Awaken (Divine Hunter Series) (28 page)

It was Michael’s turn to duck out of the way this time and when he looked back at his friend, who was now in a panic, eyes scanning the dusty floor, he. . .

“EVO!” Michael cried, warning him just in time. A demon was heading straight for him and two more were on its tail. Evo managed to slice that one too, but Michael had no such knife and watched as the other two demons changed course and were now headed straight for him instead.
Oh, fuck!

Evo
darted in front of him, slicing one of the demons before rolling on the ground, but the other went straight after Michael. Knowing that the knives he had would do nothing, he put his arm up to protect himself and cursed out loud as the demon connected and flew off as quickly.

“Fuck! That burns,” he gasped, surprised by the pain as he quickly inspected his arm. He could see his pink flesh under his coat where the demon had burned right through. He made a quick mental note not to let one of those things touch him again as he was now aware that he could feel physical pain down here.

The demons were playing with them. He knew that they could attack properly whenever they wanted to and then neither of them stood a chance.

Evo must have read his mind. “We haven’t a hope of defeating these things
, Mike,” he shouted between slices. Michael continued to duck out of the way by his side. “My knife seems to be stunning them momentarily, but that’s about it. We’re screwed here, buddy.”

He knew Evo was right. Michael couldn’t see a way out of this. Evo was managing to keep the demons away from both of them at the moment but for how long?

“Uh. . . Mike?”

Shit. Three
more had just joined the party.

Instead of swooping down on them like the others were, the new additions begun to fly around them and to their surprise the rest joined them. The five demons circled them in the air. Now Michael was able to see them properly, noticing their skull-like features and the black mist that represented their bodies just like the demon he’d seen at the university, the one which had possessed Nina and then moved on to Jake.

They began to move faster until they appeared to merge into one, forming a black ring around them as they stood as prey in the center.

“I don’t like this.” Evo shouted over the wind that was now hurtling around them. “What do we do now? Can’t you do that shit you did at Lacy’s house−whatever the hell that was−and get us out of this?”

“I don’t even know
what
happened, let alone how to make it happen again.”

“Well. . . great. We’re going to die. I mean, I a
m anyway. You’re already dead.”

“I don’t need a reminder.”

Just then, a deafening screech tore through the air and immediately the demons began to scatter, leaving Evo and Michael perplexed in the silence that followed. Only the eerie quiet didn’t last long.

Another screech. Closer this time.

Michael and Evo now stood back to back in the middle of the clearing, both with weapons held out in front of them, ready for anything. At least he thought they were until what he saw emerge from the black trees right in front of him made him think again. He took an unnecessary deep breath in anticipation of what was about to happen.

“
Uh. . . okay, more trouble,” his friend said. Michael threw a quick glance over his shoulder to see that Evo was facing the same thing. Then he heard a movement off to the side and saw another of the large beings, dressed in black robes and on horseback, stalking towards them.

The horses let out a loud screech.

“We mean no trouble,” Michael shouted to the robed figure in front of him. “We’re here to speak with Lucifer.”

A deep laugh resonated right through to Michael’s very core. “
You
”−he looked at Evo−“secured trouble when you trespassed into this realm.” The horseman then turned his gaze to Michael. “
You,
however, should never have left.”

Michael swallowed hard at the horseman’s recognition, but all he could do was hold out his knives and, keeping his gaze fixed onto the one who seemed to be in charge, he slowly crouched to the floor letting the hor
semen know that he didn’t want any trouble. He nodded to Evo to do the same, but his stubborn friend didn’t look too impressed about it. He knew Evo wouldn’t be happy letting go of his knife−hell, he was so fond of the thing he’d all but given it a name−but they needed to show that they weren’t the aggressor. He lay both weapons down on the dusty floor and returned to his position just as slowly.

He saw Evo eyeballing his blade on the floor, ready to grab it at any chance he got should shit start to go down. Good job the horseman didn’t know what that knife could do, their lack of concern over it showed that they had no idea, or else the chances of Evo retrieving it would have been slim to none.

The demon in front of him began to look impatient.

“W
e’re just here to speak with Lucifer,” Michael repeated.

All they got back in reply was a deep wheezy laugh.

“We have information for him about a mutual enemy. I think he would be interested in what we have to propose.” The fact that a proposition didn’t actually exist, and that Michael and Evo had no idea what they were going to say to the powerful fallen angel, remained unsaid.

Michael saw Evo change his stance so that his legs were wider apart; so wide, in fact, that he looked quite uncomfortable. His face was stoic but Michael sensed something was off with him.

The demon was silent as it assessed them both. It glanced at the weapons on the floor. “You may retrieve your metal; they are of little use to you down here.

Michael didn’t agree.

As both men crouched to grab their knives, the reason for Evo’s strange behavior was revealed: After he’d picked up his knife, pulled up his trouser leg and replaced it into his ankle strap, Michael saw him retrieve something from under his boot. Evo clamped his fist tightly, then his mouth curled up slightly at one side in a grin meant only for Michael’s eyes.

He’d found the ring.

No sooner had they stood up than they both found themselves restrained by two horsemen who had dismounted their horses and now had each of them in a tight headlock facing their leader awaiting instructions.

The demon remained silent, black eyes bearing into them in turn as it seemed like it was deciding on a course of action. Michael stared at the demon whose face was almost skeleton-like. Its pasty diaphanous skin was almost nonexistent over the bones that it covered. Michael’s composure began to dissipate the longer they faced the creature as he sensed something bad was about to happen. Was it now that he would finally meet his fate? Was this the end of the road for him and Evo?

