Pretty Dark Sacrifice (32 page)

Aaron couldn’t bear the sick, sucking sound the knife made when he pulled it from Quinn’s body, the way his hand gripped the handle, the way his flesh reacted to Lilith’s every command. Blood bloomed like a wild rose across Quinn’s chest, staining her white T-shirt pink, red. Wide, violet-blue eyes stared into his, and he couldn’t look away. Lilith wanted him to be still and watch, a sentient statue as Quinn’s warm, red life force oozed out onto the tiled floor and pooled around his bare feet.

Crushing weight squeezed Aaron’s lungs, and he wanted to cry, to rip his gaze away from the light dimming in Quinn’s eyes as she stumbled forward, reaching for him. Instinct screamed to catch her, to pull her into his arms and comfort her, but Lilith’s power still constrained him.

“What a fitting end to such a tragic love story.” Lilith descended from her throne, box in hand, and knelt next to Quinn. Pressing one palm into the blood, she coated her skin in crimson gore then smeared the red upon the wooden casket that held her children. Moans and screams rose and fell from within the demons’ prison, the ancient runes blazing to life, gold and blue. A lock appeared where none was before, and with a click, a sliver of smoke slithered from a crack in the lid. Placing the quivering box in the center of the room, Lilith took a step back as Quinn’s sacrifice birthed her children, dark and writhing, into the world.

Quinn swayed against Aaron, lips parted, breath ragged. Her head sagged to her chest as her heart slowed. He could feel it through their bond, its beat counting down the seconds until she lost consciousness. No pain, nothing but a cold numbness spreading outward from her breast, to her torso, her legs.

Inside, Aaron’s essence beat against his useless body, yelled at his feet to move, pleaded with his arms to catch her before she fell, begged his fist to ram the blade into Lilith’s back as she watched the demons emerge from that cursed box, anything but this passive spectating. But the more he squirmed, the tighter Lilith grasped him. Even the tears building up behind his eyes were denied him.

Fingers caressed Aaron’s cheek, slid down his neck, and came to rest on the armored control demon wrapped around his throat. It pulsed and squirmed, pumping an unending flow of venom into his system that made it impossible for him to act on his own initiative.

“Hadavar,” Quinn rasped the demon’s name while Lilith was distracted with her brood. A current of light leapt from her hand straight into the demon’s body, and it fell from Aaron’s neck, turning to ash at his feet. Aaron willed his fist to open, and the knife clattered across the hard floor.

He was free.

Quinn smiled at him. The most intense feeling of love he’d ever felt emanated from her essence to his, and then her eyes closed, knees buckling, the last of her energy spent on him. He pressed her limp body to his and lowered her to the floor.

***

A part of Quinn understood as she crumpled to the floor, her life pouring from a gaping wound in her chest, that Lilith used her blood to fulfill the prophecy. No escape from destiny, from fate. Many paths led to the same end. She understood that now as her essence ebbed and faded, the light within winking out, but Quinn didn’t regret her path, her choice. Aaron, Quinn, it didn’t matter whose blood spilled today. Lilith would have opened the box no matter what. A willing sacrifice was all she needed.

Aaron’s anger, white-hot and blinding, reeled against her. His green eyes, wide and frightened, held hers, and she wanted to tell him it would be all right, that she wouldn’t have it any other way. But she couldn’t force the words from her mouth. Freeing him made her happy, and this wasn’t the end, she could see that now. Loopholes within loopholes. Aaron was the key, the linchpin to restoring balance. Eyes, heavy with lead weights, slammed shut. Her legs wouldn’t hold her weight anymore, and she sensed she was falling, powerless to stop herself. Darkness, absolute and unending, spread out before her, and she embraced it as she drifted into unconsciousness.

***

“I told you to stay away,” Aaron whispered in Quinn’s ear as he rocked her, brushing a blond hair from her pale face. “Damn you, Quinn. Why didn’t you listen to me?” Tears coursed down his cheeks, dripped from his nose, all the emotions he’d been forced to hold in racing to the surface. “You’re so stupid, and stubborn, and selfish sometimes. Do you know that?”

