The Damned (The Unearthly Book 5)

  The only way he knew that was if he stayed to watch. “I thought I told you to leave Castletown.”

  “Because I follow orders so well.” Oliver shook his head. “One day in hell and you’ve forgotten that your BBF is a fucking fairy.”

  “Speaking of fairies,” Oliver leaned around his seat and lifted up an edge of my dress, “this looks fae made.” He rubbed the lace together. “Why is this wet—?”

  He squealed when he realized what the liquid was. “Ewww!” He wiped the blood off on the seats, then swore, staring at the stain for several seconds. When nothing happened, he relaxed. “Phew, thought I’d just released another hellspawn.”

  I scrubbed my face. “Why are you guys helping me?” I asked the car. I’d asked both friends this before, but then I’d still been human. Now there was no denying what I was—the queen of hell sent to earth.

  “Because we’re your friends, and when all is said and done, we will fall on the right side of history,” Leanne said.

  Slowly I lifted my head, my heart thumping like mad. “What have you seen?”

  She met my eyes in the rearview mirror. “Nothing I can speak of in great detail.”

  Oliver coughed, “Copout,” into his hand.

  She glared at him. “Every detail I reveal can and will change the future, sometimes a little, sometimes a lot. If we want it to go our way, you’ll both have to trust me.”

  “That’s fine,” I said. I was used to working with cryptic messages. “Where are we going?”

  “We’re meeting with Andre—I think.”

  Andre. The thought of him was a punch to the gut. I’d obviously not been myself because he should’ve—would’ve—been the first person I visited. It felt like a fog was lifting around my heart, my feelings for him rushed in. Suddenly, seeing him seemed paramount.

  “What do you mean you think?” I asked.

  “The seer’s shroud is still in Andre’s system, as it is in Oliver’s and mine, so I can’t foresee his future. Now that you’ve died, I can see yours, and in it we meet with someone whose future I can’t see.”

  “So Andre knows I’m alive?”

  Oliver snorted. “Footage of you is all over the news. He’d have to be blind, deaf, and dumb to miss it.”

  Or dead.

  No, I couldn’t think like that. Of course, telling myself this didn’t stop my rising panic.

  Focus on other things.

  Focus—on—other—things.

  “Who’s car is this?” I asked running my hand over the seat’s plush fabric.

  “No one’s,” Leanne replied. “Paul conjured it.” Paul was Oliver’s roommate. In the past, he’d conjured clothes for us, but nothing close to a running vehicle.

  “He was able to conjure an entire car?” I didn’t attempt to hide my shock.

  “My BBF is literally the mother of demons,” Oliver said, “and she’s surprised someone can conjure a car.”

  “But,” I said, “he made a car out of nothing.”

  “And you made demons out of a couple drops of blood,” Oliver said, checking out his lilac fingernails. “You all are special snowflakes, m’kay? Hey, you know next time, when you spill some more blood, could you try calling up some incubi?”

  “Oliver!” I shoved him lightly on the shoulder. “Those things want your soul.”

  “Not as much as they want my—”

  I slapped a hand over his mouth. “Please, let’s not,” I said. “I can only handle so much trauma in one evening.”

  He began to pry my fingers away.

  “Are you done?”

  He held up three fingers—the scout’s honor symbol.

  Reluctantly, I let my hand fall.

  “—big, glittery cock!”

  I couldn’t help it; my face flushed at his words. “Oli-ver, ewwww.”

  Oliver laughed. “Still such a prude.” He swiveled in his seat to face me. When he saw my pink cheeks, he squealed. “And my baby can blush again! All is not lost after all.”

  Andre

  He’d lost her. The demon had landed somewhere in this neighborhood, and when he’d taken to the sky again, it was without Gabrielle. A quick search of the neighborhood hadn’t turned up his soulmate.

  Andre gnashed his teeth together. This would be so much easier if they still had their bond. Now he had to make a decision: search the neighborhood again or follow the demon. And with each second that ticked by, the creature moved farther and farther away from them.

