Cursed (Demon Kissed #2) (25 page)

When the glowing red ring of light
appeared in the distance, my heart caught in my throat. Collin
would come into view in a minute. His body would be ravaged, torn
to shreds by demon talons, as he lay unconscious on the ground.
Tears stung behind my eyes, but I couldn’t let them fall. I rubbed
my face hard, and took a deep breath. This was it. This is where I
failed or succeeded. He needed me, and I needed him. He was my soul
mate, and I wouldn’t leave him here.

Lying on my stomach, I peered over the
edge of the chasm. The gorge dropped off steeply and appeared to go
on forever. A faint red glow emanated from somewhere deeper down in
the ravine. Swallowing hard, I pushed my head back from the edge
and looked up. Collin was in front of me. It was like my vision,
which meant I would be spotted by demons at any moment. As soon as
I thought it, the rest of the vision played out exactly as I’d seen
it. Something tugged the shadows that masked my scent, and it
didn’t matter how hard I tried to retain them, the shadows were
ripped away in one painful pull. As the last cold shadow was torn
away, the demons caught my scent and turned their snarling deformed
heads toward me—and charged.

The demons terrified me more than I
could have imagined. Their vicious eyes focused on me, before the
demons’ bent and blackened bodies sprang into action. They moved
like a wave as each one fought to reach me first. Glistening black
scaly flesh had a red cast as they neared the edge of the ravine.
Teeth like daggers, stained with blood, bore at me.

I efanotated to where Collin lie, with
my scream cut off as my body seared from within. The scalding heat
filled my body and when I thought I couldn’t bare the pain for
another moment, I was kneeling in front of Collin. A smug smile
began to spread across my face. As I reached for Collin’s hand to
take him away with me, I saw the confusion unfold en masse as the
demons tried to locate me. Within a matter of seconds, they saw
that I’d reached my target.

I focused on the ruby ring to generate
enough power to efanotate Collin and I to safety. Breathing hard,
my finger trembled as I rubbed the stone. The heat began to lick my
stomach and travel up my throat. Any second and we would be safe.
The heat just had to intensify and surge through Collin, but there
wasn’t enough time. The enormous black wings appeared above us,
descending like a falling plane. I held onto the heat, refusing to
release the power of the only thing that could save us. The
creature’s black belly dropped out of the sky faster than I thought
possible. That damn dragon had been following me the entire time I
was down here. Why did he wait so long to kill me? Why allow me to
get so close to Collin and then attack? A panicked cry flew from my
throat. The monster’s maw was wide open as it descended, making a
horrific noise as it extended its taloned paws towards us. The
massive blades came crashing down around us, pinning me to the
ground. The creature shrieked, as it closed its gnarled fingers
around Collin’s limp body and pulled him away from me.

Cowering, screams continued to erupt
from my throat. Only when it spread its wings and pushed upward,
did I realize that it hadn’t killed us. Collin’s hand was pulled
out of my grip as he ascended with the beast into blackness. I
jumped to my feet shaking, screaming incoherent words at the
dragon. Tears streamed down my cheeks and every blood vessel in my
neck felt like it was on the verge of exploding. I was screaming
incoherently, telling it to come back, taunting it.

The demons didn’t attack. They stood
motionless, watching my fit of rage.

Screams of pure hate flew from my
mouth, as my throat was ripped raw by the sound. “WHERE ARE YOU?” I
screamed at Kreturus. I knew he was here. My jaw locked as my nails
bit into the flesh of my palm. “Come out you coward! It’s me you
want! I’m here and I’m not leaving!” I bellowed. My voice bounced
off the cavern walls as the demons watched.

I stared at the darkness surrounding
me with my jaw clenched tight. My heart was hammering in my ears,
as I turned slowly. The place directly behind me, the darkness I’d
crossed when I efanotated to Collin on the stone island—it moved.
Complete certainty washed over me. It was Kreturus. I stepped
towards the edge of the chasm.

“
What did you do with
him?” I growled.

A smooth, disembodied masculine voice
flowed back at me, “He’s mine, Ivy. You can’t just take things that
don’t belong to you.” The voice radiated through the
blackness.

