River
“We’ll wait for Shax, Verin, Morax, and the others to catch up with us before continuing on to the seals,” Kobal said from where he sat at the head of the table beside me.
“Will they come?” I asked.
“They’ll come for their king,” Magnus replied.
“And their queen,” Corson said.
“And their queen,” Magnus agreed.
“They are already on their way with more demons and supplies,” Kobal said.
“How do you know that?” Hawk inquired.
The demons exchanged a look before Kobal spoke again. “Morax has the ability to telecommunicate. They will be here by the end of the day.”
I blinked at his response and recalled how he’d once told me I hadn’t begun to scratch the surface of what the demons could do.
“And you’ve spoken with him?” I inquired.
“Briefly, a little bit ago.”
“Will I ever be able to learn all the things demons are capable of?”
“Demons don’t even know all the things other demons are completely capable of. Some probably don’t know what they themselves are capable of,” Magnus replied. “We tend to try and keep our abilities toned down around others, unless it is absolutely necessary.”
“I see,” I murmured, and Kobal rested his hand over mine.
“Will I ever learn everything I may be capable of now?” Hawk asked and folded his arms over his chest as he stared at the back wall.
“You will find your powers growing every day, especially once you are able to feed regularly,” Corson said.
Hawk shuddered. “I’d really prefer a steak.”
“Not going to happen, not anymore,” Magnus said, and Hawk glowered at him.
Candlelight danced over the faces of those gathered around the table, making them appear almost mystical. I kept my hand within Kobal’s in an attempt to keep myself grounded when none of this seemed real.
“We will go in with low numbers,” Kobal said, drawing everyone’s curious gazes to him. “We’ll have the others attack, drawing Lucifer’s attention to them, while we go for the seals.”
“You intend to go for the seals before Lucifer?” Magnus inquired.
“They need to be stopped from falling. Lucifer’s army will only continue to grow if whatever is happening to the seals isn’t stopped,” Kobal replied.
“What were those things yesterday?” I asked. “Those flying, hideous women? I assume they came from a seal.”
“You would know them as furies, and they were the seventy-eighth seal,” he said.
“Seventy-eighth!” I blurted, my hand tightening in his.
“Yes.”
My head spun at the implication of his words and all the horrors that were now running free in Hell and on Earth. “Will they get over the wall?”
“They might,” Kobal confirmed. “Morax reported that some of them did escape the skelleins and demons above, but there are still plenty of troops guarding the wall that they will have to get by.”
My heart clenched as my thoughts turned to my brothers. They had no idea what was happening on this side of the wall. They were never supposed to have known, but now it may be inevitable. I had to stay here and see this through, but all I wanted was to run all the way back to the surface and return to my brothers.
“They are now loose on Earth with the lanavours,” I murmured.
“Many of the lanavours were destroyed yesterday,” Kobal said.
Memories of holding Bailey’s broken body in my arms assailed me. For a minute, it was all I could see and feel once more.
“River.” Kobal tugged on my hand. “What is it?” he demanded.
I took a deep breath to steady myself as I pushed aside the nightmare. “When that one lanavour touched me…” I broke off and looked to the back wall again, unable to continue as the memory of that touch played on repeat in my mind’s eye.
Amber flashed in his eyes. “One of them touched you?”
“It didn’t last long,” I replied, far more flippantly than I felt.
“They will all be destroyed,” Bale vowed.
I could hear Kobal’s teeth grinding together as he sought to retain control over himself. “The ones who followed you in here are all dead. When we return to Earth, I will make sure every last one of them is struck down,” he grated.
“We will go to the seals with just these numbers?” Magnus inquired, drawing Kobal’s gaze away from me.
“We will take some more with us, but the smaller the better for going undetected,” Kobal replied.
“I agree.”
The look Kobal shot Magnus clearly said he didn’t care what he agreed with. Magnus smiled innocently back at him over the top of his goblet of mjéod. “Do you know what is bringing down the seals?” Kobal demanded of him.
