Fallen Angel 4: Cold-Blooded Fate Page 10

  After displaying such weakness and with Azrael’s warning, he was not taking any chances to let his most dangerous enemies conspire against him. Lucifer watched as the guards and his hellhounds herded the newcomers away up the cave path, scouring the remaining men and a single woman. From behind, he could not tell which one had been looking at him before, though it was clear that none held anything in their dirty hands. But he did—the seeds he could not wait to deliver.

  Lucifer blew air out through his nose and fanned out two fingers as a wordless order. His lingering hellhounds continued their task and ripped into Cyrus and his son. After a few moments, they no longer had voices to scream with.

  Being their final joint torture, he felt the urge to remain and watch the last swift session of pain and spurting blood. But others awaited, and the sooner he finished his princely tasks the sooner he could see her—and deliver her new gifts.

  Chapter Nineteen

  “Raining…darkness. Stars fall... Raining blood. Darkness. Light…fall…”

  Cyrus stared up the long path from the dead end of the cave. Still anchored to the wall by unbreakable chains, he was now alone. Darius had been removed not long ago—and that’s when one of the newly arrived hybrid’s muttering had gone from garbled to actual words. Straining to hear with the man so far away behind bars against the screams that echoed down the cave, Cyrus was sure he had heard him correctly. “Hybrid!”

  The young, fair-haired man quit rambling. His crimson eyes shot sideways to Cyrus and then in the other direction up the cave. With firelight from a nearby torch dancing across his face, he blinked as if waking up from a deep slumber. “I have to get out.”

  “Let us out! Help us!” The others cried out, and arms reached the bars, rattling the door that they had no hope of breaking through.

  “Quit it!” Cyrus snapped, cringing at the throbbing of his raw throat. “There is no escape. Not for any of you, except for maybe you…”

  “Samuel,” the hybrid offered as the others quieted and retreated back into the deep dungeon cell. “I must get out.”

  Cyrus shifted from his slumped position of leaning back into the rough curved wall. He gritted his teeth as he rolled to his dislocated knees that popped back into place with a resounding echo. “Darkness. Stars. Blood. Light. Tell me what you were muttering about and I will help you.”

  “Stars fall from the sky. Blood rains. Darkness grows. And light will fall…”

  More muttering words, but these were clear, adding words that had been missing earlier. “Who told you all this? What does it mean?”

  Samuel gripped the gate and pressed his face between two of the floor-to-ceiling bars. “I cannot remember who, but I remember the voice of a male. I think he killed me. A prophecy. The spawn of Hell. Light and dark combined.”

  Cyrus sucked in a breath and then coughed. One lung had been punctured by one of the hound’s long canines, and a small hole still remained. Belting his seizing chest with a wet hand of exposed bones, he rasped, “Spawn of Hell?”

  “The prince’s child will cause it all. Hell on Earth and Above.”

  Before Cyrus could fully make sense of all the vital information, a flash of blue stole his focus. The hybrid had whipped a long, wavy dagger from beneath the dirty and torn rags that clothed his blood-drenched body. The intensity of the blade reminded Cyrus of a sword he had seen the angel, Michael, wield on Earth. The weapon he had sought to end Gabriel with before Lucifer flung him down to Hell. “What is that?”

  “A weapon to snuff out eternal life.” Samuel lined up the tip with the bars that were welded shut. “I must kill the prince’s unborn child.”

  “No,” Cyrus barked out the order, but the hybrid took no notice. Instead, he retracted the dagger and drove it into the welded door. Blue exploded out with a crack. “Stop!”

  The weld released and Samuel flung the door wide then slammed it closed as the other hybrids rushed to escape too. They hit the bars as the door clanked shut—and the weld re-joined as if it had never been broken.

  Now Cyrus knew that weapon was of Heavenly power. What the hybrid claimed was true, and now he was off to complete a task without knowledge of who had ordered it or care of why. “Stop. Let me help you!” Cyrus yelled over the cries and curses of the other hybrids that reached through the bars, trying to snag hold of Samuel or the dagger. “I can deliver you to the unborn child.”

