Her Avenging Angel (Her Angel Romance Series Book 7) (23 page)

“Maybe she can be awakened like I was by my father?” Erin offered and Nevar looked at her.

That was another change in him. He flinched less on looking at her now. He was becoming more comfortable being around her and was less changeable, no longer flitting between looking at her with pleading eyes one second and growling at her the next. It was good to see him finally becoming comfortable with himself as he was now and being around her and the others. There was a chance he would finally fit into their group where he belonged, their motley crew of outcasts.

Veiron squeezed her waist. “But that would mean Nevar would have to hurt someone she loved to awaken her and that would be suicide since she obviously cares the most about him.”

Lysia blushed. Nevar growled and flashed his fangs.

“It’s the truth, Mate. Deal with it.” Veiron was no doubt grinning at the poor man.

Here she was trying not to tease him so he would be more relaxed around them and would feel as if he fitted into the group, and her husband went and teased him about his love life instead.

“Veiron,” she whispered and placed her hands over his on her waist. “Play nice.”

He shrugged, the action causing his chest to shift against her back and stir more naughty thoughts. She forced herself to focus. Nevar had important information and had come to them for a reason, not just to tell them about what Lysia had remembered. There was more to it than that.

She stared hard at him, seeing if she could figure it out.

His jade gaze flickered to her again and then dropped to his boots.

Erin gave him a moment, knowing it was still difficult for him to see her and not wanting to push him. She checked on Dante and found him still smiling at the purple floating animals. The sight of him warmed her and she couldn’t stop herself from smiling too. Her little man. He was already powerful. She hadn’t realised his strength until Lysander had brought the four angels to the island and she had handed Dante to Veiron. It had become apparent then that Dante could withstand the full force of the angels’ power just as she could, and had provided Veiron with protection from it. She had thought she had been protecting Dante, but Dante was as powerful as she was.

As powerful as the Devil.

She closed her eyes and shut out the niggling fears that surfaced whenever she thought about her father. He wanted Dante for himself. She would never let it happen. Dante would never be her father’s vessel.

“Hey,” Veiron husked and wrapped his arms around her waist, drawing her back against him. He pressed a kiss to her shoulder and she leaned her head against his cheek, taking every scrap of comfort he offered her. “I’d kill the snide little fucker before he could set his filthy claws on Dante. Okay?”

She nodded. “I know.”

She knew because she would kill her father too.

She would do anything to ensure the safety of her child and her family.

“I need to go to Heaven,” Nevar said and snapped her focus back to him.

“What?” She didn’t want to believe what she had just heard. Everyone on this island was her family, Nevar included, and she wasn’t about to let him go off to Heaven where they would probably kill him to reset him. “That’s a suicide mission and you know it, Nevar. If they kill you, you won’t remember a thing. Is that what you want?”

“No,” he barked and his expression darkened, his silver-white eyebrows dipping low above jade eyes rapidly turning violet. “But I must see the future. If I can see the future, then I can stop it from happening. I have to reach the pool.”

“You will never make it that far.” Apollyon moved closer, coming to stand beside Asmodeus. “The forces of Heaven are too strong for you right now. They are too strong for us. If we go there, we risk everything.”

“I’m not asking you to risk yourselves.” Nevar looked at them each in turn. “I would never.”

“You do not need to ask us,” Asmodeus said and Nevar stared at him, incredulity shining in his half-jade half-violet eyes. The dark angel sighed and rocked Dante in his arms. “We would not let you go alone, Nevar.”

Amelia and Marcus both nodded in agreement, and Nevar looked as if he wasn’t sure how to respond to what everyone had just told him. He wasn’t alone. He was part of this family whether he liked it or not, and they took care of each other and had each other’s backs.

“There might be another way to see the future.” Erin felt Veiron’s hands tense against her and rubbed them, trying to soothe the anger and fear she could sense rising inside him.

Nevar swung his gaze to her. “How? There is rumour that the Devil has his own pool in which he can see the future. Do you mean to ask him if we can use it? I do not think he would consent to that.”