Aaron pressed his body against hers, willed her to open her eyes, something, anything, but she didn’t respond. So much blood. Everywhere he looked. Warm and sticky against his chest. It covered his arms, soaked his hands. Clenching his fist his red-stained nails dug into his palms. Quinn’s blood on his hands.

Sulfur choked the air. Aaron covered his nose with the tip of a golden wing and looked up. A mushroom cloud, gray and billowing, shot upward from the opened box. It spread across the domed ceiling, rolled down the walls and across the floor. From within the gathering smoke, demons materialized and formed a circle around them.

Restless from a lifetime of imprisonment, the demons snarled and hissed at one another, all seeking the attention of their dark mother. Lilith stood in the center of the rotunda, arms outstretched, face turned to the sky as she chanted. A crack opened above her, the seam between the Underworld and the human realm ripped open, revealing the sun being eaten by the moon, the eclipse well underway.

“Behold, my loves, a feast awaits you!” Lilith cried.

Fights broke out between brethren as they surged forward. A cloven hoof clomped against the side of Quinn’s head, scratching the side of her face. Another clipped her hip as the demons jockeyed for position. Spear butts pounded the ground around them, too close for Aaron’s comfort. Creating a canopy with his wings, Aaron hunched over Quinn and dragged her backward through the stampede of talons and paws, hiding her behind a large pillar and away from the crowd gathering around the open portal. One last look at Quinn’s pale face, and he folded her arms over her chest and kissed her forehead.

“I’ll make them pay, I swear.” Trading grief for anger, he let Kaemon’s full power rise to the surface and consume him in vengeful wildfire. Fireworks of rage exploded in him, and he sprang into a crouch, chest heaving, wings spread wide. They would all pay, each of them torn to pieces, with his bare hands if he had to, for what they’d done to Quinn, to Marcus, to his home.

A murderous battle cry clawed its way from the pit of his stomach and ripped from his lungs as he raced forward, scooped up the discarded knife, and launched himself into the air.

Like a bullet, he flew straight and true. Nothing would keep him from his target. Demons lunged for him, only to meet a swift swipe of a muscled wing. Some took to the air in chase, but none had the power of anger behind him.

Lilith turned at the commotion too late. Aaron slammed into her, and they tumbled head over feet in a tangle of wings and shadow. Pure hate gave him the advantage, and he forced Lilith to the ground, grabbing her wrists in one swift motion and pinning them above her head. Anger pulsed against his chest. Cold steel flashed in the torchlight as he raised the knife, still wet with Quinn’s blood, and plunged it straight into her chest.

A laugh, cruel and mocking, bubbled from her lips. Aaron sat back on his knees, chest heaving, jaw clenched. Clutching the blade in both hands, he raised his arms over his head once more and channeled all his loathing into the blow. Stabbing her chest was like driving a nail through vapor. Silver eyes, calm as frozen lakes, stared up at him. Her full lips turned up in a maddening, sly grin. Again he raised the knife, and again he stabbed down with no effect, over and over until his muscles ached and sweat ran down his forehead.

“Are you finished now?” Lilith’s body disappeared from beneath him in a puff of smoke and reappeared to his left. She placed a calm hand on his shoulder and pried the knife from his clenched fist. Lilith’s army encircled them, a wall of shifting shadows and raised weapons.

“Did you really think I would be so stupid as to put a Qeres blade in your hand? Human steel can do nothing to one such as me.” She twirled the blade between her palms and returned it to the sheath strapped to her thigh. “Prophecy has been fulfilled. The girl is gone, and soon my children will feast on your precious humans. Even you can’t ruin this beautiful moment for me.”

Aaron’s muscles rippled and tensed. His wings itched, and he shifted into a low crouch keeping his eye on Lilith as she paced around him.

