Ties That Bind: A Muse Urban Fantasy (The Veil Series Book 5) (17 page)

“No.”
If it was, it’d be a nightmare.

“Where are we?”

“Revere Beach. We’re not really seeing it at its best.”

“What’s that smell?” She lifted her head and peeked around the collar of the coat.

“Salt and rain.” She wriggled and twisted in my lap, turning her face toward the sea. The wind whipped her hair about her, but she didn’t seem to mind. “Dawn, I promised you freedom—”

“Are we free now?” She gazed into the storm.

I was. “You’re very special. There’s only one of you in two worlds. Nobody can do what you do. Sometimes, life has a plan for special people like us, and even if we fight it, there are forces we can’t control.”

“Fate.”

“I didn’t used to believe in fate, but after everything I’ve seen, I wonder if some things are meant to happen, and nothing we can do will change it.”

She turned her head and looked deep into my eyes. “I’m not free, am I?”

“No, honey. The veil fell. Demons are spilling through into our world, and the princes want to rule here too.”

“I can unmake princes.”

A cool touch of apprehension trickled down my spine. “I know you can. But chaos will rule without them. We have to restore the veil, and we need your help to do it.”

“Will I be free then?” She blinked those innocent doe-eyes.

I tried to smile, but it slipped from my lips.
I should lie to her.
She’s too dangerous
. If I told her she had to stay in hell, she’d lash out, kill me and Stefan, kill anyone and anything that tried to contain her. Hope filled her eyes. I had to lie. What was the betrayal of one little girl’s trust for the fate of two worlds? “Yes.” Just one word, but it almost choked me. I hissed it through my teeth, dragging the burn of guilt behind it.

Dawn tucked her head under my chin. “I knew you’d save me. You said you would. The big Institute man with the gentle eyes told me you were all demon, that you were like Mammon, that I should unmake you too. But you’re not demon, are you Muse?”

How I looked in her eyes and smiled, I don’t know, but I did—and lost a piece of my humanity in the process. Akil had said life was a balancing act. Sacrifices had to be made for the long-term gain. He’d had thousands of years to hone his act to perfection. As I looked into Dawn’s wide, hopeful eyes, I finally understood exactly what he’d meant.

The wind carried a peculiar sound to us: a whooping cackle, like hyenas laughing. I peered into the rain, down the beach. Dark blurs marred the pale sand. I couldn’t make them out, and climbed to my feet. The catcalls continued, wails, barks and yips. Demon.

Stefan vaulted over the concrete seawall. “Muse, c’mon!”

I looked from him, to Dawn, to the pack of demons. “Take her. Go.” Dawn clung to my leg and whimpered. I sunk my hand into her hair and smiled down at her. “It’ll be alright. Stefan won’t hurt you. Go with him. He’ll keep you safe.”
Lies, lies, lies.
Was this how Akil did it? Lie after lie, until it became the only way?

“I can stay.” She begged, lower lip wobbling. “I can help you.”

“No, I don’t want them knowing you’re alive. We need to keep you off their radar for as long as possible.”

Stefan skidded to a halt in the sand. “Muse, come with us.”

“I’ll hold them back.” I peeled Dawn from my leg and gave her a little shove toward Stefan. “Take her and go. Do the right thing.”

He ground his jaw, about to argue. Dawn slipped her little hand in his and worked him over with her sweet face. He didn’t stand a chance. “Can we have donuts?”

Stefan—the master of hiding his true thoughts—grinned at her. “That sounds like a great idea.”

“You need to go a few more miles up the bay, take a right, and head for Nahant.” Demon howls and hollers almost buried my voice. “Once you’re over the causeway, go through the veil. You’ll find Jerry’s sanctum nearby.”

He nodded and held out the Desert Eagle. “I’ll come back for you.”

I took the gun. “Of course.” Heat wove around my ankles, skin-crawling, flesh-sizzling heat. Asmodeus. If Stefan sensed my father was close, he’d never leave. “Go. I’ll be right behind you.”

Stefan backed up. Dawn, wrapped in my too-long coat, looked up at the Winter King. She trusted him because I’d told her too. She shouldn’t. She shouldn’t trust anyone or anything. She never would again. She dragged the coat behind her as they turned away. Stefan scooped her up and carried her back toward the Mustang. She peered over his shoulder at me and waved her tiny hand. My smile fractured and crumbled away. The rain and wind blurred them out of focus. She wouldn’t see how my strength broke. Now it was up to Stefan to get her to the King of Hell. I had every faith he would, and that broke my heart. Was this the last time I’d see her? This lie?

Gun heavy in my hand, I lifted my gaze and watched the demons gallop and bound closer. Their combined scents drenched me: burned rubber, sweet sweat, and my father’s stench of burning flesh. Asmodeus blazed crimson in the squall, burning the storm off him like the hellish beast he was. They’d been waiting for my return. Did he think me a traitor? I smiled, dipped my chin, and pinned him in my sights. I was about to give him a lesson in destruction as only a Prince of Hell’s daughter could.

