Shax stepped in his way. “We can’t change this.”
“We can turn her into a demon,” Hawk said. “I was turned. She can be turned too.”
“Not without her losing her connection to life,” Caim said. “I have suffered the severing of my bond. It would destroy her as surely as death.”
“You can’t know that!” Hawk exploded.
“Yes,” Caim said, “Ican know.”
Vargas draped his arm around Erin’s shoulders and pulled her close when tears spilled down her cheeks.
“She can’t stay like that,” I said as I stepped away from Erin.
I started toward River. I would kick, punch, or claw away the thing kneeling at her side if I had to. I didn’t care what it took to get the guide away from her, but I wanted itgone. A vivid golden glow emanated from the child as I moved closer to them. Like the blood and life flowing from River earlier, the light increased until it was impossible to look at it anymore.
Stepping back, I threw my arm up and turned my head away from the increasing glow.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw another gateway opening almost fifty feet away from the one River had closed. My throat went dry when Kobal rose from the bowels of Hell. His amber eyes were the same color and nearly as radiant as the light spreading across the ground from Angela. Behind Kobal, the others emerged with the hounds on their heels as the new gateway started to close.
I stumbled back when a bolt of lightening pierced the earth next to River. Thrown up by the impact of the strike, dirt and rocks pelted me. They stung my face and body as they bounced off me. Grunts of pain and cries of surprise filled the air as the lightening continued to pummel the ground.
The sizzling electricity filling the air caused my hair to stand on end. The loud crackle of it became all I could hear as jagged white bolts broke off from the initial blast. Like arms, or some kind of feelers, those smaller white bolts stretched out to connect with the ground.
I peered at the strange phenomena in glimpses from under my arm as it became brighter before exploding. The explosion flung me back a good fifteen feet and I landed with anumph. Much like the blow River had delivered to me earlier, this blast left my skin electrified and a little singed. An oddly metallic taste lingered in my mouth.
Shaking my head, I glanced around the clearing to discover we’d all been thrown back, even those who had emerged from the gateway Kobal had created to leave Hell. Only Kobal remained standing.
From the tangled mass of tossed-aside humans and demons, Caim pulled himself free to crouch beside me. He set a fist onto the ground as his black wings spread out behind him. The look of wonder on his face caused my eyebrows to rise.
Turning my head, my jaw dropped when I spotted the large man kneeling at River’s side. No, not just a man, I realized as white and gold wings unfurled from his back and he scooped River’s body into his arms. Her head fell back as he cradled her against his chest. The angel rested a hand over her heart as Kobal charged across the clearing at him.
I’d been fighting with Kobal for nearly thirteen hundred years, and never had I seen him look as enraged as he did now. All the markings on his arms and chest pulsed as they shifted toward the angel. Fire crackled over his skin, the flames lashing out around him.
The angel’s head snapped up when Kobal’s steps thundered through the air. Staggering back, the angel threw up his hand.
A wave of white light shot out of the angel’s palm at the same time as a wall of fire erupted from Kobal. I’d seen many,manythings over my life. I’d never seen anything like that fire smashing into the light. White and red sparks shot out to the sides, pushing those closest to them further away as wherever the sparks fell, the already burnt ground blackened further. A wall of white and red formed between Kobal and the angel as their abilities battered against each other.
Kobal’s shoulder lowered as he pushed against the angel. The angels’ ability to wield life was supposed to be one of the deadliest, if not the deadliest force in existence, yet somehow, Kobal gained ground against it.
Because the angel has Kobal’s Chosen.
However, I knew it was more than that. The Chosen bond made demons stronger, but the power emanating from Kobal reminded me of the Fires of Creation, and I knew there was far more to the varcolac than I’d ever realized. Kobal would not stop until he reclaimed River.
I didn’t think to help him; this was not a place for me. Right now, the angel or Kobal would destroy me and not even realize what they’d done. I was a demon, and this was the wrath of Gods.
CHAPTER 34
Kobal
My head bowed and my toes dug into the ground as I pushed against the energy flowing from the angel. It was the same kind of power River emitted, but on afarstronger level as it battered the wall of fire before me.
Every day, River had become better attuned to what she could do and at controlling her abilities, but she never would have been able to emit a flow of energy this deadly.
At first, the flow of our powers felt equal as they battled against each other. Neither of us gained ground, but we didn’t lose it either. Then, I felt the smallest give in the angel’s abilities and I gained a few inches on him. I wouldn’t allow the angel to win, or keep me away fromher. There was no way I’d let him do something more than the angels had already done to her. She wasdeadbecause of them.
If I got my hands on her, I could change her, make her demon and immortal, and fuck the consequences. But turning her into a demon could make her exactly like Lucifer if she survived the change. Not only would I hate myself for that, but she would hate me too.
Every part of me screamed to change her though, to keep my Chosen with me, to not let her go. My brain knew I couldn’t change her, but my instincts clamored to give her my blood and keep her with me.