  Samuel halted in his quick steps up the cave and spun back around. Head tilted, he came a few feet closer. But Cyrus needed him to come all the way. He needed him close enough so he could swipe the angelic weapon and cut down this mindless assassin. In all he had seen, it was clear this young man was under the control of an angel’s gaze. Though he had his suspicions on who, the angel’s identity did not matter. The task he had been ordered to execute did—and keeping it from happening.

  Now even closer and striding over the gory remnants of Cyrus’s flesh that had been stripped of his body, Samuel was well past the angry hybrids. Cyrus added, “I know where to find the mother. The woman who carried this spawn of Hell. Let me take you to her.”

  If everything this hybrid had claimed was true, it could change everything. Cyrus had thought the light and dark that was needed to unleash Hell had been Lucifer and his angelic lover. Now he knew better. Light and dark combined. Their spawn was the key to his and all of Hell’s freedom—and the ultimate destruction of Heaven.

  Samuel was so close now. He lowered to one knee in a puddle of blood, barely out of his reach. The dagger remained snug in his pale hand, perched on his raised knee as he studied Cyrus’s face. “You are the one we speak about. The first of our fathers.”

  “Yes, for all we know, I may be yours.” Cyrus hiked his brows slowly, shuffling closer. His restrains clattered then tugged his arms back as they reached their limit. He could not believe that he was acting to protect anything Lucifer loved, but this was not about his undying revenge on his arch nemesis. It was about survival and escape, and eventually, conquering over all. He looked to the blade that no longer glowed blue, then up to the man’s neck then face. He was itching to slash the hybrid’s throat before he ruined their races only chance at escaping. “Sever my chains and I will lead you there.”

  “No. You are not mine.” The hybrid tugged at his long, matted hair and shook his head. In his perusal, he clearly noticed how different their appearances were. He was all pale with pointed features, and Cyrus was dark-haired with the strong traits of a true man. “And I need not your help. I know where to find the one the prince impregnated. On the rooftop, where she will be waiting alone.”

  “Samuel, wait,” Cyrus demanded as the hybrid spun upright and strode away. “You do not know what you are doing! Stop! You will condemn us all, you fool.”

  But Samuel did not fault in his retreat, continuing up past the cell and the reaching hands he had escaped as Cyrus screamed after him. The last thing Cyrus saw was the dagger sparking blue in the hybrid’s hand as he disappeared around the bend.

  Chapter Twenty

  On the flat roof platform that existed on the opposite side of the castle and way up high, Gabriel leaned into the stone railing. Her tangled hands released and one moved to her belly. Nerves and apprehension had her stomach in knots, although that wasn’t the only sensation she felt. The tumbling flutters had grown more noticeable, more difficult to ignore. There was no denying it. A secret existed inside her, one that terrified and excited her at the same time.

  Gabriel closed her eyes.

  If she could only block out the distant cries and screams of pain, she could almost make believe she was somewhere else. Anywhere else. Almost. But the heat that dampened her skin and the familiar scents continued to remind her of where she was. Hell. There was that ever-present odor of death and decay, of severed body parts rotting. There was also the dirty, dusty smell from the mines.

  Gabriel’s terror came from knowing they were trapped, from knowing the dangers that constantly lurked, and the innocence she
could not save from this darkness. Her hand fell to her side.

  Opening her eyes, Gabriel saw the deep crevices in the land, the quarry for mining rock, stone, and hard metals. Hellions moved like ants down there, an army of workers that never stopped in their duties, unless they lost their job and received another. Being worked almost to death was better than running from death in the maze, or forever hiding and trying to escape the deformed hellions that stalked the streets.

  The rest of Gabriel’s apprehension came from knowing today was the day—she was finally ready to reveal her secret to Lucifer.

  Something curved that was both rough and somewhat sticky nudged up at her dangling palm. Gabriel sighed, lowering her gaze to Zallina. A smile graced her full lips and she knelt, her body smaller than the gentle beast that now towered over her. Gabriel rubbed at Zallina’s scruff gently, minding the stretches of skin that were patchy with hair and mottled, showing through to tendons and bloody bones beneath. In the beginning, she had cringed at the mere thought of touching one of the hellhounds. Now it brought her a sort of calm. A sense of safety and belonging. Despite their ferocity and grotesque appearance, they accepted her. They protected her.

