White Hot Kiss (41 page)

Terror formed painful knots in my stomach. I couldn’t take Zayne’s soul and watch him turn into the monster that Petr had. And I couldn’t let them kill Roth.

“What is your answer, Layla?”

A low, terrible rumble came from Roth’s chest. “Layla...”

My gaze swung back to him. His eyes were dilated, glowing. “I can’t.”

“Don’t,” he growled. “Don’t do—” The knife moved in, pressing against his neck until fresh blood welled up.

“Stop!” I screamed. My hands tried to curl into fists, but I couldn’t make them move. “Just stop!”

Paimon raised a hand and Naberius backed up. “Yes?”

“Layla, don’t say another word! You—” Naberius’s fist silenced Roth.

“I don’t need to take his soul,” I gasped out. “I’ve already taken a soul—a pure soul.”

Paimon stared at me for a moment and then he barked out a loud laugh. “Well, well. This is an interesting development.”

“Yes. Yes! It was a Warden. I took his soul.” My breath was coming out too fast and in a strange pattern. One breath in. Two breaths out.

“Huh. I didn’t see that one coming.” He looked perplexed, and I wondered if that was the taint he’d sensed and mistaken for the whole carnal-activity thing. It didn’t matter, though. He snapped his fingers.

The Rack demons dropped Zayne on the floor and he lay there, an unmoving lump of flesh and bone. A second later, Naberius was behind him and had grabbed a handful of blond hair and yanked Zayne’s head back, exposing his throat.

“Well, even with all that said and done, you know what they say about Wardens?” Paimon’s slow smile stretched across his face. “The only good one...”

Naberius waved the wicked-looking dagger, placing the deadly sharp edge to Zayne’s throat. “Is a dead one,” the other demon finished.

“No!” I screamed, and my back bowed.

Zayne’s bloodshot eyes opened into thin slits.

I threw my head back and my own scream deafened me. So many images flickered through my mind like a photo album, coming together and crashing gloriously in a moment of raw pain greater than any I’d known.

The rage unlocked the demon inside me.

As I wrenched forward, the ropes around my arms stretched. Thread unraveled, splitting at the ends, and then the twine broke. My legs were freed next. Seconds later, I was standing. Air didn’t pass through my throat. Fire did, scorching my insides and spilling through my veins. I was burning from the inside out. Muscles tightened. Hands curved into claws. My vision sharpened and tinted the world in red. Bones broke in a burst of pain and then fused back together. Static clung to skin that felt stretched too thin. Pieces of clothing tore as my body shifted, expanded with ropy muscles and grew. My sneakers split wide open and fell to the side.

Tiny strands of hair rose all around my head. Pain exploded along my back, but it was the good kind of pain—the kind that brought sweet relief as my wings unfurled, arcing high in the air above me.

As I lifted my hands, shock fluttered through me. My skin was black and gray, marbleized in a shifting blend of both species. A beautiful mixture of the Warden and the demon long since buried deep inside me.

“Get her!” screamed Paimon.

The Rack demons that had been holding Zayne shot toward me just as Roth reared back, breaking free of the demons holding him.

On autopilot, controlled by something innate and binding, I didn’t even think. Raising my head, I bared my teeth and hissed.

I caught the first Rack demon by the throat, digging my claws in. There was a satisfying crack and I dropped it. The second Rack demon I toyed with, catching it by the neck and lifting it into the air. The hoarse, piglike squealing brought a toothy smile to my face. Wheeling around, I tossed it through the wall above the bleachers.

Stepping out over the candles, I stretched out my wings.

Bloodied and beat up like no tomorrow, Roth grinned at me as he dropped one of the Rack demons. “You’re still hot as a stone freak.” His gaze dropped. “Maybe even hotter. Damn.”

“Get them!” Paimon roared. “Kill them! Do something!”

My head swung toward where he stood beside Zayne. Launching off the floor, I landed in front of the demon. Swinging my arm around, I backhanded him, throwing him into the air and spinning him around.

I knelt beside Zayne, gingerly rolling him onto his back. “Zayne?”

His eyes were open, blinking furiously. “I’m okay. The cut’s not deep at all.” He folded his hand around mine—his human hand over mine. The contrast was all the more startling because of our role reversal. His gaze traveled up my arm, where the sleeves of my sweater had split at the seams. His lips parted as he got a good eyeful. “You’re...”