My sneer intensified, “He doesn’t
belong to you! You stole his life and trapped him in this one. I
freed him. He is no longer Valefar. He does not belong to you.” My
eyes were transfixed on the darkness. I looked for the enormous red
glowing coals there were his eyes the last time I’d seen him. I
waited for the rancid breath to wash over me as he approached, but
he stayed masked by the shadows on the other side of the ravine. A
noise caused me to look above the black void. The dragon nestled
its gauzy black wings tightly at its sides and sat as a sentry high
above us. Collin was not in sight.

The voice answered, “That’s where you
are wrong. Everything in this realm is mine. If the darkness can
touch it, it belongs to me. Nothing is beyond my reach. Not your
love. Not your sister… No one.”

Apryl appeared out of the darkness and
remained perfectly still. Her cheeks were streaked with tearstains.
She was frozen in a silent scream with terror etched across her
face.

Alone in the blackness,
surrounded by demons, I felt the rage festering in every inch of my
body. My eyes burned, as I breathed, instantly pooling violet. My
jaw locked and I said nothing. Apryl’s words from the Pool of Lost
Souls echoed through my mind,
Kill
Kreturus!
But how? How! “What do you
want?”

“
What I’ve always wanted.”
The voice was smooth and seemed closer. I turned expecting to see
the massive demon looming over my shoulder, but no one was there.
He spoke into my opposite ear and I flinched. “You.”

Faltering, I took a step back. “I’m
not for sale.” My voice lost its fury, but none of the
venom.

“
What if I offered you
something that you already want? What if you came willingly?” His
voice spoke from within the shadows across from me on my side of
the pit. There was a faint outline where he stood in the
darkness.

“
I’d rather die.” I spit
the words at him with hatred. He was toying with me, but his words
were difficult to ignore. It was impossible to maintain my rage.
Frozen, I stood there. Listening.

“
You don’t want to free
your sister?” he cooed. “You wouldn’t restore her soul if it was
within your power? You wouldn’t give her back her life?” he asked.
I didn’t answer. How could I? He continued, “I don’t think we want
different things. I think you would be secure in knowing that you
and your sister were safe. Control over your fate would be within
your reach. No more prophecies to bend to. No more commands to
follow. No reason to prove yourself to anyone. You’d have complete
control over your life…”

Anger surged through me. His words
were playing me, and I could feel my resolve swaying. That pissed
me off. Ignoring everything he’d said, I yelled, “Show yourself,
you coward! You keep hiding behind shadows, too afraid to show your
ugly face. But you forget, I’ve already seen you. I’ve already
snuck in here and saw your evil form. Stop trying to manipulate me.
I won’t bend. There is no way in Hell that I’d ever help
you.”

He laughed, “I’m only offering you
what you already want. And the form you saw before was the
illusion. It was your own making, Ivy. You imagined the heinous
demon that could pull you into Hell and make you his slave. You
created that reality, including what I looked like. In reality, I
have no form. No shape. No body. I am power, a force of pure
destruction, and utter devastation. The Martis trapped me here, but
they made an oversight.” My heart sank. Shit. Al was right. He did
find a way around it. Kreturus laughed, “You already know, don’t
you? I’ve not been stuck in this prison for some time. If I enter
another form, our powers combine and I am free. You wouldn’t lose
your free will Ivy. You would just be more powerful. Powerful
enough to restore life to the only family member you have
left.”

It felt like ice slid down my spine. I
could barely breathe. His words seduced me, offering everything and
requiring nothing of me, but to allow him use of my body. I stared
into the blackness, revolted by how easily he could tempt me. Words
fell out of my mouth and I knew they were right without
contemplating. “No. If you want me, you’ll have to kill me first.
And I’m done with this conversation.” I turned on my heel ready to
walk away. I had no idea where I was going, I only knew I had to
find Collin and get away from Kreturus. I felt my will weakening.
The more he spoke, the more his words sounded logical. I had to
remind myself that if he had my cooperation, he would open the
gates of Hell. Demons and the other evil spawn I saw walking around
would overflow from the Underworld and destroy my world. Kreturus
needed it as a stepping-stone to overtake the angels realm. Earth
was middle ground, a neutral zone. No, I couldn’t let him win. But,
I couldn’t kill him. As he said, he was pure power, a trapped force
with no physical body to destroy. Why did I think I could kill him?
Why did I ever think this would be easy?

