Wasteland (21 page)

Tall buildings and people zoomed by me, but all I wanted to see was Beka.

She sat, staring at me with wide eyes, her head leaning on the headrest of the seat we shared. I relaxed into the leather. The discomfort faded from my consciousness as I absorbed the sight of her face.

I swiped my knuckle along her cheek, wiping away a crimson splotch marring her skin. She leaned into my touch. Her scent flooded me, and I swallowed the ache. Her thumb swirled the skin below my eye, leaving a wake of coolness.

Her touch doused the flames.

“I’ve finally found you,” she whispered.

An inch separated our faces.

“How long have I been gone?” I buried my fingers in her hair.

“Doesn’t matter. We’re together now.” Her lips captured my mouth.

A wave of coolness infused my body as if I’d been submerged in an ice bath. She chased away the blaze of the demon trying to burst out of me. Of my punishment. She was really here. Holding me. Kissing me. I gripped her silky hair and angled her for deeper access.

My Beka.

Her lips swept across my cheek, and she buried her face in my neck. She settled onto my lap. “Finally.” Her breath teased the hair on my neck.

I combed my dirty fingers through her silky strands, reveling the touch. It had grown so long. Gentle kisses peppered my neck.

“Careful, My Lady. He is still demon.” Russell coughed. “We have to get to Jessica first.”

A grumble from Beka’s mouth vibrated along my neck. She tilted her head. “Soon, my angel,” she whispered. “Rest now, I will keep you cool, and we will get you some food.”

She settled next to me, keeping one arm around my shoulders. She guided me close to her and wrapped her other arm around me, cradling me. Darkness tugged at my vision. Fatigue weighed my body down.

“How long?” I wanted to stay awake and look at my Beka’s perfect face. I had so many questions, but my tired brain couldn’t pick one to ask.

Beka’s sweet breath washed over me. “It’s been a long, thirty-five years without you, my angel. But I’ve finally found you.”

CHAPTER 30

Squealing tires and a quick jerk forward ripped through a peaceful, cool, darkness. Gone was the bright sunlight. My demon eyesight allowed me to see trees whizzing by. Streaks of light cut through the darkness beside us as a vehicle approached, inches from ours. It veered, ramming into the side of the car. I crashed into Beka.

“Open the moon roof, let me out,” Beka yelled.

I grabbed her wrist. “No. We stay together.”

She winked. “I’ll just be gone a minute. Need to deal with this car trying to push us off the cliff.”

“The cliff?” Behind her lay a black void. Not even treetops.

Russell pressed the buttons on the door handle, and the moon roof whizzed open. Another wave of whining metal rang out as the SUV collided with ours again, jostling me to the side.

“Beka. No.”

She reached for the open window, but I immediately saw what she meant to do when feathers began to protrude from a long slit in her shirt.

They inched out while her hands gripped the sides of the open roof. She closed her eyes. The wings hastened in their mission. Soft feathers stroked my face, but she curled them close to her body. Amazing how things so big hid within her small body.

She hugged them to her back like a cape, gave me a quick smile, then pulled herself up and out of the car. The sound of a parachute snapping open as it caught wind had me jumping to the window to see. Her wings were open and we zoomed ahead of her.

“Beka,” I yelled as the car approached us for another hit.

She appeared, flapping her powerful wings, and she matched the speed of the vehicle next to us. She punched her hand through the top and peeled the metal back.

A sword shot through the roof, nicking her arm. She projected upward, still matching their speed, and went to the driver’s side and smashed her hand through the window. Another set of headlights sped up behind us.

“Abraham, you better hit the gas, we have more company,” Russell said.

“What’s happening, Russell?”

“Guess your Master didn’t appreciate us coming in to get you and your contract.” Russell moved to the end of the long car, near Abraham and mumbled something to him I couldn’t make out.

Demons pursued us in cars. This was so new to me, always having fought either on foot or on horseback. Vehicles, especially one this big, moving at high speeds, complicated things. I stood, half of my body out the top of the moving car through the moon roof. Beka fluttered beside us, dodging swords while trying to grab the driver. The car from behind rammed ours, and I lurched forward, the side of the roof cracked into my ribs. The wind whooshed out from my lungs, and bones popped.

