Eternity of Darkness (Divisa Huntress Book 3) Page 16

  Fuck.

  Ashor nodded. “I’m afraid so.”

  I didn’t want to know what level of evil breathed within the tangled mess of black branches and coiled weeds. How the forest went from vibrant and lush to dead, dry, and creepy as fuck, I didn’t understand. I angled my head from side to side, inspecting the best entry point. It wouldn’t be easy to walk through. A person had to weave, duck, and climb to fit through any small sections you could find. It was a damned maze—a labyrinth of confusion.

  Apollo, the smartass that he was, stepped to the side, making a sweeping gesture with his arm. “Lady’s first.”

  I squinted at him, portraying my bitter gratitude. “Is it always like this?”

  Ashor shoved a branch up, making space for us to walk through. “More or less. The previous king tended to the bane, but some things can’t be tamed.”

  “It has gotten worse,” Draven rumbled like a grumpy bear.

  Crouching, I scooted under the lifted branch, making my way into the bane behind Draven, who had gone first, much to Apollo’s disappointment. “What happened?” I asked, but I had an inkling.

  Erlik moved behind me, aiding Draven in creating a pathway for us to travel. “Abandonment. The kingdom has been left unattended, leaving the land free to do as it wills.”

  Just as I’d expected.

  Twigs snapped under Beck’s boots. “This place was always in shambles, regardless of who wore the crown.”

  Ashor grunted a response of agreement.

  And so we journeyed deeper and deeper into the bane for the next six hours. Days, Ashor had said it would take to reach the city, and I understood why. Time was difficult to tell. No sun or moon could shine through the whirling funnel cloud that could be seen through tiny cracks in the bane’s canopy.

  We stopped to rest, and Ashor summoned a cold flame fire, containing it with his power, not that there was anything left to burn in this place. I sat down beside it, soaking up the cool breeze emitted, and happy to be off my feet for a bit. Inferno, like its name, was hot, the air stifling, more so when confined inside a cluster of dead trees. Sweat soaked through my shirt, beads of perspiration dampening the hair around my brow and nape of my neck. I readjusted my messy bun and swiped the ends of my shirt over my forehead. “How long until the Knights of Inferno sense our presence?” I asked, keeping my voice low.

  Ashor sat on the ground next to me, stretching out his long legs. “Oh, they already have. I suspect they will seek us out before we get to the heart of Inferno.”

  How could he remain so calm about everything? It drove me mad. “Is there anything else I should be worried about while we sleep?”

  “Everything,” Apollo mumbled, shadows from the flames dancing over the front of his face. The Hunt gathered around the fire, Draven pulling out a pack of food to pass around, mostly for me since they ate for enjoyment, not survival, and since I technically wasn’t dead, I was still required to fuel my body.

  Beck nudged the demon in the side.

  Apollo tossed me a hunk of meat that resembled beef jerky. “It’s true. She should be prepared. We all should.”

  Cool fingers brushed away the stray hairs clinging to the back of my neck, a touch meant to offer comfort. “Don’t worry, luv. The five of us will take turns standing guard through the night.”

  “You mean six,” I said, giving him a pointed look, my chin firm.

  His lips twitched. “Six,” he corrected, knowing better than to argue with me. I didn’t think any of us wanted to waste the energy, not knowing what was waiting in front of us.

  I did my best to get some rest, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that the bane had eyes, hundreds of them spying on us. But despite the hunch that we weren’t alone, I wasn’t afraid, nor did I feel threatened. I couldn't say if that was due to Ashor and the Wild Hunt’s presence, or if my demon didn’t perceive the spies as dangerous.

  I nestled my head against Ashor’s chest, and since I was already having trouble sleeping, I decided to relieve whoever was on watch duty. Ashor stayed sprawled out weirdly between three trees. The guys had cleared a small section for us to camp for a few hours, but as I sat up, I could already see that chopped bramble and brush were sprouting up again. What is in this land? Miracle-Gro on crack?