  He ran a hand through his hair and swore. “Follow the demon,” he finally ordered his driver.

  This had better work out.

  Andre pulled a gun from the car’s center console and leaned out the window. The creature soared a football field length ahead of them. Well within his range. He lined up the gun’s sights and fired.

  The bullet hit the creature just left of where his heart should be—if demons had them. Even from here he could hear the demon’s shriek. Andre pulled the trigger twice more, clipping the creature’s wings. It continued to fly, its movements jerky, but it was quickly losing altitude.

  Andre shot it again, this time hitting a wing joint, and the creature crumpled in the sky, its body plummeting to earth.

  “Move it,” Andre said, not tearing his gaze away from the demon.

  They tracked it down to an open field. Andre stepped out of the car and stalked over to his prey, the wind whipping his coat and hair. He still loosely held his gun, and he rubbed the trigger tenderly. It had been a very long evening, and without Gabrielle nestled in his heart, the humanity he’d slowly been reclaiming was now long gone.

  As soon as the demon caught sight of him, it rose to its feet. Andre lifted the gun and shot the thing in the kneecap. It screeched, falling back to the ground.

  “If you try to fly away, I’ll shoot your wing bones. Again.” Not that the creature would necessarily be able to fly, considering how badly wounded he already was. But Andre had never been around one of these things long enough to know whether they regenerated.

  “Fool,” the demon said, its voice a low growl. “I will tell my master of this and he will punish you.”

  Andre laughed at that, closing the last few feet between the two of them. He placed his boot on the demon’s throat. The creature reached up, its claws ready to sink into Andre’s leg.

  He pointed the gun. “We have the same enemies at the moment. If you cooperate, I will not send you back to hell.”

  The demon stopped struggling and eyed him warily.

  “Where is Gabrielle?”

  The creature smiled. “Can’t say I know.”

  Andre’s boot dug into the demon’s neck and he cocked the gun. “Try again.”

  “She’s on this island somewhere.”

  Still not good enough. He shifted his aim and shot the demon’s other kneecap.

  The thing screamed, the sound not of this world.

  “Where is she?”

  The demon began to laugh. Andre could smell its blood seeping out. The wounds weren’t healing. It couldn’t fly, it couldn’t walk, it clearly felt pain, and yet it laughed at the prospect of more. “Beyond your reach, vampire.”

  Andre should’ve stayed in that neighborhood.

  He shot the demon point blank in the forehead, and the creature dissolved into smoke and ash.

  Another dead end.

  How to find Gabrielle before the others did?

  Of course.

  Andre pulled out his phone. There was one seer out there who cared about his soulmate, and she was going to help him find her.

  Gabrielle

  Their conjured car careened down the highway, headed for the city of Douglas.

  Leanne’s phone buzzed. “About time,” she muttered. She pulled it out of her pocket, the car swerving as she did so, and brought it to her ears. “She’s safe and she wants to see you,” Leanne answered.

  A beat of silence passed before the caller spoke. “Gabrielle’s with you?”

  I stopped breat
hing at the sound of Andre’s voice. Goosebumps broke out along my skin. And then oxygen was rushing into my lungs and it felt like I was coming up for air for the first time all evening.

  “Let me talk to him,” I said.

  “Gabrielle.” Andre’s voice changed at the sound of my own.

  “Neither of you gets to talk to the other,” Leanne said. “I’m not fucking with the future. Right now, Andre, you need to listen to me,” she said. “We’re heading to Douglas Cafe. Meet us there as soon as you can.”

  “Is my mate alright?” Andre growled. “At the very least, you can tell me that.”

  “She’s fine.”

  “I’m trusting you with her life.”

  I didn’t realize I’d been biting my lip until I tasted blood. I knew it was important to heed Leanne’s advice, but that didn’t make it easy. My surroundings all took on a rosy hue, and I blinked away the tears. It was wrong to love someone this much when they were no longer yours.

  “I know,” Leanne said, “and I know what you do to people who betray that trust.”

