Raphael stared at Kobal for another minute before releasing his sword and shoving Caim’s hand away. “Don’t touch me again,” he spat before stalking away.
“Raphael,” Caim said, and the angel stopped to look at him over his shoulder. “The varcolac is the rightful king of Hell, and Earth is more Hell now than not. The varcolac rules here, and you know it. You were a follower in Heaven and you will be one here too.”
Raphael stared unblinkingly at him before walking away again. I inhaled a ragged breath and lowered my hands from Kobal’s back.
“He will come around,” Caim said, his gaze still locked on Raphael’s rigid back.
“He has no choice,” Kobal replied.
Leaning over the side of the truck, Lix plucked a feather from one of Caim’s wings. Caim gawked at the grinning skellein tucking the feather into his hat.
“Fallen or not, your feathers are much prettier and more colorful than that one’s,” Lix said and pointed his thumb at where Raphael stood with Shax and the group he was organizing.
Caim continued to gawk at Lix as if he didn’t know what had happened. Ruffling his wings, he clasped them fully against his back while he glowered at the skellein. “Don’t ever do that again,” he commanded.
Lix saluted him before leaning against the cab of the truck again. The metal clanged when he slapped his hand against the side of the bed. “Onward, good man!” he commanded, though no one sat behind the wheel yet.
CHAPTER 42
Kobal
Cresting the top of a hill, I gazed down at the wall spreading across the land. River’s breath caught and she slumped against my side. The houses in the town and the massive structure of the wall looked little different than the last time I’d seen them. However, there were more humans standing guard on top of the wall and far less of them training in the field than there would have been on a normal day.
I searched the entire structure before spotting a broken section about three miles to my right. From there, I spotted another crumpled section with smoke still rising from it.
“They’ve had an attack recently and sustained damage,” I said.
“My brothers,” River whispered.
“We will get them tomorrow,” I promised, “but I have to speak with Mac. We must learn what has happened here, what is going on with the humans, and how far Hell has spread. You also need a break.”
“I’m fine.”
She wasn’t fine. She tried to keep her discomfort hidden, but I didn’t miss her winces or the way she sometimes lagged and occasionally fell asleep while she walked. She refused to let me carry her on the journey, and wouldn’t spend any more time in the vehicles than the others. A few hours of rest would most likely heal most of her aches and blisters. I would make sure she took the time to recuperate, because she wouldn’t.
“Daybreak tomorrow, we’ll leave,” I promised her.
“Daybreak,” she murmured and trudged down the hill beside me.
We were halfway down the hill when vehicles emerged from the town and raced over the grassy field toward us. I nudged River a little behind me. We’d left here as allies, and I didn’t expect to be greeted with hostility, but things had drastically changed since we’d last been here.
Before the first truck skidded to a stop in front of us, Colonel Ulrich MacIntyre leapt out of the passenger side. He kept his broad shoulders back as he strode across the grass toward us. There were lines around his gray eyes and mouth that hadn’t been there before. His graying brown hair was grayer now, and a haggard air surrounded him, but he smiled at us.
“It is good to see you both,” he said as he extended his hand to me. I clasped it and returned his firm shake before he released it and took River’s hand. “It looks as if you’ve all had a rough go of it.”
“We did. It seems you’ve endured some attacks here,” I said.
“We have,” Mac replied. “Many attacks. Some we beat back, others broke through. We’ve endured a fair amount of casualties too, but from the info we’ve received from other sections of the wall, we’re faring better than most. Some areas of the wall have been completely demolished, and there are reports of some pretty horrific creatures causing it to happen.”
I saw the question in Mac’s eyes as I replied. “Most of those reports are probably accurate.”
His shoulders slumped before he straightened them again. “Was the gateway unable to be closed?”
“River was successful in closing it, but many things escaped before then. Despite our intention to return things to the way they were, there is no undoing what has been done. We have a lot to discuss. It would be best to do so at your place,” I said.
Resting my hands on River’s waist, I lifted her and settled her into the back of the pickup Mac had arrived in. I climbed over the side to sit next to her. The others all settled in with us or spread out through the rest of the vehicles. I kept my arm around River while Mac’s driver returned us to the wall.
The humans and demons we’d left behind came forward as we drove through the streets of the town toward Mac’s residence. Many had dark circles under their eyes, but they all lifted a hand in greeting to us.
