Demon Sworn

Chapter 2

Two

Gray

Fire, ash, and blood.

It was all I could see, all I could smell, and—no matter how hard I tried to spit it out—all I could taste. My throat burned as I panted and gasped my way across a barren, rocky terrain in search of water. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had any.

How long had I been wandering this forsaken place? Days? Weeks?

I was exhausted, my body little more than a collection of bruises and bloody gashes that throbbed painfully with every beat of my heart. I had no shoes. It hurt to walk. To breathe. To exist. And the magic I’d worked so hard to unlock with my book of shadows ritual had all but fizzled out. Tapping into it now felt like trying to start a campfire in the rain. A spark, then a fizzle. A puff of smoke that quickly disappeared.

The possibility that my magic was permanently spent was frightening enough. But if I didn’t find water soon, I was pretty sure I wouldn’t have to worry about magic—or anything else, for that matter.

Where the hell am I?

I reached the top of a jagged black ridge and sat down to catch my breath, scanning the horizon. Acrid smoke roiled in the distance. With every painful breath, it singed my lungs and brought tears to my eyes. The wind kicked up, and a storm of ash swirled around me like snow, falling endlessly from a sky so black I wondered if I’d been swallowed by some great, terrible beast.

I pulled my shirt up over my mouth and waited for the wind to die down again.

One thing I’d learned about this place: the fires were a constant.

So was the thirst.

I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples, trying to chase down a memory—a clue—but nothing came. The last thing I remembered clearly was being at the safe house. Falling asleep on the couch, curled up in Asher’s arms…

Asher…

I gasped as a sliver of memory peeked through the fog. It was no more than a flash—a whisper of warm breath ghosting across my neck, rough hands running up my back, a kiss that tasted like cinnamon—and then it was gone.

Damn. The memories were so close to the surface, but the harder I chased them, the faster they ran.

I opened my eyes again and tried to orient myself.

Where was I, exactly? How had I gotten here? Had someone taken me? Where were the guys? Were they out wandering over these inhospitable black rocks, looking for me like I’d been looking for them?

And why was the front of my shirt covered in someone else’s blood?

I scraped my tongue along my upper teeth, trying in vain to get rid of that sharp, coppery taste.

No luck.

It didn’t add up. Witches weren’t vampires—none of us had ever survived the change. The thought of drinking blood curdled my stomach. How the hell had it gotten in my mouth? On my clothes?

More importantly—who did it belong to? I was pretty sure it wasn’t mine.

Had I… had I killed someone? Another vampire? A human?

Water, Gray. Water. Maybe something edible. Those are your priorities.

Hitting the pause button on my morbid thoughts, I grabbed a sharp rock and used it to tear off the bottoms of my pant legs, then tied the fabric around my bare feet. The rocks were only getting sharper, and I had no idea how much longer I’d have to walk. As far as I knew, I hadn’t seen any signs of life—water, birds, even centipedes or fire ants would’ve been a welcome sight.

But no matter how high I scrambled up the ridge, all I could see were more jagged peaks, rising up through the smoke. The vista was endless; from up on the ridge, it looked like a vast sea of torn tissue paper layered in shades of gray and black.

Aside from the fact that it was trying to kill me, the place was actually kind of beautiful.

I continued on, one painstakingly slow step at a time. But my makeshift shoe came undone and caught on a rock, sending me tumbling. I hit the ground with a grunt, slicing both my palms.

Great. More blood.

I got to my knees and inspected the wounds, watching as my blood dripped onto the rocks below.

Then it began to glow. Faintly at first, then stronger, pulsing like a bright beacon.

It was the first sign of my magic since I’d started wandering this place, and I leaped on it ferociously, slamming my palms against the earth, ignoring the stinging bite of the rocks.

Power surged up my arms and across my back, igniting my senses and kicking them into overdrive. I could smell the fires up close now, like sulfur and coal. The bloody taste in my mouth sharpened. All around me, I could hear the ash falling softly to the ground. And deep inside me, my magic was stirring back to life, warming my chest and vibrating out through my fingers and toes.

Something shifted in my mind—an audible click, like a gate unlatching. Without warning, a flood of memories rushed out.

The cool, damp walls of a cave.

My stomach turning at the words of someone better left forgotten. “You’ve grown up to be more beautiful than I could’ve ever imagined.”

Reaching out for Liam in my realm, only to be hauled back into that awful cave before I could tell him where I was.

The repulsive voice of my captor telling me Ronan, Emilio, and Darius were dead.

Magic seeping into my limbs, unleashed from the stone surrounding me.

Asher, my fiery incubus, his hands sliding up my back as I writhed in his lap, his eyes as wild as his kiss.

The look of fear dawning in Jonathan’s twisted gaze as I attacked him.

“Your blood and your soul, hunter. That’s what I need…”

My eyes snapped open as the last wisps of fog dissipated from my mind. Jonathan had taken Asher and me prisoner, shot Asher full of deadly nanotech—an internal devil’s trap. Though I didn’t believe him, he’d told me in gruesome detail how he’d tormented and killed the others. That he wanted me to join him on his sick, demented quest.

