Edge of the Darkness (Hell on Earth Book 4)

by Brenda K. Davies

  Corson’s shoulders hunched up to his ears and his head bent forward. Whatever dim hope I had for saving Shax was doused by Corson’s position.

  I didn’t bother to look at Raphael. I bit my tongue to keep from begging him to bring Shax back to us, but I wouldn’t ask him to compromise himself. He would never ask it of me. And it wasn’t fair of me to make him say no.

  Unable to stop them, a couple of tears slid free and froze on my cheeks. After everything I’d been through for nine hundred years, I should be used to losing friends and family; I wasn’t. I could already feel the gaping hole of Shax’s loss as I blinked away more tears.

  Now was not the time to grieve him. There would be plenty of time to do that once I was alone and Wrath was safely inside. Until then, just like always, there were things to do.

  “Let’s go,” I murmured.

  The others tore their attention away from Corson and Shax. I ignored the tears in their eyes and on their faces, and they ignored mine. I turned away as Corson, Magnus, Fiora, and Caim lifted Shax from the snow.

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Bale

  “How is he?” Corson asked.

  I looked up to find him standing in the doorway of the room where we had settled Wrath. It wasn’t the room we’d been sharing; we’d opted instead for one of the rooms with a fireplace and a large tub. The bed was larger than in most of the other rooms, and I suspected this room was once special to humans. The fire crackling in the hearth provided us with plenty of heat, and Hawk brought in a supply of fresh wood this morning.

  “Better than yesterday,” I said.

  “That’s good,” Corson said as he entered the room.

  “How’s the arm?”

  He held up what remained of his right arm; beneath his long-sleeved shirt, there was little visible of his healing wound. However, judging by the amount of arm inside his sleeve, there was more of it today than yesterday.

  “I think it will be healed by next week,” he said.

  “Good.”

  Corson strode over to the window and pulled back the curtain. I recoiled a little from the light and blinked to ease some of the discomfort in my eyes. Snow fell in lazy spirals from the sky until a gust of wind caught it and caused it to tick loudly against the glass as the wind plastered it to the window. When the wind stopped its attack, the snow resumed its leisurely pace.

  This storm had rolled in yesterday and left another foot behind, but it looked to be ending. With the way the weather was acting, I didn’t think we’d leave this hotel until the spring. Caim was hunting food for Jolie, and the others had spent the past few days gathering wood.

  Magnus and Amalia discovered a river nearby and were bringing water back to the hotel for Jolie and baths. They were concerned the river would freeze over, but there was plenty of snow to melt and use if it became necessary. I didn’t like the idea of being stuck anywhere, but at least we had shelter and heat.

  Three days had passed since our battle with the horsemen, and while it should have been a time to celebrate, there weren’t any. None of us was in the mood to celebrate the fall of our enemies.

  We gave Shax a demon’s sendoff and burned his body in front of the hotel. With the curtains open, I could still see some of the charred remains poking through the fresh layer of snow, so I always kept them closed.

  Lowering my head, I breathed through the constriction in my chest. Raw and fresh, my grief was an ever-present, festering lesion that tore open almost hourly.

  However, life continued, and though it would never be the same without Shax, we would always remember him. And one day, when we were out of here and things weren’t so precarious, we would sit together, drink some mjéod, and celebrate his life.

  Until then, we had to remain focused on staying alive. The worst of our enemies were dead, but that didn’t mean the craetons weren’t still crawling all over the Wilds. We couldn’t let our guard down for one second, especially since our numbers were still so low.

  The day after the battle, Raphael flew back to the wall to report what happened to Kobal and to bring back more troops. With the weather the way it was, there was no knowing how long it would take him to complete his task.

  I hadn’t left Wrath’s side since we said goodbye to Shax. Corson came to see me every day. Yesterday he reported the two hounds from Eldorata had made their way to the hotel. He said all the hounds played, jumped, and ran around with them like they were a bunch of pups again.

