Chapter 43
Forty-Three
DEMITRIA
D emitria 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 beneath it. 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 of nausea 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.
She couldn’t waste time watching over the others. A quick glance was all she could spare as she fought her way after him. Gabriel, Kane, and Eire had amassed bodies of their own, and she was confident that they’d be okay. The angels had fanned out to her left as they attacked from the air. Unleashing their silver and golden weapons upon the darkness that threatened to consume them. But those shadows were faster, deadly, as they wound around Laylah’s leg and pulled her to the ground. Her piercing scream echoed across the battlefield, and it struck her in the chest. Heaving the breath from her lungs as the shadows consumed the female’s body.
A wicked laugh filled her, almost numbing her, as another cry pierced the air. “You think you can beat me? I wrote the fucking book on your maneuvers. You are nothing!” Lucifer bellowed over the screams as his power erupted.
Demitria pulled herself away from the screams. Away from the wails of Oriel as his sister fell to the darkness, and she kept running. Pushing the tears away that threatened to fall with each step further.
I will not be afraid .
She told herself, again and again as she pushed on. Willing the words into her very being.
“You’re not going alone.” Jace panted, reaching out for her arm to stop her from running further. He’d fought like literal hell to get to her side. His temple coated in blood. Red, which meant it was either his or Cory’s. “I’m okay.” He added, dropping his hands to his knees as he sucked in breath after breath. “Cory is with Arakiel.” Demitria nodded once.
“I’m going after Kellan. Stay with the others where it’s safe.” She pleaded. Going after Kellan was foolish enough. Having Jace follow her into it was outright suicide.
“We agreed that we do this together. Don’t push me away.” Jace grabbed hold of her arm again as if it would stop her from whatever stupid decision she was planning on making. “I’m going with you.”
Demitria knew she couldn’t fight him. All she could do was nod, and the two burst into a sprint after the red warrior. Her and Jace fought side by side. If one would block, the other would slash. They moved in tandem, swords hissing through the air as blades met flesh. She was covered in blood. Some of it inky, some of it red. Her own, Jace’s too. He didn’t look any different, but they pushed on. She could already feel her body tiring and knew that Jace must be close to empty. The hike had taken a lot out of them. More than they both would care to admit, but to fall now could mean defeat.
She watched as Kellan advanced further, swinging his blade at the darkness that threatened to incapacitate him as Lucifer let out wave after wave of power. Farther toward the open mouth of the mountain. What the hell was he doing? She’d lost sight of Lucifer. Hadn’t seen him since he’d disappeared into the darkness, but she’d heard his laugh. Seen the devastation of his power as shadows whipped about the battlefield.
Another scream ripped through the air, but Demitria didn’t have the heart to turn around and see who had fallen next. Angel? Horseman? Even Cory? She didn’t know.
Another body. Another mark on her soul of people she’d lost.
When Kellan darted into the opening, Demitria almost screamed. “It’s another trap.” She gasped. Lucifer was baiting him into the mountain. Away from his siblings. Away from the angels. “Jace, he's running right into a trap.”
“I know.” He huffed, sword piercing through the neck of another creature. He’d realized shortly after she had.
“Fuck.” With a speed she didn’t know she could muster, Demitria took off, dodging around the remaining creatures that stood in her way. Jace quickly trailed her as blade met beast.
Kellan was running right into a trap that Lucifer had set, baiting him into whatever area would give him the best advantage. Demitria didn’t know if there were other more powerful demons lying in wait for him. Waiting for their chance to strike the Horseman down. She couldn’t let that happen.
Not when they’d made a promise to each other. To return home together.