That he wanted my power. My ability to raise beings from the dead.

Asher and I… We…

Heat rushed to my cheeks as that particular memory danced through my mind. Despite the circumstances of our imprisonment, being with him like that—tasting his kiss, feeling him inside me, shattering with white-hot pleasure at his touch…

I shivered at the memory. s*x with Asher… It’d saved him.

In some ways, maybe it’d saved me, too.

Asher had given me the strength to do what needed to be done, no matter what the cost. After that, I’d attacked Jonathan and ripped out his soul, feeling it burn through me…

Holy s**t.

I gasped as the realization hit me full on. I was in the Shadowrealm. Trapped, just as Liam had warned—my eternal punishment for breaking the natural order and banishing a soul here against his will.

But… that didn’t make sense. If I was trapped, that meant that I’d succeeded in bringing Jonathan’s soul here. My memories might’ve been slow to return, but I was almost positive I hadn’t passed through my magical realm this time, hadn’t walked that long and twisty path to the rune gate that separated my place from the Shadowrealm. That’s how it’d happened with Travis, the man who’d killed Bean in the alley—I’d dragged his soul to the gate, intending on bringing him through. The only reason he didn’t end up banished was Liam stepped in and helped me see that it wasn’t for the best. Not that time, anyway.

But now with Jonathan, it seemed I’d been deposited here directly. No magic realm, no rune gate, no last-minute chances to turn back.

A new realization hit me, as frightening as it was impossible.

It wasn’t just my soul trapped here, but all of me. Somehow, I’d physically manifested—I could feel it in the heavy weight of my steps, the press of gravity on my body, the sting of the fresh wounds on my palm.

Jonathan’s soul, which had burned like living fire inside me from the moment I’d taken it in, was no longer with me.

Gray…

I jumped to my feet and spun around, certain I’d heard my name, like a whisper on the hot, acrid wind.

“Hello?” I croaked out.

Get out of here, Gray…

I’d felt it that time. A presence, followed immediately by the familiar scent of strawberries-and-cream.

“Sophie?” I asked, my heart already lifting with hope.

Goosebumps rose on my arms, the magic inside me flaring hot. Beneath my poorly wrapped feet, the earth warmed, steam slithering out from hundreds of tiny cracks and crevices in the rock.

I closed my eyes, reaching out with my heart and mind and everything left inside me for any sign of Sophie, any way to connect with her.

An image flashed through my mind—but it wasn’t my best friend. Instead, I saw a red demon with horns, a forked tail, and the dark wings of a fallen angel hopping across a scorched patch of earth. Blood dripped from his teeth and claws, and his eyes blazed with raw hatred.

It was the Devil card from Sophie’s tarot deck.

My eyes snapped open, but there was nothing around me but rock and smoke.

Move, Gray. Now…

Quickly, I readjusted my makeshift shoes and resumed my trek along the ridge, fighting off the dizziness that threatened to overtake me. I was dehydrated, and the magic which had unlocked my memories was now buzzing impatiently through my body, seeking an outlet.

And someone was trying to warn me. I couldn’t see her, but I could hear her. Feel her.

Faster, Gray…

“Soph?” my cracking voice echoed.

The only response I got was a breath of hot air, ash blowing into my eyes.

I blinked rapidly, slowing my steps against the rapidly increasing wind. It made my eyes water, and I had to stop completely until the burning passed.

When I opened my eyes again, two red demons stood on the path ahead of me, grinning wickedly, their sharp teeth glinting. I blinked rapidly, trying to dispel the hallucination, but the monsters only got closer.

I wasn’t imagining them.

I spun around in search of an escape, but another appeared on the path where I’d just come from. I stood in shocked horror as it unfurled its tattered, leathery wings. It hopped from one foot to the other, flames licking up from the earth wherever its cloven foot touched.

There was nowhere to run.

Here in the in-between, where I was cursed to spend eternity, the devil card had come to life.

Shielding my face from the wave of heat that crested before me, I took a deep, ashy breath, calling on the magic still flickering inside me. I felt it warming inside me again, gearing up for whatever came my way, but it wasn’t enough.

The hellish creatures had some major home-field advantage. They were fire demons, and I was pretty sure this entire realm was wrapped around a core of living flame. They seemed to be drawing power from it, their eyes glowing a bright orange-red as the flames at their feet grew hotter.

Before this moment, the closest I’d ever come to working with fire magic was the night at the safe house when I’d scried and connected with Reva through the flames.

I had no idea if I could wield it, but I didn’t have a choice. I needed fire.

I closed my eyes and took a breath, envisioning my magic seeping out through my feet and into the rock below. I felt it penetrate the dense stone, working down to the molten core.

An image of a great underground inferno appeared in my mind’s eye, and I held onto it, coaxing the flames higher as I whispered a final plea.

Spark, smoke, fire, inferno

Burn here above as you burn down below

Let rock join flame and fight as one

Hear my words, let it be done

Heat radiated up through my legs, the fire magic joining with my own.

It’s working!

I channeled the magic into a burst of energy, watching it spark to life between my palms. Blue flames ignited in my hands.

And then I braced myself for the fight from hell.