  “He eats them!” Oliver yelled oh-so-helpfully.

  Andre sighed. I’d seeded that misconception—that vampires ate people—and Oliver had latched onto it with his normal enthusiasm.

  Leanne pulled the phone away from her mouth. “Thanks for the visual, Oliver.”

  Into the receiver she said, “Douglas Café in twenty.” Leanne clicked the phone off and blew out a breath, rumpling her hair. “I don’t know how you deal with that man, Gabrielle. He’s so … “

  “Overbearing?” Oliver piped in. “Ridiculously protective? Scarily possessive? It’s okay, Leanne. We know he’s too much man for you to handle. It’s a good thing Gabrielle and I like strong men. And now that Sabertooth’s hitched to the lord of the Underworld, that frees up her honeypie for me.”

  He was only joking, but my stomach flipped anyway because he was right. Andre was no longer mine, and there was nothing I could do about it.

  Chapter 6

  Gabrielle

  Leanne, Oliver, and I waited in line, and when I got weird looks for my blood-spattered, spider-web dress and bare feet, Oliver shook his head. “Sabertooth, you’re stealing my thunder,” he said, patting his ice blond hair self-consciously. “It’s like … I don’t even exist next to your weird.”

  “Someone’s going to recognize me,” I said. I’d seen the news crews stationed across the street from Castle Rushen.

  “No one will act on it,” Leanne said, facing forward. “Guys, go sit down, I’ve got this.”

  She ended up buying us all hot chocolates, bringing them over to the table we’d chosen, one nestled close to the back entrance where we’d parked our car. Outside it had started raining again, and it splattered against the window

  The whole thing was so … normal, something I hadn’t had in a very long time. I couldn’t remember when exactly I had lost it.

  “So,” Leanne said, “Tell us about it.”

  “About what?” I looked at her, startled.

  She lifted her hand and gestured to my getup. “The last time we saw you, the devil claimed you as his mate … and then the two of you disappeared.”

  “Yeah, and then you show up tonight looking like you ran through a cobweb”—I narrowed my eyes at Oliver—“and you decide to go take on the Politia with nothing more than a vendetta—so very badass and so very unlike you.”

  “I wasn’t fighting them. I was after Caleb.”

  “Caleb?” Oliver said, glancing at Leanne.

  “Don’t look at me,” she said. “I know nothing about this.”

  “Why?” Oliver asked.

  I traced the veins of the worn wooden table. “Last night? He was the one who shot me.”

  Oliver lifted his brows. “Wait, seriously? That fucker. I’m so going to hex him.”

  “I went to the Politia to pay him back,” I said. I glanced out the window at the stormy night beyond. “I didn’t kill him. Just threw him into a jail cell and left.”

  Oliver gave me a disapproving look. “You’re the queen of the Underworld and you didn’t even try to kill him?”

  My lips thinned. “It didn’t seem right.”

  “Hmph. I would’ve thought hell would have corrupted you more. Have you at least sullied that?” Oliver asked.

  “Sullied what?” I asked, cupping my drink.

  “The guy you’re now shacking up with.”

  “Oh. Ugh, Oliver,” I winced. “Stop.” No one wanted that visual.

  “What? Soulless people need love too.” He looked at me expectantly. “So … ?”

  Persistent fairy.

  “No, Oliver, I didn’t ‘sully’ that,” I said, bringing the cup of hot chocolate to my lips. I really didn’t want to upchuck the drink in the middle of this nice establishment like I had all other liquid for the past few days, but it smelled good and my stomach seemed settled. After hesitating for a second, I tried it.

  “You mean to tell me that you spent an entire day in hell, and you and Satan didn’t do the nasty?”

  I closed my eyes for a second as that first sip went down.

  So good.

  “—or were you too busy getting off on foodgasms?”

  I gave him the bird as I took another gulp.

  “Guys,” Leanne said, scanning the room, “Andre should be here any minute. Unless you want him to hear about Gabrielle’s time with the devil, I suggest you both shut up.”

