21 Shades of Night, page 401
I cringe, unwillingly recalling our training sessions together.
His sweat.
My sweat.
How his strong hands felt on my body…
A warm flush floods me, settling at my core. I shake my head. He’s screwing with you. It isn’t him. He isn’t Lucas, he’s Death. Give him the warning and leave.
I hold my head high. He can’t get to me. “I don’t know whether your Council told you or not, but you are nine hundred and eighty-four years early.”
He chuckles and I flinch, because it sounds so authentic…so genuine. For a few seconds, I forget he’s my enemy.
Until he opens his mouth again.
“I can do as I please.” He tells me, smoothing his palms over the front of his jacket. “I’m not hurting anybody.”
Not hurting anybody yet, but he will. There’s no way around it. How do I know? Well, let me break it down for you. Lucas—or Death, rather—is a category five demon. In my world, demons are ranked by the damage they do. Banshees, Tracker demons, Seers, and other “underworldly” creatures that blend in with society are category one demons. They’re allowed to roam Earth freely provided they don’t kill anybody, and most of the time, they don’t. Then there’s you category two demons which are your Succubi and Incubi. They pass off as human easy enough and generally stick to morally questionable careers in the sex industry. They’re safe, but can still inflict minimal damage to humans if they wanted to. Category three demons are your vampires, but they’ve been wiped out, leaving only werewolves and Shards in that category. Shards are catlike demons that prey mostly on wild animals, but have been known to completely shred a human or two. Category four demons are fallen angels and your average human-like demons. An angel becomes a demon when they turn their back on the Never Dark realm. It’s rare, but has happened on a few occasions. And last, but not least, cat five demons are the worst. These demons cause mass destruction and death wherever they go. They pillage, plunder, rape, and possess for the fun of it. These demons are Skatters (dumb, gimp-like creatures that are sent into a frenzy by a rapidly beating heart), necromancers, the four Horsemen of the apocalypse, Lucifer, and the Underworld Council. These demons are highly dangerous and must be removed from Earth immediately, unless scheduled otherwise. It’s sad, but sometimes life on Earth needs to be balanced out. Only once in history has the earth been completely wiped of life by the four Horsemen and then started again…or so I was told.
“You’re not welcome here, and if you don’t leave now, I’ll kill you.”
“You’ll kill me?” He simpers, his eyes darkening in a way that has always terrified me. “You forget one thing, my sweet V.”
I tilt my head. “And what’s that?”
“I taught you everything you know.” His sinfully dark voice wraps around the words like a boa constrictor wraps around its victim and they squeeze me tightly.
Because I remember…
Because I still dream about it…
Because I loved him…
Growling, Lucas launches forward and I duck just in time as he swings at me. Adrenaline surges through me with the force of a tsunami behind it as he moves fast. I duck and dodge, block and roll as he comes at me full force, throwing devastating punches and debilitating kicks. Most of them I manage to dodge, until one kick hits me square in the stomach. Air is forced from my lungs and I gasp as I fall backwards, hitting my head against the concrete. I groan as pain sears across my skull and buries itself in my eyes. I roll onto my side, blinking desperately as my vision blurs. If it were any other demon, I’d be dead by now.
I shake my head, trying to get my bearings. A few seconds pass, feeling more like an eternity, before my vision returns and I push myself back onto my feet. Glaring at me, Lucas removes his jacket, throwing it down onto the damp concrete, and rolls up the sleeves of his white shirt, stopping them at his elbows.
He’s barely out of breath and I gasp desperately, trying to force more air in.
“You’re faster, stronger, and meaner than you used to be, but it isn’t enough to beat me.”
I spring toward him, hoping to catch him off guard, but even in the middle of rolling up his sleeves he’s expecting my attack. Nothing is more infuriating than an opponent that knows what you’re going to do before you do it. He grabs my waist in his large, strong hands and throws me to the side. I growl in frustration as I slam into a brick wall and it cracks under the force. I push off the wall, recovering quickly. My hair comes loose from my ponytail and frames my face in wild disarray.
