Dark Dreams, page 24
“How dare he nothing, you ass!” Jade actually jabbed him in the chest several times. “Coming to Sheol for you was my idea; I finally came to my senses, which you never seemed to have in the first place. How dare YOU make decisions for the rest of us, for me? I would have never let you do this if I’d known the truth! I am strong, Nias!” She stabbed him in the chest again, this time with a jagged, broken fingernail. “If you would open your eyes and stop trying to protect me, you would see I am perfectly capable of defending myself now! Look, for God’s, or whatever, sake!” She shook her head and clenched her teeth in frustration. He tried to cut her off again, but she held up that jagged fingernail and the look she gave did its best to threaten his very life. “Hamartia is dead! I killed her! Me! I have gotten stronger and stronger ever since I met you. I can throw energy, my body is strong. I can push more than just feeling, I can coerce the weaker Daemon to my will.” Again he opened his mouth to say something. “If you fight with me any more, I am kicking your ass just to prove my point!”
Jade looked to the ground and the anger drained out of her. One moment she could feel it boiling and threatening to burst out of her skull, and the next it rolled out and down her body and seeped out her toes. It left her with nothing but exhaustion and all the sadness that had been welling inside her these weeks he had been gone.
Nias looked to his brother and the troop of Sentry behind him. “Phaeton, can you give us a few minutes, please?”
“Of course, but are you aware of the Protectors loitering behind you?” Phaeton glared with serious consternation behind Nias.
“Yes, I am aware. These have had a change of heart, for now.” Nias looked back to the threatening-looking mob of dark-hearted men. “Go with Phaeton. Do as he says and Iblis will be put out of power.”
Phaeton motioned for the Protectors to move past him and down the back stairwell with a grimace, which clearly conveyed his mistrust, then turned to follow the group out. Wrain shouted out the command and slowly all could be heard backing off and down the corridor they had come through to give the two some privacy.
“Ignorant, selfish, beautiful man, I love you.” She spoke the last piece of it to the dirt, unable to lift her head. “I love you, and I know now you love me. And when you went away, part of me felt like it died.” Jade exhaled again, and then willed herself to look up into his eyes. “When I realized what you did, when I watched Casablanca … okay, long story.” She couldn’t help but laugh, as he looked at her like he often did, like she was crazy. ”When I figured out what you had done, I am the one who came up with this plan; I talked your brother into it. I love you and I forced your brother to let me come, because I had to.”
Jade looked to the ground again and thought another piece of her might die then and there. Until she felt his warm hand under her chin, and raise it until she was forced to meet his gaze.
“I do love you, Jade.” His other hand pulled the end of a curl, causing goose bumps to run a lust-filled wave up and down her body, despite the heat. “I just wanted to keep you safe… because I love you.”
A long moment passed as they looked into each other’s eyes.
“Please don’t leave me again,” she said to him.
“Please, at least let me try to keep you alive, then.” He smiled.
“Fine.”
“Fine.” Jade purred when he again grabbed her butt and pulled her in for a kiss, this time with no hesitations.
When she finally came up for air she took his hand and said, “Okay, let’s go kill the bad guy.”
“Ugh, woman were you not even listening?”
“Oh no, I heard you. Go ahead, keep me alive please!” She practically giggled. “Or you could just stay close so I don’t incinerate and watch me kick some ass.”
“Stubborn woman,” he mumbled as he followed her to where the Sentry had assembled.
Chapter 32
Phaeton had his back toward Nias and Jade as they turned and walked to the top of the ancient castle’s grand staircase and joined him. They took a position on either side of the Sovereign. They faced his warriors, upwards of twenty Djinn dressed in their usual random assortment of black camouflage, combat boots, and every metal-forged weapon imaginable, including the Roman spear point from the fourth century, a camp axe head spear, and the Celtic axe Fforde had found on a recent fight while in Gaul. Collecting these ancient weapons they now used to behead and gut the Shaitan had become a popular hobby with the Djinn.
