Page 95 of Soulmarked
The rest of his warning was lost as something massive erupted through the side of a high-rise, sending glass and steel raining onto the magically oblivious crowds below. What emerged triggered an ancient alarm in my hunter's blood. My body reacted before my mind could process it, every instinct honed through years of hunting screaming danger at a level I'd never encountered.
It moved like a glitch in the world's programming. Too many eyes blinked in patterns that hurt to look at, and its mouth... Christ, its mouth stretched wide enough to swallow a car, filled with row upon row of teeth arranged in geometric patterns that defied physics.
But worst of all was the hunger it radiated, not just physical hunger, but something deeper. The kind of appetite that could devour souls.
“Oh, you have got to be kidding me,” I muttered, placing myself slightly in front of Cade.
The thing landed on the street between us and Central Park, its massive form somehow both solid and smoke. Cars continued to drive past, their drivers' eyes sliding right over the horror in their midst thanks to Sterling's witch's work.
It didn't attack immediately. Instead, it tilted its head at an angle that made my bones ache, regarding us with that galaxy of hungry eyes. When it spoke, its voice was like glass breaking in reverse, like screams played backward underwater.
“The prince sends his regards.” Each word made reality ripple around it. “The marked one belongs to us.”
“Like hell,” I snarled, stepping in front of Cade with my blessed blade raised. “He's not up for grabs. Find your own federal agent.”
But something made me pause, a change in the air, a shift in the very fabric of reality around us.
Cade's hand on my shoulder stopped me before I could attack. The touch was gentle but carried weight I'd never felt before. When I turned to look at him, my breath caught in my throat.
Power crackled through his veins like visible electricity, making his skin almost translucent. The mark on his chest blazed cold and bright, painting patterns in the air that seemed to reach toward something beyond our understanding. But it was his eyes that truly gave me pause, they burned with something ancient and primal, something that made even my hardened hunter's soul want to kneel.
All these months, I'd watched his abilities grow without fully understanding what he was becoming. It started with his uncanny awareness, the way he could sense supernatural threats before they manifested. Then came his resistance to demonic influence, the way lesser demons recoiled from his touch.With each hunt, each confrontation, I'd noticed how the mark responded, how it seemed to absorb and transform the energies around it.
But this was something else entirely. The air around him rippled with potential, as if reality itself bent to his will. I'd seen what demon blood could do to a human, what angelic grace could accomplish through a willing vessel. Cade was neither, yet somehow both. Something new. Something even Hallow's ancient texts hadn't prepared me for.
I didn't know what he was capable of now. I only knew that whatever power flowed through him recognized me as safe harbor in the storm. And that was enough.
The demon actually took a step back, its countless eyes blinking in what might have been fear. The hunger in its presence dimmed slightly, overwhelmed by whatever was awakening in Cade.
“I belong,” Cade said softly, but his voice carried weight that made windows vibrate, “to no one.”
The very air seemed to thicken around him, reality itself bending toward him like metal to a magnet. Heaven's Lash hummed at his hip, resonating with whatever power was flowing through him.
“Jaysus, Mary, and Joseph,” I breathed, caught between awe and terror. “Remind me not to steal your coffee in the morning.”
The demon-thing made a sound like breaking bones, gathering itself as if for attack. But I caught the tremor in its impossible limbs, the way its eyes wouldn't quite meet Cade's burning gaze.
“The prince will have what is his,” it insisted, but the glass-breaking quality of its voice had gained an edge of uncertainty.
Cade's laugh was terrible and beautiful. “Tell your prince,” he said, power making his words echo strangely, “that if he wantsme, he should come himself. Instead of sending slaves to do his work.”
The insult hit home. The thing reared up, its form expanding to block out the sky. But before it could strike, Cade moved.
I'd seen him fight before. But this was different. This was power given form, grace that shouldn't be possible in a human body.
His hand moved toward Heaven's Lash but stopped, something like cruel understanding crossing his features. “No,” he said softly. “You're not worth it. That's for your master.”
The demon-thing howled in rage at the dismissal, its form expanding further. But before it could strike, a blur of movement hit it from the side, Juno, moving with that impossible vampire speed, her blade already painted black with demon ichor.
“Boys,” she called out, dancing between the creature's strikes with deadly grace. “Lovely evening for an apocalypse, isn't it?”
“Took your sweet time getting here,” I shot back, already moving to flank the monster's other side. My silver blade sang through corrupted flesh while Juno's attacks kept it off balance. “Stop for a manicure on the way?”
“Had to do my hair.” She grinned, fangs catching what little light penetrated the unnatural storm above. “A girl has standards, even for the end of the world.”
The demon tried to track both of us, its countless eyes blinking in confused patterns. But we'd fought together before, back when she was still human, still a hunter. Some rhythms you never forget.
Cade didn't join our dance, didn't need to. He stood completely still, power radiating from him in waves that made lesser demons skitter back into the shadows. The mark pulsed steadily, calling to something that waited in the heart of the park.