  Zax nudged her cheek, his soggy tongue leaving a film of wet in its wake. Gabriel laughed and draped her arm around the hellhound’s neck. “I know you’re here too, Zax. I haven’t forgotten you.”

  With a scratch behind his ear, she rose and her smile widened. Not all that existed in Hell was bad. Not all was worthless. Gabriel brushed a hand down her chest, her palm resettling over her stomach to feel the smallest nudge. Her eyes lifted, her smile resonating in them as she surveyed her special place. The black marble that made up the open platform was completely covered. A mixture of ash and dirt piled over the glossy surface. Round, flat stepping stones led a curving path from the speared castle door, snaking through the soil and the promise of new life. Following the trail, her protectors close by, Gabriel kneeled down partway along the path. Reaching out, the delicate green sprouts from a blossoming plant made her heart swell with hope.

  Life in Hell. New life. Pure life.

  She thought of Lucifer’s face the day he’d returned to her and unfurled his fingers to reveal three seeds in the center of his palm. She’d been withdrawn from him, from everything really, for some time already. Lucifer blamed himself, believing she was pulling away from him. Which she guessed was true. She had a secret, one that would change their entire existences, one she feared revealing—because then she could no longer deny the truth of her body from herself. It was impossible. Of all the times she laid with Michael, the only creation was the light between them. But here in Hell, fallen, forsaken, the rules had changed. Lucifer had started disappearing at night, leaving her alone in their chamber for hours on end. Gabriel worried he was losing himself to the darkness, that he was seeking out the harm of others to sate the hunger for pain and torment that lingered inside of him.

  She had been wrong.

  At least when it came to those few secretive hours.

  Each night he scoured the land, searching far and wide, and his discovery had brought some of the light back to his own eyes and revitalized Gabriel’s hope for their future.

  More seeds had been sought and delivered since that first amazing discovery, and with much arranging for the best soil in Hell—a tall order—as well as Lucifer’s purified blood to feed his scavenged seeds, this place had been brought to life.

  Gabriel breathed in deeply, the scents of her living garden fighting to overcome the stench that was Hell’s signature. Ivy grew along the wall of the castle, dotted with delicate white flowers that perfumed the air. A few crops sprouted to one side, the path cordoning off a rounded triangle of what would in the coming months feed and nourish her. As an angel, Gabriel had never needed food to survive, but now… She crossed her arms over her stomach. Now she felt somehow deprived, somehow in need. The rest of the garden was speckled with tiny sprouts and young saplings; trees and flowers that would one day grow past their promise of potential into a real garden. A sanctuary…for all three of them.

  Plucking a white rose from the most advanced of the flower bushes, she brought the fragrant petals to her nose.

  Gabriel’s deep inhale stopped short, her heightened senses picking up quiet footsteps. Lucifer. At the same time, a twist of her insides made her feel sick. Her heart rate sped up with nerves. She lowered the flower with a rattled sigh and Zallina licked her hand. It was time to reveal why she’d summoned Lucifer here to her special place. Of course he knew of its existence, but she had never invited him here before, and he had never intruded. Now her breathing quickened in fear and anticipation. She planted one foot on the ground beneath her long black robe—and paused before pushing up.

  There was no distinct tingling to announce the almost silent approach from behind her. But there was another sensation. With her stomach suddenly roiling, pockets of warmth sprouted over Gabriel’s warm skin, burning with sudden heat. She choked down the need to gag, seeing red bloom across her arm—from where Lucifer’s creations had bitten her so long ago.

  Whoever was here, it wasn’t Lucifer.

  “Who are you?”

  Gabriel’s pets picked up on the hard demand of her voice as well as her change in body language as she went rigid. They wheeled around from beside her, growling and snapping their jaws. Gabriel moved too, spinning upward to her feet to face—a new hybrid-hellion.

