Carved (The Road to Hell Series, Book 2) Read online

  I turned so my hand rested on the other handle. Corson would kick my ass, but I couldn’t leave him out there alone. “Can you go under the truck and let me know if it’s safe to get out?”

  Daisy bit on her bottom lip and straightened her shoulders. She visibly wavered, or what I took to be a ghost shaking, before vanishing from the floorboard. I braced myself for her reappearance, but my pulse still did a little two-step when her head emerged a foot in front of mine again.

  “You can get out,” she whispered.

  “Thank you. Go back inside, Daisy.”

  She visibly quaked again before disappearing in a blur I could barely follow with my eyes. I didn’t think I’d ever get used to seeing ghosts go through things; it was too weird. I took a deep breath as I rested my hand on the handle before silently opening the door.

  I slipped from the truck and scurried around to the back of it before Corson spotted me and lost his mind. I knelt by the back left-hand corner of the truck and poked my head around the rusted bumper as Corson stepped out from around the corner of the building. Lifting his fingers to the side of his head, he gave a brief wave before firing three shots from his gun at something I couldn’t see.

  “Hey you fuckers!” he shouted. “I’m guessing you’re as stupid as you are ugly!”

  He just loves to taunt things.

  Corson spun back toward the alley. Going to my hands and knees, pebbles bit into my flesh as I rolled under the truck and across the ground to the front tire. Rising, I flattened my back against the cracked rubber of the tire. My lungs burned as my breath remained trapped in my chest.

  Corson may like to taunt things he probably shouldn’t, but it worked as the two demons with the pig snouts chased him into the alley. Their feet slapped over the dirt and rock as they followed him past the entrance to the garage and around the back of the building.

  I remained unmoving, frozen against the tire as I waited for Handsome to show himself. I didn’t have to wait long. His black pants and shiny boots stepped into view at the head of the alley. He appeared to have no interest in chasing after Corson. I didn’t think Corson had expected him to, but was going for a more divide and conquer plan.

  “I know you’re here,” Handsome called down the alley in a singsong voice nearly as beautiful as he was. “I can smell you.”

  The strange inhaling noise he made after this statement made me cringe. I had no idea who he was, but he would never get his hands on me; I’d die first. Which might be a possibility.

  No, I realized, these creatures would do everything they could to take me alive, and that may end up being far worse than death. Kobal had told me that if his marks upon my body faded away, demons would still sense them and know to whom I belonged. Did they scent Kobal on me now, or would they have to see me in order to know who had marked me?

  My fingers dug into the dirt beneath me. My biggest fear had been the Craeton demons capturing me and taking me to Lucifer to use as a weapon against Kobal, and now it may come true. Taking a deep breath, I adjusted the katana on my back as I steadied myself. I would not allow that to happen.

  And what will become of him if you die? He brushes off your questions about what happens to one Chosen when the other is gone, but Corson’s mother killed herself when his father died.

  That may be true, but right now, it didn’t matter. All that mattered was trying to survive a confrontation with this monster without being taken.

  I pressed closer against the rubber, wishing I could somehow melt into it like Daisy. I listened to Handsome’s feet crunching as he strolled down the alley; the annoying little tune he whistled set my teeth on edge.

  My fingers dug into the tire as I turned to watch him, rotten bits of it broke off beneath my fingers and clung to my flesh. He stopped on the other side of me, so close that if I reached out I could touch the tip of his black boot. I remained motionless, waiting for my opportunity to make a move. I’d only have one chance against him.

  Power radiated from him; his life force crackled against my skin. My fingers itched to feel the pulse of his life. He’d be enough to fuel a big ball of ‘I’m going to kick your ass’ life, but he’d never allow me to hold onto him for enough time to really get the ball to grow. He didn’t give off as much life force as Kobal did, but it was more than Corson and the other demons.

  “Come now, girl, let’s not play this game. It’s beneath you.” His voice sounded abnormally loud in the unnatural hush surrounding the truck stop, or maybe my senses had kicked into hyper-drive.

