Текст книги "Chains of Frost"
Автор книги: T. A. Grey
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Текущая страница: 8 (всего у книги 18 страниц)
She lifted her chin and said, “Your commander has given me permission to leave at my will. I promise to be back. I just need a break from this place. I’m sure you understand.” She smiled again and the guards looked back and forth at each other. When they leaned close and started whispering in some language she didn’t recognize, she crossed her arms and glared.
One guard nodded and in her mind she started chanting vic-tor-y. The blonde guard stepped forward and looked apologetically at her.
“Ms. Bellum, I’ll have to send word to Commander Tyrian to verify this before I can allow it.” Chloe glared at him and crossed her arms in disgust. The gate wasn’t that tall, maybe she could climb it. Though those metal spikes on the outside of it looked incredibly sharp and big. What were they for anyways? Impaling giants or T-rexes?
“I’ll just radio this in.” Yeah, whatever.
Chloe walked to the gate and gripped the cold metal in her hands. Never in her life had she felt so enclosed in such an open space. She ignored the voices calling on their radio to her enemy, Tyrian. He was so not her fake boyfriend anymore. But why’d he kiss her? He always seemed so afraid to kiss her but then he did back there, and it’d stolen her breath away.
Damn and she still didn’t know about his wife or child. It shouldn’t bother her, but it did...too much. As she gazed out at the vast scenery of glaringly bright snow-drenched mountains, Chloe, for the first time since being kidnapped, truly missed her family. And her job, which she was certain, was gone now. Not that Carl wouldn’t give her the bartending job back with a few sweet smiles sent his way. Was she manipulative in that way? Just a little. Really, Carl was such a softie.
This whole thing had been like one short joy ride for her. She was learning new things about herself, her body, and about a man that captivated her. Now she was ready to cut the ride short and go home from the carnival.
A strange sound caught her ears, interrupting her thoughts. Chloe squinted out into the empty, snowy wasteland of hills and mountains. Not a town or city in sight. They were clearly in the middle of snowy nowhere. The glare of the sun off the snow threatened to burn her retinas.
“Do you guys get trains out here?”
The guards stopped talking and instantly were at her side. Though neither of them
answered her question, they peered out the gate with intent, alert eyes. Then they both sprung into action at the same time.
The blonde warrior slammed his fist into a brick at the side of the gate. But instead of breaking, the brick slid perfectly into the wall like some sort of button. In a matter of seconds, guards swarmed onto the parapet walls back at the castle, and dozens more came pouring out from all sides of the castle...heading straight for her.
The earth started moving. At first, she thought it was from the warriors running towards them, but then she saw snow flying into the air outside the gate in clouds and she realized it was coming from the ground. The sickening, warning feeling started in her stomach. A little too late stomach, she thought angrily.
Warriors grabbed her, pushing her further and further away from the gate.
“Wait, I want to see. What’s going on?” No one answered her.
A wet, heavy sound like a body being dropped into mud brought her eyes swinging over the heads of the warriors blocking the gate. The sound didn’t stop. Repeatedly it came like some kind of eerie warning. Chloe fought against the warriors trying to pull her away and jumped up and down to get a look. Her stomach bottomed out at what she saw. Holes forming in the ground, arms coming out.
One hole was particularly big, leaving a black cavern of a hole around it. Chloe’s eyes went huge. She recognized that hole. The earth shuddered as if gods shouldered those snowy mountains in the background and were pushing them with brute force. If not for the warrior holding her arms, she would have fallen to the ground.
“KLLOOOOOOOOOOWEEEEEEEEEE!”
Chloe jumped at the long, rumble of her name that was so loud she wouldn’t be surprised if those mountains just had avalanches. The guards started shoving her hard, back towards the castle and she went, straight into the arms of Tyrian.
He set her aside coldly, pushing her into the arms of Rayn. “Take her into the castle. I’ll be there in a minute.”
