Wasteland (27 page)

Her mark glowed a ferocious white, cutting through the darkness surrounding us. A silver cloud slid over the moon as if to give us privacy.

I feathered my hands over her flesh. “You are majestic, my Queen.”

“As are you, husband. I’ve thought of little else than being close to you again.” Her mouth latched onto my throat.

“Me as well.”

“I guess that happens when you do not lie with someone for a thousand years,” she said, her breath steaming against my neck. “As it was meant to be. Completely yours, shared with no one.”

“I only abstained four centuries, you have had much more time to be tormented. How ever did you restrain yourself?”

“I didn’t do so well in the alley, do you not remember?”

Her hands found my spine again. Her touch robbed my strength, and my knees nearly buckled. “I remember. I had never been so tempted before then.” I took her mouth with mine. I couldn’t get enough of her sweet flavor, despite how deep my tongue plundered.

She moaned softly against my mouth. She pulled herself close and moved her core against me. “I knew my faithfulness would be rewarded, as the prophecy foretold.” She reached for the button on my jeans, peering at me through the shadows of her long eyelashes.

“Why did you have to abstain?”

“Our offspring.” She nipped my neck. “Will be.” She suckled my earlobe. “Strongest Guardians ever.”

I sucked in a breath. “You are more than I ever could have hoped for, Beka.” I skimmed my hands over her hips, urging her closer.

Her legs entrapped my waist, wrapping me in warmth. She pulsed against me, and my heart vaulted against my chest.

“I found a place while hunting for aloe,” I said with a ragged breath. “I would like to take you there.”

She gazed at me with heavy-lidded eyes. “I hope it’s not far.” Her hand slid down between her and massaged the front of my jeans.

Even through the denim, her touch blazed. “I will fly fast.”

She grasped my neck and tightened her legs, bringing her core to me.

I called my wings to the surface, and Beka was right, not so uncomfortable this time. She buried her face in my neck, gently grazing. I bent my knees and launched us into the air. I held my precious wife close to me as I flew to the cave I’d discovered. I would love her like never before, because soon we may face my former master to save Jessica, and I was not optimistic about my chance of survival.

CHAPTER 40

“I am so glad there is another way. I wasn’t keen on us storming Locien’s lair,” Beka said as her wings flapped near mine.

“Me as well. I’m glad Jessica will be able to see who cursed the blade if we can recover it.”

She bolted forward. “Let’s just hope it’s near where she was stabbed. Abraham was able to kill the demon that stabbed her before he met his end.”

“I’m sorry for Abraham,” I said.

“The leather around his neck didn’t work like your bonds once did. He will be greatly missed.”

The morning sun peeked above the trees. Streaks of orange split the blue sky. My wing brushed Beka’s. Jessica’s worsening condition propelled us into quick action. Her already pale face resembled a sickly green when we had returned earlier that morning.

“We’ll start at the cabin, sift through the remains, and work her path to the ledge,” I said.

“Agreed,” Beka said. “Let’s do a fly over quick to make sure none of your former brothers linger.” She winked.

“They would be your brothers-in-law then, is that not true?”

She laughed. “Thank the Light they are not. I would hate to know that I’m killing my relatives when I slide my blade across their necks.”

What was left of the cabin came into view. Soot covered the remaining wood, and it still smoldered. We did a lap and detected no activity, so we landed in the center of the clearing in front of the cabin.

“On the porch,” Beka said as she slid a dagger from her ankle holster.

I hurried to the front door. A mild heat from the glowing embers wafted over me. Not much left of the front porch. It had caved in on itself. I stuck my hand in the smoking coals searching for the cool metallic blade. Nothing.

Beka scoured the grass with her angelic eyes, scanning each inch for the precious weapon. Worry churned my gut. If we were unable to find the dagger the original plan of raiding the lair would be our only option, other than letting Jessica die.

“Let’s follow her trail. She said she went left once out the door, right?”

“Right.” Jessica had only been conscious long enough to take in a bite of food and tell us of the new plan. She must have sensed my suicidal plan of attacking Locien.