She shook her head. “I mean that I’ll sleep without Veiron holding me and I’ll have a vision. It might be of the future, it might not be… but I will do it until I see what we need—”

“No,” Veiron interjected and spun her to face him. Darkness reigned around his crimson and gold swirling eyes. “I will not allow it. You suffer with these visions. They upset you. I won’t put you through that. We’ll ask your father.”

She smiled and captured his cheeks in her palms, touched by his desire to protect her and keep her safe from harm. “You know he’ll say no, or he’ll dream up some clause involving Dante… I won’t hand our son over to him when I can help. Let me try.”

He looked as if he would say no again.

“You’ll be there to wake me, okay? You’ll stay with me and I’ll know you’re there and when it looks as if it’s getting too much for me, you’ll wake me.” She searched his eyes but they only swirled brighter, a sign he was on the verge of unleashing his demonic side.

She tiptoed and kissed him, hoping to soothe away his fear and calm him down. He gathered her against him, his arms steel bands around her that held her a little too tightly. It hurt but she didn’t have the heart to tell him, not when he needed to feel her in his arms and know she was safe.

“It’s just a vision. I had them all my life until I met you and you kept them at bay. No more nasty dreams for me… just wonderful ones,” she whispered against his ear and stroked her fingers through his crimson hair, loosening it from the thong at the nape of his neck.

It was still shorter than it had been when they had first met in Hell, but she still loved the vibrant colour of it and she had grown used to it being shorter. Temporarily. He was growing it back for her, and that touched her too.

“I’ll watch over you,” he murmured against her shoulder. “No beasties will come near you… not in your visions and not out here. I’ll keep them all away.”

He had vowed such a thing to her all those months ago when she had told him about her nightmares, and had confessed that she hadn’t experienced one when she had fallen asleep in his arms. Since then, he had always slept with her, somehow managing to keep skin-contact between them at all times so she never had a nightmare. She only had good dreams.

“I love you.” She pressed a soft kiss to his cheek.

He nuzzled her neck. “Love you too, Sweetheart.”

Someone cleared their throat. Erin looked up and smiled at her sister, Amelia. Some of the darkness in her silver eyes lifted and she sighed.

“Just be careful.” Amelia shook her head, causing her silver ponytail to sway across her shoulders, brushing the straps of her colourful summer dress. “I used to worry about you every night… your nightmare-free sleep is the only reason I’m glad you met Veiron.”

Veiron growled. Amelia grinned.

“I’m just kidding… Dante is another reason.” Amelia ignored Veiron’s indignant snarl, her smile mischievous as she went to Asmodeus and took the boy from him. “I’ll get him settled.”

Erin nodded and watched her sister go before drawing in a deep breath to steady her nerves and looking at the group, her gaze leaping between each of them before coming to rest on Nevar and Lysia, and finally Veiron.

The love and concern in his gaze warmed her heart and she took hold of his hand, using the feel of it clutching hers to drive away the last remnants of her fear.

She looked up into his dark crimson-edged eyes.

“Let’s do this.”

F
ire.

It blazed everywhere as far as Erin could see, spewing from fissures in the black scorched land.

She squinted as shadows moved in amidst the flickering flames, their shapes distorted by the incredible heat. No matter how hard she tried to bring them into focus, they remained as shimmering black shapes, thousands of them, like a swarm of insects.

The ground beneath her feet trembled and rocked, sending basalt stones tumbling down the blackened slope before her. Hot wind swirled around her, scorching her flesh, carrying the acrid scent of smoke, burning flesh and sulphur.

It had to be Hell.

But the more she looked at it, the less it appeared like the realm she knew existed deep within the Earth.

Dotted around the inhospitable landscape stretching below her were patches of towering spiked poles, all of them ablaze. Trees.

She unfurled her black shadow wings and stepped forwards, onto the steep slope that flowed down into the valley. She skidded down it, using her wings to steady her, unwilling to trust them to carry her over the harsh terrain when the wind was picking up, the heat growing in intensity until she felt sure her skin would blister from it alone.

