Standing on the hill with all the humans who had been training to become a part of the mission to leave, I watched as Kobal, the demons, Mac, and a handful of older soldiers moved to stand before us. They were grouped together, talking between themselves as they scanned the humans gathered before them.
Kobal’s eyes latched onto me, and my toes curled at the ravenous gleam in his gaze. I loved him more than I’d ever believed possible, but after last night, I was beginning to question if what I’d thought was so right may actually be the worst thing to ever happen to him. If he wouldn’t end up hating me as much as he hated my ancestor.
The possibility caused something inside of me to shrivel. I’d rather be dead than ever have that happen, but if we continued to get closer it might. I just didn’t know how I could ever let him go. The idea tore at my insides, shredding them to pieces and leaving me as raw and exposed as I’d felt when I’d first awoken last night.
Because of my curiosity about my ancestor, I’d reached out to him in my dream and now Lucifer knew what I was to Kobal, what he was to me. He would do everything he could to exploit that knowledge. And what if he’d been right? What if one day I became like him and clung to Hell. What if what I could do turned me into a twisted version of what he’d become?
Kobal might be right and Lucifer had been lying to keep me from getting better with my powers, I definitely wouldn’t put it past the bastard, but he also could have been telling the truth. I had no idea what had caused him to become the way he was; there may be something that could do the same thing to me.
It was all so confusing, and I found myself unable to breathe as the bodies pressed closer against me and a sense of impending doom weighed heavily on my chest.
Mac stepped forward and approached the soldiers fanned out before him. Only one hundred of the original two hundred remained, the others had already been cut. They all stood rigidly, their shoulders thrust back and their chins tilted up. I tried to assume their proud postures, but I felt like a wilting weed in a field of tall stalks. I’d never been a good soldier; there was no point in trying to pretend to be now.
“We’ve made our decision about who will be joining this vital mission,” Mac announced. “A mission that will present horrors and dangers we have yet to come across, but these horrors will become a daily part of all of humanity’s existence if something is not done to end it now. We have an opportunity to do that, and we are going to take it.”
A ripple went through the crowd as some murmured in excitement about what was to come. These people may not have known what they were getting into when they’d originally volunteered to come to the wall, but over the course of my time here, I’d come to learn more than a few of them excelled at being a solider.
“Due to the necessity of trying to keep a low profile, there will only be fifty men and women joining the demon faction on this journey. If I call your name, please remain where you are until you are told to do otherwise.” Mac paced before the group, calling out names as he strode back and forth before us.
Eyes swung toward me when my name was called. Questions traveled through some of the people gathered. I was a volunteer; I wasn’t supposed to be considered for this journey. I hadn’t gone through the special training with them, but then none of them knew I was the whole reason this mission was taking place.
They knew where they were going, what they might face, but they hadn’t been told it was me who had set it all into motion to begin with. Kobal had decided to keep that from them until the end.
“Whore slept her way into this.”
My gaze didn’t waver, but my jaw clenched at the familiar, hated voice. Over the past week, I’d heard the terms whore and slut more times than I’d ever thought possible. I’d also learned the name of the woman who threw those words at me with such spiteful glee. It was Eileen. I’d come to despise that name as much as her.
“They’re only taking the best,” someone else murmured. “They wouldn’t take someone because she’s sleeping with one of them.”
“She’s screwing the leader,” Eileen hissed back.
“And so did you, once.”
I resisted the urge to tear every blonde hair from Eileen’s head. Kobal wouldn’t have cared if I’d had a thousand lovers before him, but I despised the reminder he’d had many before me. I really hated that one of them had beenher.
Jealousy wasn’t something I was accustomed to, but she brought it forth so easily in me. I really hoped her name wasn’t called for this. I may end up throwing her into the pit of Hell myself if it was.
“I don’t see him taking you with him though,” the man who had been speaking with Eileen continued. “And from what I’ve heard of her, she’s more lethal than you are.”
I bit back a laugh, and my gaze darted to the side to see who it was that had caused Eileen’s face to turn redder than the lobsters from back home. The man who had uttered the words wasn’t looking at Eileen; his eyes remained focused ahead.
He was handsome with his brunet hair cropped short against his skull. He stood proudly with his broad shoulders thrust back and his hands folded behind him. His indigo eyes followed Mac’s every move, but his head never wavered from its forward position.
Eileen glared at him before turning to focus on me with the hate-filled look I’d become so accustomed to since my relationship with Kobal had intensified. She stood in the row behind me and three people to my right. I smiled back at her and gave a little wave of my fingers, somethingnoneof the other soldiers who would be chosen for this mission would do, which made it more fun.
Turning back around, I focused on Kobal as Mac recited the last of the names and returned to the center of the group.
“If your name was called, please come forward now!” Mac announced.
People moved forward amongst the crowd, walking proudly toward Mac and the others. I was happy to see the man who had been speaking with Eileen heading toward the front while she remained unmoving, her face turning redder and her mouth hanging open. She must have hoped to get accepted for this mission with the goal of getting Kobal all to herself.
Suck it.
I’d taken five steps forward when the world faded away from me, and the image of Eileen lunging at my back with a knife filled my head.
I gasped when I was thrust back into my body. I twisted to the side as a foot-long blade slid past my stomach. It was so close it sliced open the front of my shirt and nicked my skin. If I hadn’t seen her coming, she would have stabbed me clean through with it.
Her startled brown eyes met mine before she swung the knife at me again. Keeping my stomach sucked in, I jumped back, barely managing to avoid being gutted by the blade. The movement caused me to crash into the side of someone.