“Layla!” Roth yelled.

Twisting at the waist, I swiped out at the Rack demon gunning for me. The thing went down, but there were dozens, if not hundreds, more. The whole gymnasium was full of them. And behind them, bigger and hairier creatures roared.

Hellions.

“I’m okay.” Zayne staggered to his feet. “I can fight.”

“I sure hope so.” Roth lifted his arm and Bambi came off his skin, coiling on the floor between us. “Because if you’re just going to lay there and bleed, you suck.”

Then Roth shifted. His skin turned the color of obsidian, sleek and shiny. He was bigger than both Zayne, who was now in full gargoyle mode, and me. The skin tone was different and he wasn’t rocking any horns, but the resemblance between us was still uncanny.

The three of us turned as one.

Beyond Paimon and Naberius, a whole horde of demons waited.

They charged forward. A chaotic mess of bodies, and there was no time to think as bodies crashed into one another. Taking down a Rack demon, I ducked out of the way of a Hellion, clearing a path for Bambi, who shot through the air and sank its fangs into the beast’s neck. The snake coiled itself around the Hellion, squeezing until the Hellion arched its back and roared. Black smoke poured out of its gaping mouth and then the Hellion imploded.

Roth went after Paimon, while Zayne had an obvious bone to pick with Naberius after the whole knifing-of-the-throat incident. Which sucked, because I would’ve really liked to knock that jerk around instead of picking off Rack demons.

“You have been such a pain in my ass,” Roth said, circling Paimon. “The Boss is going to have so much fun shoving hot pokers where the sun never shines.”

“Well, if it isn’t the harmless puppy of the family,” Paimon seethed. “The favorite Prince and the Boss’s little pet.”

“Don’t be a hater.” Roth lowered himself to the floor. It trembled under his weight. “You’re just jealous because you haven’t been granted permission to return topside since the Inquisition. You always make such a mess of things.”

“While you’re just a good little boy.” Paimon shook out his shoulders. Material ripped. Dark, gnarled wings protruded from his back. The fire spread over Paimon’s skin until he was nothing more than a flame in an Armani suit. “I’m going to enjoy breaking her. Burn her from the inside out. You’ll hear her screams from the bowels of Hell.”

Roth roared, charging Paimon. He met Roth halfway, their collision a burst of flames and then darkness. I scrambled back as Paimon launched Roth through the air and slammed him into a row of Hellions. Roth flew back, reaching into the flames and grabbing ahold of Paimon. Roth spun around, tossing the King at a cluster of Rack demons.

The doors to the gymnasium burst open.

Wardens swarmed the room, tearing through Rack demons like they were nothing more than paper. I recognized Abbot and Nicolai leading the attack. They headed straight to where Bambi had a Hellion cornered. The massive monster lurched forward, grabbing Bambi before she could wrap her powerful body around the beast.

Bambi was flung back into the bleachers, crashing through them.

Concern for the snake powered through me as I punted a Rack into the basketball pole and started forward.

“Layla?” Abbot’s voice rang loudly through the room.

I stopped and turned to him. The shock in his voice, mirrored in his expression, would’ve been funny any other time. “I guess I’m not a mule—not really.”

He might’ve responded but there were tons of demons to kill, and for the first time in my life, I threw myself into battle. The strength of a Warden coursed through me, as heady and powerful as tasting a soul was. The Rack demon’s claws didn’t even break my skin. I was stronger and faster than I could ever have imagined.

I caught up with Zayne, grabbing Naberius from behind. The demon fought wildly, but I held him in place as Zayne swung out, taking the head right off the demon.

There was no time to celebrate the victory. Roth struggled with Paimon, who no doubt had seen his dreams crash and burn by now and was trying to make an escape. I started toward them, but Zayne stopped me.

“No. I owe him this.”

It went against my instincts but I held myself back as Zayne dipped under Paimon’s arm and grabbed him from behind. The three of them staggered backward. I realized they were dragging him back toward the pentagram.

“Father,” Zayne shouted, and Abbot spun.

They were going to trap Paimon!

As the Wardens finished off the rest of the demons, Zayne and Roth pinned Paimon in the pentagram, holding him down face-first. Together, they tied Paimon down just as I’d been minutes before.

