His orange eyes flicked toward River. “I hate these fuckers.”
“So do I.” I focused on River once more. “Fire is your best weapon against them.”
She didn’t get a chance to respond before the revenirs rushed forward as quickly as their hideously rotten bodies would allow them to. A low squeal of excitement emanated from them as one; the squeal rose toward their ear-splitting pitch once more.
Before they could reach their full, paralyzing screech, I shouted, “Fire your weapons!”
Bullets exploded from the guns, shredding through the remaining skin and bones of the revenirs. Some of them jerked and lurched from the impact of the bullets, others toppled to the ground like broken sticks. The ones hitting the ground continued onward, dragging themselves forward with their bony, malformed hands. Bullets pierced through skulls, shattering them and finally ceasing the movements of some.
On the other side of the close circle, humans fell back, toppling beneath the weight of the revenirs clawing at their bodies. The shrieks had ceased now that they were so focused on achieving their meal.
One of them leapt at me, its mouth open and its bony fingers hooked into claws. My hand shot out, and I seized hold of its throat and snapped its head from its neck with a thrust of my thumb against the bottom of its chin. Releasing it, I stomped on its skull before turning to grab hold of two more charging forward.
They had no eyes, but I knew their attention focused on River when their cries of excitement increased. My stomach did an odd somersault when I realized they had recognized what she was. Either they sensed in her something I hadn’t, or they believed Lucifer’s offspring would be the only one I’d defend to the death, but even if she hadn’t been the possible key, I would have laid down my life in order to protect hers.
Lucifer may have sent them in search of her, and if any of these revenirs managed to get away, they would report to him where she was.
“None of them can be allowed to survive. Kill them all!” I bellowed.
Bale and Corson carved through the ones leaping at them with swords, while the other demons beat and pummeled the revenirs into a pulp.
CHAPTER 32
River
Kobal kept his body in front of me, moving with the lethal speed I’d seen when the madagans had attacked us. His eyes blazed with their golden fire as he tore the head off one of the oozing skeletons leaping and rushing at us. My head spun as I tried to take it all in while still trying to rid myself of the lingering pain their hideous screaming had caused to explode in my head and ears.
My bones felt like they were quaking as gunshots continued to pelt the malformed, twisted bodies of those things coming at us. Screams resonated from the humans falling beneath the onslaught of the dead.
I kept my hands up in a defensive position, but I felt my muscles go slack when one of those things pounced on the chest of a man ten feet away from me. Its mouth opened as it pushed the man further into the ground. Its head twisted to the side as it pressed its rotten, scaly lips against the man’s mouth.
People ran back and forth between me and the man, but I couldn’t tear my gaze away as I helplessly watched the man’s hands beat against the creature’s chest, shoving at its bony shoulders. His feet kicked against the ground, but no sounds came from him as the hideous creature continued its macabre kiss. The man’s flesh shriveled as the life drained from his body and into the monster on his chest. I had to help, but it all happened so fast that I only made it one step toward them.
The mummified skin of the revenir filled out; the grayish yellow color faded away to be replaced by a healthier white hue. Skin slid over the bones at the tips of its fingers as the man looked increasingly like a worm left out on the sidewalk in August. Around me, screams, gun shots, and the slicing sound of steel filled the air, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the monstrosity before me.
The kiss of death.It now had a completely new meaning, and I couldn’t help but wonder if it didn’t get its origin from just this sort of scene. Some poor human had witnessed this through the veil and spread the word amongst those who would listen to him.
The man’s hands slid away from the creature, falling to his sides as his feet stopped kicking on the ground. A dried husk was all that remained of him when the thing lifted its head. My breath froze, and my blood ran cold when the creature looked at me. Its eye sockets were still blackened holes but now a red light burned from within those pitch-black depths.
Flakes of its skin fell off when its dried lips pulled back to reveal the empty maw of its mouth. The pointed tip of its blackened tongue flickered out before it launched itself off the withered corpse of its victim. It raced across the ground at me with far more speed than it had displayed before draining the man of his life.
I shook off the stupor clinging to me and braced my legs apart when the creature leapt at me. I spun, throwing out an elbow, catching it in the cheek, and sending it spiraling to the ground. It released one of those hideous shrieks before rising to its feet again. I resisted clamping my hands over my ears like it wanted me to do.
I would have given anything for a gun or sword right now as it came at me again.Fire, Kobal had told me. Lifting my hands, I winced against the hideous sound the revenir continued to emit. I tried to will the fire from my palms when it leapt at me again, but nothing happened.
Spinning to the side at the last second, I ducked to let it soar over my head. Its hands dug at my back, shredding my shirt with its skeletal fingers. I threw myself to the side, scrambling to avoid it as it came at me again. Something crashed into my back, knocking me to my knees, and I realized the thing had pounced on me like a cat on a mouse.
Swinging back, I drove my elbow into its jaw. Despite the hard blow, it stubbornly hung on to me. Through the ruined material of my shirt, its fingers clawed at my back. Its excited chattering increased when it succeeded in spilling my blood. I shoved myself up and flipped onto my back, smashing it into the dirt and finally knocking its grip free.
I rolled over to my side and off of the monster. My fingers tore at the blackened earth as I scrambled to evade the bony fingers clutching at my legs. Spinning around, I pulled my foot back and slammed it into the creature’s face before pulling back and kicking it again. I continued to bash it with my foot repeatedly until its face caved, and its fingers finally released me.
My chest heaved as I pulled myself backward with my elbows until I fell against the body of the man who had been sucked dry. The sounds of the battle poured into my ears as my eardrums finally heard something other than the hideous shriek of the one who had attacked me.
My gaze fell on Kobal’s bare back as he fought four of them off. They’d ripped his shirt from him; his back bore the marks of their bony fingers across the intricate tattoos circling his shoulder blades. He didn’t appear to feel any of the damage they’d inflicted on his body as he continued to slash at them with his claws.
Putting my hands under me, I shoved myself up to go back and try to help the others. A hand caught my wrist, jerking me back before I could get to my feet. My heart plummeted into my stomach when I turned to stare into the empty eyes of the man who had been killed.
“It’s you.” The tone of his voice reminded me of the doors on dusty tombs pulled open for the first time. I half expected flecks of dust to fall from his arid mouth onto me. “I see you.”