We made our way to the trees, keeping five feet between us to scan a wider area. Just patches of dried grass amongst the green. We entered the thicket through an opening in the trees. Our weight crunched dead pine needles covering the ground, igniting a crisp scent of wood and pine.

“What happens if she dies?” I asked.

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” Beka said with a sigh.

“But if it happens? We are connected to her, do we die as well?”

“No. We’d feel her void, of course, but we would survive.”

“Survive, but?”

Beka rolled her shoulders. “It would hurt for some time, I would imagine. There isn’t a manual that describes our connection with the Merus. But we would survive. We can’t die unless beheaded.”

“Then why do they want to kill her so badly?”

“She could live more than a couple of centuries at the rate she’s aging. Think of all the lost souls she would reach over that span of time.” Beka glanced in my direction. “I’m sure that angers your former master. Evil thrives on chaos and destruction. Those souls would be lost to the Light without Jessica. He would like to prevent their salvation.”

“Indeed. And cause me misery. He would get much pleasure from that.”

My toe met something cold and smooth. “Wait.” I knelt and sifted through the brittle foliage. A small dagger, golden handle with a silver blade, maybe eight inches long, etched with vines.

“What have you found?” Beka’s voice was close.

I seized the weapon. “Is this it?”

“No black aura.”

“Damn it.” I whipped the knife at a tree trunk. “I am familiar with the phrase, ‘needle in a haystack’ and I think I understand its meaning more than I wish to.”

Beka chuckled. “Who knew a demon could have a sense of humor.”

“Ex-demon, thank you,
wife
.”

Beka’s harp-like laughter ricocheted off the trees surrounding us. “I’ll never tire of hearing that word from your lips,
husband
.”

“Good.”

Beka stutter-stepped. “Wait. Let me see something.” She bent over. Just as she did, a knife splintered the tree where her head had been.

“Beka.” I turned. Two Elite Guards barreled toward us. “Up.”

She grasped a handful of the dead leaves and let her wings unfold. Mine fired out of my back with a burst, and knocked me forward. I jumped. Beka lunged, but didn’t gain altitude.

“Beka.”

A dagger fastened her wing to the tree. She leaned over and plucked the blade tacking her radiant feathers to the trunk. Another one sunk into her shoulder.

“David, catch.” She threw the contents of her hand in my direction.

A shiny object surged toward me while leaves and clutter flittered down. A subtle black glow encased the weapon rushing my direction. I darted to it, but something collided with it with a clank, and both fell to the forest floor.

“No,” Beka yelled. “David, get it.” She reached for the dagger in her shoulder.

The demons had come with many weapons. Hovering fifteen feet above ground, I did a full circle. They’d crept up on us from behind.
Only two
?

Beka grunted. Her wing was free. Blood starkly contrasted her snow-white feathers. She hurled the weapon in the direction of one of the demons, but he ducked and it drove into the trunk of another tree.

She jumped, but faltered, her right wing doing most of the work. I darted toward the two demons, nails extended. They would pay for hurting my wife.

I hurled the dagger I’d extracted from my stomach, and it speared his chest. He reached to his forearm holster, which held many weapons, and pulled two out. He launched one after another. I jutted left, then right, dodging both, and rammed into him.

I clapped hands on his ears and rushed upward. I cranked his head and slid a talon across his throat. I banked toward the other one still pursuing my wife.

She moved to where the daggers had fallen and stumbled. Her legs bent, and she launched
into a summersault. She flopped over and crawled on the ground, her hands sifting through the forest debris.

Mere feet separated her from the demon. Too close for her to dodge any weapon thrown at her quickly. Sure, she would heal, but I didn’t want her bleeding more than she already was.

I folded my wings close to my back and dove at the demon. A quick glance around me showed no others approached. Strange to have only two forge an attack. Maybe they were scouts or survivors of yesterday’s battle.

But if some remained, they would have seen where we had gone. My heart cramped at the thought. What if demons found Jessica and Russell?

“Beka.” The demon wound his arm back, ready to throw the dagger. She dove behind a rock and crouched. The blade clanked off the rock.

I sunk my nails into the back of the demon and lifted him off the ground. “Are there more of you coming?”

“Traitor.” He reached back and raked his wicked claws across my forearms. “Master will kill you and your white-winged Angel.”