There was no hesitance. Suddenly her body was tingling from her forehead to her toes, the snow and warriors around her flickered, then disappeared as if by magic. Suddenly, she was standing in Tyrian’s study surrounded by the warmth of the fireplace. Rayn only gave her a brief nod, before he disappeared in that same strange way.
“What the hell was that?” Vampires couldn’t teleport around. They didn’t have that kind of ability. That was a power demons had. Her hands flew to her mouth, stifling a gasp.
The sounds of shouts and screams sent her running to the window. She braced her hands on the cold stone and leaned out. Her jaw fell to the ground at what she saw.
It was her demon, and he wasn’t alone. There were dozens of them, maybe forty, or fifty, attacking the gates and walls with swords and claws. Yet her demon was different, big and half-dead, and towering over them all.
Those around him were skinny as a skeleton with greenish skin and hideous, contorted faces. Their jaws were long and pointed out from faces that were covered with white lines of war paint.
These weren’t just any demons. These were idummu, the worst of them all. Bottom feeders that would listen and fight for anyone for a chance to cross the rift and be free. What kind of demon had she summoned? How did it amass so many followers so quickly?
Her hands curled into the cold stone and her gaze unerringly fell to Tyrian. Even amassed in a crowd of warriors wearing the same fierce expressions, he stood out so clearly to her. He gave orders, never shouting but speaking clearly.
Warriors opened the gate and exploded at the skeletal warriors, swords and axes twirling and flying. Arrows flew from the parapets, whizzing through the air like bullets.
Her demon stood at the back, its black, fathomless eyes staring at the Atal Warriors. It tossed its gray head back and howled a bone-chilling sound that she swore shook the walls of the castle with its intensity. When the demon finally stopped, the roar echoed deep into the cold mountains. The demon raised its black fathomless gaze and landed straight on her.
Chloe’s mouth fell open and watched, stunned, as it raised its long arm and pointed straight to her. Its giant mouth, filled with those sharp black teeth, moved, spilling out sounds and syllables she couldn’t decipher into any kind of recognizable language.
The demons screeched, their red and yellow eyes fixing right on her.
“Oh, shit.”
Chapter Thirteen
A sudden popping sound filled the space behind her and like a frightened heroine in a horror movie, Chloe slowly turned to face it. A snarling demon, crouched at its knees, slowly stood. Its big yellow eyes webbed with red spider web veins around the pupils eyed her like she would be its next meal.
Chloe took a quick step back but found her butt hitting the giant window. Oh, shit. The demon’s thin lips pulled into a smile, a thick line of drool falling out of its mouth to glob onto the floor.
Her stomach rolled with the urge to vomit. Then the idummi demon sprang at her. Sharp claws dug into her arm, its bony legs wrapped around her as if it was trying to hug her. The demon was incredibly strong and muscular for something barely five feet tall and bone skinny.
Its knobby bones dug hard into her hips and legs.
It spun her around, crashing them both onto the hard floor. Screaming, Chloe struggled to free her arms from its grasp—to gain some kind of purchase—but it snarled at her, spit spraying onto her face. She was momentarily stunned as the putrid, decaying smell of its spit reached her nostrils. It squeezed her arms in a viciously hard grip and she felt sharp pinching as her skin tore under his grip.
Chloe lurched forward and screamed into the demon’s face, it pulled back in surprised, and she used that moment to throw the demon off her. Its head slammed into the corner of the hearth and Chloe quickly ran for the door.
She reached for the doorknob, her heart thundering in her ears, adrenaline driving her to be faster, stronger, and then she was tackled from behind by a heavy weight. She went tumbling forward, her cheek and mouth slapping against the hard wood door at an awkward angle. Pain exploded in her head. She tasted coppery blood in her mouth and winced as flaring, pulsing pain instantly beat around her busted lip.
Then there were heavy footsteps behind her and the bony weight at her back was gone.