  I smiled at the image his words conjured and wished I’d seen it, but I would meet the new hounds when Wrath woke. My gaze fell to my Chosen, and I brushed a strand of black hair away from his forehead.

  His hand was warm but limp in mine. The right side of his face was taking on some form again, and I recognized his features a little more, but he was still so bruised his face was almost entirely black.

  I’d stripped his bloody clothes and cleaned him. He now lay naked in the bed with the blankets drawn up to his armpits. Earlier, I’d pulled the covers back to reveal the bruises covering his body and the wound in his chest.

  Bone and muscle had knitted back together to hide his heart again, but a small hole remained, and the flesh around it was pink and swollen. After inspecting his body, I tried tickling his toes to see if his spine had healed, but either he wasn’t ticklish or he remained paralyzed.

  I squeezed his hand as I struggled to keep my exhaustion and anxiety at bay. He was healing; it was taking a while, but he was recovering.

  Soon, he would wake up and smile at me again. Soon, I would catch glimpses of his beautiful blue eyes once more. Until then, I would protect him from any threat that might arise.

  Everyone here would protect him, but we didn’t know what lurked out there. Caim flew around the area for hours every day, and we patrolled the perimeter. No one had spotted any craetons or demons nearby, but that probably wouldn’t last.

  My gaze returned to the window when another blast of wind caused the snow to pelt the glass again. The wind howling through the trees and across the clearing echoed the sadness inside me.

  I ran my fingers across his brow and smoothed his hair, but he didn’t react to my touch. Sometimes, his eyes would flicker behind his lids, and it helped me believe he knew I was here. When I didn’t get that reaction now, it felt like someone took a knife to my heart.

  He had to wake up! He had to know how much I loved him. I wasn’t sure exactly when it happened, but I’d fallen in love with the enemy, and I didn’t regret it. Lifting his hand to my mouth, I kissed his knuckles before leaning forward to kiss his lips.

  When he didn’t respond, I settled onto my chair and clasped his hand in both of mine. At least I didn’t have any more dreams about the darkness. With the end of Mytaz and Eldorata, the nightmares ceased. I might have different visions in the future, but not about the darkness.

  “Can you believe it’s almost over?” Corson asked. “That after all this time, it’s almost over.”

  I didn’t have to ask what was almost over; I knew he meant the fighting, the pain, and the fear that every battle might be our last. I knew he meant the only way of life we’d ever experienced was coming to an end. I’d been fighting since I could hold a sword, but now it was all coming to an end.

  “There could be something else out there,” I said, unwilling to get my hopes up too much. “We weren’t expecting the horsemen.”

  “There’s nothing like the angels or horsemen left. The worst of the monsters are dead. We destroyed them.” He nodded toward Wrath. “With a little help from friends. There’s scattered demons and seal creatures left who might still be looking for trouble, but there’s no one to organize them, and nothing we can’t handle.”

  “You’ll jinx us.”

  He gave me a sad smile. “Some might say we’ve been jinxed our whole lives.”

  “Or blessed. Somehow, we made it through all the battles when so many others didn’t.”

  “True,” he murmured. When his gaze returned to
the window, I knew he was thinking about Shax and all the others we’d lost over the years. “The uprising is over.”

  “I really hope you’re right.”

  “I am.” And then more quietly to himself. “I am.”

  “What will we, two demons who have never known any other way of life, do if there is peace?”

  He stared out the window for a while before smiling. “We’ll live.”

  It was such a beautiful dream, but I didn’t dare let myself get carried away by it. We still had so far to go. Yes, I believed the worst was behind us, but if I was wrong, I didn’t think I could stand the disappointment.

  I wasn’t sure how I would handle not having anything to fight anymore. A part of me rejoiced at the idea, and another part was scared by the uncertainty of it. For centuries, I’d fought a battle or prepared to wage war. And now, I had endless possibilities ahead of me, but they all led back to one truth…

  “We’ll live,” I agreed.