  He turned away from me, and before I could guess his intentions, the sound of metal ripping apart screeched across my eardrums. I winced at the grating noise seconds before gunfire erupted. The door of a truck fell onto the ground, kicking up dirt and pebbles as it bounced against the tire where I remained hidden.

  The gunfire stopped. Vargas grunted, and the man’s heels came off the ground as he leaned into the truck. No! I wouldn’t let anyone else be taken or harmed because of me.

  Rolling out from under the truck, I emerged as Handsome pulled Vargas out of the truck by his ankle and dangled him in the air like a child’s doll. This creature would pluck Vargas apart one body part at a time.

  Snatching up the door Handsome had dropped on the ground, I lifted it up and swung it into the back of the demon’s knees. This close, I could see he had some kind of black protection or armor shielding his back to mid-calf. His knees buckled, but somehow he managed to stay upright. Rising to my feet, I lifted the door again and crashed it onto his back. This time, he finally released Vargas, who fell on his head.

  Vargas’s body slumped to the ground, unmoving. I couldn’t tell if he was dead or unconscious, and I didn’t have time to look as my attention was focused on his attacker. My hands, jarred and partially numb from the impact of the second hit, lost their grip on the door.

  Handsome turned toward me, but he wasn’t quite so good looking now as the bullets Vargas had fired had pierced his forehead, taken out a chunk of his cheek, and embedded in the back of his jaw. His tongue wiggled back and forth in his mouth against the place where his cheek had been.

  As I watched, his body pushed the bullets out, making them squirm backward like worms rising from the earth during a rain. I had no idea if Kobal or any of the others could do something like this; I’d never seen any of them get shot. He’d said human weapons could hurt them, but it would take a lot to kill them. Apparently, it took more than three bullets to the face, and I had no idea how many others had pierced this guy’s body before he’d succeeded in disarming Vargas.

  Handsome’s black eyes blazed with malice when they latched onto me. A shiver went down my spine, and a sense of déjà vu washed over me as I gazed into those black eyes. Eyes that had once held color and warmth, now held nothing but malice and cruelty within their coal-colored depths.

  Azote. I had no idea how I knew this, but when his name blazed across my mind, I knew it was right, and with his name came the realization, Not armor! Not demon! My breath froze, and my blood turned to ice as I realized he was one of the angels who had fallen from Heaven with Lucifer.

  “Shit,” I breathed.

  His full mouth curved into a smile as his wings rippled behind him but didn’t unfurl. Black, like Lucifer’s had been in my dream. I knew these wings would be as malformed and lethal as my ancestor’s were when stretched out. This close, I could see the deadly, silver tips of the wings resting behind his head. Those tips weren’t as long as Lucifer’s, but they were a good three-inches of ‘poke my eye out’ fun. I didn’t dare tear my eyes away from him, but I knew without looking there would be two more silver tips at the bottom of those hideous wings.

  “That wasn’t a very polite way to greet your uncle,” he murmured, his voice still pretty and his face nearly repaired. “I was sent as a welcoming gift for you, child, to assure you were taken to where you belong. Your father sends his regards.”

  My stomach lurched as I realized Azote was the gift Lucifer had pr
omised to send me in my dream. He’d sent this angel, and possibly others to find me, to bring me back to him because they all truly believed Lucifer was my father.

  I was going to throw up, as soon as this was over.

  At least the others hadn’t heard what he’d had to say. Vargas was still out of it, if he wasn’t dead, and Hawk and Erin were too far away to have heard his words. They may have been warming up to me throughout all of this, but I doubted anyone would want to associate with the descendent of Lucifer.

  Spinning, I threw myself to the side when one of those black wings swung at me in an attempt to knock me on my ass. The wind the motion created blew my hair forward as the wing whistled only centimeters above my head. He wanted me alive, but he didn’t care if I still walked.

  Scrambling forward, I rolled and seized the discarded door again as Vargas’s head lifted and his eyes blinked blearily at me. His head swayed on his shoulders, but he managed to lift his gun and hold it before him. I lifted the door, using it as a shield when Azote swiped at me with his wing again.