“Who cursed the dagger?”

He snarled.

I approached a hundred year old oak tree and slammed the body into the trunk, sending bark raining onto the cluttered ground. I soared up and flipped my feet over my head and landed next to the demon.

He stood and grabbed my neck. His asphalt eyes bulged, and his fangs descended. “I can kill you now, traitor.”

“You can try.” I flashed my hand. His eyes widened. I stuck my forefinger in his jugular and tar-black blood spurted. He flinched but kept his hold. I would buy my sweet wife time to locate the dagger. “Who cursed the dagger?”

“I’ll never tell. I hope your girl dies a slow, agonizing death from the darkness consuming her organs.” Rancid, sulfur-tainted breath spewed from his mouth.

Rage jolted through my body. I swiped my nails across his jaw. Must have been deep enough, because he released his grip.

“Got it.” Beka’s voice rang out.

The demon looked to his left. I, however, did not. I yanked him close, my nose nearly touching his. “It is
Master
who will die.”

CHAPTER 41

We broke through the trees and dove off the cliff. I’d never experienced anything so liberating as a free-fall. The cliff rocks blurred into hues of copper and tan as I plummeted to the ground.

We got the dagger. Jessica would soon identify the one who cursed it. We would save her. Had to.

Streams of heated wind whipped through my hair. Finally, I eased out my wings. They caught my weight with a tug across my ab muscles.

“What are you doing?” Beka smiled, hovering near me.

“Tell me you didn’t do that once or twice after you got your wings.” My chest heaved as I gulped air. Such a rush.

Beka’s cheeks flushed. “I’ve had my wings thirty-five years and still do it.”

“Besides making love to you, jumping off a cliff is the biggest rush I’ve known.”

She toyed her wing against mine. “Boy, you know all the right things to say, don’t you?”

I darted in front of her and pointed down. “There we are.”

She tucked her wings in and dropped. Hair flapped behind her like a blond cape. She flipped her body and faced me as I torpedoed toward her. She brought the cursed dagger to her chest and winked, then rolled over and dove.

The ground rushed us. My nerves fired into overdrive. My skin prickled. Beka opened her wings and darted up. I followed, and we flew next to one another.

“Amazing,” she whispered.

I glanced to the riverbed, where the campfire burned but didn’t see anyone. “Where is Jessica?”

Beka slowed her wing cadence and glided. I scanned the area and saw no sign of her or Russell. No evidence of a struggle either.

I closed my eyes and zeroed in on Jessica, asking myself where she was. I didn’t sense much other than a weak blip to the north. Beka nodded to her right, and we veered together.

“I do not sense her pain,” I said.

“Me neither. But I don’t feel her very intensely like I normally do.”

“She must be fading.”

I caught the tremor in Beka’s lips. “We’ll find her, figure out who cursed the blade and go rip their throats out. Okay?”

Her body trembled.

“What?”

“You
were
just a demon, weren’t you?” She smiled. “I forget that.”

“Sorry?”

“Rip their throats out?”

I grinned. “Four hundred years. . . hard to wash away in just a couple of days.”

She grinned. “Let’s go find our charge, then go rip some throats out.”

“Not quite as vicious coming from your sweet lips, though.”

“Good, because to say it makes my mouth taste like ash.”

So pure
.
I do not deserve her
.

We veered around the bend, a quarter mile from the campsite and hit the ground lightly beside the water.

“Nice landing,” Beka said.

“Finally.”

She chuckled and crept toward a cave. “Russell?”

A glimmer of silver sliced the darkened entrance. I snatched Beka’s arm. “Hello?”

Russell’s image formed as he emerged from the entrance, sword drawn.

Beka ran forward. “Russell. What’s wrong?”

“It seems some demons may have fallen off the ledge as I did, because three came up on us.”

“Jessica?” I asked.

“She’s in there, but she’s not looking well, David.”

Beka flashed the dagger. “We found it. Is she awake?”

“No.” He stepped toward me. “David, let’s go get some wood. We need to warm the cave.”

“I’ll stay with her, cover her with my wings. They are warm.”

“Good idea.” I offered her my open hand.