; what he was exactly, I still didn’t know, and I couldn’t figure it out now, but I would.
I rested the tip of my sword on the ground and leaned on it. Wrath drew me closer and lowered his head to mine. The tender gesture almost made me weep while I railed against the unfairness of it all, but nothing on any of the planes of existence was fair.
Then, from somewhere down the tunnel, a large gasp sounded. Wrath and the angels turned toward the sound, but I couldn’t move. My gaze remained riveted on Fiora as renewed hope thundered through my chest.
“Stay here,” Wrath said and released me.
I didn’t argue with him, but my head finally turned toward the sound as I watched him stalk down the tunnel. Caim walked with him, but Raphael remained standing a few feet away from me.
I watched Wrath’s flames until they vanished, and we were plunged into darkness. Behind me, Raphael shifted, and his feathers ruffled. I sensed he had something to say, but neither of us spoke.
Then, from out of the darkness, Wrath’s flames bounced off the rocky walls. His fire danced across the statues, and as he passed one of the statues, it began to crumble, and a demon’s hand clawed its way out of the gold casing.
My heart bruised my ribs as I spun back to Fiora. Kneeling before her, I grasped her hands and held them in mine while I breathlessly waited for her to emerge.
Please.
The statue beside her remained completely still, while gold flecks fell away from Fiora’s black hair. Its silken strands, which fell to her ass, were freed before the gold flaked away from her forehead and eyes. Green eyes, the same shade as mine, blinked before widening on me.
I sensed her desperation to break free, but the gold still covered her mouth and the rest of her body. Then the casing disintegrated beneath my palms, and her hands seized mine. She hugged me as tears pooled in her eyes before spilling free.
I didn’t realize I was crying too until some of the cool drops landed on my thighs. I ignored their wetness sliding down my skin as my sister inhaled her first breath in centuries. Then she was in my arms, and we were clinging to each other as we sobbed and talked over each other and laughed and cried some more.
A few minutes passed before she stiffened in my arms and whispered in my ear in demonish, “Bale, there are angels behind you.”
I laughed as I hugged her closer. “It’s okay; those two are on our side. We speak the human English language around them, so they understand us. It’s become our main language in this foreign land. We have a lot to catch up on.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Bale
When Fiora felt steady enough to walk, we left the caves and the demons behind. Caim and Raphael flew Fiora and me to shore before Caim returned for Wrath. The horseman looked as irritated at being carried by Caim as the angel looked delighted to do it.
Wrath scowled, and Caim grinned from ear to ear before releasing him while he was still a few feet in the air. Flames briefly danced across Wrath’s hands before he doused them. I had a feeling he’d choke the angel if he could get his hands on him, but Caim’s laughter simply trailed behind him as he soared into the wood.
Outside of the caves, my nudity started to affect me as snow crunched beneath my bare feet and the cold air created goose bumps all over my flesh.
Before leaving the caves, we’d contemplated going to Wrath’s cavern to get some of his clothes. However, with more demons emerging from their shells, we decided it was best to leave sooner rather than later, especially since we didn’t know if Death and Pride were around or if they planned to return soon.
Fiora’s teeth chattered as she hugged herself and stared at her new world in awe. I kept an arm around her waist and helped her walk through the snow as her legs were weak from years of not being used. She was growing stronger with every passing minute, and once she fed, I had a feeling she would recover fast.
Raphael flew ahead to alert the others they’d found us, and Zorn emerged from the trees only minutes after we made it to shore. The horse nickered when he spotted Wrath and pranced toward him. Zorn circled Wrath as he ran his hand over the horse’s flesh and grinned at him while talking to him in low, soothing tones.
My heart swelled as I watched the two of them. They were like children as Zorn danced around him and Wrath turned to follow. Caim looked on with raised eyebrows. Fiora was too busy studying her new surroundings to notice the big bad horseman and his horse playing in the snow like children.
Once the two of them settled down, Wrath offered to let Fiora ride Zorn, but she shook her head as she stared at him with a mixture of curiosity and dread. She hadn’t known the horsemen in Hell, but we’d all heard stories of the chaos and damage they unleashed before they were sealed away.
Although, after watching Zorn and Wrath together, I would have believed those stories were all made up. He didn’t seem like such a big evil monster when his black eyes were twinkling and happiness and cold flushed his face.
No, he seemed like something far more dangerous as something inside me shifted and twisted and… and… loved. I shoved that ridiculous notion aside as I tried to get a grip on my roiling emotions.
Between Fiora’s return and Wrath’s… well, his adorableness, I was too emotional to think rationally, which was something I never believed would happen to me. But it had, and I wasn’t going to try to figure everything out until I had a better grip on myself.
When Wrath offered to let me ride Zorn, I refused. I preferred to walk with my sister while he walked beside me. Fiora’s gaze traveled continuously to the bites on my neck, but she didn’t comment as she revealed what happened to her through chattering teeth.
I learned she was aware of everything going on around her throughout all the centuries spent within her golden tomb.