L
esser demons spilled
over the seawall. They came from the surf, rising up out of the water. The wind tore at me, and rain beat against my clothes and face as though the elements themselves urged me to run. But I had to make my stand. I had to hold them off here. I flexed my fingers on the Desert Eagle, taking comfort in its machined human construction.

I stood my ground as a human long enough for it to drive the lesser wild. But as the baying crowd parted, revealing my father in all of his fire-licked glory, I tucked the gun against my back and poured fire into my veins, turning demon. Spreading my one wing wide, I gave it a flick, rolled my shoulders, and stood tall. Eager flame spilled across my skin. Demons eyed me. Saliva streamed from exposed fangs. None dared venture too close; but as before, my apparent weakness plucked on their instincts to hunt and kill those weaker than them.

“Hello, Father.”

He stepped from the crowd and into the clearing with me. Molten sand pooled around his clawed feet. He stretched his wings wide, scattering a few skittish lessers. Tiny in comparison, I raked my gaze up his muscle-bound legs and over the twitching planes of his chest. He was every inch the demon from human nightmares and legends. He’d created me. I was part monster too. I knew that now.

“It is too late to redeem yourself.” He growled, and my fiery veins throbbed hotter.

No mention of Dawn. Did that mean Akil hadn’t told him about her? Relief sent ripples of flame down my wing. “If you’re sightseeing, it’s the wrong time of year to see the sandcastles.”

Asmodeus’s upper lip peeled back. “Why did you not use the blade on Baal?”

I shrugged a shoulder. Embers fluttered from my wing and twirled in the wind. “Yeah, I was never going to follow your orders, or anyone’s, Daddy dearest. I’m a pain in the ass. I never listen. I’d have thought Mammon would have told you that in all the years you allowed him to keep me.”

Asmodeus’s wings flexed, and his nostrils flared. “Mammon died a fool.”

Akil hadn’t told my father anything. From the look on his face, I saw he didn’t even know Mammon was alive. So why had Akil let me believe the Court was aware of his resurrection? Why did he let me believe he was taking Dawn to Asmodeus?
Why, why, why…

Asmodeus read the truth in the jaunty little smile on my demon lips. “You lied.”

“Yeah.” I examined my claws. “I was never the demon you thought me to be. Not bad, huh? For a half-blood whore.”

Rage twisted Asmodeus’s hideous face. “You used lust on the Winter King. I witnessed the results. You are the Daughter of Lust. My daughter. My fire burns within you.” That wasn’t pride in his grumbling voice. It sounded more like disgust. How dare I be demon and
care?

A spark of anger flared hot and bright. “Yeah, it does, but you know what else burns in me? Pride. I’m half human, you sick son of a bitch, and you should know by now never to piss humans off. They’ll fight until there’s nothing left to fight for, and they’ll still damn-well fight, rather than give in to the likes of you.” I dropped my hand to my side. “For what you made me do to Stefan... I’d destroy you for that alone, but here’s the thing. Boston is my city, and I don’t want demons crawling all over my city. You don’t belong here. This world is not meant for you. So why don’t you and your groupies scurry on back to your hellhole? Leave now, and I won’t snuff your little entourage out of existence.”

My father’s leathery lips twitched. “This world is weak. Chaos will reign, and we will follow. It has begun. Your posturing is pointless. Stand beside us not against us. This is your last chance.”

“My last chance?” I laughed, and the wind tossed the sound of my laughter around us. “I don’t want a chance to be like you. I never did.”

He recoiled, yellow eyes blinking. “You are destruction made flesh.”

“Whatever. You just keep telling yourself that.”

A demon to my left snarled. I clicked my fingers and
poof
, he was gone. The bitter wind scattered his ashes. Fire trilled up my spine. My smile was a wicked, slippery, thing, as were the flames in my eyes. “Care to test me, Daddy?” Nearby lessers hunkered low and submissive. I had their firestone-hearts pinned on the thermal map in my mind. A thought, a glance, and I could incinerate them all.
All but my father.
He wasn’t so easy to dismiss. Damn immortality. Still, while they were here, Stefan had more time to get Dawn to Jerry. Once she was inside the stones, she’d be safe from the princes. Time. I needed to buy time.

I imagined my smile resembled Asmodeus’s. After all, we were family. As the wind tore around us and the rain beat down, I faced my father: one winged, puny human size, riddled with faults. He looked back at me, smooth crimson skin aglow with heat, every muscular inch of him demon, right down to his immortal DNA. The firelight in his eyes declared him untouchable. He thought he controlled me. He wasn’t the first to think that. But he would be the last.

I spread my hands and called to Boston’s heat. Asmodeus jerked his chin up. He’d felt our element shift. The lessers whimpered. “Your element is mine, Daughter. You cannot hope to best me with fire.”