“Give up, baby. You’ve never had what it takes to beat me—even when we were the same species.”
Asshole.
I circle him. He circles me. We test each other, try to anticipate the other’s moves. In the calm, I try to remember everything he’s taught me and everything I know about him. I trained with him for years. There has to be something I can use. I make a mental check list of all his strengths. He’s tall, he has reach on me…so if I run at him, he’ll knock me out before I get within a few feet of him. He is strong and lean, shredded in a way humans only wish they could be. If I wrestle him, he’ll pin me in no time and break my neck without a sweat. The only weakness he has is…is…well, nothing. Painful tendrils of dread burrow through my chest. Lucas is unstoppable. There is a reason why he’s the Never Dark’s top recruit and their greatest loss. Couple that with his new found strength, speed, and stamina…I’m out matched—a hundred to one.
“Realize something, did you? You’re no match for me and you never will be. Why they sent you, I have no idea.”
A light growl escapes my lips and Lucas smiles at me. He knows I pride myself on my kills—on my successful missions. Say what you will about me, but don’t ever demean my success.
I dive at him, catching him by surprise. Our bodies crash together, stone against stone, and we tumble to the floor, locked in a full-blown wrestle. He slips from my grip and rolls onto my back. I try to shrug him off, but he hooks his arm around my neck and squeezes. I gasp for air and I’m denied it as my esophagus compresses, refusing oxygen from entering my lungs. My brain swells in my skull and tears burn at my eyes. He’s going to kill me.
He’s actually going to kill me.
I clench my teeth until they groan, threatening to shatter in my gums. I’m here because I’m the only one that can stop him. I know that. I know I’m better than he says I am.
I hiss as I tug on my arm and it scrapes along sharp pieces of crumbling concrete and broken glass. Freeing my hand, I straighten it before thrusting my elbow into Lucas’s ribs. He grunts as it connects and loosens his grip. Air floods into my lungs and I inhale, filling it until there’s not more space. I elbow him again, and again, and shove him off me as he tries to recuperate the oxygen he lost on the impact. He rolls onto his back and I spring to my feet.
“Don’t have what it takes, huh?” White hot rage bubbles through my veins. “You have no idea!”
I pull my leg up, bringing my knee to my chest, and drop it against his face. Relentlessly. Lucas would never hurt me. The Lucas I knew would have fallen to his knees at the sight of me. This “thing” isn’t Lucas.
A gruesome crack echoes through the alley and blood splatters the concrete. Blood coats his face and rolls down his cheeks. He groans and rolls to the side, letting the blood drip off his slender nose and create a red puddle beneath it.
My chest rises and falls rapidly, leaving me breathless. “You have until sunrise to leave Earth or I’ll come back and finish the job.”
Turning my back, I walk away from him, not knowing if he’ll attack me from behind.
He doesn’t...
...but I wish he did.
I don’t look back until I’m in my car and by that time, he’s gone. A sad feeling swirls around my stomach and tears threaten my eyes. I inhale, then exhale. I do it again. And again. Until I’m clawing at the zipper of my suit, I tug it down, exposing a bare sliver of flesh to the cool air in my car. I force a slower inhale through my nose and blow it back out, until I no longer feel claustrophobic in my suit.
“Don’t be an idiot.” I breathe deeply, banging my forehead on the hard steering wheel. “That wasn’t Lucas.”
It wasn’t him.
I turn the key in the ignition and my SUV roars to life. Without a thought, I drive off in the direction of our headquarters. Exhaustion slams into me.
Oh, no.
I still have to fill out a report of tonight’s events. I sigh and prop my elbow against the window. The simple movement aches, making me aware of all of the bumps, scrapes, and bruises that I’ve sustained. The fight between Lucas and I was a lot more brutal than I thought it would be…but, in retrospect, my physical pain is the least of my worries. I just went head to head with my friend, my mentor, and the love of my life. My heart aches.
Really aches.