Chloe quickly rolled over and saw Tyrian and Rayn there. Tyrian snapped the demon’s neck with a nasty twist and threw the bony body into the burning fireplace. He came to her, raw anger on his face. The ice completely melted. He bent down and picked her up, cradling her against his chest.
Chloe fought it. “Put me down. I’m fine.” He didn’t and she fought harder, pushing
against his chest, which he ignored and walked her over to Rayn. “Come on, I was doing great there. I could have taken him. Okay, in all honesty, I appreciate you helping me out there but I hate you. So put me down.” He still ignored her, so she did something completely crazy, and that logic would later argue was driven by adrenaline—and kissed him.
She felt the shock in his body, the stiffening. But then his grip changed, moved, became soft and encouraging as his tongue slid easily into her mouth. God, did this vampire know how to kiss . He pulled back and her lips went searching after his. The pain from her fight—didn’t feel it.
The liquid arousal flooding her sex—totally felt.
He turned his cheek and spoke quickly to Rayn. She didn’t bother to listen, was too captivated by the strong muscle flexing at his neck. She followed it, tasting it with the flat of her tongue.
“Mmm,” she moaned. “You taste good, Tyrian.” His arms tightened around her and she
loved it. Suddenly another pair of arms was around her and she lifted her head to glare at Rayn.
“Hey, no sharing here. He’s mine.”
Okay, maybe she was delirious, or maybe it was the adrenaline, or the fact that her vampire boyfriend was holding her. Had even kissed her hard and sweet. Was she really so fickle to go back to calling him her boyfriend after a single kiss? Yes.
Her body tingled all over her, she had only a second to glare at Rayn for doing this to her when the room around them flickered, disappearing again like magic, then a new place appeared.
Somewhere she didn’t recognize.
From the looks of it, they were just outside a major city. Skyscrapers, extravagant hotels, and posh apartments lit up the night sky to draw in wanderers and thrill seekers. Only it was dark as night here. Chloe peeked at Tyrian and Rayn and wondered just what kind of powers these vampires had.
“Someone better explain to me what the hell’s going on.” Rayn smiled at her, and then the warrior was gone in the next blink. “How does he do that?”
Tyrian set her on her feet. “Rayn is half-demon. He carries some of their powers with him including the ability to teleport.” Chloe stared at him.
“He’s half-demon. Demon as in those guys you’ve been fighting to keep back in the rift for a thousand years.” There were different species of demons. The idummi like the one she just fought were considered the bottom rung of the demons. They lived a layer beneath the rift and feasted upon living flesh for sustenance. A shiver wracked through her.
Then there were the normal demons. The “non-cannibal” demons that she’d heard looked just like anyone else but were strong like shapeshifters, fast like vampires, and had magical powers that no other being on earth had. It made them powerful foes.
“Yes,” he said simply.
“How does that even make sense? I thought you hated demons. But you’re okay with
little half-demons so long as they work for you or something? Sounds kind of exploitative, Tyrian.”
Tyrian’s face was back to the normal, passive, nothing-bothers-me face that she both liked and hated. “I do not hate demons, Chloe. Someone must lead the Atal Warriors and keep the demons in the rift. I am just the vampire who does that. I do hate some demons, but they are specific people whom I hope to meet again someday.” Chloe felt the death threat in his words and wondered what the demons did to deserve such hate. She had an idea but she hoped she was wrong.
“Where are we?”
“We are outside of Atlanta, Georgia.”
Chloe waited for him to elaborate, when he didn’t she ground her teeth together and said,
“And why is that?” He looked down at her as if surprised by her question.
“There is an unusual demon after you. It is no longer safe at the castle. Obviously it can track you, something I had not foreseen. I must figure out how to return the demonic creature before it completes its task and kills you.” He said it so casually that she just stared at him.
“And we can figure this out in Atlanta?”