The shimmering black shapes in the distance moved more frantically and the sound of metal weapons clashing reached her ears as the wind turned towards her, blasting against her front. It cut through her wings and she stumbled. She focused to strengthen them and keep them with her.

Ahead of her, a river of lava snaked around the base of the hill, the edges glowing red against the black land.

Her eyes widened in horror as she skidded closer.

It wasn’t the lava glowing red.

It was blood.

A river of boiling blood.

On the banks were the fallen, thousands of them. Angels. Demons. Even animals. They littered the ground from as far as she could see clearly beyond the grim river to halfway up the hill.

Her eyes widened further as she saw she was approaching the charred bodies and she beat her wings, carrying herself above them just seconds before she hit the first wave of the fallen.

Bile burned her throat as she flew above the hideous scene, her eyes darting around as she tried to take in the gravity of what she was seeing and calculate the number of blackened and broken bodies.

So many dead.

Too many for her to number.

She crossed the river, heading towards the shapes moving in the distance, drawn to seeing what they were but fearing what she would see at the same time.

Lava erupted from several vents below her and she rolled left to avoid the magma as it shot high into the air. She beat her wings harder to pick up speed, using the thermals to dart across the endless fields of the dead.

The shapes began to come into focus as the heat haze between her and them lessened.

The ground shook and the air trembled, a mighty roar rising above the sounds of weapons clashing.

A shiver shot down her back.

Warning bells jangled in her head.

Erin dived, plummeting towards the scorched earth and narrowly avoiding the immense clawed foot that swiped through the air where she had been. She hit the ground hard, kicking off a bare patch of land, and flapped her wings, shooting towards the shadows battling ahead of her.

The ground rocked beneath her in time with a heavy beat that steadily picked up speed. Wind slammed against her back in hard waves.

She glanced back at the beast following her.

Green eyes the size of car windshields locked on her, the vertical slit pupils narrowed with intent. Gigantic leathery wings supported the great black dragon as it flew after her. The spikes down its back rippled as it opened its mouth and gold blazed at the back of its throat, illuminating the vicious fangs that were each longer than she was tall.

It roared and unleashed a stream of fire.

Erin shut her eyes and teleported before it could hit her.

She reappeared hundreds of feet ahead of it, close to the battle.

It was worse than she had anticipated.

Angels and demons warred before her. Not Hell’s angels. Demons. Huge, scaly, winged beasts.

In amidst the fray were the four angels she had seen with Lysander on the island, a wicked glint in their eyes and a cruel twist to their lips as they attacked with weapons forged of white fire.

What the hell?

They were attacking the angels.

The one Apollyon had named Mihail turned to face her, his icy blue eyes void of any feeling as they locked on her.

He hissed, revealing jagged fangs, and pointed to her.

The biggest one with the pale hair and green eyes swung her way, grinned and licked his fangs as he twirled two curved white flaming blades that resembled sickles at his sides.

Erin didn’t wait for him to attack her. She hurled her hands forwards, unleashing a golden orb of energy that tore through the demons between them, filling the stifling air with their cries. The angel evaded it and beat his greenish wings, shooting towards her.

Erin sensed the dragon looming behind her and teleported again, leaving the angel to fly straight at it.

She appeared beyond the battle, above a patch of burning trees.

The war raged on but it was different now.

More black dragons had appeared and in the midst of them stood a gigantic beast twice their size, with enormous leathery wings and six curved horns that flared back from above its violet blazing eyes.

The Great Destroyer.

A shiver went through her, racing down her spine and arms and making her thighs tingle.

The forces of Heaven and Hell were attacking the dragons and the four Lysander had brought with him to the island were nowhere to be seen. Neither were all the demons. The blackened and charred landscape was the same but the players had changed.

She went to fly across the fields of the fallen to get a closer look.

Sharp pain went through her stomach.