  Corson settled the curtain back into place. “Do you need anything?”

  “No.”

  “When was the last time you fed?”

  It had been a few days, but I couldn’t leave Wrath alone. What if he woke while I was gone?

  “Go feed, Bale. I’ll watch over him.”

  I opened my mouth to protest, but Corson interrupted me before I could.

  “Go. You’re not going to do him any good if you’re too weak to defend yourself. You have nothing to worry about with me when it comes to him.”

  “I know that.”

  “We never would have defeated the horsemen without him. Death alone would have been unstoppable for us.”

  “Not for Raphael.”

  “Maybe, maybe not, but Wrath is a big part of the reason we’re still alive. Go feed.”

  I considered arguing with him, but he was right. If our enemies attacked again, and I was half starved, I couldn’t protect Wrath like I should. I kissed his knuckles again before gently placing his hand on the bed and rising from my chair.

  “I’ll be back soon,” I said to Corson and Wrath as I caressed his brow once more.

  “We’ll be here,” Corson said.

  I reluctantly stepped away from Wrath and left the room. I didn’t doubt he was safe with Corson, and it was highly unlikely he would wake up while I was gone, but I loathed leaving him. I removed my heavy coat from the hangers near the door and slipped on my boots before leaving the room.

  When I stepped into the hall and closed the door behind me, Zorn lifted his head from where he lay and released a snort.

  “I’ll be back,” I told him.

  He snorted again and settled his nose onto the floor. Like me, the horse hadn’t gone anywhere since we carried Wrath in. I didn’t know what he ate, if anything, but at least he didn’t leave any horse droppings behind.

  I had a feeling he somehow gained his nourishment from Wrath. They had a symbiotic relationship, but if that was the case, Zorn was probably pretty hungry too.

  “I’m going to feed,” I said.

  He lifted his head again, and I saw a flash of interest in his eyes, but he didn’t rise.

  “Do you want to come with me?”

  He lowered his head again. Maybe he didn’t feed at all. The horsemen’s horses seemed to be a living extension of the horsemen’s abilities, so it might not be necessary for them to eat. Either way, he wasn’t coming with me as he lowered his head again and closed his eyes.

  I forced one foot in front of the other until I reached the door to the outside and pushed it open. When a cold blast of wind and snow hit me in the face, I almost turned back as the icy flakes slid inside my coat and dripped down my neck.

  I didn’t know why humans feared Hell; this was far worse than anything from my plane. My growing hunger compelled me to continue as I trudged through the snow.

  I kept my head bent against the howling wind, but it did little to keep me protected from the winter. I made my way through the trees and down the hill until I found some wayward wraiths starting to rise from the earth.

  I fed and hurried back to the hotel. I sighed when I closed the door against the wind and leaned against it. Outside of our room, the hotel was cold, but it was like a sauna compared to the misery outside.

  I brushed back the wet tendrils of hair clinging to my face as I pulled off my coat and jogged back toward my room. Zorn opened his eyes at my approach, but he closed them again without acknowledging my presence.

  I returned to the room to find Corson sitting in a chair near the window. I reclaimed the seat I abandoned and rubbed my palms on my pants to warm them before retrieving Wrath’s hands.

  Sensing I needed a friend, Corson didn’t rise to leave. Neither of us spoke, but he remained with me as night descended and the storm came to an end.

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Bale

  A touch on my arm snapped my head up. I’d fallen asleep with my legs draped over the side of the chair, my head resting against the back, and Wrath’s hand clasped in mine. It was how I’d slept all week.

  I looked blearily around the dark room for one of the others. The fire had died down to embers, but its dim glow was enough to reveal that no one stood beside me. When my nails bit into my palms, I realized Wrath’s hand wasn’t in mine. I spun so fast in the chair I nearly bashed the top of my head off his chin.

  “Easy,” he murmured as he rested his hands on my shoulders.

