The Road (The Road to Hell Series, Book 3) Read online

  THE ROAD

  Brenda K. Davies

  Copyright © 2016 Brenda K. Davies

  All rights reserved.

  Distributed by Smashwords

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this ebook with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

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  BOOKS BY THE AUTHOR

  The Alliance

  Eternally Bound (Book 1) Coming 2017

  The Road to Hell Series

  Good Intentions (Book 1)

  Carved (Book 2)

  The Road (Book 3)

  Into Hell (Book 4) Coming 2017

  The Vampire Awakenings Series

  Awakened (Book 1)

  Destined (Book 2)

  Untamed (Book 3)

  Enraptured (Book 4)

  Undone (Book 5)

  Fractured (Book 6) Coming January 18th 2017

  Historical Romance

  A Stolen Heart

  Books written under the penname Erica Stevens

  The Captive Series

  Captured (Book 1)

  Renegade (Book 2)

  Refugee (Book 3)

  Salvation (Book 4)

  Redemption (Book 5)

  Broken (The Captive Series prequel)

  Vengeance (Book 6)

  Unbound (Book 7)

  The Fire & Ice Series

  Frost Burn (Book 1)

  Arctic Fire (Book 2)

  Scorched Ice (Book 3)

  The Kindred Series

  Kindred (Book 1)

  Ashes (Book 2)

  Kindled (Book 3)

  Inferno (Book 4)

  Phoenix Rising (Book 5)

  The Ravening Series

  Ravenous (Book 1)

  Taken Over (Book 2)

  Reclamation (Book 3)

  The Survivor Chronicles

  Book 1: The Upheaval

  Book 2: The Divide

  Book 3: The Forsaken

  Book 4: The Risen

  DEDICATION

  To James (Jimmy) Shields.

  “Heaven doesn’t want me and Hell’s afraid I’ll take over.”

  Thank you for helping to make me the person I am today.

  For all the memories, the love, and the laughter.

  You are greatly missed by many.

  GLOSSARY OF TERMS:

  Adhene demon - Mischievous elf-like demon.

  Akalia Vine - Purple black flowers, orange berries. Draws in victims & drains their blood slowly. Red leaves. Sharp, needle-like suckers under leaves.

  Barta demons - Locked behind the 55th seal. Animal of Hell. Now part of Lucifer’s guard.

  Calamut Trees - Live in the Forest of Prurience.

  Canagh demon - Male Incubus, Female Succubus. Power thrives on sex but feed on souls on a less regular basis than the other demons. Their kiss enslaves another.

  Carrou Vines - Thick black vines. 6-inch-long thorns. Grow around Canagh demon nests.

  Craetons - Lucifer’s followers.

  Erinyes (furies) - demons of vengeance and justice. 78th Seal.

  Fires of Creation - Where the varcolac is born.

  Forest of Prurience - Where the tree nymphs reside. Was also the original home of the canaghs and wood nymphs.

  The Gates - Varcolac demon has always been the ruler of the guardians of the gates that were used to travel to earth before Lucifer entered Hell.

  Gargoyle - Claws contain a paralyzing agent they use on their prey. When victim is paralyzed, they peel away their skin one strip at a time and eat it.

  Ghosts - Souls can balk against entering Heaven, they have no choice when it comes to Hell.

  Gobalinus (goblins) - Lower level demons, feed on flesh as well as souls. 79th seal.

  Hellhounds - The first pair of Hellhounds also born of the Fires of Creation, with the first varcolac who rose. They share a kindred spirit and are controlled by the varcolac.

  Lanavour demon -The 3rd seal. Can speak telepathically and know people’s inner most secrets and fears.

  Madagan - A beast from Hell. Resembles a boar with a giant tusk in the center of forehead. Mottled red and black skin, plumes of smoke from a blowhole in top of head. Extended, round skulls, cloven hooves.

  Ogre - 33rd seal.

  Palitons - Kobal’s followers.

  Púca - 100th seal. Shape changers which can take on the appearance of black horses, goats and rabbits. They may also take a human form.

  Revenirs - Mummy-like skeletons. Debilitating cry. Suck life from victims with “kiss”.

  Skelleins - Guardians of the Gates.

  Tree Nymphs - Live in the Forest of Prurience. Men and women. Striking and very free sexually. Smaller than wood nymphs and live in the trees.

  The Wall - Blocks off all of Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. Blocks parts of Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, and Arkansas. Similar wall blocks off parts of Europe.

  Wood Nymphs - Resided in the forest before they were locked behind the 77th seal for drinking the blood of demons while they were having sex with them. May be the source of vampirism in human mythology.

