Page 78 of Blood and War
The air around them was wrong. Eerie, and it set her on edge. Senses screaming at her to turn around. To come back the way she came, knowing that the climb down was the lesser of the two evils before her. But she pushed it down. Down, down, down until she felt nothing. Until that fear was replaced with an unyielding need for revenge.
They pushed on, weapons drawn, with a new wave of energy. Up the remaining rocky terrain that would lead them to Lucifer. To the battle that waited for them, and they emerged onto the outcrop together.
She wouldn’t say a goodbye to either of her friends. Because they would get through this together if she had her way. Each and every one of them would return from this fight. They’d trek back down that fucking mountain and go back to the estate. They’d reunite with Atlas, and cultivate the land around them. Build a community anew. Better than the last. Better than that she’d ever known, and she’d live.
Demitria would live. She’d love.
She’d be free.
“We’ve been expecting you.”
Forty-Three
DEMITRIA
Demitria wasn’t prepared for the horrors that awaited them, and her entire body itched at the sight of them. For the beasts that snarled their ugly pointed teeth as saliva dripped from their gaping maws. The long, slender arms that dipped into sharpened talons. Each one deadlier than the last. This was why they hadn’t seen a single demon on the mountain their entire climb. They were all here, waiting for them to walk right into the trap.
Legs like lead, Demitria felt as if she couldn’t move. The creatures of nightmares stared her down with those same crimson eyes that Reim had possessed, and it unnerved her. She may have conquered those fears, but it had never prepared her for this. For the sheer numbers Lucifer's army had on their own. She didn’t even know if they stood a chance.
The rock beneath their feet had been worn smooth. Weathered from years and years of heavy rains. The clawed gouges were new, had been used to sharpen talons into even deadlier points than they already were.
“The Four Horsemen.” The Dark King looked just as his name suggested. His armor, forged of the darkest materials, glared under the sun as ivory skin peeked out from beneathit. He wore no helm, but a spiked obsidian crown sat poised atop his head. Regal, yet deadly. Demitria fought the shiver that threatened to course through her entire body at his presence. Long, thick inky hair fell over his shoulder in soft waves as dark eyes, like twin pools of the deepest ocean, took them all in. He was beautiful, in an ethereal way, and she hated to even think it. “War. My dear old friend.” Lucifer smirked, taking a step toward them. They didn’t concede any space, and Kellan only growled in answer. “You look well… changed, perhaps?”
From beside her, Kellan clenched the hilt of his sword tighter. The only indication of the rage that was swelling within him. She fought the urge to touch him. His arm. His hand. Anything that she could do to reassure him, but she knew better. Knew any sign of whatever they were could be used against them, so her hand stayed rigid at her side.
“Cut the bullshit,” Eire’s voice erupted. “You knew we were coming.”
“Of course I did.” He grinned. “I have eyes and ears everywhere, or did your brother forget that?” Lucifer took another step forward, and it was Kellan that stepped up. Slowly closing the gap. “How many years has it been? Hundreds? I wouldn’t particularly blame you for it if you did.” A beast of a creature writhing in darkness crept up beside him. Eyes trained solely on the humans in the group. Its body was dark, sleek with elongated legs that ended in five sharp claws. Curved horns sat atop its lupine skull.
“Call your hounds off,” Gabriel snarled. “We can end this quietly, without the bloodshed.”
“Now where’s the fun in that?” Lucifer patted the beast along its muscled neck. “Especially when you foolish beings brought humans.”
She supposed it wouldn’t have taken much to notice the differences in her kind, but the call out had sent a ripple ofnausea roiling through her stomach. Not for her sake, but for Jace. For Cory. Would this be where they died?
“What’s the point in a war when you know there will be nothing left of the planet you are trying so desperately to rule?” Kane spoke, his bow loaded and ready, aimed for the creature at Lucifer's side.
“You know my conditions.” Lucifer grinned again. “My price to back down is the same as it always has been. One that none of you are ever willing to pay.”
“I will not subject my brother to your bloodthirsty clutches.” Demitria hadn’t seen Gabriel this angry before, and it scared her. He scared her. Death. He was the Horseman of Death, and it radiated off him like a beacon. The air cooled around him as he called forth that blinding power within as shadows writhed beneath his skin. “Stopping a war or not, he will not be sacrificed. We find balance another way.”
“The girl. Give me the girl and I shall think about it.”
“Out of the fucking question.” Kellan growled, and in that one short moment, he revealed her importance to him. Lucifer’s eyes narrowed as he gazed on at them. Studying. Putting the pieces together.
“Oh?” His smile widened. “A Horseman and a human girl. I heard you were tasked with elimination. And yet you’ve let her crawl into your bed.” He laughed then. “A pity… but an outcome I expected nonetheless.” Lucifer shrugged, a look of disinterest on his face.
Demitria wanted to be the one to kill Lucifer, but as that rage set across Kellan’s face, she wasn’t so sure she’d be the one to plunge her sword into the male’s heart, but she yearned for that sweet revenge all the same. For the communities he’d decimated. The planet he’d lain waste to. For all the people he had killed.For Kellan, and the suffering he’d endured.
“You never did like to do things the easy way, did you?” He sighed, and Kellan lunged. Lucifer was faster, and he disappeared into the darkness that was his army. Gnashing teeth met Kellan’s blade as he swung. Flesh tore and fell to the ground in bloodied heaps as he advanced after the fallen angel.
“Coward!” He bellowed, his sword moving so fast Demitria could barely track its movements. His scream was all they needed. The war cry that sent them all into the fray, weapons swinging in precise movements as the darkness unleashed around them.
I will not be afraid. Those familiar words repeated themselves as she charged after him. Into the hoard of nightmares that clawed and snapped at her every which way she turned, but still she followed. Ducking under the slash of talons, dagger poised above her as Demitria sliced the limb from palm to elbow, her body sliding along the smooth stone. The creature roared in frustration and swiped again. She’d barely evaded this one, narrowly missing her thigh as her body rolled out of the way. Inky blood from its wounded arm dripped down her legs. So cold she felt it through her pants. Demitria sliced upwards with her sword as the guttural cry left the beast's body before it crumbled to the stone beside her. She was running before it even made an impact.
Darkness wreathed around them as shadows danced in moving tendrils along the ground. Grabbing, reaching for anything that moved.
“Kellan!” Demitria screamed after the Horseman. Her only visual on him was the red cloak that whipped and swayed with his body as he attacked. He hadn’t been on the defensive once, the bodies in his wake were proof of that. Still, he kept moving as if he hadn’t heard her calls.