I haven’t seen Lucas in years, not since our last passionate night together, and then he was taken…ripped from my life without warning. I’ve mourned him every night since.
The thruway rolls silently under the wheels of the car. Don’t cry. You’re not going to cry. I bite my lip and blink a million times, but I can’t shake the tears. So I let one fall. And another. And another…
Until I can’t stop myself from sobbing.
I cry. I cry because he is lost to me. Forever.
I begged for this assignment. I thought that if I saw him again, I’d be able to put what we shared behind me. I thought if I saw him as this demonic beast it would be easier for me to move on…if tonight is proof of anything it’s that there’s no way it’s going to be that easy.
Chapter 2
Tribulation
*
Lucas
“DAMN IT!” I shout, slamming my fist into the brick wall of a Starbucks.
Below my fist, the wall cracks and my knuckles burn as skin is torn from bone. It hurts, but it’s nothing compared to the searing pain in my chest.
Violet.
My Violet.
She’s as beautiful and as fierce as I remember…
She’s the warrior I always intended her to be…
I tuck my bleeding fist under my arm and force myself onto the sidewalk. Drunk humans push past me, cackling and hollering like their life has meaning. They don’t notice the blood that wets my face or soaks my shirt and why would they? They’re too absorbed in themselves to notice the beasts walking among them.
Grunting, I swipe my forearm across my nose and collect more blood. My nose has long since healed itself from her brutal kick. She bested me. I wasn’t guarding my ribs like I should have been. I grin. Despite how much it annoys the fuck out of me, I’m a little proud she managed to one-up me. Once upon a time, her ground game was her weakness. I always instructed her to keep the fight standing, but she took me down right off the bat.
When I was her mentor, he ground game barely improved. Mostly because whenever I got her there, it ended with us naked. It’s hard to train a girl the basic of wrestling when all she wants to do is fuc—honnnnnnnk!
I whip my head to the left as the horn of a yellow taxi rips through my right ear, pierces my brain, and flies out the left, sending a sharp headache pulsing into my eyes. I clench my jaw and squeeze my fists, willing myself not to pick up the obnoxious vehicle and send it through the closest skyscraper. I stuff my hands into the pockets of my slacks and force myself to keep moving as the impatient fucker slaps his horn over and over again, demanding drunken pedestrians stop crossing the road.
Where was I? Oh, right. Violet.
My Violet.
She’s become so strong—much stronger than I anticipated. The way she stood before me, her body looking so ridiculously fit in her tight uniform…fucking hell. If only she’d taken me up on my offer. I would have loved to have carried her back to my place and given her a slice of the past. How long would she have let me ravish her body before she remember that we were natural enemies and tried to kill me? I chuckle at the thought.
I inhale through my blood clogged nose and visions of her tightening her red ponytail fill my mind. I developed a fetish for her hair at her first training session. Unexpectedly, she showed up to training and had changed its color from blonde to a fiery red. It suited her perfectly. It took away that innocent touch she had from her human life and transformed her into something else entirely. The way it twirled around her as she practiced her defensive maneuvers…and the smell of fresh strawberry that emanated from it and engulfed me whenever I got close…those were the moments I lived for. My fingers twitch. Oh, how I fucking long to run my fingers through her waves again, to tug on it slightly as I often did when we made love.
It took me forever to convince myself I was no longer in love with Violet. All those years I ignored the urges to mourn her and pine for her are wasted, ruined by the one angel I didn’t want them to send.
Why her? Why her?
I was expecting a fight. I knew the Never Dark angels would freak out when they saw my brothers and I had come to Earth early, and I knew they’d send someone after us. What I didn’t know was that they’d send her. Out of all the qualified angels they have…they did it on purpose—to fuck with my head. She may be my only weakness, but I won’t let them get to me that easily. They’re out of their mind if they think I won’t kill her to achieve what my brothers and I have set out to achieve. Killing her would be better for the both of us because if War sees her…there’s no telling what he’d do.