  Wraith - A twisted and malevolent spirit that the demons feed from. On earth they only come out at night.

  Varcolac demon - Born from the fires of Hell. Only one can exist at a time. When that one dies another rises from the Fires of Creation. Fastest and most brutal of all the demons. They are the only kind that can create and open natural gateways within Hell as well as close them. They control the hellhounds.

  DEMON WORDS:

  Achó - Attack.

  Ainka - Easy.

  Harga - Here.

  Mah Kush-la ˈMɑ: - My Heart.

  Mjéod - Mead or a demon drink.

  Partka - Stay.

  GLOSSARY OF SYMBOLS: -

  Humans took some of them and turned them into what became known as the Elder Futhark, also known as runes.

  Eiaz - (Tilted Z) - Speed, heightened senses, and protection.

  Risaz - (Straight line with a triangle attached to the middle) - Force of destruction.

  Sowa - (Backwards E with sword piercing the center) - Blade of fire.

  Zenak - (Three wavy lines) - Eternal fire and life.

  Ziwa - (Two V’s with a line connecting the top, like fangs) - Guardian of the hellhounds. Mark is considered gift of strength, endurance, and virility. Considered a blessing and a curse as well as marks bearer as having a piece of the hellhound’s soul within them.

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Dedication

  Other books by the Author

  Glossary of terms, demon words, and symbols

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Cha
pter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Excerpt from Into Hell (The Road to Hell Series, Book 4)

  Where to Find the Author

  CHAPTER 1

  River

  Waking from a night of restless sleep, my hand instinctively stretched out in search of Kobal. The sleeping bag beside me was still warm to the touch, but empty. Bolting upright, I let the blanket fall away from me to reveal the clothing I wore beneath. Kobal had kept me up late into the night, but it wasn’t exactly the best idea to sleep nude when demons and all sorts of other not-so-delightful creatures from Hell were stalking us.

  With my ears attuned to the early morning sounds, I searched the trees for Kobal. I didn’t see him through the saplings and some taller oaks surrounding our sleeping area. Only the occasional chirrup of a bird could be heard, and even that was few and far between. It seemed even the animals knew it was best to remain hidden in this place. Reaching over, I grabbed my boots and tugged them on.

  Things had been relatively peaceful since we’d established a growing camp of demons and humans outside of The Last Stop bar a couple of weeks ago, too quiet. This lack of action made me more than a little nervous.

  I was becoming better adapted to the unnatural gateway into Hell the humans tore open thirteen years ago. Not even Kobal, the one demon who could open and close gateways at will, could close it. I could now stand near it for hours at a time without being drained.

  However, being able to close the gateway was another matter. There was no way to know how much time it may take me to figure that out, or if I even had the ability to shut it. Just because my ancestor, Lucifer, had once opened a gateway into Hell, when he never should have been able to do so, didn’t mean I would possess the ability to open or close one too.

  Lucifer had been scarce ever since I’d had my dream about him last month, but he’d sent one of his followers after me, and I knew it was only a matter of time before he let his presence be known again. Most likely it would be in a big way. That we knew of, no other seals had fallen since we’d arrived here, but Lucifer was plotting something, I knew it. I couldn’t rid myself of the insidious feeling he intended to drive me into the pits of Hell, somehow.

  Finishing tying my boots, I began to rise but sat back down when I spotted Kobal kneeling fifteen feet away from me in front of a thicket of wild roses. The brambles were so thick they’d blocked him from my view. He’d been focused on the clearing in front of him, but when I moved to rise, his head turned toward me.

  The chiseled muscles of his broad back and shoulders flexed with his movements. The early morning light filtering through the leaves of the trees surrounding us washed over his body. My breath caught as I drank in the sight of him; my heart fluttered and my mouth watered.

  His hair, so rich and deep a brown it sometimes appeared black, was straight and had recently been cut. The shorter length emphasized the intriguing angles of his face. Right now his full lips were pressed into a firm line, but I knew well how sensual and yielding they could be when they ran over my flesh. His square, completely smooth jaw tapered into a pointed chin. Fine lines etched the corners of his eyes, making him appear to be in his late twenties or early thirties instead of the fifteen hundred sixty-two years he really was.

  The black of his eyes encompassed his entire eyeball. When I’d first met him, those unusual eyes had unnerved me; now I loved them almost as much as the man himself. Many would consider him intriguing or dangerous looking, but I thought him gorgeous, and he was mine. No matter how many times I saw him, no matter how many times he took me and possessed my body, I craved more of him.