I howled, and my demon took control. 

“David. Don’t. We can’t let them get you again,” Russell said.

Beka squealed and catapulted into the air. “Russell, give me my weapon,” she yelled.

He popped up the other moon roof holding her weapon. “My Lady,” he yelled.

With two powerful flaps, she zoomed toward him and snatched it from his hand. Her long hair trailed behind her as she moved, defying gravity with the grace of a swan, but the lethality of a powerful Guardian.

I ducked into the cab of our car and shuffled toward Russell. I snatched a blade from his belt, then hurried back to my window and hoisted myself onto the roof. Beka stabbed her sword into the top of the car beside us, opening it like a can opener. The car behind us rammed our bumper.

Our car swerved and skidded on the rocky shoulder. Rocks from our skidding wheels pelted the metal pursuing us. We’d nearly gone over the edge. Sure, we’d all survive the crash, but still, I couldn’t tell how far the drop was, and it would take serious time to recover from injuries of that magnitude.

I let out a snarl as I faced the car behind us. I crawled onto the trunk, dagger in hand. Flaming, red eyes glared through the tinted window. Elite Guard, of course. Difficult to kill, but possible. I refused to return to darkness.

“David. Don’t,” Russell yelled.

I jumped onto the hood of the car behind us and dug my nails through the metal to secure my position. I drove my dagger through the windshield and directly into the chest of the driver.

I retracted my hand, snagging the cracked windshield and tossed it over the side. I grabbed the steering wheel and cranked it to the left, toward the trees.

Squealing tires skidding on pavement rang out. The stench of burnt rubber assaulted my nostrils. With my other hand, I slid my demon nails over the driver’s throat. He disintegrated into nothing. A set of talons scored my forearm as the passenger fought for control of the steering wheel.

The car I’d been in must have braked because I saw its long frame go by us and come up behind. The vehicle Beka worked on veered to the side. She soared into the sky with a solid flap of her wings, and the car plunged over the edge into the void.

Beka streaked toward me. “David.”

I sliced off the hand of the demon reaching for the steering wheel. He swung his blade. It clanked against my wrist. I collared his neck with my fingers and tossed him out. His body flopped onto the road. The car seesawed
and swerved. Gravity yanked me to the side. Our vehicle rammed
the back end. Abraham cranked the steering wheel. The tires locked, throwing it into a skid.

“Jump,” Beka yelled.

I did as she commanded. My hand met hers, and she heaved me up. We hovered, as our long car flipped to its side and slid. Sparks speckled the darkness. Metal creaked. Gasoline tainted the fresh air.

The demon’s car skidded, but momentum pushed it over the edge.

Beka dropped me to the road, and I planted my feet on the centerline. She darted toward our rolling car, and I took off running. Our vehicle finally stopped. Smoke and flames ruptured from the pile of mangled metal.

I peeked over the ledge. Russell hung onto a rock ten feet down. I stretched for him, but he was out of reach. “Where is Abraham?” I asked.

“Here,” he said from behind me. He lay flat on the gravel shoulder fifteen feet away.

A gust of wind sprayed me with a fine layer of dust. Beka hovered, flapping her powerful wings, above Russell.

“Need a hand, Russell?”

“That would be nice, My Lady.”

With a couple graceful swoops of her wings, she descended to him and wrapped her arms around his chest from behind and lifted him up.

“You men are so heavy.” Beka hovered near me and dropped Russell.

He landed with a thud and stumbled toward me. I steadied him by the shoulders. Russell shook his head. “You just had to help, didn’t you, David?”

I pushed him away.

“Relax. I know. You were just trying to help.” He faced the steaming pile of metal. “This is going to delay things, I’m afraid.”

“Delay what? Can someone tell me what is going on?” The scorching flame within me flared again despite the strong breeze Beka’s wings provided. “Where are we?”

Beka set down beside me. Her feathered limbs retracted behind her so I only saw a few feathers swaying in the breeze. “David. We must get you and your contract to Jessica. Remember I told you I thought she could help you?”

I willed my demonic self to its dark corner and faced her as David. A cool breeze filtered through my shredded clothes. Seems the demon got in some well-timed swipes. “Yes. You have found a way that she can help me?”

