Assassin: Fall of the Golden Valefar (A Paranormal Romance—Book #6 in the Demon Kissed Series) (16 page)

The tension was unbearable. There was nothing she could do
to save him now. The angels would demand his destruction. He knew how they
thought, what they would require to abstain from another war. His death would
satisfy them. It had to appear that Ivy was controlling her realm, and the
appearance that she wasn’t or couldn’t, would make them come and take it from
her.

Eric made her look weak, like a ruler who couldn’t control
him. He slaughtered beings from every realm and basically went on a strategic
killing spree to get her to this point, to force her hand. And now she was
talking about it and it felt like his skin was being ripped off. How could she
say she loved him? How did she not see that her death was his fault?

He growled, pulling his hair, shaking, “You’re dead, Ivy. You
endured a horrific fate and I can’t help but wonder if I was the one who caused
it. Fuck, I know I caused it!” Eric couldn’t look at her. She was his moment of
peace, but she chose someone else. He was destined to become the man painted on
Natalia’s wall. There was only one way to stop him. “The time for words is
over.” He breathed deeply, and looked her in the eye. “There’s nothing else to
say. We both know what has to happen.”

Ivy’s expression was unreadable. His heart was slamming
into his ribs, wondering if she could destroy him. He stood before her, spine
straight, as her lips moved, silently saying a spell that would end his life. Streaks
of blue formed before his eyes, power that flowed from Ivy into the darkness. It
twisted together as she spoke, softly, so softly. Her voice was hollow, her
gaze vacant. He knew it was killing her to say it, to watch her power destroy
him, but he’d left her no choice.

A wall of blue flames surrounded him, growing hotter and
hotter. He felt his body tremble, suddenly unable to stand, and fell to his
knees. Gasping for air, he remained on all fours, unable to lift his head. It
felt like he was being torn apart, cell by cell. He didn’t know what incantation
she’d said, but it was working. He could feel it. His life was being sucked out
of him, slowly, strand by strand. His lungs burned and didn’t want to fill. When
he took a breath, it felt like sand poured down his throat. Gagging, he fell
forward, his hair falling into his eyes. His body heaved, but nothing happened.
Not seeing, not blinking, Eric lay prone, staring into space. The blue flames
whipped through his hair like an ethereal wind.

Ivy’s lips continued to move, drawing more power and forcing
it onto her friend. Eric’s skin turned translucent as if he were about to
disappear. Ivy felt dead inside. She was dead. This couldn’t be happening, but
there was no alternative. Eric knew what he was doing. He knew it would result
in war if she failed to act, and she couldn’t allow that. The time for war was
over. One rogue assassin shouldn’t matter, but he mattered to her. She felt
another presence, a life that accompanied Eric into the Underworld. Ivy saw the
girl in the shadows, waiting for her to move, before she completed the spell. As
the blue flames appeared to extinguish his life, Ivy waited. The girl would
act. She could see it in her stance. A jealous vengeance would force her to
act.
 

Natalia had been watching from the shadows. She was never certain
which Eric was the real Eric. He was always so bipolar, wanting her near, but
pushing her away. And all this time, she only followed him knowing she’d
destroy him and the rest of the assassins. All this time, she thought she was
alone. She thought there was no one like her.
No one who
understood.
The only being that had any inclination of what she goes
through on a daily basis was being forced to his knees and dying. Natalia
watched, torn. Part of her wanted him to suffer. There were years she didn’t
know what she was, didn’t know to hide it. It cost her more than she could
bear, and destroying him had become her lifelong goal. But now that he was
fading, she couldn’t. Something snapped inside of her. She knew Ivy was
stronger than she was. She knew that blue flame was draining his life, ending
it grain by grain, retracting something that was supposed to be hers.

Natalia was aware of some of her abilities. She knew that
draining someone gave her additional power. It could shield her from death. The
question was
,
did she have enough power to shield them
both from that? She watched the blue flames destroying Eric and couldn’t sit
there anymore. He was hers. Natalia took off at a full run, headed directly for
Eric. He didn’t see her coming. No one did. The demons that were there were
few, the Queen’s servants, and their eyes were on the man dying on the ground.
Eric’s eyes were closed, his chest barely moving. By the time she got to him,
it could be too late. Her long lean legs practically flew, each step bounding
off the ground like she’d taken three strides. She felt the power drain from
her with each step. The demons saw her run, and moved to intercept her, but
Natalia passed effortlessly over them and bounded to Eric. Leaping over the
blue flames, she crouched over Eric, trying to protect him.

Ivy saw Natalia run into the circle, and completed the
spell. The girl arched her back and a scream ripped from her lips. Blue sparks
were flying through the cavern. Natalia scooped up a lifeless Eric in her arms,
and turned trying to find a way out. Eric didn’t move. He didn’t speak or open
his eyes. It was the way Ivy wanted it. It appeared that he
died,
a spell of false death. She’d deal with him later.

