“It’s been a while.”
“Because you were trying to reach me?”
His gaze flickered to me before focusing onthe sky again. “I was perfectly capable of waiting.”
Still, I hated to have been the cause for thedepth of the hunger I sensed coming from him. My fingers squeezedaround his. “I’ve drawn you into my visions before and entered yourdreams, maybe I can see the wraiths through your eyes.”
“I’m not sure you want to see this,River.”
“I want to see everything that has to do withyou.Everything.”
He hesitated for a minute; then his handsqueezed mine. Drawing me against his side, he clasped my neck,rubbing his thumb over my flesh as he kissed my forehead. I closedmy eyes, taking comfort in him while my senses flooded with theforce that was Kobal.
I felt an opening, a drawing like what Iexperienced when I’d sucked him into my visions those couple oftimes before, but this was more compelling. Now it felt like a dambroke within me as the power swelled forth, eager to break free ofthe cage I’d confined it to since my dream with Lucifer.
“The more you use your abilities, thestronger they’ll become,” Kobal whispered against my forehead.
My eyes flew open as his became the color ofgold. He was all I could see at first, but I sensed something morebeyond his broad shoulders. Turning my attention from him, I gaspedwhen I realized I now saw the sky through his eyes and thatthousands upon thousands of creatures swarmed in a giant mass aboveus.
Their bodies were the color of tar as theyzipped about overhead faster than a hummingbird. Some of them werestill rising from the earth, moving sluggishly upward in wavesbefore me. Their hollow mouths hung open to reveal the pits ofnothingness their souls had become.
I’d have bet almost anything these eyelesscreatures with their long, twisted gray faces were the foundationfor the grim reaper. The ends of their blackened souls looked likerobes flapping in the wind as they rose in a swaying rhythm. Oncethey hit the sky, they moved as rapidly as their brethren throughthe air.
These things were hideous and so cold theychilled me to the marrow of my bones. I wanted to pull Kobal closerso I could share his warmth, but I couldn’t. He’d brought me herebecause he had to feed. I’d told him I could handle this, and Iwould. My teeth chattered, but I could do this. I could and woulddo anything for him.
“River?”
“I’m fine,” I murmured, wondering if my voicesounded as raw as the rest of me felt.
His hands slid over my flesh, but it didlittle to warm me. “We’re leaving.”
“No.”
“You’re freezing to the touch.”
“I told you I can do this, and I can. I’m notleaving until you’ve fed.”
He flexed his hands, but he turned away fromme and lifted a hand toward the sky. Some of the wraiths screamed,their awful cries unlike anything I’d ever heard before. It was thesound of death.
CHAPTER 30
River
I didn’t see anything come out of Kobal’shand, but I felt the power within his vibrating muscles. Heseparated one of the wraiths from the others, drawing it toward himas it writhed and thrashed within his pull. Its scream became ahowl that made my stomach twist.
It was only three feet away when Kobalstepped forward and enclosed his hand around its throat. The wraithflailed about until it became nothing more than a black blur.Kobal’s eyes closed as whatever he did to the wraith caused hisbronzed skin to darken and his golden eyes to glow in a way I’dnever seen before.
The wraith’s jerking movements eased. Kobalreleased the wraith. It hung in the air before him, its face moretwisted than before as its jaw had descended another inch and itseye sockets had expanded. I swore it stared straight into me anddidn’t like whatever it saw there. Malice and hatred radiated fromit as it floated closer to me.
“Get away from her!” Kobal snarled at it.
Ignoring the lethal undercurrent of Kobal’stone, it crept closer to me. Kobal snagged hold of it, drawing itagainst his chest with a roar. I took a step back when the marks onhis body vibrated and the wraith screamed so loudly I thought myeardrums would rupture. Unlike the ghosts who couldn’t be touched,the demons could inflict severe damage on these creatures.
Kobal’s marks deepened to a jet black. Hisskin became a darker brown color as his muscles swelled largerbefore me and the veins in his arms stood out starkly. With anabrupt thrust, he flung the creature away from him. It fell to theearth, flopping as it tried to take flight but only succeeded indragging itself away.
He tilted his head back to the sky before helifted his hand to draw another one down to him. I watched as hefed from three more, all of them wise enough to not bother mebefore returning to the sky.
When he was done, he turned to me, his eyesalight and his skin fairly glowing with whatever nourishment he’dtaken from them. I didn’t know what to say to him, but I recognizedthe hunger for my body in his gaze when he took hold of my waistand drew me against him. “We need to get you warm.”