A nod, and then he cupped her elbow and started walking her towards the bright city lights. “I have connections in Atlanta, powerful people who owe me a favor. They will help us, if necessary. One man in particular.” Chloe pulled her arm out of his touch and wrapped it around her middle. She couldn’t think when he touched her. Memories of naked skin, flushed faces, and heavy breathing entered her mind.
“You’re going to call in favors from important people just to help me?”
“Of course. I am your Protector.”
Chloe sighed with disappointment. Of course that was why. What was she expecting
really?
“Well, where are we going first? I hate not knowing.”
He was silent for a minute then he said, “Telal Demuzi.”
Chloe stumbled a step and stared up at him in shock. “Telal Demuzi? The freaking only demon to be allowed to live outside of the rift because he’s so powerful? Oh my God.” As an afterthought, she added, “That’s the man Lily is supposed to be given to.”
Tyrian looked at her but didn’t slow his pace. “Francis listed Telal as your sister’s Protector? That is interesting.”
Her stomach rolled. “Why’s that?”
“I wouldn’t worry for your sister. Telal may be a demon, but he fought on our side to push the demons back at The Great War. He’s been most beneficial to our cause.”
“Yes, that’s neat and all but why is that interesting?”
He shook his head the barest of movements. Was he exasperated? “From what I know,
your father Francis allied with Telal for demon’s rights. They were both trying to open the rift so that the demons can cross over and live among us.”
Chloe knew that Papa believed in the rights of demons. Though she’d never known he’d fought against the demons in The Great War. Maybe he realized his mistake years later and wanted to make amends. She was learning there was a lot more about her Papa than she ever knew.
Deciding to test the waters a little, she reached out her hand for Tyrian’s, twining their fingers together. His arm jerked, but he didn’t pull back. She took that as a good sign and smiled.
Chapter Fourteen
“Why am I not surprised Tyrian left you in charge? Shall I bow, King Henry?” Draven’s laughter was almost contagious.
Henry shook his head. Now was not the time for laughter. Commander Tyrian left him in charge while he got Chloe out of danger. The battle was dying outside. The demons had already killed two of his men, but the Atal Warriors were stronger, faster, better trained. Only one demon kept Henry’s attention. The big gray bastard in the back, standing like some general behind his army.
When most of the idummi demons fell into bloody heaps on the snow, the demon roared like some beast, then slipped back into the cavernous hole it’d crawled from. Dirt and snow piled over the hole, covering it like a hill. What the hell was that thing? Every arrow and bullet shot at it, it’d deflected with some kind of magical wall around him. Most demons didn’t have that kind of power.
“Report,” Henry ordered. Rayn stepped forward, breathing hard from a fight he’d just had.
“Six left. The big gray one just disappeared. I have no idea how he does that, by the way.
We’re securing the gate.”
“Good, burn the dead when it’s done.” Rayn nodded and sped off into the fray. Henry loved this. The smell of blood and sweat, the sounds of clanking metal and the grunts of pain.
They were things he was all too familiar with. They all were.
He strode into the castle. He needed to send a report to the commander about the gray demon disappearing. If it could track Chloe, then it’d probably be on its way to her now. That they hadn’t been able to kill it was unacceptable.
Henry grimaced as he recalled the massive punch that thing had. If he hadn’t moved
when he did, that demon would have killed him. What a way to die, being torn in half by a monster. He was damned lucky and he knew it. Vampires, demons, everyone had weaknesses.
No one was immune to death.
He should have been watching where he was going and not lost in his thoughts because he ran straight into the one person he didn’t want to see. Nanu came around the opposite corner just as he did and smacked into him.
“Ow,” she said shaking out her wrist that had pushed into him.
“Sorry,” he said, rubbing the spot on his chest where she’d touched him. She looked beautiful today. Well, when didn’t she? But today she had her hair pulled back like she’d done it in a hurry and her lab coat was open, revealing the dress slacks and silk button down blouse she wore. Aquamarine earrings, a reminder of her heritage adorned the dark skin of her ears and neck.