  The man was stained red with a deep cut through the cloth over his chest, and he studied her with pulsing crimson eyes. Seeing her hand protectively over her belly had a smile broadening his lips. “What you carry is the beginning of the end. Light will fall like stars from the sky. Blood and darkness will rain upon all.” He smirked. “The Dark Prince’s unborn child,”—the hellhounds had crept closer to the man, and he whipped out a dagger that somehow glinted eerily blue—“must die.”

  This wasn’t any regular hybrid-hellion. This was an assassin.

  Gabriel leveled her eyes at the dangerous intruder, putting all her strength and total fear into the power of her angelic stare. “Stop where you are. Drop your weapon and kick it to me.”

  The man laughed through his nose, a smirk twisting his lips. He took a step closer.

  Gabriel sucked in a breath. It had been a desperate attempt, but like Lucifer’s first creations, she had no power over this half-breed.

  She backed up—

  The man darted through the saplings, bare feet crushing her young plants. Gabriel stumbled back, tripping over her rose bushes as her hellhounds lunged. Tangled by thorns that cut into her arms and poked at her wings, she saw the man move faster, a monster with angelic speed. He booted the first hound in the head, sending Zallina flying back. She slid over plants, uprooting them and snapping stems before hitting the railing.

  Zax took advantage of the maneuver and clamped onto the man’s thigh. The beast yanked and tugged, bringing the man off balance.

  “Release!” Gabriel screamed, ripping her arms free of the thorns.

  At the same time, the assassin cursed and drove the blade down. Zax let go at once and barely missed the tip driving into his side as he dodged sideways and circled.

  Zallina was back on her feet and speeding toward the man. Fleshy fur and paws became a lunging blur as they both continued their attack. The man reacted to each attempt, jabbing out fists and feet to knock the hellhounds back. Every few collisions brought her pets closer and closer to being stabbed. An injury that wouldn’t kill them, but could bring them down.

  Finally on her feet with silver streaming down her arms, Gabriel inched back toward the railing. Aside from her canine protectors, she was weaponless. The blue glow of the attacker’s dagger that flared to life with every strike sent a chill up her spine. A heavenly glow? Impossible. And yet her need to protect so much more than herself forced her mind and body to pick a side, run or fight. Gabriel looked down at herself, at what she kept hidden every day beneath her loose robe.

&n
bsp; A yelp brought her head up as she reached the railing. All she had to do was climb up and jump to fly to safety. But she stalled. Despite their usual hellish appearance, the fresh blood that coated her hellhounds’ damp bodies was clear. Zallina limped, still circling even though the bone was protruding through the ripped skin of her leg.

  Gabriel couldn’t leave them.

  Instead, she clambered onto the railing and spread her wings wide, ready to take flight, to sweep in and curl her thin arms around her huge pets and lift them to safety.

  Zallina leaped for the man, and the blade drove toward her pet—aiming at her heart. Gabriel cried out as she lifted off, but she would never get there in time. Zax did, darting in front to take the point of the blazing weapon straight through his skull.

  Gabriel caught hold of Zallina as Zax was driven down to the ground. His whimper died as he hit the dirt, his body going still amongst the uprooted saplings and sprouts. Blue flared from inside of him, shooting out in spears of light from the wet gaps in his body. His skin turned to sudden ash, falling from his bones in a rain of sparkling blue.

  “Impossible…” In the shock of it plus the weight of the hellhound she’d scooped up, Gabriel’s feet touched down, planting her in the dirt. Her stare was wide and horrified. But there was no time to gape, not when her attacker was smashing through young fruit trees to get to her. Gabriel shoved Zallina at the door, “Go. Get help. Quick!”

  Her last defense scampered away, whining with one last backward glance before her nose shoved the door open and she escaped through it.

  Now bleeding from savage bites to his legs and arm, the hybrid-hellion jumped in front of Gabriel before she could follow. He thrust the dagger and Gabriel rushed back, tripping on plants that dug into her feet and scratched at her legs. Scrambling to stay upright, she pressed her hands into the dirt and pushed up, running for the railing, running to save them both.