“I think I went a little insane in the beginning,” she whispered, and I had to strain to hear her over the wind howling through the mountains and trees and whipping the snow around us. “I remember screaming and screaming and screaming but nothing happening.”
When my hands fisted, Wrath settled his palm on the small of my back and drew me a step closer to him.
“And then, I think I shut down. I’d wake up or come to or whatever sometimes, but I mostly slipped away.”
“Hibernated,” I said.
She gave me a tremulous smile. “Yeah, I hibernated. It was all I could do, because when I was awake and aware of my surroundings, the screaming would start again. I came out of it a little when the horsemen moved into Eldorata, but then I slipped away again… until I saw you kneeling before me. I started screaming again for you to kill me, to set me free, but you couldn’t hear me….” She turned away to focus on the snowy terrain. “No one could hear me.”
The wind nearly stole her words, but I caught them before they vanished into the growing twilight. Anguish tore through me as I stopped walking and drew her close again.
I clung to her as I tried not to give in to my sorrow. No one should have to endure what she did. To be so all alone, trapped, and with no hope of freedom was the cruelest twist of fate for a woman whose heart had always been one of the kindest I knew.
“I was so happy to see you,” she whispered. “Those rare times when I came to, I would think of you and wonder what happened to you. I hoped you were alive, that you’
d somehow survived, and then you were there. It was like a miracle.”
“It was a miracle I found you,” I said, and I was not one who believed in such things.
Her fingers dug into my back, and over her shoulder, I saw Caim studying us with a mixture of happiness and sadness, but there was also a glint of curiosity in his eyes as he watched Fiora. I frowned at him, but he wasn’t paying attention to me. I was half tempted to kill him myself, but his gaze wasn’t lecherous, and it remained focused on her face instead of her body.
I looked to Wrath, who would have a better understanding of what she endured, but at least he’d been able to move and had company and hope. Fiora had none of those things.
“He could turn it off, you know,” Fiora said.
“Who could?” I asked in confusion.
“Mytaz. He could turn off his power. When he first took me, he kept me below with him and forced me to serve him.”
I recalled Fiora with her hands outstretched and her head bowed as if she were handing over something when she was frozen.
“He told me if I kept him happy, he would allow me to remain free. Then, one day, he grew bored of me, and that was the end of it, but he could turn it off. He didn’t have to be a monster.”
“Sometimes there is no choice,” Wrath murmured.
I shot him a look, but he was focused on our surroundings. Was he talking about himself when he said that? Because he’d already proven he wasn’t a monster more than a few times to me. Maybe he was trying to convince himself there was no other path for him, but I knew the truth. And I suspected that, deep down inside, he knew the truth too.
When the wind howling around us kicked up snow that stuck to my frozen skin, I reluctantly released Fiora. Her head tipped back when Caim took to the sky again. She watched the angel with a mixture of curiosity and dread.
“I know it’s difficult to believe, but he is on our side,” I assured her.
“It’s so strange,” she murmured.
“I was there, and it’s still strange.”
She glanced toward Wrath again before focusing on me. “Lucifer really is dead?”
“Yes.”
“At least I woke up to some good news. Are Kobal and Corson still alive?”
“Yes, and we’re working with the humans now to save Earth.”
I filled her in on more of the details of what happened and the things she’d missed while we walked. My teeth chattered as I spoke, and Wrath grasped my elbow. He pulled me closer, and flames erupted from his hands and arms; I wanted to melt into him, but I pulled away.
“No, it isn’t fair to the others,” I said.
His jaw clenched, and I knew he was thinking that he didn’t give a shit about the others, but he didn’t try to pull me back against him.
“Don’t be stubborn, Bale,” Fiora said. “One of us should be warm.”
Caim descended from the sky to land beside Fiora in the snow. “I can carry you. My wings will keep you warm.”
Fiora shot me a panicked look as Caim opened his wings. I studied Caim but didn’t see anything perverted in his offer. He continued to keep his gaze only on her face as he stood there. The vulnerable gleam in his eyes normally would have softened me toward him, but Fiora was my little sister, and she’d already been through enough without having to deal with the insanity of Caim.
In the end, another gust of wind made her choice as it propelled her into Caim’s arms. He lifted her off the ground and closed his wings around her. Fiora disappeared beneath the black wings that shone with a rainbow hue of colors.
I glared at Caim when he glanced at me, but he didn’t grin back at me as I’d expected. Instead, he bowed his head and fell into step beside us in the snow. I could only see the top of Fiora’s head, but she had to be a lot warmer inside the feathery cocoon of Caim’s wings.
Wrath drew me close again as fire enveloped his arms and body. I melted into the heat he provided as the snow around us dissolved.
Raphael returned with an armload of clothes, and despite Wrath’s warmth, I almost snatched the clothes from his hands. I grasped a pair of pants and tugged them on before pulling a shirt and a sweater over my head. Lastly, I slipped on a couple of socks and boots. The clothing was a little baggy, but I welcomed the warmth it provided.