Magnus’s amusement vanished. “No. I’ve done some asking around, but no one knows how Lucifer is opening them.”
Kobal drummed his fingers on the table as he deliberated Magnus’s words. “I will find out soon enough,” he muttered.
“Do you think she can kill him?” Magnus asked and waved a hand at me.
“I’m sitting right here,” I retorted.
“I think she could kill him or at least wound him enough to weaken him,” Kobal answered.
I was beginning to feel like one of those souls or demons trapped behind the glass in the freak show as they all stared at me.
“We’ll do whatever is necessary for her to get the chance to make that happen then,” Magnus said. “Let’s hope you’re right about going for the seals, and that we’re not bringing some of the most powerful demons of Hell, the one ruler of Hell, and Lucifer’s daughter to their deaths.”
The hounds on Kobal’s arms rippled as a vein in his forehead throbbed to life. I didn’t know if I liked or despised Magnus, but I did admire how he unflinchingly spoke his mind. My gaze went to Kobal, who studied me as if he’d been reading my mind.
“Do you have a better plan, Magnus?” Corson demanded.
“I do not, but I want to make sure my side wins.”
“You’ve told us your reasons for retreating from the war, but how are we to know they’re the truthful ones?” I demanded.
His silver eyes flashed the color of molten lead when they met mine. “Make no mistake, I retreated here because I felt it better for all involved, but I am loyal to the demon race and Kobal. My ancestors stood by every new varcolac who rose and fell to Lucifer. They were slaughtered to the point that I am the only one who remains. I realize my stunning good looks cause others to underestimate me, a bonus in my mind, but I’m not one to mess with. I won’t be as easily taken out as my ancestors were, and I will make Lucifer pay for what he has done to my kind.”
“So much for modesty,” I muttered.
“Fuck modesty. I believe in the truth, and there is never any reason to deny or avoid it.”
His gaze flicked nervously to Kobal when he tensed beside me. “Be careful how you speak to her,” Kobal growled.
Magnus held his hands up. “I meant no disrespect to my queen. You know I don’t hold my tongue and often say what comes to mind.”
“I like hearing what you have to say.” For the most part, but I kept that to myself. My head tilted to the side as I studied Magnus, that like and dislike feeling warring inside of me once more. “Is that your real face or is it another illusion?”
He grinned at me and leaned back in his seat. “This is my real face. I don’t hide myself when I’m not in an illusion. You must admit the barker was far more frightening than this perfection.”
“I may kill you just to shut you up,” Bale muttered.
“I agree,” Corson said, and Hawk nodded.
“But we all must remember who we are, at heart,” Magnus continued as if they hadn’t spoken. “I acknowledge who I am every time I step out of an illusion and allow my true self to come through once more.” His gaze unflinchingly held mine. “What about you? Are you ready to acknowledge what you are, child?”
I blinked at him and sat back. “I don’t understand.”
“It must have come as a shock to learn you are part angel and demon as well as human, but which of those do you feel strongest in you?”
“Human…” My voice trailed off when I realized that answer felt wrong.
I’d been raised human, it’s what I knew best, but it wasn’t the strongest part of me, not anymore. Fear fueled the fire within me and brought forth the demon part of me. Love, strong emotion, and a deeper connection to living things fueled my angelic ability to wield life.
The visions I sometimes received could come from any part of my line as there were humans who had special abilities too. The visions were the same kind of power that had allowed me to share Kobal’s dreams and, at one time, to connect with Lucifer in a dream.
I looked at Kobal, so proud and fierce as he gazed at me, awaiting my answer for a question he’d never asked me before. Because, I realized, to him the answer didn’t matter. I was who I was, and he loved me for it. Or maybe he hadn’t asked because he already knew the answer when I hadn’t, not when Corson had asked me when we had been traveling to the gateway, and not even when I’d asked it of myself. I knew the answer now though.