His voice spoke softly behind me, “You
cannot walk away from me, Ivy Taylor.”

“
Then stop me,” I blurted
out. But, I’d underestimated his ability. I thought if he had no
form, his powers would be hindered, but they weren’t. Suddenly, I
felt like I was in a straightjacket and slammed into an invisible
wall. My feet were heavy and glued to the floor.

“
Ivy,” he sounded amused,
“this is petty. Of course I can stop you. Of course I could end
your fragile life and snap you in two. I can do anything I want to
you, and you can’t stop me. But, that isn’t my desire. I don’t want
you that way. I want you to invite me—willingly. This is your last
chance. Don’t refuse me.”

His invisible bindings dropped and I
turned, staring into the darkness. “Or what?” I screamed. “You’ve
taken everything from me. There is nothing—NOTHING—else you can do
that would make me willingly offer you anything.” I spat the words
like they were poison. Hate fueled my passion, and his amusement
fanned the flames. Kreturus’ hollow laugh reverberated off the
cavern walls. His demons drew away, cowering. The dragon, high on
the cliff, buried its head under its wing after giving me a look
that said it thought I was an idiot. I sensed the same thing they
did. His power was so thick I could feel it sliding over my skin.
Shivering I backed away.

I came down here and I
lost. I saved no one, but I’d be damned if I was going to let him
take me. There was no way that thing was welcome in my body. As
Kreturus’ power ebbed, the darkness thickened. Things happened too
quickly to think. The swirling black mass in front of me flowed
outward like a storm cloud bursting open. Stunned, I watched as it
swirled around creating a space in the middle. In that space, I
could make out a prone form lying still on the ground. My heart
sank.
No, no, no!
My gaze jerked up towards the dragon’s perch, but he was
gone.

Shaking I ran straight towards the
black mass screaming. But, when I threw myself against the wall of
darkness, I was launched back. My body flew through the air and
collided with a stalactite before sliding to the floor. Pain shot
through me on impact, but it didn’t stop me. As I righted myself,
rage engulfed me. I felt the instant transformation consume me. My
eyes pooled instantly. Violet tongues of fire raced down each
strand of hair until the tips of my long curls glowed bright
purple. It was like flipping a switch. There was no fear. Only
intense anger.

Rage.

Eric had said to contain my rage when
this happened last time. My inability to mask my emotions cost me
the Martis’ trust. And it later cost Eric his life. And now, there
was nothing left to lose. Strength flooded my body as Kreturus’
voice resonated in a hideous laugh throughout the
cavern.

Suddenly, the black cloud became
translucent and shone like oil on blacktop. Its spinning shifted
directions as the blacked mist streamed rapidly towards the prone
boy who was trapped in the center of the vortex—Collin. The oily
mass flowed rapidly into the sliced skin that covered his body.
Collin remained inert, but his body stiffened and writhed as the
black mass slid into him through his marred flesh.

Again, I ran towards him, trying to
penetrate the black mist that was surrounded Collin. But, the
invisible force that surrounded him threw me backwards, screaming.
As I jumped to my feet to try and reach Collin another way the
sound of wind rushing through the cavern whistled at a deafening
pitch, and paralyzed me. My hands instinctively covered my ears to
block out the noise. I looked up and saw Collin’s body within the
vortex, spine arched, hovering above the ground. The last of the
inky darkness was sucked into his wounds, and his limp body dropped
to the floor. Everything began to pass in a matter of seconds that
felt like eternity.

Complete coldness engulfed me, filling
the pit of my stomach like lead. I didn’t need an instruction
manual to know what had happened. The black powerful mass that
spoke to me, the thing that was Kreturus, the thing that wanted to
reside inside of me—it was inside of Collin.