“What’s going on, Kobal?” I asked when wewere halfway down the hill.
“Afraid I’ll hurt you?”
I didn’t blame him for being surly, but Icould feel my pride pricking as I glared at his back. “I never havebeen before. I’m not going to start now.”
He glanced over his shoulder at me, his eyesnarrowing when he found me giving him the death stare. “Because youcan take care of yourself?”
My teeth might fracture from the amount ofpressure I put on them while trying to remain somewhat pleasant inmy response. “I can.”
That wasn’t a lie; I could take care ofmyself. I may not be able to tear off someone’s head or have wavesof fire erupt from my hands like him, but I’d gotten a lot betterat harvesting power from the life I felt pulsating in the eartharound me. I could also shoot enough flames to set his ass onfire.
The flames he knew about, but I’d kept mygrowing ability to wield the power of life to myself with theintention of surprising him with it. We’d stopped talking before Icould show him how much better at it I was getting, and we hadn’ttrained together since. I also kept my growing ability hidden fromBale and Corson, the two demons who had taken over my training whenthings between Kobal and me had ended. It wasn’t that I didn’ttrust them, I did, but Kobal had once warned me to keep the extentof what I could do a secret, and I was still taking thatadvice.
“It’s a good thing I trained you so wellthen,” he said and turned away from me.
Well, that officially ended any softening I’dbeen feeling toward him. I was tempted to throw a ball oflife-filled energy at him to show him how well I’d also trainedmyself lately, but though I wanted to choke him half the time, I’dnever do anything to hurt him, physically.
My nails dug into my palms, and I glowered athis back until we reached the school where the people ate theirmeals every day. Curiosity tugged at me as I followed him into thebuilding, but I didn’t ask him what was going on again.
Our feet slapped against the tile as wewalked. The fluorescent lights above us reflected on the floor,causing it to be almost blinding. Whatever was going on had to beimportant as all the lights in the building were always turned offat night. Electricity was precious and most of it went tomaintaining the wall now separating the destroyed states from thestill-intact, outlying areas.
I’d resided in one of those outlying areasand been happily oblivious to the war humans and demons wagedagainst Lucifer and his followers, until my mother turned me in forbeing different. The soldiers had taken me away from my brothersand brought me here afterward.
We rounded a corner and my step faltered.Standing in the hall were the rest of the men and women I wassupposed to be leaving with today. They all glanced at me beforehastily looking away and finding something else to focus on. Eversince I’d flame-broiled an ugly, boar-like creature known as amadagan, they’d been uneasy around me. They’dreallyavoided me since my ex popped the head offone of them like she’d been nothing more than a Barbie doll.
Gathered with the humans were the five demonswho were closest to Kobal. Corson leaned against the wall, chewingon some gum while he smiled flirtatiously at a pretty, redheadedwoman. Yellow birds dangled from the tips of his pointed ears.Kobal hated that Corson wore the earrings the women he slept withgave to him; I found it funny and it made him stand out as the onlydemon with a sense of humor.
Kobal had once told me Corson was an adhenedemon, a mischievous elf-like demon, and it was entirely fittingfor him with his ears, personality, and lithe build. His black hairwas so dark in color it looked almost blue in the lights shiningdown on him. It stood out in spikes around his narrow face.
His citrine-colored eyes locked on me; hepopped a bubble with his gum as he gazed between Kobal and me. Icould feel the tension radiating from both of us as we stoodrigidly in the hall and resolutely refused to look at eachother.
“Is someone cranky when they’re woken up orare we having another lovers’ quarrel?” Corson inquired of me.
I suddenly understood why Kobal had said heoften had the impulse to rip the earrings from Corson’s ears. Kobalspun toward him. Corson straightened away from the wall and tuggedthe earrings out. He grinned at me when Kobal turned away; Iscowled back at him, which only caused him to chuckle.
Corson and Bale had become the two I’d spentthe most time with recently. Bale was always reserved when she wasaround me; Corson was slowly becoming my only friend in this place.As much as he annoyed me at times, I enjoyed his company.
He may be my only friend here, but I knew hewould always choose Kobal over me. Kobal was his king, and they’dbeen together for centuries as they fought and battled together tofix what Lucifer had torn apart when he’d entered Hell. I wassimply the woman fate had saddled Kobal with, and fate had onetwisted sense of humor when it came to the two of us. The king ofHell’s Chosen was the descendent of his worst enemy and a mortal toboot. Oh yeah, someone was getting a good laugh somewhere over thisone.
“What’s going on?” I whispered to Corson whenKobal moved on to speak with Bale and Morax.
“You’ll find out,” he replied and slipped theearrings back in.
“Corson—”
“It’s a good thing,” he assured me.
I glanced at him questioningly, but heconveniently turned to speak with Verin. Stunning, was the onlyword I could think of for Verin. If she’d been glimpsed from ourdimension by humans who could see beyond the veil, as some thingsfrom the demon world had been, Verin would have been the origin forthe legends about sirens or succubae.
Her hair and eyes were the color of the sun.The ends of her hair brushed against the curve of her tiny waist.Most of the men, and some of the women, would stop to watch herwhen she walked past, but she was Morax’s Chosen, and no one wasgoing to mess with him.
Morax appeared formidable and strange to anyhuman he encountered and probably more than a few demons too. Hisgreen skin had the appearance of scales due to the deeper shades ofgreen swirling across his flesh. Add in his six foot two height,long powerful tail, razor-sharp teeth, two sets of simultaneouslyblinking eyelids, orange snake eyes, and most people were ready torun before they ever saw the six-inch horns growing out of his baldhead and curving toward each other.
No one was going to hit on Verin with Moraxin a mile vicinity. I had no doubt he would make the death ofanyone who tried as unpleasant as possible. My gaze landed on thebites on both of their necks, marking them as each other’sChosen.
Even before I’d known what those marks onthem meant, they’d fascinated me in a strange way. Now I knew itwas because the demon part of me had instinctively recognized whatthey were.
Kobal’s marks on me were fading. The ones I’dleft on him were nearly gone, and I wanted thembackso badly I could almost taste Kobal’s fleshyielding beneath me as I sank my teeth into him. I shook with aracking need and closed my eyes against the pull trying to draw metoward Kobal. A pull I would never be free of no matter how muchdistance I attempted to put between us. Our bond would never bebroken.