  The markings on his upper back flexed when he rose to walk toward me. The black pattern on his right arm ran from the tips of his fingers on the back of his hand, around his arm, and up around his bicep and shoulder. The flames licked the base of his neck before moving down over his back and chest, encircling his upper right pec. He’d once explained to me that the intricate symbols were a part of his ancient, demonic language and were woven throughout his markings.

  Etched onto him by the Hell fire that had given birth to him, the symbols were both a blessing and a curse. They had enabled him to survive longer than any of his varcolac ancestors since Lucifer had entered Hell. They had given him powers none of the varcolac demons before him had possessed. The single varcolac who rose from the fires to replace the one who perished before them had always been able to control the hellhounds, but Kobal was the first to actually have two hellhounds residing within him. The symbols had strengthened him, but they had also marked him as more savage, volatile, and powerful than any of the other varcolac demons.

  On his left arm, more flames wound their way in the same pattern over his body as his right arm, but two hellhounds were set amongst those flames. The hounds looked ready to leap from his body at any second. They were as real and ruthless as the man himself when he released them and allowed them to roam. They were a lethal extension of his power.

  Kneeling before me, his hand enveloped the back of my head, and he dragged me in for a drugging kiss. He broke the kiss with a ragged breath only to place a tender kiss on the bridge of my nose.

  “Good morning, Mah Kush-la.” The endearment, meaning my heart in his demonic language, gave me a thrill.

  “Good morning.”

  “Are you hungry?” My stomach rumbled in response to his question. His thumb caressed my cheek before he pulled his hand away. “I’ll get you something to eat.”

  I watched as he rose to his towering six-foot-nine height. He was so massive, he blocked out the rays of the sun and the trees behind him. Turning away, he lifted a shirt from where it hung over a branch and tugged it over his head.

  Disappointment filled me when he covered himself. However, there was no way I wanted anyone else to see so much of him. He was captivating enough without adding the temptation of all his deeply bronzed, well-honed flesh.

  I watched him as he walked out of the foliage and toward the main camp, which was close to the bar the skelleins had established around the gateway leading into Hell itself.

  Gathering my clothes, I tugged my rumpled shirt off and pulled on a scraggly brown uniform shirt that I’d had since my days in training when I’d first been brought to the wall. I hadn’t exactly been thrilled about being ripped away from my brothers and forced to go to the wall, but I’d accepted my fate. Though I was far from a good soldier, I’d learned how to defend myself during my training.

  I’d especially learned a lot about my heritage and abilities. I hated that the reason I possessed the abilities that had always made me different from other humans was because Lucifer was my ancestor. However, I wouldn’t deny what I was, or walk away from the possibility I could help fix the mess the angels had started when they’d thrown Lucifer out of Heaven six thousand years ago, and that the humans had escalated thirteen years ago.

  I untied my boots, tugged them off, and removed my pants. I pulled on a pair of loose-fitting pants with a hole in the upper thigh. The pants had fit better before our journey, but lack of food,
a lot of walking and running, and being this close to Hell had caused me to lose weight. I’d never been heavy, always more athletic in build, but now I was leaning toward thin, and I wasn’t sure how to feel about it.

  I felt as if every day I was falling further and further away from the woman who had fished for her brothers and becoming more of the woman who could now kill things with her bare hands. At one time not too long ago, I’d hated that the fish I’d caught had to die. Now, I’d shoot a ball of life through the chest of anyone who tried to hurt me or threatened someone I loved.

  My intricate bond with Earth and the life around me had always been a part of me, and I’d cherished all living things. Now I’d killed more than fish, like Lilitu, a powerful canagh demon who had attacked us. I felt no guilt over what I’d done, but I’d be lying to myself if I didn’t acknowledge that my growing powers frightened me.

  And they were growing; I felt it every day. I was able to draw on the energy of life more readily and with far more strength than I ever had before. Every injury I sustained healed faster than the one before it, as bruises faded from my flesh within hours and cuts were healed by the next day.

  Every day that passed, I felt less human and more something else. What that something else was, I wasn’t sure yet, but I knew I would discover the answer to it one day.

  I was Lucifer’s last remaining descendant. He’d once been an angel; he was now a monster determined to enslave the human race and rule over the demons. Something had made him that way. I believed the loss of his connection to all things living had turned him into the twisted creature he’d become, but I didn’t know what had caused it. I didn’t know if that severing had come when he was tossed from Heaven, or if it had been when he sheared off his wings, or maybe when he’d entered Hell and the gate had closed behind him. Then again, I could be completely wrong. It could have been none of those things that had warped him into something entirely different than the angel he’d once been.