  The wing hitting against the metal knocked me into Vargas. My back pressed against his chest as we were pinned against the tire by my demented, angel “uncle.” Azote’s wing tip screeched across the metal door like fingernails on a chalkboard. I cringed and resisted the impulse to cover my ears against the sound.

  “Get under the truck,” I commanded Vargas.

  Vargas’s breath was heavy in my ear. “I can shoot him again.”

  “That only pissed him off.”

  Azote drew his arm back and drove his fist into the door so hard that he dented the middle of it. My eyes crossed as I stared at the perfect imprint of his fist now touching the tip of my nose. The metal creaked when he yanked his hand from it. Taking the opportunity, I drew my feet up against the inside of the door. With a loud shout, I thrust it away from me and straight up at him, knocking him back a step.

  I didn’t stay to see what happened as I swiftly rolled under the truck behind Vargas and popped up on the other side of it. I leaned my back against the step rail on the passenger’s side, while I struggled to get my breathing under control and formulate a plan. If I could draw Azote into the open, I may be able to hit him with some fire, but I had no idea what would happen in these close confines.

  I rested my hand against the ground, feeling the spark of life beneath me, but like the fire, I didn’t dare unleash it amongst these trucks.

  “Come now, child, do you think that’s going to stop me?” Azote taunted from the other side of the truck.

  I was beginning to think nothing could stop him, but we had to keep moving.

  The driver side door on the truck across from us started to open. I leapt forward and pushed it closed again before it could open more than an inch. Erin’s head popped up behind the window.

  Stay hidden, I mouthed to her.

  I kept my hand against the door, ignoring the ‘if looks could kill’ stare she gave me as I strained to hear what was going on around me. Right now they were safe and off of Azote’s radar; I hoped to keep them that way. Vargas stayed against my back, facing in the opposite direction while we waited to see what Azote’s next move would be.

  A loud groaning noise filled the air. I had no idea what was going on until the truck we’d rolled under tilted toward us. “Roll! Roll! Roll!” Vargas shouted.

  I clawed at the dirt and rocks beneath me as I scrambled forward. Throwing myself down, I rolled beneath the truck with Vargas at my heels as the other truck hit the ground behind us with a loud crash. A rush of air blew dirt into my eyes when I turned to look back.

  I hastily wiped away the grainy bits of dust sticking to my lashes. My body froze when I found myself staring at the roof of the other truck directly across from us. Beside me, a tremor ran through Vargas’s body.

  “We have to move,” Vargas panted.

  “Yes,” I whispered.

  Rolling out from under the truck, we leapt out on the other side as Hawk flung his door open and jumped down. Erin followed close on his heels. I didn’t try to stop them. If Azote turned this truck over, they’d be trapped inside with only one way out. We stood, listening to Azote’s crunching footsteps as he strolled across the lot toward us.

  “Come out, come out, wherever you are!” he called in a singsong voice that made me decide to set his balls on fire first.

  CHAPTER 25

  River

  “Behind the truck,” Hawk commanded and waved a hand toward the back of the vehicle.

  It wouldn’t do us much good, but it would buy us some more time to prepare for Azote’s attack. We made it to the back of the truck as Azote stepped around to where we’d been standing. Hawk gripped my hand and pointed at my guns while Vargas reloaded his.

  On the count of three, Hawk mouthed. I nodded and pulled one of my guns free of its holster. It would be better to keep my fire ability hidden for a little longer anyway. The less the fallen angels knew about me, the better off I’d be. Hawk held up one finger, then two, then three…

  Stepping out from the shelter of the back of the truck, the four of us opened fire on Azote. The gun felt reassuring in my grip, but I knew it would do little against the angel. His body and shoulders jerked backward in tiny, quick motions as the bullets pummeled him.

  Then, a sneer curved his mouth and his wings folded against his back. He rushed forward so fast I barely saw him move before he smashed his hand into Vargas’s chest. Vargas went flying backward until his body hit the ground with a loud thump. He kicked up plumes of dirt as he bounced across the dirt and came to a halt near the building.