They were all tall and muscular men, a fierce group any leader would be proud to have behind him. They stood at various levels of the staircase and the floor below, ready and waiting for instruction. Phaeton had a command of the Sentry that made Nias proud to call him brother and Sovereign. Thank the gods he was so able and willing to take charge when Nias stepped aside.
“You’re sure about your abilities, Jade?” Nias said to her for the fifth time, feeling a bit of fear for her safety as they looked over the battle-ready warriors.
“Phaeton, look away for a minute, I’m gonna punch him,” Jade stated sardonically in an exasperated deadpan.
“Please, if he asks again I’ll join you.” Phaeton beamed at Jade and then turned his smirk into one of pure sarcasm as he looked to his brother.
“Okay, I’m ready, little brother, let’s do this,” Nias replied.
“Little brother?” Jade looked at the two hulking men; Nias dark and exotic, and Phaeton with the long, dark, shaggy mass of waves and that always-present devilish, sexy smile, which could knock any girl off her feet. Phaeton certainly didn’t look like anyone’s little anything. In fact, Jade thought he looked more like a Spartan than a Daemon. He emanated a strong, completely-in-charge, Greek-warrior vibe; but also from hearing about his behavior and his wild parties she knew he was always likely to partake in the affections of the female variety.
Jade looked over to the Sentry as they readied and began to move in rows of two back through the halls of the castle, with the gang of willing Marid behind sneering and looking like the angry group of oversized hellion they were. They traveled the fire-lit corridors of the castle and after several turns they were directly in front of the double doors, which the Protectors had told them would lead directly to Iblis himself.
Before any of them had the opportunity to even touch the black metal handles, much less smash through the fifteen-foot, black metal doors, they began to dissolve. The surrounding walls came apart as if melting and disintegrating into tinier molecules and then ceased to exist.
The room, if it had ever in fact been a room, was wide open in front of them now. They were outside; sparse fires burned and outlined the mounds of rock around them. Jade noticed immediately the darkened purple sky above. A dirty pink-and-yellow-tinged moon was glowing and hanging in the air. It wasn’t a typical-looking moon; the shape wasn’t round, but jagged and fierce-looking, an angry, misshapen throwing star placed behind Iblis like a spotlight, grimly illuminating the dank night.
Several corpses lay piled in the dirt and the smell of burned and boiled flesh accompanied them. It seemed right Iblis should surround himself with death and decay. What else would there be here?
The creature they were looking to destroy sat lazily picking at his teeth with what looked like a sliver of bone. A dismembered, unrecognizable body lay directly to the side of the enormous black-gilded throne he sat in. As she stared, one of its fingers twitched and then an arm moved. It was reanimating. She wondered if, like the suicides, these continued to come back to life only to be picked apart and eaten again. She didn’t have the chance or the desire to ask.
“Welcome home, my children, my most beautiful, traitorous deserters.” Iblis raised a pointed brow, discarding the bone to the side, leaning back and resting his elbows on the large arm rests, his knees spread. He looked almost bored. “Come to end me, have you?” The beast chuckled. “You are in violation of our deal, Nias, but if you would acquiesce to have all your Djinn here stay with me in Sheol now, we can still redress our agreement.”
Jade stepped forward towards Iblis and spoke, and even Nias seemed shocked by the defiance in her voice. “He will do nothing of the kind, you twisted monster. His deal is over! Although we appreciate the gesture, we have decided to take our chances. You cannot have him – or any of them.”
Iblis started, almost twitched, shocked at Jade’s boldness. But instead of moving to crush her, Iblis let his rage waft, emanating from where he sat. He became completely motionless, as if an ebony statue of himself. She watched as his eyes turned a solid black. It only added to the eerie stillness. A sheer dark fog came from nowhere; it crept along the stone floor, threatening to seep into her through her feet, like a sentient thorny vine crawling up her legs and into her soul. Jade felt chilled goose bumps rise on her skin as the fog reached her. But outwardly she stood her ground, keeping her body tall and rigid, her face stern. Only silently did she talk to herself, Just fake it, Jade. Just fake it, do not turn around and run.