  At this rate, it would be completely overgrown again by the time we leave. Not a comforting thought. A person could find themselves smothered by the wild growth of the bane if they weren’t careful. Getting lost in these woods would be a death sentence… well, if you weren’t already dead.

  “Anything interesting?” I asked Beck, who was leaning against a barren tree.

  His golden eyes were bright in the dark forest. “Not even the wind whistles here.”

  “How very drab.” Angel would hate it in her court. “You should rest before we leave soon,” I advised, more than willing to take over his guard duties.

  Not budging, the demon retorted, “It’s you who should be resting.”

  Dropping down beside him, I crossed my legs. “Can’t sleep.”

  “I understand that too well.”

  I supposed he did. Demons didn’t require the amount of sleep humans did. “Do you mind if I hang out?” I asked. The ground was bumpy and hard under my ass.

  Silence hung between us. “You’re up to something, but I can’t figure out what. Care to elaborate?” A wild curl fell over one of his eyes.

  Turning my attention to the dark stretch of woods in front of me, I avoided his eyes. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Uh-huh,” he uttered in a tone that called me out for the liar I was.

  It was true I had shit on my mind, but that was obvious. I mean, how could I not? This was the kind of situation that boggled the mind. I could think of nothing else.

  “You’re getting better,” he commented, drawing his forearms up to rest on his propped knees.

  “At annoying you?”

  He snickered. “That too, but I was referring to your mental shield.”

  Nervous energy bounced inside me. I’d been testing myself, practicing my shield, and I had no idea if it would hold up against the Wild Hunt. “Oh. Is that why you think I’m up to something?”

  His brows drew together as he eyed me from the side. “I don’t need to pry around in your head. You’re easy to read.”

  I swallowed a sigh. The last thing I needed was my secret exposed, because Beck did have something to be concerned about. I was hiding something from them all.

  It took another two full days of venturing through the bane before we finally made it out. At one point, I surely thought we were lost. I couldn’t tell north from south or east from west, but like maneuvering through Hell’s Mist, Ashor and the Wild Hunt had an innate sense of direction.

  My arms and cheeks were covered in scratches. They would heal within an hour, none being deep cuts, just surface wounds, yet the journey had been taxing, my body taking a toll, and we weren’t there yet. The heart of Inferno lay deep within the sprawling sooty mountains. My arms, legs, neck, butt, basically everything groaned at the idea of climbing up and down over mountains. There had to be a simpler way.

  And there was when your mate was a winged half-demon.

  I sank against Ashor’s frame, looping my arms around his neck as he secured me close to him. Pressing my cheek to his, I watched as his back sprouted wings, unfolding and stretching out behind him. Unable to stop my hand from reaching out, I grazed one of the silky feathers. The span of them rippled, dark as midnight.

  “Careful, luv,” he purred in my ear, a huskiness to his voice that had nothing to do with weariness, “or you might find yourself ravished on a mountain.”

  It was stupid to even entertain the picture he created in my head for a moment, but somehow my brain found the energy to do so. “Are you sure you have the stamina?”

  His devilish chuckle rumbled through the bond. “You’ve never complained about my stamina.”

  Color warmed my cheeks, an uncomfor
table heat with the stifling, stagnant air. Why didn’t this kingdom have any wind movement? It was becoming ridiculous.

  Ashor shoved off the ground, a ghost of a smile on his lips as his wings beat to take us higher. Below, the Hunt waited for the command from their king. Once we landed, he would summon them.

  My gaze trailed upward to the funnel storm whirling and whirling. The hissing of the clouds grew louder, an ominous warning. “Are you sure it’s safe for us to fly with that black hole in the sky?”

  “As long as we don’t fly straight into its center.”

  “Noted.”

  I dragged my eyes from the turbulent sky and surveyed the land below. We were just high enough to skim the tips of the mountains. Flecks of ash tainted the air, falling like snow from the sky, impairing visibility, but even then, it didn’t make the desolate land any less devastating.

  The entire valley looked as if it had been burned, a victim of a massive fire that had swept through the kingdom. The falling ash grew heavier, making it difficult to breathe.