  Hawk swung toward Azote, but the angel snagged hold of the end of his Glock and tore it from his hand as if it were no more than a water gun. I dropped my gun when Azote went for Hawk. Before he could grab him, my hands flew up and a blast of fire burst from my palm. Azote jumped back when the crotch of his pants erupted into flames. Fury twisted his features as he beat out the fire licking over his clothes before they could spread too far.

  Hawk gawked at him before spinning away to retrieve his weapon. Erin released three more shots before her gun clicked with the sound of an empty chamber; she slowly stepped further away from Azote. I lifted my hands, harnessing my fear to release another blast of fire. Flames erupted and poured from my hands, but Azote blocked the flow by wrapping his wings around his body protectively. The fire swirled over him, beating against his wings and illuminating them in a red and orange glow. The flames illuminated the veins pumping black blood through his bat-like wings.

  Fire proof wings, good to know.

  “Run!” I yelled at Erin and Hawk when Azote took a step toward us with his wings still up to protect against my fire.

  “Not without you!” Hawk declared.

  Hawk grabbed for me, but I dodged his hand then darted around Azote’s unfurling wings to drive my fist into his cheek. He staggered back, more surprised by the blow than actually effected by it, as his head barely moved. I didn’t give him much time to process what was going on before I lifted my leg and drove my foot into his chest, shoving him back another step.

  “River!” Hawk shouted. “Run!”

  He didn’t have to tell me twice. Turning, I fled through the trucks toward the parking lot. My feet pounded over the packed dirt and rocks of the alley as my legs and arms pumped faster than ever before. I didn’t look back but kept my gaze focused ahead; I didn’t want to see what was behind me. Azote would gladly pluck them to pieces, but it was me he would come after now.

  I burst into the light of the gas pumps. I didn’t bother to go for our truck. Even if I could make it there, the vehicle would do me little good. Azote could lift a Mac truck; he’d have the pickup rolling end over end faster than I could say boo. Plus, I couldn’t leave the others behind. I didn’t know where Corson was, but I knew he hadn’t abandoned us.

  I was halfway to the gas pumps when something hit me in the back and sent me rolling head first across the asphalt. The whoosh of flapping wi
ngs caused air to blow against my back, and I realized Azote had dive-bombed me. So much for uncle-y love.

  Coming to a stop near the edge of the parking lot, my bruised and battered body protested the motion, but I got my hands beneath me and shoved myself to my knees. I was almost to my feet when a hand in my back shoved me forward. My knees screamed when they cracked off the asphalt; trickles of blood slid down my shins to stick my pants to my flesh.

  Rolling onto my back, I looked up to find Azote stalking toward me, all six feet of solid muscles and murderous resolve. He was still at least fifty feet away from me, too far to have been able to push me over the second time. Then what had happened?

  I looked around, but didn’t see anyone else near me, not even a ghost floated by. My gaze fell to the front windows of the truck stop where countless faces peered out from the windows. Their misty bodies were cut into pieces by the blinds slicing through them.

  Rising, I shoved my hands beneath me and pushed myself into a sitting position. I was halfway up when Azote lifted his hands and waved them at me. “Stay down,” he commanded.

  Helpless to resist the invisible force pushing against me, I was shoved back again. Telekinesis. The realization made my stomach turn. Now I knew how he’d managed to flip the truck over. What I didn’t know was how the hell I was going to get away from him. He’d been playing with me this whole time, toying with me until now, and the look on his face made it clear he was tired of his new toy.

  His shiny black boots stepped beside me. The tattered remains of his pants revealed he wasn’t wearing any underwear, but thankfully, there was enough of his pants left to cover his groin.

  “You are something,” he murmured. “He’s going to be so happy to meet you, child.”

  I managed to get my elbows under me so I wasn’t flat on my back, but I found myself unable to move further.

  Kneeling beside me, his finger slid under my chin and lifted my head up. “And look at these hideous marks on your neck.” His mouth twisted into a cruel smile. “You definitely are your father’s daughter, going after the strongest one of them, binding him to you. Your father couldn’t crush their leader, so you screwed him.”