Nias could see a slight twitch in the hand Jade had hidden behind her back and knew what was going through her mind. He took a step forward, placing himself in between Jade and Iblis, blocking Jade from Iblis’s direct line of sight, his body casting a shadow on her.
Nias wasn’t intimidated by his father’s theatrics, even as he too felt the growing powers of Iblis’s rage building.
“Iblis, you need to consider whether you are ready to risk all-out, unbridled war, over your desire to regain control of the Djinn. Conflicts that will arise between the Shaitan and the Djinn will only be the beginning. It will throw the worlds out of balance and, to be sure, it will send those uptight Goddesses into a rage. Just let us go. I am not going to do what you want me to, you can see that. And my Jade can take care of herself.”
A deep rumble seeped from Iblis’s throat as he continued to remain unmoving. The rolling wave of energy pulsed toward them as he spoke. “How about I simply kill you all … right now.”
Jade’s energy began to build inside her. Nias could feel the power coursing through her body when he gripped her hand, hoping to calm her a bit. But she shook her hand loose from his and stepped out from behind him and into the red-and-orange light. And then, damn his unruly woman, she talked back to the enraged black devil.
“You can try,” she sneered.
Jade rubbed her raised hands together, accumulating a ball of energy and preparing to thrust it at the enormous horned monster.
But prepare was all she would do. The stillness and general wafting evil coming from Iblis turned. It was immediate, creating an instantaneous implosion of all the black energy in the room. It pulled at their bodies and down the surrounding rock. The energy whooshed in at the same moment he stood and his mammoth wingspan spread out and into the open air, casting the entire group in his shadow. The flames in the distance grew to fifty feet and roared their excitement, making the juxtaposition of light versus dark even more pervasive.
His wings began coursing a powerful push and pull. The muscles in his torso flexed as his body used their strength to shoot him easily into the air. Like a hawk swooping in on a minuscule rodent, with no chance of escape, his horns aimed themselves directly at Jade as his feet drew toward the sky and he came sharply down at her.
The claws on his hands struck, puncturing her neck, and she could no longer breathe.
Nias saw Iblis going for Jade even before Jade had. Most likely because he knew Iblis had reached his limit of patience and Jade had thrown him over into the depths of insanity. No one spoke to Iblis like that when his energy began to radiate and take on a life of its own. He knew exactly what was coming.
As Iblis’s hands attached to Jade and his feet reached the ground, Nias grabbed him from behind, reaching between his enfolded wings and wrapping his arm around Iblis’s neck, pulling him into a headlock. Iblis released Jade and turned on Nias. Jade’s body collapsed to the ground and she gasped to take in that next gulp of air.
Iblis spread his wings and grabbed Nias by the back of his t-shirt and lifted him from the ground. A loud thud, swish, thud, swish, wafted into his ears as he flew higher into the sky and threw Nias into a large, jagged rock without much effort. Nias’s form crashed and rolled down to the gravel, scraping off the skin on his bare forearms as he hit.
“Surely that’s not the best you can do!” Nias said acerbically as he picked his aching body up from the ground and brushed the dirt from his jeans, turning to Iblis. Looking around, he saw the Sentry and their new allies were occupied by a force of Iblis’s loyal army that had cut them off from Nias and Jade. They were on their own.
“Not even close, Son,” Iblis said, flapping his wings back and forth, stirring the mist and heat along with them as he descended down, talons extended toward Nias’s chest, ready to pick him up again or possibly rip out his throat. No use giving that any more thought, Nias supposed. Instead he ran as quickly as he could for the side of a large rock formation and ran his feet up the side and flipped his body. Nias’s feet flew over his head, twisting in the air, and came down on the back of Iblis’s intensely muscular flapping wings.
Using the momentum his body had gained, Nias wrapped his arms around Iblis’s neck, then swung his own legs down to the ground and pulled Iblis with him. The two Daemons both came crashing down and Nias slammed Iblis’s horned skull into the earth with a pounding thud.