  Ashor dropped us on top of a mountain, but as I gathered my bearings and took a moment to look around, it was more of a very, very deep crater. I didn’t know how else to describe the city. It was as if a god had dropped a massive bowling ball onto a mountain, creating this deep recess into the land, and then a demon came along and carved a city along the rocky walls.

  Peering over the side, I was half tempted to scream, “Hello,” just to see how far my voice would echo. I wasn’t particularly afraid of heights, but staring down into the abyss and not being able to see the bottom caused my knees to wobble. What would possess a king or queen to build a city inside the walls of a mountain?

  Bridges, ramps, and endless stairs connected one level to another. They were constructed with dark materials that made the houses and buildings blend seamlessly into the mountain. If it weren’t for the gazillion lit torches, I might not have noticed them at all.

  “How far does it go?” I asked, gawking at the perpetual pit. The gap from one side to the other was so wide, I couldn't see where it ended. It just became a small black dot in my vision.

  “Would you like me to fly you down?” my mate implored.

  “I’d rather jump out of a plane without a parachute.” I had no desire to see the city up close, but I wasn’t sure I had much of a choice. “We’re going in there, aren’t we?”

  Turning his back to the edge, he sauntered to the center of the mountain, his mouth hard. “I’m not sure that will be necessary. The Knights are on their way to greet us.”

  My sinking heart came back into my chest just as the Wild Hunt materialized.

  “This place never changes.” Draven squinted, his beard sprinkled with ash.

  Erlik’s scar darkened down his left eye. “Not even the stink of death has left this place.”

  Apollo’s head whipped to the side, and I assumed the Knights of Inferno had finally arrived.

  My body tensed. I took a deep breath. Bad move. My lungs protested at sucking in a gulp of ash. Dropping my face into the curve of my arm, I covered my mouth and nose. It didn’t help much. I still coughed.

  The ash burned its way down my throat, and the demon inside me shrieked. “She’s here. She’s come for you. Run.”

  I was so startled by the sudden warning roaring within me that I stumbled, heading straight for the plunging hole.

  Ashor was there to catch me, pulling me away from the edge of the crater. My fingers dug into his arms, half in fear, half in desperation.

  “Something’s wrong,” I rasped.

  “I feel it too,” Apollo whispered, his eyes darting over the canyon, searching for the threat we both sensed.

  “The ash. I tasted…” I searched for the right words. What had I tasted? Not me. My demon. She was the one who freaked out, who warned me.

  “What?” Ashor prodded. “What did you taste?”

  “Darkness.”

  Ashor’s eyes narrowed a fraction.

  “She wouldn’t…” Draven didn’t need to finish the statement, for we all knew Ashor’s mother would unequivocally plot an attack in the abandoned kingdom. She was here for the same reason we were: to take control of the Knights, to have the army of Inferno fight for her, to stop us from doing the same.

  Ashor surveyed the land, scouring the kingdom with his power for the source of our uneasiness, but before he had a chance to find it, the threat made itself known.

  A shudder rolled through the earth, the ground quaking like no earthquake I’d ever felt before. This was violent, earth-splitting, and made not just my knees and legs wobble but again threatened to send me toppling over the edge of the cliff into the deep pit of Inferno.

  Black wings sprang from Ashor’s back as he twisted toward me. His body became a shield as he wrapped himself around me, taking us to the ground. Those feathery wings encompassed us in a cocoon of darkness. I couldn’t see the Hunt, nor could I hear their movements over the rumbling of rock, but I felt the coldness from them surround both Ashor and me.

  Ashor protected me. The Hunt shielded him.

  Thirty seconds or more passed before it all just stopped. A deafening silence followed.

  But then the screaming began. Souls shrieking from deep into the valley, echoing like a sonic boom over the canyon.

  Ashor surged to his feet, power radiating around him like a star’s halo. I didn’t like what I saw on his features or the colorless hint to his tight lips.

  The ground dug into my palms as I shoved to my feet. “What the hell was that?”

  When Ashor looked back, with the Hunt huddled close to me, there was an emotion in his eyes I rarely saw. Fear. And a touch of sadness. Those feelings came through stronger in our bond. “My mother just attacked the Gate of Inferno,” he declared.