  “Don’t tell me to shut up,” Oliver said testily, his voice rising. “I’m the queen bee-otch here, not you. You’re just one of my bitchy ladies-in-waiting. And I’ll talk about sex and foodgasms as often as I want to.”

  Leanne threw her hands up. “This is hopeless.”

  My back straightened when I felt it. Divinity.

  Before I could think twice, I was out of my chair, my eyes locked on the man who entered the café.

  It wasn’t Andre.

  He dressed like any other person. Jeans paired with a button down and a tweed coat on top of it all. But he didn’t look like anyone else.

  This man was beautiful in a way that wasn’t of this world. But even if he’d masked his true appearance with spells, he wouldn’t be able to hide his essence.

  The holiness that poured off him in waves sparked two different, warring instincts. Half of me wanted to fall to his feet and bask in his presence. The other half of me, the half that spent the day in hell, wanted to attack him. My hands curled into fists, my nails biting into my palms.

  “Fuck, fuck, fuckity-fuck.” Leanne yanked on my wrist. “Sit down before he sees you.”

  Too late for that.

  One moment our eyes locked, and in the next he was streaking across the room. Catching me around the waist, he plowed us through the window. Glass shattered and screams rang out from the coffee shop as we tumbled outside.

  Night air blasted against me. My body reacted first, my fists pounding against any flesh I could reach. The angle proved too awkward, and we hit the ground before I got a good shot in. My attacker grunted as his shoulder took the brunt of the impact. We rolled over and over.

  My blood sang for this. The confrontation, the promised violence. My skin glowed, the siren surging up, and my fangs dropped.

  “Revenant,” he hissed, “you should be back in the ground, where you belong.”

  My hands found his neck, but by then he had me pinned to the ground. He pressed his forearm to my windpipe as I squeezed.

  I fought an inner battle. I wanted this being’s help, but I also wanted to scratch his eyes out. Really wanted to scratch his eyes out.

  So not normal.

  Chill, Gabrielle, and let the scary man go.

  Slowly, I released my hands from his neck and raised them where he could see them.

  He jerked his head back, his lip curling, and I realized too late, he took it as a threat. In the supernatural world, showing your palms to someone could be considered a threat if you wielded magic. It hadn’t been an issu
e for me before, but now it was.

  One of his hands threaded into my hair. He yanked up, then brought my head down, slamming it into the street. I moaned as my vision dulled. “St-stop. Please.”

  But he didn’t. Again and again he smashed my head into the ground until the skin ripped. My blood pooled around me, giving me a macabre halo. It boiled away and thick, oily smoke rose.

  Demons were coming to my rescue.

  This was so messed up.

  His grip loosened on me as he watched the creatures take form. Abruptly, he released my hair to reach for a sword I hadn’t seen a minute ago.

  “Help me,” I wheezed. “Please.”

  “I will never help you, nor will my brothers or sisters.”

  This was the second time someone had shot down my plea for help. Maybe I needed to work on my delivery.

  His arm reared back, and I saw the glint of his sword. I could see in his eyes he’d like nothing better than to end me. What would happen if I died here? Would I cease to exist? A rulebook on what it meant to be queen of the Underworld would be nice.

  Intrigued though I was, I wasn’t going to wait for this guy to skewer me to find out. I closed my eyes and, steadying my breath, drew on my energy. I felt it rise, and with one great push, I slammed it into my assailant.

  The man went flying back, his sword clattering against the cement as he hit the ground.

  I rose to my feet and approached him before he recovered. Flakes of snow clung to my hair and eyelashes.

  “I don’t want to be your enemy,” I said, even as my hands fisted and the need to destroy him surged through me.

  “We will hunt you until you’re wiped off the earth once and for all,” he vowed, pushing to his feet and retrieving his sword. “Count your days, revenant.”

  His eyes flicked to the partially formed demons at my back.

  His wings unfurled, nearly as bright as the sun. I shielded my eyes against his glory. He rose into the sky and hung up there for several seconds, sword held loosely in his hand, watching me and the beings behind me.