Page 94 of Soulmarked
The possessive slipped out before I could catch it, but Cade's eyes darkened in response. He surged forward, closing the last inch between us. The kiss was raw, desperate, heavy with all the words we hadn't found time to say. His hands fisted in my jacket while mine slid into his hair, holding him like I could keep him anchored to this world through touch alone.
When we broke apart, his eyes burned with something between fear and determination. “Let's end this,” he whispered against my lips.
The first explosion rocked the street below. The sound of shattering glass mixed with gunfire as CITD agents engaged with what used to be Phoenix. But these weren't normal corporate guards anymore, their movements were wrong, too fluid, like puppets being jerked by invisible strings.
“Time to move,” I said, already heading for my weapons cache in the garage. Cade fell into step beside me, Heaven's Lash hanging at his hip like destiny made solid.
We reached my car just as another explosion lit up the pre-dawn sky. The trunk opened to reveal my personal arsenal, blessed silver, cold iron, ammunition that could kill almost anything. I grabbed my favorite blades while Cade checked his gun, the movements automatic after so many shared hunts.
A screech from above made us both look up. Dark shapes wheeled against the purple-bruised sky, their wings too numerous, their bodies shifting between forms. As we watched,sewer grates burst upward, letting things with too many limbs crawl into our reality.
“Ready?” I asked, though I already knew the answer.
Cade's smile was sharp as the blade at his hip. “Born ready.”
“That's my line, Agent,” I said with a smirk.
We moved as one, falling into the rhythm we'd developed over months of hunting together. My blades sang through the air while his gun barked precise death.
The first wave hit us at the corner of 5th Avenue. What used to be Phoenix security moved like a hivemind, their eyes glowing with borrowed power. I took the first one with a blade through the throat while Cade's bullets found two more.
But these weren't normal possessed humans. They got back up, black ichor leaking from wounds that should have been fatal. Only when I severed heads completely did they stay down.
“Little help here!” Cade called, and I spun to find him grappling with something that had too many joints, its flesh rippling like oil on water.
My blade took its head before it could sink claws into Cade's chest. “Watch your six, Agent.”
“That's what I've got you for.”
We fought our way forward, but I kept closer to him than strictly necessary. Every instinct screamed to protect him, to keep him safe from whatever waited at the end of this path. But I knew better, Cade wasn't some damsel to be saved. He was a warrior in his own right, marked by powers I couldn't understand but trusted him to wield.
Dark shapes wheeled overhead as we fought our way toward Central Park, the city's normal bustle continuing around us in surreal contrast. Sterling's witch had done her job well, pedestrians' eyes slid past the carnage like oil on water, their minds instinctively rejecting the supernatural chaos unfolding before them. They navigated around battles without seeingthem, their consciousness creating comfortable blind spots where reality had fractured.
“On your left!” I shouted, tossing a vial of holy water to Cade. He caught it one-handed, immediately splashing it across a suited executive whose eyes had just turned solid black. The possessed woman screamed, her flesh smoking where the blessed water hit.
“We can't just kill them,” Cade gritted out, dodging a swipe from a claw. “They're innocent people! There has to be another way.”
“Catch!” I pulled my favorite dagger from its sheath. “Kills the demon, spares the host. Gift from a Vatican exorcist who owed me a favor.”
Cade grabbed the blade just as three more possessed civilians converged on us. A businessman in an expensive suit moved like a spider, joints bending backwards. A teenage barista's face split into too many teeth. A construction worker's eyes leaked black smoke as he charged.
The dagger sang through the air as Cade struck, precise and deadly. Blue light flared where the blade touched flesh, and black smoke poured from the wounds instead of blood. The hosts collapsed, unconscious but alive, while their demons burned away to nothing.
“Nice trick,” Cade said, but his relief was short-lived as more shadows took human form around us.
“Aye, well, I'm full of surprises. Should see what I can do with a bottle of whiskey and a deck of cards.” I spun, taking a possessed jogger's head clean off with my silver blade. This one wasn't human anymore, hadn't been for a while based on how its flesh melted away to reveal scales beneath. “Though I'm starting to think we might be a wee bit outnumbered.”
All around us, Manhattan continued its morning routine. Businesspeople walked past with phones to their ears, touristsconsulted maps, and delivery trucks made their rounds. None of them noticed the battle raging in their midst.
“The perception ward's holding,” Cade noted, ducking under a swipe from something with too many arms. “But for how long?”
“Long enough,” I hoped, driving my blade through another demon's chest. “Just wish I'd packed more ammo. And maybe a tank.”
A sound like reality tearing drowned out the rest of my words. Above Central Park, the purple-bruised sky split open, revealing something vast and dark writhing behind the veil of our world.
“Well,” I managed, pulling Cade behind a taxi as more possessed humans converged on our position. “That's not good. Any of your fancy research cover what we're looking at?”
“Incoming!” Lex's voice crackled through our comms with real fear.
