Page 3 of A Wicked Dance of Obsidian and Light (Echoes of Darkness #1)

T hump.

Thump.

Thump.

My heart thunders violently in my ears; I can feel the pressure in my chest and in my head like it’s crushing all of my thoughts together, and I can’t think about anything else aside from the fact that I have to escape whatever is chasing me. I have never run this fast in my entire life. My lungs are burning with every hurried breath I take, like I can’t fit any more air in them, making my head swim with dizziness and coating my tongue in the coppery tang of blood.

I turn to look over my left shoulder to memorize what type of demon I’m running from. Maybe I can identify it later; I also need to describe it to Grayson so he can alert everyone from the Order. I try to take a better look, but I end up tripping over a rock instead.

Dammit.

Attempting to break the fall, I roll on my right side. Since I was using the hellseeker speed, I end up skidding on the ground and falling awkwardly with a loud thump. My right arm sits underneath me at an unnatural angle, and I’m desperately trying to get up as fast as possible, but fear grips me by the throat with sharp claws.

Closer and closer.

A sharp pain stabs through my ankle. I probably sprained it. My shoulder also screams in protest when I attempt to get up again, bile surging in the back of my throat as nausea constricts my stomach. It’s dislocated, for sure. It isn’t the first time, and it surely won’t be the last time this happens, but I don’t have time to put it back into its socket.

C’mon, Iris, get moving already!

Clenching my jaw hard, I ignore the throbbing pain as I jump up and come face to face with one of the demons. My breath freezes in my lungs, and it feels like the forest is also holding its breath as I use hellseeker speed to unsheathe the sword strapped to my back with my left hand. With a battle cry, I swing it in a wide arc, and it goes through the demon’s shadowy neck. I honestly expect the sword to glide right through the immaterial flesh, but it does end up encountering resistance. How weird…I don’t have time to dwell on it, though, because the demon’s shriek makes my eardrums almost bleed as a blinding light explodes from the contact, and the shadows disintegrate before my eyes.

However, the feeling of victory is short-lived because the moment I swing my sword again to counter the second demon’s attack that comes flying at me, its shadowy fingers grab the blade, and the sword turns to useless ashes in my hand.

What. The. Fuck.

Acting purely on reflex, I uncoil my whip and snap it into the air, but before I get the chance to snare it around the demon’s neck, it grabs me by the throat.

I freeze.

I look into the eyes of the dark-cloaked creature, and it’s like staring into the fiery pits of Hell. Up close, it looks like a decaying corpse with mostly bones showing through its rotting flesh. It also has shadowy bat wings. My next breath is suffocating.

The demon singes my skin where it holds me by the throat, and I can’t move. The onyx is like a hot poker in the center of my neck before I feel it explode against my skin. Tiny black shards stick to my chest, impaling me with the force of the explosion.

I forget all about the throbbing caused by my dislocated shoulder and the deep gashes in my thigh because the pain is so much more excruciating now. It’s agony. To the point where I think I might faint. It feels as though my organs are incinerating from the inside out. I’ve never felt this kind of pain in my entire life.

What in the holy hell? Why can’t I move?

Demons are not supposed to be able to paralyze a hellseeker, dammit. My eyes and nose are the only parts of my body not paralyzed, obvious by the rancid, foul smell as the other Hellish creatures close in around me. In a frenzy, I try to think of something that can help me escape.

The one that grabbed me by the throat unexpectedly slaps its other rotting hand on the side of my head, its shadowy, bony fingers leaving fiery imprints on my scalp as it creeps closer to my face. Excruciating pain takes over, almost blinding me as I feel something inside my brain, almost like a wall, crumble with an avalanche of agony, making me convulse.

My heart slams into the back of my stomach with the speed of an anchor hitting the ocean floor.

This is how I die.

All of a sudden, there’s a loud bang, and a blinding orb of light explodes, taking over my eyesight. My vision swarms with little red and white dots, and the world moves around me like I’m on a spinning roller coaster. I vaguely notice the demon dropping me to the ground.

A blurry, flying figure with black hair and an exquisite body breaks through the vortex of what has become my reality and picks me up against its chest with incredible gentleness. The intoxicating smell of black cherries and spiced rum envelops me in a warm cocoon. I’m either dead or hallucinating because this creature can’t be real.

Or is it an avenging angel?

Can angels even have black wings?

“Are you the Angel of Death?” I manage to ask the blurry figure in a broken whisper as excruciating pain takes over every inch of my body, and I dry heave until I throw up in my mouth. I end up blacking out.