Natalia screamed when the sparks bounced off of her. The
Queen’s magic was stronger than her own. There was no way to stop the spell
that was encasing Eric, and now it trapped her, too. When Natalia scooped up
Eric’s lifeless body, she was worried that this might be for nothing. He was so
pale, his beautiful body perfectly still. Angering the Demon Queen and alerting
the Underworld of her presence wasn’t something she wanted, but Eric was hers. Any
torment he deserved should come from her hand, and yet, part of her wanted him.
The conflict would have torn her apart if the searing pain wasn’t splattering
off of Natalia like raindrops. When the blue sparks hit her skin, torment ensued.
There were no words to describe it. Her spine arched with Eric in her arms. Stumbling
forward, she could feel her body weakening, dying. It was too late. Natalia
could no longer support her own weight. The spell pulled them both to the
ground. Eric fell, motionless at her side. Tears welled in her eyes. If she had
everything to do over again, oh, God… she’d made a mistake.
An
unforgivable mistake.
And now it was too late.

Ivy held the spell, sealing it and holding both of them
prisoner within the charm. The pain that ricocheted though Natalia’s body
wasn’t something that Ivy could control. It was coming from Eric. Ivy wasn’t
certain how she knew that, she could just sense it. The manifestation of the
agony Eric felt every day poured from him and interacted with her spell. It was
as if the curse was confused, accepting Eric’s false death, but refusing to
leave his body. Instead, the curse arched, showering them with blue sparks as
it barreled into Ivy’s spell.

Regret coursed through her. Ivy didn’t want this. It was
bad enough that Eric had to be treated this way, that he forced her to do
this—but this girl. Who was she? Who was crazy enough to follow Eric into the
Underworld? And then she threw herself into the spell. It was a desperate act,
an action to protect him. Ivy knew the severity of Eric’s agony, of the pain
that coursed through him. But this girl didn’t. If Ivy held the spell much
longer, it would destroy her.

Natalia
slumped,
her head was too
heavy to hold. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Eric. The sparks were
killing
her,
at least she thought that was what was
happening. Why else would she feel like
this.
Her body
had withstood pain before, but it was nothing like this. This torment was
soul-twisting, relentless agony. It never ceased. With each spark of light,
Natalia thought she’d die. She glanced at Eric once more, thinking she failed,
and then the world went black.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

The sound of dripping water echoed through her head. Natalia’s
temples were pounding like she’d… She didn’t finish the thought. Her eyes shot
open and she stared at the ceiling. It was made of solid gold vines. The walls
were dark as ink with no texture, no shape. Her eyes shifted side to side. It
took a moment to realize that she was alive, that she was still in the same
form. The Demon Queen didn’t kill her. She was alive—and trapped. Natalia sat
up slowly, rubbing her throbbing head. That spell was wicked. It seemed to suck
the life out of her, but she didn’t die. Natalia wasn’t sure what Ivy had done.
Maybe it meant that she couldn’t be killed. She was blood of the Omen, and that
thing was around much longer than she was. Maybe that was why she locked her
down here. Maybe she knew what she was—an
Ori
. The
gold encrusted vines made her think that she was below the Lorren. The inky
walls reminded her of the River of Night that flowed deep below the Underworld.
There were drawings of it in Eric’s book. It marked a place in the Underworld
that he never wanted to go, ever again. His drawings brushed her mind, and she
could almost hear his voice again. Natalia could hear his words, warning her
not to touch the flowing inky substance that surrounded
her,
it would trap her within it like a fly frozen inside an ice cube. Although the
river appeared fluid, and moved, it wasn’t.

Eric. Her heart plummeted. She wasn’t able to save him. She
held him in her arms, but her power wasn’t enough. Natalia couldn’t overpower
the Queen. She couldn’t save him. Before she could consider how she felt about
that, a moan came from the other side of the chamber. Natalia’s heart raced. She
sat up quickly, instantly regretting it. Crawling, she dragged her weakened
body toward the sound. Reaching through the darkness, she could see him—Eric. He
was lying on his side, his golden hair hanging over his eyes. Her fingers
pushed back his soft hair. His face was contorted like he was in pain, but it
looked like he was asleep. “Eric?” she asked, trying to rouse him, but he
wouldn’t wake up.

When her hand touched his shoulder, an ear-piercing scream
ripped out of Eric’s mouth. Natalia immediately released him, but he didn’t
stop. His body writhed, his spine going rigid as his hands pumped into fists
trying to control something that was clearly beyond him. Natalia didn’t know
what to do. There was no help. She didn’t know what was wrong.

But Eric did. His agonizing yells echoed off the walls as
he fought for control. The curse engulfed him, feeding off the years of pain,
bringing forth every single sensation he ever felt. His body was corded tight,
ready to break. There was only one way to ease his pain. He knew what he
needed. Eric cut off his scream, his jaw locked tight. He heard a voice, a
female voice and felt a soft touch. When
he
 
open
his eyes, an icy blue gaze looked
back him. Fear surged through the dark haired girl.

A sadistic smile spread across his lips. She was exactly
what he needed.