  I shivered from the sudden intense cold despite the air being a hundred degrees. “She can do that?” I asked hoarsely.

  His gaze returned to the distance as if he were searching for her. “Yes.”

  “How long?” Draven asked tersely.

  Ashor’s shoulders slumped, his wings falling. Something like defeat flashed in his violet eyes. “Not enough.”

  Seeing the resignation in his face sparked rage within me. My mate was not someone who gave up easily. For him to even think it meant things were bad, but I refused to let him quit. Not now.

  We had come this far. We might as well try!

  “Then we abandon this plan. We go now,” Beck said.

  “If we do that, there is no winning this war,” Ashor said, his voice too level, too flat. “Without the Knights, we don’t have Trist’s support. Without an army, we don’t have a leg to stand on.”

  Apollo’s gold eyes flared. “Sitting here arguing is only wasting time we don’t have.”

  “Apollo, Erlik, take Lexi home. Keep her there,” Ashor commanded, his power still rallying.

  What did he plan to do? Take on an entire army himself? Or was he trying to get the attention of the Knights? His mother had made quite the splashy entrance. She would be hard to ignore.

  “No,” I snapped, cold fire in my veins. My refusal was expected, but it was more than that. Although I had every intention of splitting up from my mate, he couldn’t know that. He had his plans. And I… had mine.

  “Listen to me. We need to split up.” He pressed a finger to my lips, quickly silencing my protest. “I know. You don’t want to leave, but she can’t have us both if we aren’t together. She will use your life or mine to get what she wants. Do you want to make that choice?”

  “Of course not,” I whispered, my eyes glued to his face.

  But I already had. Those mental shields he had taught me finally worked, but I doubted I’d be able to keep them in place much longer. The last few days had stretched my abilities.

  My gaze met Apollo’s, and an understanding passed between us. This was the moment—my one opportunity. The queen was here. And now she knew her son was close.

  I got lost in the emotion
Ashor always kept under lock and key. His fear was for me, not himself. “What are you going to do?”

  “What I do best: piss off my mother.” He grabbed my face, planting a hard kiss on my lips, a kiss that portrayed all the things he didn’t have time to say.

  “Now would be the perfect time to tell me.”

  I swallowed, knowing what he wanted to hear. Those three little words would bind my heart to his. “Ashor.” I gulped.

  He walked backward toward the cliff, eyes never leaving my face. “I’m going to do what I came here to do.”

  His wings stretched to their full span right before he jumped.

  I dashed to the edge, watching him plunge into the hole. Seconds later, the darkness swallowed him.

  Inside I screamed his name, but I was given no more than a moment to digest when a hand slipped under my arm.

  “Let’s go, Your Highness,” Erlik said firmly yet softly.

  “Fuck,” I muttered under my breath, finding it more difficult than I’d anticipated. Leaving Ashor was hard, no matter the circumstances. It literally hurt me inside, each step my feet took away from the city.

  Just how did they plan to get me off this mountain? I didn’t have wings. I couldn’t fly. And I sure as shit couldn’t phase.

  “Are you sure about this?” Apollo inquired, his golden eyes piercing mine.

  I nodded. “I have no choice.”

  And neither had Ashor.

  Something like sadness mixed with respect shone in Apollo’s gaze, whereas Erlik eyed us with a combination of suspicion and confusion.

  “With only two of us, we can’t travel long distances, but we should be able to make it at least to the bane. From there, we use the woods to our advantage as coverage,” Erlik advised, his body taking on the ethereal glowing. His skin turned iridescent like that of a ghost, and even though I knew how this worked, I still expected his fingers to lose their grip on me.

  They never did.

  Nor did Apollo’s as they both held on to my arms, surrounding me with their power and taking me into their phantom mist. A cool cloud rushed over me, spinning the world around me into a foggy haze. My eyes closed for the briefest of seconds, but that was all it took to be transported from the top of the highest mountain to the lowest point in the valley, not far from the bane.