So predictable.
“Typically demon. You think everything’s about you.”

Raging heat pooled beneath my feet. I gathered it closer. Asmodeus watched, curious. The lessers knew better. Their numbers thinned as they chittered and howled, attempting to flee.

“They don’t call me destruction for nothing.” I borrowed Ryder’s wink, ripped the heat from the earth, and blasted it out in all directions. The wave washed over fleeing lessers, devoured them whole, and spat out their ashes in its wake. I blinked and stood inside a perfect circle of molten glass.

Asmodeus decided he’d seen enough and lunged. I ducked, twisted under his arm, and launched a right hook. My extended claws punched into his wing membrane. Using his turning momentum, I swung myself onto his back, landed between his wings, and punched my claws deep into his shoulder muscles. “Lesson one,” I hissed against his neck. “What I lack in strength, I make up for in agility.”

He groped behind him, reaching for my leg, but his huge size made it impossible to reach me. His roar rattled my ribs and drilled into my skull. Crimson skin sizzled beneath my touch. The angrier he became, the more heat poured off him. I soaked it all into my demon skin and laughed. “Lesson two: never throw down with a half blood unless you are one. It takes half bloods to stop half bloods.”

He rattled off a string of what I assumed to be ancient curses then twisted and staggered, reaching and bucking.

“I can dance all day.” I pulled myself in tight against his back, fighting against the quiver in my strained muscles. “Lesson three,” I hissed. “I. Own. You.” I plunged my teeth into his neck, sank them in so damn deep I nicked bone. A roar, thick with indignant disgust, tore from him. Fiery blood filled my mouth.
I. Claim. You.
I tore a chunk of his throat out and plunged my teeth into his shoulder.

The wind snagged on my wing and tossed it open. Asmodeus grabbed at its arch and yanked me free. I had a few seconds of blissful weightlessness and slammed into the concrete seawall. My horns saved my skull, but the rest of me wasn’t as lucky. An icy pain chilled my shoulder blade where my wing sprouted. Ears ringing, I blinked and tried to focus on the wall of red bearing down on me.
Oh, hell.
Asmodeus plucked me off the sand and held me by the neck.

He cocked his hideous head and licked his lips. “Broken wing. Better to rip it off.”

Hell, no.
The fact that half his throat was missing didn’t seem to concern him. I pushed my element inside him, hooked mental claws in, and yanked. His fire surged down his arms and rushed over me, into me. But Asmodeus wasn’t about to stand there and let it happen. His thick fingers squeezed my scrawny neck. Air heaved in my chest, trapped inside burning lungs. I kicked and clawed at his fingers.

He yanked me close, narrowed his piss-yellow eyes, and grinned. “For all your talk, you are still weak.”

I closed my eyes and mentally reached for the veil—but not to open it. I needed the elemental blade. I flicked open my right hand as my father throttled me. My heart thumped. My chest burned. The sounds of wind, rain, and fire faded away. And then a cool tickle of energy tingled through my palm. Chaos. I’d felt it when touching Stefan. A sudden weight, like an anvil, filled my grip. I poured every last ounce of strength into my thrust and punched the blade forward.

Asmodeus roared. He threw me down and tore the sword from my grip and towered over me. Blazing. Magnificently demon. He laughed and reached down, curled his hand around my upper arm, spread his wings, and pushed off the beach, launching us skyward. Those vast wings beat the air, and I clutched his arm. I hadn’t counted on him taking flight. This was not part of my plan. I was so screwed.

The beach shrank below my feet until clouds blotted it out. Rain gusted and swirled. Higher and higher we climbed until I could no longer see the beach through the storm or feel the heat of Boston. Nothing but lashings of rain.

The higher we went, the more my chances of survival were whittled away.

“Don’t do this,” I shouted over the beat of his wings.

“One wing.” His eyes flared white-hot. “Human is your disease, your weakness.”

He’s going to drop me.
I looked down into the soup of gray clouds. How high were we? He had the blade. I didn’t even have fire. The veil. No, he’d sense it the second I opened it and drop me. I didn’t have anything else. There was no way out. Panic set my heart racing and my thoughts into a flurry. There had to be a way.
Higher, and higher.
If I had both wings, I might have had a chance. Stefan could fall with style. I just fell.

Stefan.

The gun.

I dropped my demon guise, reverting to human in a blink. Asmodeus’s touch sizzled through clothes and skin. Pain blanched my thoughts. The smell of my burning human skin choked me. I reached behind me, hooked my fingers around the Desert Eagle, plucked it free, aimed, and fired. Nothing happened.

Asmodeus’s eyes widened.

Turn the safety off.

Flick—click—boom. The recoil shot up my arm. The round punched through my father’s skull and blasted it to pieces. His grip opened. His fingers peeled from the burns on my skin, and we both tumbled through the air. My clothes flapped, my hair whipped, I fell, and knew—even as I turned demon—that I might not survive this time.