Damned and Desirable (Eternally Yours Book 2) (35 page)

The demons kept spilling out of the crevice, and I feared they’d soon overpower the giants, who were weakening under the tigers’ attacks.

A flash of fire caught my eye, and I saw him, that magnificent, scaly dragon, pushing through the throng and burning demons who got in his way. Callum was so badass, just like his brother. My heart did a little flip when he paused to look over at me, flashing a wicked grin. I waved my fingers at him, mouthing a “thank you” as he continued to burn his adversaries. I had no idea where he’d come from, but I was so grateful he hadn’t been captured by Scorpius or banished to the fourth dimension. I hoped his luck wouldn’t run out.

Aedan forced me to stop as he poured healing water on my palms. I hadn’t even realized they were burned and bleeding until he turned over my hands. The giants and Jack formed a tight circle around me until the water finished its magic. Then we strode forward again, and that’s when my heart came to a thudding halt. A tiger had Callum in its fanged jowls, biting down and shaking him around as if he were a chew toy. Panic seized my brain when the tiger tossed his lifeless body onto the slab with Scorpius.

“No!” I screamed as I hiked up my toga and raced past my guards.

But it was too late. Scorpius looked up at me, his ominous eyes gleaming, right before his tail stabbed Callum through the chest, digging deep into the center. And just like that, Callum disappeared in a cloud of dust.

I clutched my aching heart, feeling as if it, too, had crumbled to ash along with my friend. I fell to my knees, sobbing as my guards surrounded me. Aedan grabbed my arm, saying something soothing into my ear, but I didn’t hear him. The sounds of war faded into nothingness, more like static in my brain, as I focused on only one thing, my grief for Callum. He was gone, and how would I ever save him?

A pool of sorrow welled in my chest, so heavy and thick I feared I might drown in it. Callum had risked his soul to fight evil, and what had it gotten him but more misery? Why? Why had he been cast farther into Hell? He was a good man. He didn’t deserve such a fate. How could Scorpius have been so unjust? And how could God have let this happen?

I straightened my spine as I glared up at Scorpius. His cat guards were lying flat on the stone slab, looking as if they’d been crushed by a giant. But Scorpius did not show any signs of fear. Standing tall on his platform, he was nearly the height of the giant who’d tried to pound him with his club. Scorpius managed to evade the attack, grabbing onto a meaty hand with all six arms, laughing as his tail stabbed the giant’s wrist. It took me a moment to register that giant was King Og. If he banished the king, who would lead the Nephilim?

Scorpius will lead them,
a warning hissed in my ear.

A spark lit somewhere within my pool of sorrow, and like a match to kerosene, my anguish exploded into a lake of rage. I fluttered to my feet, balling my fists and channeling all my energy into his glowing eyes. With a roar, I unleashed my magic, shooting a bolt so powerful, my hands exploded into bursts of light. A sonic boom rent the air, and a wave of wind ruffled my feathers and tossed my hair as demons and giants flattened around me.

“Stop, Ash, stop! You’ll destroy yourself!” Aedan screamed above the din, though his face was pressed into the dirt.

I didn’t care about my safety. All I cared about was enacting revenge on that six-armed freak. He would pay for all the people he’d haunted, all the souls he’d stolen, and all of the friends he’d tortured. Most of all, he would pay for banishing the only good demon in this miserable pit, the brother of the man I loved, and my friend.

Dreams and smoke intermingled until they were just a haze of voices and shadows. A giant creature with sad eyes and a soft smile held me as we flew over a lake of lava. When we landed, he handed me to a skeletal man with glowing eyes. Though these creatures were nightmarish and strange, somehow, I sensed I was safe. Weird, right? I should have been terrified. I should have been screaming, but I wasn’t.

The man’s bony, grotesque features morphed into a more familiar face as he carried me inside a fortress. Bright, watery blue eyes smiled down at me as we traveled through a lush garden and slipped into a shimmering pool. I smiled as the cool currents soothed my aching limbs. Amazed, I clenched my fingers as if feeling them for the first time.

“What happened?” I rasped.

Aedan draped a finger across my lips. “Shhh, you must heal.”

And so I did, sighing contentedly as I snuggled against his chest, relishing the feel of him stroking my scalp and back. But when I closed my eyes, I saw Scorpius’s triumphant glare as he stabbed Callum through the heart.

“Callum!” I screamed as I jolted up. “No!” I kicked and punched the water.

Aedan grabbed my arms, cradling me against him. “Shhh, sweetheart.”

“He’s gone,” I sobbed, slapping his wet chest. “We have to save him.”

Aedan rocked me in his arms. “I know, baby.”

I pulled back, desperately searching his eyes for any sign of hope. “You know? Does that mean you’ll help me save him?”

“The king has already reassured me he will help us.” His voice hardened. “He still has two kin down there, remember?”

“The king?” I recalled Scorpius stabbing King Og’s hand. “He’s okay?”

“The Nephilim saved him with their holy water.”

More memories of the battle surfaced. There’d been so many demons. Too many. “What about Jack and Sarge?”

“Both fine.” He flashed a weary smile as he tucked a strand of wet hair behind my ear. “Ash, the war is over. You did it. You defeated the demons. Once you banished Scorpius, his blood slaves surrendered.”

“Really?” Wow. I’d done it. Just as the prophecy had stated. Did this mean God would allow the Nephilim to return to Heaven, and if he would give them a pass, would he grant one to Callum, too? If so, how were we going to free Callum from the fourth dimension? Jeez, and I’d thought the top level of Hell was a shithole. I could only imagine how much worse Callum had it now. Dark thoughts swirled in my brain, threatening to overwhelm me. I didn’t care what it took. We had to save him.

