Assassin: Fall of the Golden Valefar (A Paranormal Romance—Book #6 in the Demon Kissed Series) (15 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Natalia didn’t know what to do. She wasn’t sure if she
believed him. She spent her entire life hiding from beings that didn’t exist? He
killed them?
For her?
That just pissed her off more. She
shook him once, lightly, to get him to open his eyes. A pool of blood had
formed under his hips.

“Why?” she snapped, “Why hide Simone’s baby? Why would you
possibly kill your own kind?”

His golden gaze was soft, like he knew he was damned from
the beginning. “You were innocent. Your mother’s death, her assassination, is
the only one that I regret. It was the best I could do at the time. I wasn’t
old enough or strong enough to fight them off. I couldn’t save Simone, but I could
save her daughter.”

Natalia’s insides were churning, her hands shaking as she
held him in place, but he didn’t fight back. She remained rigid, ready for his
attack, but it didn’t come. “Why is that missing from the book?”

Eric’s head was spinning. The girl was doing something to
him. Just touching him seemed to drain him. His legs felt like lead. They gave
out and the only thing holding him up was Natalia—the weight of her body
leaning against him, and the scissor in his side.

Eric breathed, “Because it’s not something that I’d
forget.”

She felt his legs give way. Eric wouldn’t heal as long as
she continued to use her power to prevent his demon blood from working. Eric
should die slowly, painfully. She could strip away his soul piece by piece, but
the more he spoke the more she saw the boy who saved her. The center of her
body felt like it was being torn in half. Part of her wanted to save him and
the other part needed vengeance. It was a craving that she’d had for so long. How
could she stop? How could she come this far and let him live? Her body shook as
she stepped back, allowing him to slide to the floor—Eric’s back leaving a
bloody smear on the wall. She reached for the wound and extracted the sheers. Eric
screamed and she smiled, not able to hide what his pain did to her.

Gasping, he opened his eyes, looking at her. A satisfied
smile twisted her lips. He had to get her out of here. His plan was already in
action. It was only a matter of time, but he couldn’t stop himself from asking,
“That’s why you were at Carina’s?” She nodded. Natalia was there because, like
him, she needed to be. He gasped, pushing his hand over the wound, “What the
hell are you?”

She breathed deeply, her eyes piercing his, “An
Ori
.
Half mortal, half fallen angel.
You know what that means… you know what I need to survive.”

He did know. His eyes were focusing better, the wound
healing rapidly. “
Ori
are supposed to be mythical.”

She shrugged, “So are you. So is the Omen. So am I. I think
it’s time to get over what’s supposed to be
fake
and
what’s not.” She was an
Ori
, the child of a fallen
angel that had the power to drain away one’s life force. She fed off if it the
same way that Valefar feed off souls. She could drain a patron at Carina’s
without killing them. That’s how she sustained herself.

Eric’s head was spinning. Natalia was an
Ori
?
A mythical creature.
He shook
his head. It was insane. She’d been hunting him all this time, posing as a
helpless girl. Natalia was anything but helpless. When she mentioned the Omen,
he flinched. That thing was death. Only a few years ago, he was the one who
protested the existence of the Omen, and now he was talking to an
Ori
.

“You’ve seen the Omen?” he asked.

She laughed, “You still don’t understand, do you? Do you
know why Simone
Portelli
was condemned? What made her
fall?”

Eric’s mind couldn’t grasp it. What was he missing? The
only thing he could think of was that she was dually screwed. He liked her, so
his curse would kill her, and she’d crossed paths with the Omen, which also had
the same effect. That was a signed death certificate in his mind.

Before he could think about anything else, the hairs on the
back of his neck began to prickle. Gritting his teeth, he pulled himself to his
feet. “They’re here. Run. Go.” Eric had been masking his location from Ivy,
hiding himself from the other Valefar. It wasn’t difficult, but when Natalia
stabbed him, he lost the spell. It slipped away and revealed him.