Instead of injuring him, the impact only seemed to make Iblis angrier. The flames behind him in the massive chaos licked toward the darkening, now blue-tinged, moon, and the fog thickened around them. Nias ignored the weather changes being effected by Iblis’s continually escalating emotion and used an increased strength brought on by sheer rage to push Iblis’s face to the dirt.
With one hand on Iblis’s neck and a boot pressing into his back, Nias raised his hand and shouted in Jade’s visually unobtainable direction, knowing her whereabouts only by the tiniest sounds she made, which were carrying through the thickness.
“Jade, your sword! Throw it to me!”
Jade, having barely gotten her breath back and staunched the flow of blood with her hand, reached behind her back with the other and lifted the sword diagonally, unsheathing it from its holster and tossing it into the air toward Nias, where he caught it by the handle with his raised hand. Nias’s boot pressed harder into Iblis’s back and he raised the sword and began to bring it down in a slicing motion to separate the head from the body of the father, who had, for centuries, only brought pain and destruction to everyone around him.
As Nias used every bit of strength in his being, he moved the sword with incredible speed toward his target.
But just as the sword should have connected, his boot dropped to the ground, the sword chopped at the dirt, and he stumbled forward. There was nothing beneath him.
The winds around them kicked up and swirled violently, the black fog prevalent everywhere. A horrendous roar emanated from the skies above them. The flapping of massive wings pushed and pulled the fog, creating a hole in the ceiling of the night, revealing Iblis’s bared teeth and pleasured grin pointed down at his favorite son. Nias knew Iblis had transcended himself away and remembered why Iblis would always have the upper hand in Sheol.
“Damn it,” Nias grunted, looking up to Iblis, his thoughts immediately forming a new plan. He would have to outsmart the Angel. He couldn’t win a physical battle with an opponent that could disappear at will. Nias could see, in the pleased and evil look plastered to his father’s angular sadistic face, that he thought this fight was all but over. Iblis’s muscles tensed and flexed as his powerful wings hovered above him while he relished in his victory.
Jade saw Iblis begin to shift, the claws of his feet turning birdlike. No, they were turning into oversized talons. His skin morphed from the bruise-colored flesh to thick ebony scales. His eyes, once a solid black, now glowed piercing red. And the beast was growing. In the space Iblis had once occupied flapped an immense ebony dragon.
Jade fell to her knees and closed her eyes. She had no idea if she could pull off what she was attempting, but with the realization of Iblis’s ability to transcend, she had to try. Jade opened her mind and tried to summon some emotion that would block Iblis’s powers.
As she did, all the emotion of the full-blown war between Phaeton’s Djinn and Iblis’s crew of loyal Protectors battered her: the clank of metal against metal, the slices of flesh, the grunts of those being wounded, and those winning their individual fight. She would have to cut though the testosterone-filled and overly masculine rage flying about her. She actually managed a small smile.
She pressed the sides of her head with her hands and closed her eyes, blocking them out. “Focus, Jade, come on stupid powers, you have tortured me my whole life, work for me now!” she said out loud to herself.
She searched the room with her mind and quickly found who she was looking for. The fact he was radiating sheer evil and was currently an animal made her task a bit easier.
Now for the hard part. She heard Nias make several painful grunts and knew the dragon had descended upon him and was tearing him apart. Let’s just hope I can summon a feeling that will stop him.
Jade’s knees ground into the dirt, tiny rocks stabbing sharply into her skin. Her head felt like it would split right open as a knife-like pain attacked her. The bastard was pushing back. The fury that had been flowing out of Iblis since she had first talked back to him this evening could apparently be directed, and he was directing it at her.
This beast, Dark Father, Angel of Hate, whatever he wanted to be called, had powers she had never imagined, her powers. This could have been the reason she had been chosen for the mission of retrieving Joss in the first place. It had seemed strange to her. Nias and a few Djinn appeared capable of moving through the various levels of Sheol on their own. Although she had been helpful, sure, she now saw her real purpose.