“Not so much as a way has found us.” Beka stepped toward me. “But yes. Jessica can break the bonds of this contract. She need only touch you and the contract to allow you to become what you were meant to become.”

Finally, after four hundred years, I would be rid of my demonic half. Not bound by any contract. I let out a long breath and sagged forward. 

“But, we need to get you to her. And with no car, that will slow things considerably,” Russell said.

“My Lady,” Abraham said. “We must take shelter.” He nodded to the trees lining the road. “I am sure more demons will come, we must put distance between us and these broken cars.”

She faced me. “Are you okay, David?”

“Not really.”

“Does the burn consume you?” Her left wing unfolded and draped my shoulders. “I will keep you cool.”

The soft feathers brushed against my skin, and they felt like ice cubes to my flames. “How do you do that?”

She threaded her arm around my waist and led me forward. “Like I said, David, much has changed since we have last been together.”

CHAPTER 31

The cool water washed over my skin as I descended into the stream. The current hacked away the filth clinging to my body. Thirty-five years with no bathing, no food. Nothing but the sense of fire and torment.

The agony remained, deep within my chest, a constant reminder of the punishment Master had initiated. But it lessened each minute I stayed near Beka. Like she was a cool drink of water. Bright stars sprinkled against the deep night sky blinked as if to welcome me back to the living. So many years had passed.

Jessica had morphed into Merus. When I’d almost touched her before I was taken, she could have banished my demon half had my skin connected with hers. The memory of that night was blurry at best. Fighting the consuming fire allowed me to focus on only one thing, Beka. The rest went to the wayside.

I got a peaceful, cool feeling when my thoughts dwelled on her. Jessica’s touch had given Beka beautiful, bright angelic wings. She was already radiant, but the majestic wings amplified her beauty, including my draw to her.

I waded out of the stream and onto the shore. I dried off as much as possible with my shredded shirt, then slid on my frayed jeans. The meaty smell of rabbit cooking over the open fire triggered a rumble in my stomach. To eat food again after so long, even if plain and cooked on the run from demons, would taste heavenly.

I ran my hands through my wet hair. The grime had washed away. Floated downstream, but fatigue weighed heavy on my bones. Twigs crackling nearby sent prickles down my spine.

“Hi.” Beka emerged from the surrounding darkness.

I tossed my damp cloth to the side. I had to restrain myself from yanking her into my arms. She’d changed into a skintight cream tank top but still donned the body-hugging stretch pants and black combat boots. Her light, almost glowing, skin lured me in like nothing I’d ever experienced. Maybe because she was forbidden. Things we could not have always held more appeal.

Maybe that was why she wanted me. I was forbidden to her as well.

Regardless. I wanted her. More than anything.

She took two long strides and leapt. Her body collided with mine, and she wrapped her arms around my neck. I stumbled back at the surprise of her actions, but wove my hands around her waist, and hugged her close. She rested her elbows on my shoulders while her fingers combed through my hair.

“Finally alone.” She took my mouth with hers.

Her tongue danced with mine with an urgency of lovers separated for years. But we were not lovers. We were not supposed to be together. My body didn’t care. It perked to life with raw hunger. A need to unite with this woman. To protect her for always.

Her warm hands grazed over my shoulders to my neck, tilting my head for deeper access. I devoured her mouth, suckling her bottom lip.
More.
She leaned back and palpated her hands down my heaving chest.

“You’re really here,” she whispered.

“Beka, we—”

She silenced me with a kiss. I crushed her to me, her body molding to mine. I danced my fingers up her spine, and she ducked out of the kiss.

“Careful,” she said with a husky voice. “Sensitive there.”

“Where are they?”

Her chest swelled and pressed against me. “Your hands are like magic to me.” She touched a kiss to my cheek. “I’ve dreamt about this for thirty-five years, David. I ache for you to touch me. Just down the back is very,
very
sensitive to me now.”

Her hands massaged my bare stomach. A current of blazing heat zipped through my veins.

She gasped when I did and out came her wings. The gust startled me, but she curled her feathers around us, blanketing our bodies. I swept my gaze over her shining eyes. The slight curve of her cheekbones to her chin. She raked her teeth over her lip, igniting another pleasurable wave of warmth. That taunting gesture plagued my dreams while in punishment.