Natalia shook her head, not sensing what he felt. Before
she could even open her mouth, Valefar swarmed the house like roaches. Natalia
never had a chance to run. Eric tried to
effonate
,
but he was too weak. The Valefar grabbed hold of Natalia. She fought, but there
were too many of them. They pinned her arms, and legs, pulling her hair.

Mandor stepped into the room. Seeing Eric and Natalia
together, he smiled. “This makes things more interesting. You had an
accomplice.” He walked over to the girl, sliding his hand down her throat,
drifting his fingers across her chest. Natalia bucked, kicking off the Valefar
holding her, but another promptly grabbed hold of her arms. “Bring her. She can
die in the pit with him.”

They two of them were dragged, kicking and screaming into
the street. Eric’s heart felt like it was going to explode. Regret surged
through him. Natalia kept breaking free, but didn’t stay that way for long. Before
they were outside, they bound her wrists and ankles with duct tape. She
screamed for him to help, but Eric was too weak. She’d drained his energy and
his body was slow to heal. He wasn’t strong enough to do anything, and now Ivy
was demanding his presence. It was time to pay for what he’d done. There was no
going backwards.

Mandor dragged the two of them to the street and the
Valefar backed away. Natalia’s heart was surging. It felt like her ribs would crack.
She screamed, demanding, “Tell me what’s happening!” but Eric didn’t speak. Panic
filled her body. She’d made Eric weak so he couldn’t fight them off. The two of
them together probably could have managed to fight together and get away, but
what she did to him—that would take days to recover from. Tears stung her eyes
as fury filled her body. Things were not ending like this! She was going to be
killed with Eric, and in the back of her mind, she knew what that meant. What
she’d seen. Her blood ran cold as she glanced at him.

Eric looked over at her. The expression in his eyes said he
knew what was coming. Her stomach twisted. With a weakened voice he said, “I’m
sorry, Natalia.”

She glared at him. “What did you do? What is this?” she
screamed. They were surrounded by Valefar, but not one came within ten feet of
them. They were tossed into the street like it was an altar, and that’s what
scared her he most. Something was coming for them.

“I pissed off the Queen of the Underworld.
On purpose.”
That was it. That was his plan. Taunt Ivy until
she couldn’t ignore him anymore. Violate every treaty, every accord between the
angels and the demons to force Ivy to destroy him. He ensnared Ivy so that she
had to act. This was her action. The street below them seemed to melt and
morph. Natalia screamed as an icy hand, made of Underworld shadows, started to
wrap around her and Eric.

“Eric,” she breathed, fear coursing through her veins as a
sickening sensation spread through her stomach. The shadows laced inside of her
body, weaving through her lungs, pressing the air out and making it impossible
to breathe.

The fear wafting off of Natalia slammed into Eric like a
wave. Glancing over at her, he said, “You’re finally afraid when you should
be.” He watched her as the shadows wrapped around her body, covering her fully.
Her eyes grew wide as it crossed over her mouth and pulled her into the ground.
She disappeared from sight. “I’m sorry, Nat.
So sorry.”
 

Mandor watched from the sidelines, staying far enough away
to not get pulled in. His dark eyes pierced Eric’s arrogant gaze, as Eric was
swallowed by the earth. His body was being crushed from all sides, burning like
it was on fire, as he was pulled through the earth and below. When he emerged
in the Underworld, Eric gasped, drawing in lungs full of dank air. The darkness
surrounded him, but he knew it wouldn’t be dark for long. He was in the
Underworld, but he didn’t know exactly where.

Pushing himself off the ground, he rose to his feet. “Natalia?”
he called, but there was no answer. He understood her rage, her fear. He wanted
to spend more time with her, now more than ever. She was an
Ori
!
How could he be so blind? The entire time she was with him, she was spying on
him, plotting his death. A death she couldn’t deliver. A death that she
predicted would spill more blood than all the wars combined.

“Eric.”

