Beauty Awakened (Angels of the Dark #2)(92)
Author: Gena Showalter

Her sister was a part of her. There’d never been a Nicola without a Laila.

Her sobs increased until she was hunched over and heaving. Had she eaten, she would have thrown up all over the driveway. But she hadn’t, and she could only gag and choke and remember and despair. The new owners and their neighbors must have been at work, because no one came out to check on her. She was glad.

Eventually, though, she calmed. She stayed there, crouched on the cement, her forehead pressing into her hands, her eyes swollen and nose stuffed. Death wasn’t the end, she reminded herself. The grave couldn’t win. She would see her sister again. She would.

But one thought arose, and refused to leave her. Things hadn’t had to end this way. Demons had poisoned her sister, yes, but then, Laila hadn’t fought back.

How many families had been affected by a similar situation, but just hadn’t known it? How many had accepted what they thought was natural and inevitable, never knowing there was another way?

Too many.

She had to change that. She couldn’t let another sister end up where she was, on all fours wetting the ground with a stream of fat tears. Or a mother. A father. A friend. Koldo had taught her how to fight, and she would teach others.

Out of her pain would come her purpose.

Yes. This was war.

The first stirring of hope hit her, and she straightened. The brightness of the light had her blinking. And then…then her heart began to pound in a wild, warped rhythm, as if the organ had just been strained beyond repair. Pain radiated down her left arm, as though she were having another heart attack.

Dying? she thought.

This is it. The end. Your sister is gone and you can’t survive without her.

No. No, that couldn’t be right.

But fear gobbled up every ounce of her hope, and the pain increased.

All alone. No one to help you.

No! Those thoughts couldn’t be springing from her mind. They contradicted everything she’d just realized. So where could—

Demons, she realized. She couldn’t see them, but demons must have sensed her despair and come running, hoping to poison her and feed. Well, she wasn’t going to let them.

“I know you’re lying to me. I know I’m well.” As she spoke, her heart returned to its normal beat. “I’ll never cave to your kind again.”

Two scowling demons appeared in front of her and tucked their gnarled wings into their backs. She had seen them before—one had showed up at her office and then again with Koldo’s father. One had a horn rising from his scalp and fur all over his body. The other had a horn in the center of his forehead and scales rather than skin. Their eyes were black, bottomless and pure evil, a match to their pungent scents.

She stood, saying, “You don’t scare me.”

“We should. We’ve been waiting for this day. For this moment.”

“Where are your friends, huh?” the other asked. “They seem to have abandoned you.”

“Then this moment isn’t as it seems.” She lifted her chin. “I always have help. And besides that, with or without them, you can’t hurt me.”

They grinned in unison, revealing sharpened fangs.

“We’ve been with you a very long time, Nicola. We know your weak spots.”

“You need us.” Uttered in a husky, seductive whisper. “If for no other reason than to keep other demons away.”

One step, two, they approached her. She held her ground. At any other time she might have experienced horror. But not now. They’d been waiting for this moment, they’d said. Waiting for her sister to die, when Nicola’s emotions would be wrecked. They’d planned this attack. Had probably strategized for days, weeks, laughing about what an easy target she would be. Well, they would get no satisfaction from her.

What do I do now? she wondered.

Now, I fight.

The thought rose from deep inside her, where instinct swirled. Yes. She’d decided to fight, and so she would.

They liked fear and despair—and so she would give them joy and hope.

She closed her eyes and thought about Koldo. Her husband. Her beautiful husband. He loved her, and she loved him. No matter what. She would hunt him down, and they would be together again. If he’d been asked to give her up, so what? She hadn’t agreed to those terms. She hadn’t promised to give him up.

They would fight this war together.

Her hand began to burn.

She glanced down—and watched as a sword of fire appeared in her grip. She yelped and almost dropped the weapon, so great was her surprise. But she somehow maintained her grip. The hilt was warm and light as she danced the crackling flames through the air.

Now the demons backed away from her, their big bodies trembling.

“Where did you get that?” one gasped.

“This can’t be happening,” the other cried.

They flared their wings, intending to fly away.

If I’m going to act, I have to act now.

“You picked the wrong target,” she said. With a single swing of her arm, Nicola decapitated both of the creatures. Their heads rolled, and their bodies fell. Black blood pooled at her feet—and satisfaction pooled in her heart.

The battle had begun.

Magnus and Malcolm flew around the corner, both clutching their own swords of fire.

Hers was bigger.

They stopped when they spotted her.

“You…you…”

“How…”

“You’re as shocked as I am, so let’s discuss it later, all right? Do you know where Koldo is?” she demanded.

It was time to begin her hunt.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

KOLDO WAS CARTED to his father’s underground nest—which had been moved to Koldo’s home in West India Quay. The walls were comprised of dark, jagged rock, the once-pure pool of water now dark in color. There were around thirty Nefas soldiers dressed in loincloths, standing around flesh-colored tents, waiting to praise Nox for Koldo’s capture.

“Strip him,” Nox commanded coldly, never one to delay the business of torture.

Eight females rushed to obey. Koldo was already shirtless, so only the bottom half of his robe had to be torn from him. Sharp nails sliced at his wounds, and humiliation burned deep in his soul.

Once again, he was reduced to a puppet, under his father’s control, helpless.

“Tie him to the boulder and whip the rest of him.”

Another command the females were happy to obey.

“But you better not like it,” Sirena snapped, her possessive streak showing.

He couldn’t go down like this. He couldn’t. His life couldn’t end in defeat.