Page 45 of Blood and War
He’d done it. Had pushed him so far over the edge Kellan had lost the ability to control his own body. Triggering the carnal disease that had taken over so many times before as that darkness within him broke free.
“Capturing her was the biggest fucking mistake you ever made.” Calm, deadly cool.
The demon’s head rolled feet away, blade heavy on the rock where it rested after his swing. It cut through flesh as easily as the wind tossed a leaf.
The sharp intake of air brought Kellan back. The cavern came into focus. His siblings, each and every one of them staring at him. No, at something behind him.
Demitria had slumped over, face pale. The blood pooling in her clothing, staining everything a dark crimson as it flowed. Inky veins marred her face. Every inch of her.
Shit.
Kellan was beside her in a heartbeat, his body moving on its own accord. So much blood. Too much blood for a human. He took everything in. The gaping wounds that littered her body. The darkening of her veins as the poison coursed through her system. “You need to help her!” He faced his kin, meeting each of their eyes. Pleading. “Please brother, I beg of you.”
“It’s one human girl, Kellan.” Gabriel spoke quietly. “I can give life and I can take life, but I can only heal minor injuries.”
“Gabriel, please! You are the eldest and strongest of us all. Heal her.” He would get to his knees and beg if he had to. She would not die. Not on his watch. He picked the girl’s slumped figure up from the rock, cradling her to his chest as he waited for his brother.
Gabriel fluttered toward them, graceful in his strides. Standing over Kellan as he cradled the girl in his arms. “I don’t know if this will work.” With a sigh Gabriel placed his hands above the most gruesome wound above her heart. His eyes closed as he concentrated, and Kellan knew what came next. He watched on as Gabriel commanded his power to leave his body and willed it into Demitria’s.
Her eyes widened as she took in a sharp intake of breath. Kellan knew the pain she was in, feeling the power weaving its way through her body as her skin began to reattach, growing closed over the wounds. He’d felt the burn of Gabriel’s power more times than he could count, and it never got easier. Demitria ground her teeth together, burying her head in hischest, fists clenched tight as she fought the scream he was sure threatened to emerge.
Gabriel opened his eyes and looked down at her, her breathing rapid as she lay there. “I never said it would be painless.” He took a step back. When Kellan was sure she was stable, he set her back down.
“Thank you.” She stared up at him with wide eyes. Her body was covered in blood, clothes torn, but she was… healed. “My name is Demitria Collins. I am indebted to you for saving my life. All of you.” She met the eyes of each and every one of the Horsemen, driving the words home.
“You have obviously met my brother.” Gabriel was the first to speak. “My name is Gabriel, but your people know me as Death. I am the eldest of the Horsemen. These two are my other siblings.” He motioned toward them with a hand before grabbing the scythe he’d leaned against the wall, fitting it into the leather at his back.
Eire was leaning against the cavern wall, arms crossed tightly over her chest. “Eire.” She mumbled, flipping a long black braid over her shoulder. “I am the second eldest, Famine.” She stared at Demitria with questioning eyes. Kane walked straight over to them, extending out his hand as he smiled. “The name’s Kane.” He grinned. “I am the Horseman Pestilence. Now how in the world do you know our baby brother?” He said the word ‘baby brother’ in a near mocking tone, and Kellan could have killed him for it. He’d been dealing with his shit for over a millennium, and it never got easier. He knew they’d ask questions. His only problem? He wouldn’t have the answers to any of them.
“He-He saved my life.” She looked down at her hands, anxious at the attention as her fingers fumbled with the hem of her shirt.
“And she saved mine, a feat no other soul in existence has dared aside from you.” Kellan didn’t dare to meet thequestioning eyes of his siblings. Refused to see the looks on each of their faces. “Why don’t we settle for the night? The demons won't be back. We could all use a rest.”
“Is no one going to talk about what just happened?” Eire questioned, her hands planting along her leather-clad hips as stormy gray eyes shot around the room between Gabriel and Kane.
“No, we’re not.” Kellan huffed, running a hand through his hair. He stared at them a moment later. At the blood that still coated them, and he’d seemingly streaked through his hair. Her blood. Any being would have been revulsed at the thought, but he’d seen so much bloodshed that even the thought of it didn’t seem to faze him.
“What you asked of him goes against everything we were sent here to do.” Eire took a step toward him, and he couldn’t help the audible groan that left his lips.
“They were wrong.” They’d all been through this. The claims made by the Demon Lord had proved it. The council kept tabs on the Dark King, and there was no way in hell they weren’t aware of his presence here.
“You should have let them k?—”
“Silence!” Gabriel shouted, cutting Eire off before she could finish as he stood between them. “I will not hear any more of this tonight.” His nostrils flared, his jaw clenched tight.
Kellan turned from his siblings, eyeing the girl behind him. She hadn’t moved from the rock slab, but watched the exchange between his siblings curiously, her full lips turned in a frown.
“Kellan is right. We’ll rest for the night, convene in the morning.” Finally, Gabriel sighed. “Someone should take first watch. I have some things to take care of.” He watched as his brother disappeared through the mouth of the tunnel, and he knew exactly what Gabriel was doing. He already knew the council wouldn’t answer Gabriel’s summons.
“I’ll do it.” Flipping her braid over her shoulder, Eire followed behind their eldest sibling. “Don’t bother changing me out.”
Kellan watched her leave for a moment before turning away, the sigh heavy on his lips. He met Kane’s icy stare and could see the questions in his pale blue eyes. He turned away from him, too.
Spotting the discarded dark cloak on the floor, Kellan swiped it up, setting it down on the cool stone along the wall, far away from the rock slab where she’d been brutalized. It was the one clothing item that hadn’t been torn during the attack. He helped her off the slab, and she walked on shaking legs toward it before settling her back against the wall.
“I’m going to be okay.” She whispered as he took a seat beside her.
She still looked weak, but the color had returned to her fair cheeks, now tinged with a hue of soft pink. Something akin to relief washed through him as the dark veins were slowly dissipating into nothing.