The jewelry almost made the expensive clothes she wore look ridiculous, but somehow she managed to pull it off. Or maybe it was just because he’d like her in a baggy sweatshirt made of plastic.
Henry quickly moved before he stayed there any longer. He started around her. She
called after him, but he ignored it and made for his bedroom. He’d contact the commander after he showered and cleared his mind. Right now, he was too frazzled. He closed the bedroom door behind him and pulled his shirt over his head.
The door opened, had him turning hard to it.
“Get out,” he said.
Nanu closed the door, shaking her head as she approached him. He could either stay still or back away. He backed up. She shook her head and rubbed her hands over her face.
“You drive me crazy, Henry.” You and me both.
“Get out,” he said instead.
“No, not until you tell me, specifically, the other reason.” This time he was genuinely confused.
“What reason?” He watched her jaw tighten and slide side to side.
“The other night in the gym. I asked you what your reasons were for not being with you.
You said because you’re a warrior, which I think is completely ridiculous, Henry. I know what you do and I support it. I have no qualms with it. I find it brave,” she said softly. Henry looked away. If he didn’t, he might do something stupid like blush.
“You said I am the other reason. Tell me what that means.”
Henry wadded his shirt into a tight ball and threw it hard into the bin. “Leave me alone, Nanu. I don’t want to talk about this.” He walked into the bathroom, leaving her alone. When she followed him into the much smaller space, he didn’t know if he wanted to yell or hit something.
“Tell me honestly and then I’ll leave you to your precious moping.” He rounded on her, anger and shock marring his face.
“Moping? I do not mope, Nanu.” Her eyes glittered in a rush. Her chest was rising and falling fast and her eyes trailed over his mouth. Shit, he jerked himself away from her. The woman was a trap, constantly drawing him in. He stepped as far away from her as he could in the bathroom.
“You do, too, mope, Henry. I want you Henry. Don’t you see that? I don’t know how to make it any clearer.” Henry ran a hand over his face, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Yeah, I know that, Nanu, but there seems to be one thing you haven’t realized about me.” I love you. “I’m not someone who will just take your body and walk away the next day.”
Several emotions flitted across her face.
He’d thought about it. Hell, he could practically write a novel on all the reasons he wanted her but couldn’t have her, on why he couldn’t just take her body and not keep her. He was sure if he did that it would break him apart and he’d never be able to fix himself.
“Don’t you see that that is one of the reasons I admire you.” She took a step, then another until she pressed herself against him.
“Don’t press me when we both know you’d never accept me like I want.”
“Yes I would,” she said sounding desperate. His hands curled around her arms and shook her.
“No, you wouldn’t and neither would your brother.”
She opened her mouth, stunned, but he saw the truth in her eyes and knew he was right.
Where she came from, the males in the family, in this case, her brother, dictated whom she mated with, whom she married. And Heru would never let a half-vampire, half-demon touch his sister. He was basically the bottom of the food chain to him.
“Now you know. Now get out of my room, Nanu.”
That damn look of determination crossed over her face. In the next second, her mouth was plastered against his, soft and needy. Her tongue licked across the seam of his lips then pushed inside. A groan escaped him.
She pressed closer, and he jerked away from her, stalking to the bedroom door. He
opened it and nodded to the hall.
“Get out.”
Nanu stalked to him with the same determined look in her eyes. Henry steeled himself.
Had to or she’d run all over him.
“Why can’t you just let us be together? I don’t get you.” Anger bit at her words. Henry clenched his jaw left and right.
“That’s why, Nanu, because you don’t get it. You don’t see what I really want. Now get out before I call your brother.”
She stiffened, her mouth flattening into a hard line, then stormed out. Henry closed the door behind her with a sigh, resting his sweaty forehead on the door. How he wished things were simpler, easier. But he and Nanu couldn’t be together.