“I grow weary of this game, Kaemon.” Lilith smoothed a strand of raven hair from her eyes and held out her palm. Dark energy pulsed outward, hitting him with the force of a train. Pain exploded between his shoulder blades as he slammed against the granite throne, the air rushing from his lungs. He gulped and fought to regain his breath. Tendrils shot upward, tethering his ankles and wrists in tight knots to the seat.

Lilith nodded to Ikkatat, the captain of her silver guard, and Kaemon’s own Qeres blade came loose from its scabbard. It sang to him, called to him like an old friend. He worked at his bonds, the small movement of his wrists unnoticed by Lilith. Getting to that blade meant his life.

“How much more Qeres poison do you think your immortal essence can take, Kaemon? How much can Aaron’s human spirit absorb before it succumbs as well?”

Ikkatat approached, blue runes glowing through the smoke-filled room, and settled the tip of the blade right above Aaron’s left wing. Ikkatat flourished the blade, separating a single golden feather from his wing. Aaron gritted his teeth against the pain and watched the golden feather turn gray, then black, then fall to ash at his feet. Another twist of pain, another feather gone.

“I would love to experiment myself, but as you can see, I have my hands full. I’ll leave it to Ikkatat to take you apart, one feather at a time to test the boundaries.” With a wave of her hand, the surrounding mist morphed into a set of foggy steps leading through the crack in the ceiling. Lilith led the ascent, followed by her silver guard, each beating their spears against bone armor, calling their brethren to follow. One by one, the shadows pushed their way through the ever-widening fracture and disappeared into the human realm.

A hand pressed against Quinn, hot, urgent, and frantic. She wanted to tell the hand to leave her alone, to let her sleep, but it wouldn’t stop touching her. If she could, she would have slapped the thing away.
Leave me to my destiny
, she thought, sinking back into oblivion, but the thing wouldn’t let her go. An ache pinched her chest. It poked her consciousness as it spread through her body and filled all the hollow places. Intense pain, blinding, burning, lanced through her, and all her muscles tensed at once. Arching her back, she sucked searing air back into her lungs and screamed. A hand clamped over her mouth, and she kicked and writhed beneath strength greater than her own.

For The Light’s sake, Quinn, stop struggling, and let me heal you.
Black wings came into focus, hovering like an inky umbrella above her.
Do you know how hard it is to replicate your blood? That was only the beginning. Your heartbeat is still erratic, and the knife grazed your heart. I still have that to fix.
Concentration knitted Azrael’s forehead. Molten eyes glowed through the gray and ominous smoke that swirled around him. The box, she remembered. Demons unleashed from their prison. She had to stop them. A cacophony of bone-chilling shrieks and cries rose and fell amidst the ever-shifting fog. She moved to sit up, but Azrael had her pinned to the floor.

There is nothing you can do to stop it now, Quinn. Lilith’s army is already pushing through the veil. The Elite forces of the heavenly host have been called to war, ready to meet them. Westland has already fallen.

My friends. My mom. Jake.
Panic stabbed her heart, its beat pounding her chest like a sledgehammer. Numbness spread from her left arm and squeezed tight around her lungs. Black devoured the edges of her vision.

Quinn. Calm down! Your heart is not strong enough yet.
Azrael’s harsh tone scared her. His fingers stroked her hair, his thoughts a mad rush of calming visions leapt into her mind—oceans, kittens playing with a ball of string, palm trees. From his left arm, he untied a leather cuff, part of his armor, and forced it into her mouth.

Try to hold as still as you can.
Azrael rubbed his palms together and placed them on top of her breastbone.
Deep breath now. It’s going to sting.
Warm fuzzy blankets, rain on the roof, a field of wildflowers—anything to distract her from the incoming strike. Lightning fried her insides, and she bit down. All her muscles convulsed, and her eyes rolled back in her head. She couldn’t stop herself.

Please, I can’t take anymore, please, Azrael, please,
she begged.

Every muscle violently convulsed with the burning agony of Azrael’s healing touch to her heart. Her back arched in defiance, fists opened and closed, stomach rolled. Death was easier than this fight for life.