That voice pierced his heart and he froze, his body
becoming rigid. Ivy stood behind him, saying his name, demanding he turn and
face her. This wasn’t the way things were supposed to go. Ivy was supposed to
destroy him and him alone. But Natalia was here somewhere. There was no way to
save her. Ivy would condemn them together. The one act of kindness that Eric
managed to achieve bit him on the ass. The baby he saved was Natalia. She grew
up alone and unwanted, and the girl was as deranged as he was. And now she got
sucked into hell with him. Fuck. There was no way to save her. He turned
slowly, his gaze lowered.

Ivy stood before him, her ethereal form glowing pale blue
like the center of a flame. A gown billowed around her ankles, sheer, not
hiding her figure from him. He noticed it, but the significance didn’t
register. As he lifted his eyes, he saw that the Grecian dress formed a tight,
sheer bodice. She looked exactly the way he remembered.

Her eyes glowed fiercely, anger turning to rage, “How could
you? After I gave them my word?
After the Accords?
Eric, how could you!” Her voice bellowed off the walls.
T’Gar
and several other demons surrounded him making sure he didn’t try to run. Natalia
remained hidden, unseen.

He straightened and looked at her. “I had to.” His voice
was weak, his gaze filled with sorrow. The haunted features that made Ivy drawn
to him only filled her with fury. He couldn’t tell her what he did or why. He
didn’t need her compassion. Not anymore. He did everything within his power to
evoke her wrath, and this was it.

Ivy’s hands were clenched at her sides. She stepped toward
him, knowing that she couldn’t touch him. She wanted to slap him and hug him. There
was nothing she could do to save him. Tears would have streaked her face if she
was mortal, but she wasn’t.

She spoke, her heart ripping apart with each word, “There’s
no way around this. There’s nothing I can do to protect you, and if I don’t
destroy you, Eric, it’ll start another war. Surely you knew… you knew this! And
you did it anyway!”

Her voice made him die inside. He caused her pain that he
could never undo. This was the cruelty he didn’t want to bestow, but there was
no other way. She always looked at him with hope, like someday, somehow,
something would save him, but there was nothing. He knew that now, even if she
didn’t. This was necessary. It was the only way to stop him, to end him before
he became something worse.

His voice was cold, “You knew all along that this day would
come.”

Eyes wide, Ivy yelled, “You forced it! There was no way to
know what would have happened, what would have become of you. You are what you
choose to be, and you chose wrong!” Her slender finger was thrust into his face
as she screamed. Fury shook her small body, her hair glowing like flames
trailing down her back.

“No!” he growled, looking her in the eye, leaning closer to
her face. “You’re wrong! You always have been! There is nothing, no reason to
spare me. I killed without mercy. I assassinated angels, Martis, and men
without remorse. If you fail to kill me now, it won’t end!”

“Shut up, Eric! You’re wrong! You always have been!” Her
eyes were glistening, wide and furious. Her long hair draped over her shoulders
in long curls. Her hands clenched,
then
she
deliberately opened them.

Eyes wide, she asked, “How could you do this to me? After
everything I went through? You were there, Eric. You saw me. One of the only
reasons I was able to bear it was because you did. For centuries you bore this
hideous weight of a curse that would have destroyed anyone else, but you…” her
voice was becoming weaker, breaking as she spoke, “You gave me hope. You made
me think I could bare it. That I could take the lot I’d been handed. It was
you. Not Lorren. Not Collin.
You.”

Eric’s voice was cold, his spine rigid. He had to do this. Breaking
down would only make it more painful for her. He snapped, “I am not your
strength. I never have been. All of that, everything that makes you what you
are, is something that was inside of you all along.” He shook his head, his
voice softening though he didn’t mean for it to. “I’m not like you. Everything
I touch is destroyed. It predates the curse. I feel like a fucking Omen, Ivy. There’s
no one who’s loved me and lived.”

Everything he said felt like a slap in the face. After
everything they’d been through together, he just threw it all away. And the
words he said now, it felt as if she hadn’t mattered to him at all. But she
cared about him. Her lips parted, her voice soft, “I loved you, Eric. And I’m
still standing.”