I turned to face Magnus and the others again as I spoke. “Angel.”
Surprise didn’t fill their eyes, but it kicked me in the chest. Out of the three options, it was the one that had always been straggling at the back of the race. It most certainly hadn’t been a front runner before, but now that I’d spoken the word aloud, I knew it was true.
“What does that mean?” I whispered.
Kobal lifted my hand to kiss the back of it. “It’s the inherent side of your abilities that you relate to the most.”
“So there is absolutely no way I could ever turn like Hawk has.” I hadn’t realized I’d been holding onto some hope for that until the words left my mouth, but now I felt as deflated as a popped balloon.
“There is a chance she could keep all of her abilities and gain more if she turned,” Magnus said. “She’d be a sight to behold if that happened.”
“Not a chance worth taking,” Kobal replied flatly. “It’s not open for discussion.”
“Fine then.” Magnus rested his hands on the table and leaned toward me. “If you’re to remain mortal, then it’s time for you to start digging deeper into those angelic powers of yours.”
“How?” I asked.
“What fuels your abilities?”
“Fear fuels the fire, but strong emotions fuel my ability to draw on life. Especially…” I bit my lip as my gaze drifted to Kobal. “All things with Kobal enhance the flow of life within me.”
“Because you know you have nothing to fear from me,” Kobal said. “No matter what happens between us, you have no fear of me, even when others would run screaming.”
“That’s because you would rip the head off another,” Corson said. “Whereas hers is safe around you.”
“He is your main conduit,” Magnus said to me. “But we’re going to have to throw you into some situations where Kobal can’t be there, and they’re going to have to scare the shit out of you. I can conjure some things that will have her spitting fire like a harroc demon.”
“I’m not sure I want to know what that is,” I muttered.
“I’ll show you,” Magnus replied with a happy clap of his hands that once again had him hanging out in the “dislike” column.
Beside me a man of nearly six feet suddenly materialized. His entire body was a blood-red color, even his eyes were nothing but lava pits of flickering flames. Opening his mouth, fire spewed from him in a wave of heat I swore I felt against my face. I nearly toppled from my chair before Kobal grabbed me and sat me upright.
Across the way, Hawk leapt to his feet and pulled his knife free. Drawing back his arm, he whipped it at the creature, but it vanished as suddenly as it had appeared. The knife bounced off the wall and fell to the floor with a clattering ting. I struggled to catch my breath as Kobal loomed up beside me, his eyes turning amber when they locked on Magnus.
Before any of us could react, Kobal launched over the table, seized Magnus by the throat, and lifted him effortlessly into the air. Magnus’s feet swung out as Kobal spun him and slammed him into the wall. Magnus’s fingers gripped Kobal’s hand, but he remained otherwise unmoving.
“What were you thinking?” Kobal snarled.
“Seeing how prepared she was. Instead of attacking the demon, she fell over. That’s not good, Kobal,” Magnus replied in a soothing tone of voice that only caused Kobal’s hold on him to tighten.
I thrust my shoulders back. “It took me by surprise.”
“That will happen to you more often than not down here. You must be prepared to fight, always,” Magnus said.
“I’ll tear your hands off if you try that again,” Kobal vowed.
Rising to my feet, I placed a soothing hand against Kobal’s chest. “He’s right. I don’t like what he did.” I was firmly in the dislike camp at the moment, but I had a feeling Magnus would always have me swinging back and forth like a pendulum when it came to him. “But he’s right. Hawk reacted better than I did. I’ve had a lot of training, but Magnus can help the two of us be prepared for things we never knew existed. I need a crash course in whatever he’s got.”
Kobal dropped Magnus so suddenly that he took a stumbling step to the side before righting himself. His hand went to his throat as he cast me a grateful look. Lowering his hand, Magnus straightened his shirt and grinned at me. “Let’s get started then.”