“Tell the Boss I said hi,” Roth said, forcing his knee into Paimon’s back as he tightened the last of the rope. “Oh, wait. You won’t be doing much talking. More like a whole lot of screaming.”

Roth stood and both he and Zayne turned to leave the trap as Abbot neared the pentagram. It was over, I realized. It was all finally over. My eyes moved from Zayne to Roth. Both of them in their real forms, which were as frightening as they were oddly beautiful.

In his demon form, Roth winked.

My lips twitched into a smile. I let out a breath and it was like shedding a skin. Muscles unclenched and shrunk. A few seconds later, I was me again, standing in shredded, stretched-out clothing and barefoot.

And then everything went to Hell.

Paimon let out an inhuman roar and his body contracted. Ropes burst and whipped out. The demon rose high and grabbed the closest target, dragging Zayne back into the circle. My heart plummeted and a scream got stuck in my throat.

“Do it,” Zayne yelled, his eyes widening on his father. “Do it now!”

Ice drenched my veins. Anything in the devil’s trap was
trapped
—human, Warden or demon. Zayne would go to the pits along with Paimon.

Horror seized me. “No!”

Roth whirled around, and in a flurry of motion, he grabbed Zayne and tore him free from Paimon’s clutches. Pushing him outside the circle, Roth then wrapped his arms around Paimon.

A new understanding sank in. There was no way Paimon would just sit docilely and stay in the trap. Ropes wouldn’t hold him. Someone had to, and Roth had just made that choice.

“Get her down!” Roth yelled, holding Paimon in the trap. “Zayne, do it!”

“No! No!” I raced forward, bare feet slipping across blood and gunk, just as Abbot tossed the black salt toward the trap. “Roth! No!”

In that tiny moment of time, just a flicker of a second, his golden eyes met mine. “Free will, huh? Damn. It
is
a bitch.” And then he smiled—
he smiled
—at me, a real smile, revealing those deep dimples
.
“I lost myself the moment I found you.”

My voice broke, and my heart...

Zayne’s arms wrapped around me and he turned, forcing me down onto my knees. His wings stretched out and then curled around me as his body bent, sheltering me.

Red light flashed, so brilliant and intense that it blinded me from underneath Zayne. A howling wind roared through the gymnasium. I screamed.
I screamed
because I knew Roth would make no sound as the fiery pits welcomed him. And I didn’t stop screaming. Not when the smell of sulfur choked me. Not when the blistering heat hit us, causing tiny dots of sweat to break out across my skin. Not until the wind, the heat and the smell of sulfur receded.

Then there was silence.

“I’m sorry,” Zayne whispered, and then he loosened his grip.

I tore free, taking a few steps toward the burned-out circle before my legs gave out. I fell to my knees. The space where Roth had stood with Paimon was scorched, the floor charred through.

Someone said something to me. Maybe Abbot or Nicolai. It didn’t matter. There was nothing they could say right now. Roth had sacrificed himself for me—for Zayne. A demon had chosen an eternity of suffering for someone else.

I couldn’t bear it.

Tears tracked down my cheeks, mixing with blood and soot. I lowered my head until my forehead rested against the floor and I did something I hadn’t done in forever.

I prayed.

I prayed for Roth. I prayed for the Alphas to step in. What he had done should’ve earned him a divine intervention. I prayed that the angels would descend into Hell and lift him up. I prayed until I wanted to scream again.

But prayers like this weren’t answered.

Something cool and slick nudged my hand, and I slowly lifted my head. Blinked once and then twice before I believed what I was seeing. “Bambi?”

The large snake coiled around my arm, raising her head until she rested it on my shoulder. A fresh wave of tears clouded my eyes, but not enough to prevent me from seeing a Warden coming toward us with a murderous look in his eyes as they landed on Bambi.

“Do it and it’ll be the last thing you do,” I warned in a voice I barely recognized.

The Warden stopped and then backed off. No one else came near us.

My gaze swiveled back to the circle. Near the stake on the right, a tiny hole had burned through the floor. Most likely a blowback from Hell and nothing like that charred spot in the center, on which Astaroth, the Crown Prince of Hell, had made a very un-demonlike stand.

I lost myself the moment I found you.

I stared at that spot.

Roth was gone.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Tucking the icy blond strands of hair back into a messy bun at the nape of my neck, I picked up my tank top. The material felt weightless in my fingers. Sometimes I felt weightless.