When the horseman began to move towards them, Michael slowly closed his eyes. A vision flashed in his mind, Lacy, almost as clear as if she were standing in front of him. He held on to it for a moment before inhaling a deep breath and opening his eyes again. When he did, a large, black robed, skeletal hand came crashing down towards him. Just before it made contact, Michael flashed a look to his friend who was calling out his name with a look of sheer terror on his face. When the horseman struck, it was the last thing Michael remembered before everything went black.

* * *

A
deep laugh penetrated Michael’s ears as he roused from unconsciousness. Feeling like he’d been the unfortunate one at the bottom of a huddle during a football game, he managed to open his eyes to see his friend lying unconscious−at least, that’s what he hoped he was−on the rocky ground next to him. As well as Evo, Michael was also on his stomach. He began to pull his body up and when he was on his knees, he got a good look at his surroundings.

Black.

All around him was black: black clouds in a black sky, black rock underneath them leading to a cliff face to his right and what he guessed was a sheer drop to his left. They were on the edge of a mountain, wind howling through the air, sending piercing chills right through Michael’s skin. He was about to assist his friend when he froze, sensing something powerful. They weren’t alone, there was something behind him and he almost didn’t want to turn around. But he did.

Slowly.

Then, what Michael saw was inconceivable.

Impossible!

It had to be his mind playing tricks on him again; pushing him into a memory from his life in order to confuse him. But, like the vision of Lacy’s charred body, the female standing in front of him looked very real.

She couldn’t be real.

Could she?

“
Jessica?”

The brown haired woman who
m he once knew was being flanked by two of the horsemen. Not being able to judge their size while they’d surrounded him and Evo earlier, he was surprised to see the sheer magnitude of the demons as they faced him now minus their horses.

“
Ah yes, about that. . . not my real name.”

“Where’s Lucifer? It was him I requested to speak with.”

The woman’s mouth turned up at the side as she leered at him with dark brown eyes. “He’s unavailable right now. And will be for the foreseeable future.”

What?

Michael got to his feet and faced them. The more this was playing out in front of him, the harder he found it to trust his own mind. Lucifer was gone? Where? Jess was here? No. It just couldn’t be happening. “This isn’t real.
You’re
not real. It’s this place. . . it’s messing with my head again.” He threw a quick glance at Evo who was still unconscious, but was relieved to notice a slight movement in his back. He was still alive. Thank God. But why was he still face-planted on the floor?

“Afr
aid not. I’m very real. As real as the last time you saw me. The night we spent together.”

“
What the hell are you talking about?”

Jess looked strange. She hadn
’t really changed from what he could remember, but there was something about the way she was regarding him. She looked arrogant, cocky, a trait that was never a part of her demeanor when she’d worked for him. That was one of the reasons he was refusing to believe it was really her.

She began to walk towards him as she answered.
“Oh, silly me. I almost forgot. The suppression.”

“
What. . . ”

Suddenly, Michael gripped his head as memories began to fill his mind; a whirlwind of images
flying through his head like a video on fast forward: both he and Jessica laughing together at the office, sitting opposite each other in a restaurant, walking through the park, her arm linked through his. They were affectionate towards each other. Still gripping both sides of his head, he paused when he realized the memory of his old self that followed wasn’t a familiar one.

Jack stood with Jess in front of the fireplace in his apartment. He thought she looked particularly nice that evening. Her brown hair was up in a neat chignon at the top of her head with a few wispy strands framing her face. Her knee length, blue dress hugged her figure in a way that would attract any man’s attention if they’d been out in public, but tonight it was for his eyes only.

When Jess had started working for Jack’s company she’d immediately caught his eye. She was a pleasure to look at−attractive in a classic film star kind of way−but she knew it too. He honestly never saw himself dating her though. He enjoyed the harmless flirtation from her and would often reciprocate, but he wasn’t ready for any kind of relationship, even a casual one. So he was surprised that he’d actually enjoyed her company over the last couple of weeks.

After much repartee, mostly from Jess, he finally asked her out on a date. Jack took her to
The Delauney
, a swanky brasserie up town, figuring it would be the kind of place she’d be into even though he didn’t much care for the pretentiousness. Afterwards, they went for drinks in a more understated bar down the street. They chatted, they laughed and then Jack dropped Jess off home with nothing more than a good night kiss. This happened many more times over the coming weeks.

At Jack’s penthouse suite at The Cincinnati on a chilly October evening, Jess
reached up and clinked her wine glass against his whiskey glass.

“To us,” s
he said warmly.

Even though he didn’t really think there was officially an ‘us’, he smiled and took a sip from his glass. She took it from him and placed it with hers on top of the fireplace. He noticed a gleam in her eye as she stepped
into him. They’d kissed a few times, but even though she’d hinted, they’d gone no further. But maybe that would change tonight. He was a man after all.

Without a word she placed both of her hands on his chest and leaned in to kiss him. He bent his head slightly, meeting her lips with his and slowly sliding his hands around her waist, feeling the curve of her back through the soft material of her dress. Their kiss intensified and he enjoyed it. For the first time, he’d
begun to feel aroused by her, imagining her naked in his bed and willing to take things further. He pulled her body closer into his and felt her slight gasp against his lips.