Anger consumes me. It burns through my bones, setting fire to my blood. Why have they put me in such a hard position? This was supposed to be easy! Violet’s smug face flickers by my line of vision and my dead heart beats to life. I clench my chest. Thinking about her hurts. Thinking about the life she’s had without me…has she seen other people? Has she leaned on someone else for comfort? Does she even love me anymore? Why are the answers to these questions all I can think about? Why does it matter? Why does she matter?!
“Argh!” I launch forward and slam my fist into the stop sign on my right.
Groaning, the pole bends in half, like an under watered sunflower.
“I hate her!” I shout, kicking the pole as hard as I can.
The pole is ripped from the ground and tossed across the road, just missing a homeless man who sleeps peacefully on a small, metal bench. People stare and whisper, but I don’t give a shit. I could wipe out this entire city with a click of my fingers.
Violet. I bare my teeth and swipe at my nose. I hate her…or at least my demon side hates her. Sometimes, Death spares me a few moments of normality and all I can think about is her. Those few moments are the worst of my life. I hate my human emotions. They’re weak, especially when it comes to Violet.
I swallow hard and let Death take over. Piece by piece, he consumes my thoughts and my feelings until Violet is just another filthy angel I have to destroy.
Love is absent and hate is prominent.
I picture myself staring into her bright blue eyes and squeezing her by the throat until every last breath is gone. Like I said, Violet is my only weakness and it’s a weakness other demons will try to exploit if they ever find out.
You have until sunrise to leave Earth or I will come back and kill you. My lips twitch as her words ring throughout my mind. I could leave, but I have things I need to do. Yes, the world is scheduled to end in the year three thousand, but at the deteriorating rate of humanity’s lack of humanity, well, the date has been pushed forward.
In six months, Conquest, Famine, War, and I will destroy Earth and there’s nothing anybody can do to stop it.
Not even Violet.
Chapter 3
Recollection
*
Violet
Past. New Wings. Circ. 2009
“VIOLET, ARE YOU there?”
My eyes flutter open as I’m pulled from my dreamless state by a sweet, feminine voice.
I blink, slowly at first, trying to clear the oil that blurs my vision. The faster I flick my eyelids, the quicker the sharp corners of the world return. I groan and scratch my head, losing my fingers in the tangles of my messy hair. My head hurts. It thumps painfully, like a team of ballers are playing basketball on the top of my skull. In an attempt to ease it, I close my eyes.
“Violet? Can you see me?”
My eyes shoot open and I focus on the face that hovers above my own. I didn’t notice her before. Light purple irises, thinly shaped eyebrows, a small pointy nose, and heart-shaped lips…she has such a pretty face.
“Yes,” I reply, rubbing my dry tongue against the roof of my mouth.
Where am I? I need water.
The woman offers me a kind smile and it makes me feel…safe. She takes my elbow in her small, soft hand and eases me into a seated position. I clench my jaw and hiss through my teeth as my muscles are forced to support my body. What happened to me? I ache all over and, ugh, I’m going to puke. Grimacing, I glance around. I’m in a hospital…I think.
“What happened” I ask, peering down at my simple, white gown. “Where am I?”
I take notice of her yellow sundress. It’s so bright against the pale colors of the room.
The woman lowers herself onto the end of my slender bed and I watch her, cautiously, as she tucks a long, wavy lock of platinum blonde hair behind her ear. She’s nervous. I can see it in the way she swallows and the way her eyes scan my face, trying to figure out my current emotional state. Is there something wrong? Subtly, I wriggle my toes and exhale in relief. Good. I still have my legs.
“Honey, this might be a little hard for you to understand, but—”
“Who are you?” I interrupt, narrowing my eyes.
No one has ever visited me in hospital. Not once. Not ever.
The sound of a boot squeaking against polished tiles pierces my eardrums and I wince as it echoes around the room. I wait, impatiently, as the person with the loud boots grabs the curtain in their hand and pulls it back.
Oh.
I hold my breath at the sight of the tall, broad shouldered man in his well-fitted black tee and loose, black cargos.