I nuzzled Aedan’s chest, which felt harder than a block of concrete. A shiver wracked him before he pulled me closer. Odd, because the healing water didn’t feel too cold. In fact, the soothing liquid felt heavenly. Then I remembered Aedan was hydrophobic. Oh, wow! How the heck had he managed to climb into the pool without having a panic attack?

“Aedan,” I gasped as I sat up and looked into his features, which reminded me of an eggshell ready to crack. I could tell he was doing everything in his power to keep it together. “I thought you were afraid of water.”

His stony features splintered. “I am, but I’m more afraid of losing you.”

I cupped his cheeks in my hands, planting a feather-soft kiss on his lips. “I’ve had enough water for now.”

Fatigue consumed me, and I was barely aware of Aedan pulling me from the water and drying me off on the grass, and of Jack’s heavy pants as he followed us inside. After Aedan hoisted me onto the bed, Jack licked my nose as he settled down beside me. A short time ago he was my beastly two-headed guardian, biting the heads off demons and gigantic fanged cats. Jeez, my afterlife was strange.

“I must go speak with the king,” Aedan murmured. “You going to be okay?”

“Yeah,” I sighed as I turned into Jack, snuggling against his neck. “I have my guardian angel.”

Jack’s deep growl woke me from my slumber. I slowly sat up, clutching a blanket as I stared into the darkness. I could see nothing, which was weird because the wall sconces had been shining brightly before Aedan left.

My heart began to hammer, so loud I could barely hear Jack’s growls from somewhere by my feet. Where was Aedan, and why was it so dark? An icy breeze blew through my hair, sending a shiver down my spine. Then I heard the snap of Jack’s jowls. Fear gripped my limbs when he bounded off the bed, barking before his howl of pain pierced the thick air, sending a shard of panic straight into my chest.

“Jack!” I screamed as I heard a sickening thump. I pushed myself against the headboard, a cyclone of dizziness spinning circles in my brain and causing me to feel faint and disoriented. What was happening to me?

And then the darkness faded, the sconces slowly flickering back to life, revealing two ominous eyes staring down at me.

“Shadow,” I rasped.

He clutched two faded scrolls, crinkling the paper as he squeezed them with whitened knuckles. “I had to see them for myself.”

“What?”

Frowning, he threw a scroll at my feet. “I had to see what had gone wrong.”

I didn’t understand what he was talking about, but somehow I got the feeling he was still a creepy demon. “Shadow.” I tried to keep my tone even as I peered over the bed looking for Jack. “Scorpius is gone. You are no longer his blood slave.”

He tossed his head back and laughed. “You think that’s all I was to him? Oh, if it were only that easy.” He pushed back his shirtsleeve, revealing a tanned arm with bulging veins. “I can still feel his blood in me,” he said with a snarl as he clenched his hands. “I can still hear him telling me to seek revenge.”

Oh, shit. Revenge. And I suppose I am on the top of his shit list.

“Fight it, Shadow,” I cried, unfurling my fingers and preparing to strike. “You were a good person once. Remember fifty years ago before Scorpius captured you?”

“Fifty years?” He tilted his head, smirking. “No, that was the second time he captured me. I have been serving my master for a hundred and fifty years, waiting to find you so he could bring the giants to their knees. The first time one of his demons dragged me to Hell, I managed to flee, fading into the shadows while I searched for a means of escape. I came here through a hidden passage.” He waved at the walls around us. “For I’d heard the Nephilim had a portal to Earth.”

So much for King Og’s secret passage. Though he had said no demon could find it, I was certain he’d never met a demon with Shadow’s penchant for darkness.

“I crept around their fortress while they slept, for I feared they would see me even in my shadow form. In my search,” he continued as he pointed to the scroll at my feet, “I stumbled upon their scrolls. As I read through the first parchment, I realized they had been written by angels centuries ago. According to their proclamation, a fallen angel would lead them in a holy war.”

I cringed at that. By fallen angel, they had meant me. Who knew getting thrown out of Heaven would get me knocked all the way down to Hell?

“But when I unfurled the next scroll, I saw the scene where Scorpius held the king of giants by the hand, driving his venom into him while a golden angel wept on her knees, and I knew their fallen angel would fail them.” His shoulders slumped, shadows obscuring all but his glowing eyes. “I was made so distraught, I dropped the parchment and fled, and then Scorpius found me. He tortured me for days, burning me with venom that raced through me like liquid fire, paralyzing me with unfathomable pain. He poured his blood into me and forced me to bare my soul. Through my eyes, Scorpius saw everything, including the scroll where he defeated the Nephilim king. He released me, sending me on a mission to search for this fallen angel, hoping I would find her in Purgatory.

“I lived in Purgatory peacefully for a hundred years, and then Scorpius sent his demons after me. He was angry I had not yet found you. This time his cruelty was far worse. He forced me to drink his blood again and sign a second bond, proclaiming me more than just his blood slave.”

My fingers itched as the magic strained to break free. I knew my wind wasn’t as powerful as my lightning, but it was my only defense. “Well, what are you?” I asked through clenched teeth.

His smile was wide and bright, illuminating the shadows in his hollowed cheek bones. “His soul slave. Not only his blood flows through me, Ash.” He held up his arms as a shrill burst of laughter escaped from his throat. “His soul does, too.”

Well, shit.

“So now you see why I seek revenge for the wrongs done to my master.” He pounded his chest. “I am Scorpius, and he is me.”

His eyes bulged, and he jerked back, falling on top of the bed as Jack held his ankle in his jaws.