When Caim opened his wings to reveal Fiora, Raphael’s eyebrows shot up, but he didn’t say anything when Fiora leapt from Caim’s arms. She stared at the clothes like they were the strangest things she’d ever seen, but she followed my lead and quickly dressed.
When Fiora was halfway dressed, I realized there were also clothes for Wrath. Raphael must have told Corson and the others he was with us. Uneasiness turned in my stomach as I studied the pile of remaining clothes.
They knew, and they’d sent clothes back for him too; what did that mean?
I dreaded facing Corson and the others with Wrath’s marks on me, but it was inevitable. I had no idea what would happen when we were all together again. They wouldn’t attack him; they wouldn’t take the risk of hurting me by doing so, but what would they think of me?
I’d never cared what anyone outside of my king and those closest to me thought of me before. I wasn’t in this battle to make friends. I was here to destroy enemies, but my friends were my family, and one of the enemies was my Chosen.
Would they hate me or be disgusted by me?
No, they would never turn on me for this. We couldn’t pick our Chosen, and they understood the pull of the Chosen bond. However, they might not trust me as much, and I wouldn’t blame them if they didn’t. I’d kept this from them.
“How much farther is it?” I asked.
“Another mile or two,” Raphael said.
Not too far, but I was ready to get the confrontation with the others over.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Wrath
When we arrived at the hotel where the palitons had taken up residence after fleeing the calamuts, I stayed by Bale’s side despite the hostile looks the others gave me as we made our way through them. Only one human remained in the crowd.
I didn’t return their hostility and kept my face blank as I watched their every move while waiting for an attack. I wouldn’t make the first move against them if they decided to pounce, but I would make the last one.
Zorn’s head swung back and forth as he surveyed the small group and snorted a stream of smoke from his nostrils. The palitons closest to him backed away, and I forced myself not to smirk. It would only take one word or motion from me for Zorn to unleash his pent-up aggression on them.
I rested my hand on his neck, and he calmed a little beneath my touch, but I felt the lingering tension in his powerful muscles. It was more than being here amongst our enemies that had us both on edge. Once they learned where I was, Pride and Death would come for me, and it was only a matter of time before they learned it.
However, I didn’t intend to stay. I couldn’t leave my Chosen behind, but this was not my world. These were not my demons. We were fighting for entirely different things.
And I still wanted the varcolac dead.
I would do anything to keep Bale safe, but years of animosity weren’t easy to forget, and I didn’t want to forget it. I spent twelve thousand years in a box, plotting my revenge, and my plans hadn’t changed.
I remembered her saying he’d toured the seals. That he’d gone where no other varcolac before him had, or maybe the others all visited the seals too, but I’d been in one of my hibernation states and hadn’t noticed them, just as I hadn’t seen this one.
The others wouldn’t have told me he was there, not unless it was close to my waking, and for all I knew, all of us were hibernating when he came by. However, for some reason, I didn’t think any of the other varcolacs had ventured down to the seals. We were the monsters best forgotten about, and I’m sure they all tried, except for maybe this one.
There was a reason this varcolac inspired such loyalty in Bale and the others who followed him, but especially Bale.
She was a warrior; it was difficult to win a warrior over, but this varcolac had done it. Maybe there was something in him worth following.
My resolve wavered before I slammed it back into place. It didn’t matter if he toured the seals or not; he still left us there.
I didn’t want to disappoint Bale, but I could never let go of my hatred for the varcolac. Forgiveness wasn’t in my nature. My nature was enjoying wreaking havoc on unsuspecting victims before sitting back to watch the fruits of my labor come to life.
Or at least, I thought I’d always been that way. A distant memory tickled at the edge of my mind, but like so many other memories, I couldn’t grasp it. Some things were so long ago I couldn’t remember if they ever happened. And, in truth, did they happen if I couldn’t remember them?
I shoved aside my philosophical ponderings as we stepped out of the entranceway with red carpets and dusty light fixtures and entered a much larger room. Tables, chairs, and booths crowded the room.
In the center of the room was a square bar with dust-covered bottles still lining the shelves in the center of it. Dusty glasses hung from a rack in the center of the bar. The entire place was shrouded in gray from the layer of dirt covering it. From other demons and tree nymphs, I’d learned places such as this were once called restaurants.
Corson, Magnus, Shax, Hawk, the skellein, and their Chosen sat at a large table on the other side of the room. They rose when we entered the room, and though their gazes roamed over Bale and me, their expressions gave away nothing of their thoughts.
Dust coated the tables we passed, and Zorn bumped into one of the stools at the bar. His skin rippled beneath my hand when the stool clattered against the bar, but he remained otherwise unfazed. Corson, Shax, the skellein, and Magnus looked as if they’d seen a ghost when their eyes fell on Fiora.
“Fiora!” Corson exclaimed.
He moved away from the table and hurried toward us to hug Bale’s sister. He lifted her off the ground as they embraced in the middle of the room. Fiora briefly dropped her head into the hollow of his shoulder before he set her down and she stepped away.
Edge of the Darkness (Hell on Earth Book 4) Page 19