  I shouted with joy, and throwing my arms around him, I launched myself out of the chair and into his arms.

  He laughed as he hugged me close. “It’s good to see you too.”

  My hands ran over him as I embraced him and tried to reassure myself he was okay. He was real beneath my hands, but despite being unresponsive in bed for a week, he felt solid, strong, and so damn good I nearly wept.

  “Are you okay?” I demanded as I pulled away. “Did I hurt you?”

  His black eyes twinkled in the dim light of the room, but despite looking and feeling good, the lines around his eyes and mouth told me he wasn’t completely healed. Faint black and purple bruises marred his face, but the bones had reformed. He was sitting up, which meant his spine had also healed, and the puckered mark on his chest was little more than a pink circle now.

  He looked so unbelievably amazing, but he’d just taken on two of the horsemen, nearly died, and been in bed for a week; I never should have thrown myself at him.

  “I shouldn’t have done that,” I whispered.

  “I’m fine,” he assured me. “You didn’t hurt me.”

  Before I could respond, he pulled me back into his arms and onto his lap. The joy crashing through me was overwhelming. Before I knew what was happening, tears streaked my face as I draped my arms around his shoulders and sobbed.

  “I’m okay.” He ran his hands over my hair and down my back as he tried to soothe me, but the tears wouldn’t cease. “Don’t cry for me, love. I’m fine, and I’m never going to leave you.”

  My fingers dug into his back as I cleaved to him. The warmth of his arms around me and the flex of his muscles beneath my hands finally caused my tears to cease as I succeeded in reassuring myself he was alive and well. Long after my tears dried, I remained in his arms, listening to the reassuring beat of his heart.

  “How long was I out?” he asked.

  “A week.”

  His arms constricted around me. “What’s happened since then?”

  “Nothing. It’s been extremely quiet. Raphael flew back to the wall to tell Kobal what happened and to bring back more fighters. There have been no signs of any craeton in the area, and there haven’t been any fights. We have gotten about another foot of snow, so we probably won’t be leaving for a while.”

  “I’m okay with that.” He rested his chin on my head. “How are you doing?”

  “Much better now that you’re awake. Zorn will also be happy to see you; he hasn’t left his post in the hall since we moved you in here. I tried to talk him into going out to feed with
me, but he wouldn’t budge. Does he feed on wraiths?”

  “No, he gains strength from me.”

  “Oh. And how are you feeling?”

  “I’m hungry, but it can wait.”

  I tipped my head back to look up and into his beloved face. “You have to feed.”

  “I will.”

  Clasping his cheeks in my hands, I pulled his head down until our forehead’s rested against each other. “I was so worried about you.”

  “There’s nothing to worry about anymore.”

  Using the pads of his thumbs, he stroked my cheeks before kissing me. When he laid down, he pulled me on top of him before rolling over to pin me beneath him. When his thigh parted my legs, I felt the growing evidence of his arousal prodding me in the belly.

  “You’re injured,” I whispered against his mouth.

  “I could be dying, and I’d still want to fuck you.”

  Those words sent a thrill down my spine, and while I was scared he might hurt himself again, his hands and mouth stifled my feeble protests. We’d been denied each other for a week, and I couldn’t stop myself from touching him all over.

  I was desperate for him, but despite his words, he didn’t fuck me. Instead, he made love to me in a slow, maddening way that had me pleading for him to put me out of my misery while his hands ran over my body.

  However, as I pleaded with him to take me, he held back and pinned my arms above my head. Making his way down my body, he left a trail of kisses and bite marks across my flesh.

  “It’s been too long.” He sank his fangs into my breast, and I arched demandingly against him. But he still held back as his fangs retracted and he moved steadily lower. “My marks are fading from you, and I can’t have that.”

  Wet and aching, I cried out when his fingers stroked my clit, and he teased me to the brink of release before pulling away. He was making me so crazy I was half tempted to kill him, but that would mean never getting to experience this exquisite torture again.