Page 22 of Soulmarked (Hellbound and Hollow #1)

21

OMEN

S omething was wrong with the city.

The air crackled with unseen energy, like the moment before lightning strikes, but darker. Even Manhattan's usual chaos felt muted, as if the world itself was holding its breath before something momentous.

Or terrible.

Across my loft, Cade sat perched on the edge of the couch, his hands wrapped around a mug of coffee gone cold hours ago. His fingers twitched involuntarily, like something was moving beneath his skin. He'd been quiet since Sterling's revelations, but this was different. His gaze had gone distant, unfocused, seeing something the rest of us couldn't.

“Jaysus,” I muttered, checking my weapons for the tenth time. “You're doing that thing again.”

He blinked slowly, coming back to himself. “What thing?”

“That thing where you look like you're somewhere else entirely. That whole thousand-yard stare routine.” I moved closer, noting the shadows under his eyes, the tension in his jaw. “Like you're seeing something the rest of us aren't meant to.”

“Maybe I am.” His attempt at a smile didn't reach his eyes.

I'd seen that look before. But this was worse. This was Cade seeing pieces of a puzzle no one else knew existed, understanding connections that shouldn't be possible.

And that scared me more than any monster we'd faced.

“Right then,” I said, falling back on professional focus. “Let's go over the plan again. Step one: don't die. Step two: kill the bad guys. Step three: grab a beer. How's that sound?”

My loft had transformed into something between an armory and a command center. Gear cluttered the tables beside my hunter weapons, silver rounds stacked next to blessed blades. Skye's tech dominated one corner, their fingers flying over multiple screens as they coordinated with Sterling's teams and our scattered allies.

“The supernatural activity in Central Park is intensifying,” they reported without looking up. “Energy readings are off the charts. Whatever's coming is bigger than anything we've seen before.”

I watched Cade methodically check his weapons, his movements precise but his shoulders carrying the weight of destiny itself. When he finally spoke, his voice was flat. “We don't have much time.”

I caught Cade's arm before he could move away, pulling him into the relative privacy of the weapon's alcove. “You don't have to do this alone,” I said softly, letting my accent thicken with emotion I usually kept in check. “Whatever's coming...”

“You heard Sterling,” Cade cut me off, his voice tight with barely controlled fear. “I'm what they need. What they've been planning for all along.” His laugh was hollow, bitter. “My parents' death, the mark, even meeting you… none of it was chance. It was all orchestrated. Like some cosmic chess game, and I've been a pawn from the start.”

“Not everything,” I countered firmly, gripping his shoulders. “Whatever they planned, this, us, is real. They didn't orchestrate the way you look at me when you think I'm not watching. They didn't plan how my heart stops every time you smile. That's ours.”

Something vulnerable flickered in his eyes, but before he could respond, the first crack of unnatural thunder shattered the morning silence. We both turned toward the windows, where the sky had transformed into something from a nightmare.

“Sweet Mother of Christ,” I breathed, watching darkness spread across Manhattan's skyline. “That can't be good.”

The clouds had turned a bruised purple, shot through with veins of black lightning that writhed in unnatural patterns. Each flash sent static crawling across my skin, raising every hair on my body and leaving cold sweat in its wake. My vision blurred at their edges, as if my mind itself was rejecting what it saw. Reality itself seemed to bend around the gathering storm, like fabric stretching too thin.

Sterling's voice crackled over our comms, tight with tension. “CITD teams are in position. We've got the park locked down, no civilians allowed in. But we've got problems. Phoenix security just tripled, and they're not even pretending to be human anymore.”

“How the hell are we keeping this quiet?” I demanded, watching shadows move unnaturally across neighboring buildings. “Bit hard to hide the apocalypse from morning commuters. Next thing you'll tell me is we've got a press release planned.”

“I've got that covered,” Sterling replied. “Called in a favor from an old friend, a witch who specializes in perception wards. She's got a glamour over the whole area. Normal folks will just look away.”

“For how long?”

“Few hours at most. This kind of magic isn't meant to last.”

I cursed in Irish, watching winged creatures crawl down glass skyscrapers like spiders. Their forms shifted between shadows and substance, too many limbs moving in ways that defied physics. “Better than nothing, I suppose. Always did want front-row seats to the end of the world.”

“Movement on the ground,” Skye reported, their fingers flying across keyboards. “Multiple entities emerging from the subway tunnels. But that's not the worst part.” They pulled up a map of Manhattan, markers blinking at specific points. “The churches, all five of them, they've been breached.”

“What do you mean breached?” I moved closer, recognizing the pattern the churches formed around Central Park.

“The wards are shattered. Whatever protections they had, ancient magic, holy ground, the lot, it's all gone. Like someone took a sledgehammer to a glass house.”

I looked to Sterling, whose expression had darkened. “You knew about these wards?”

“Not specifically these,” Sterling admitted, a flicker of guilt crossing his face. “Hallow keeps certain knowledge compartmentalized. I knew these churches were significant, but not why. Not until we started investigating Phoenix's interest in them. By then, it was too late.”

My gaze was accusatory. “Might have been helpful information to share earlier, chief.”

“I didn't make the connection until now,” Sterling said. “The original Hallow records mentioned five anchor points around the city, but not their exact locations. When I saw them mapped out like this...” He gestured to Skye's screen, where the five churches formed a perfect pentagram.

“So these churches have been secretly warded for generations,” Cade said, his analytical mind already working through the implications, “and Phoenix somehow knew exactly where they were and what they were protecting?”

“Someone on the inside,” I said grimly. “Has to be. We've got a mole. Always do in these situations.”

Skye's screens filled with surveillance footage showing broken doors, desecrated altars, symbols burned into ancient stone. “These weren't random attacks. They knew exactly what they were looking for.”

“And now the locks are broken.” Skye overlaid ley line maps with their surveillance data. “The energy patterns are shifting. Whatever those churches were holding down, it's starting to wake up.”

“How long until—” I started to ask, but movement caught my eye. Cade had gone completely still, staring at his reflection in the darkened window. His breath hitched sharply, fingers clutching at his chest where the mark pulsed beneath his shirt.

“Cade?” I moved toward him, recognizing the signs. “Stay with me, Sunshine. Don't go wandering off into the ether on me now.”

But he was already gone. His pupils dilated until barely any blue remained, body trembling as if caught in some invisible current. The mark blazed through his shirt now, cold light painting patterns across the glass that seemed to reach for something beyond our reality.

“Fecking hell,” I muttered, catching him as his knees started to buckle. “Not now.”

He inhaled sharply, like a drowning man finding air, and his hands locked around my arms with bruising force. “Sean...”

“I'm here. What did you see?”

The fear in his eyes made my blood run cold. “It's already started,” he gasped out. “The ritual, the gate, if we don't stop them now, we're too late. They're about to open a direct passage to Hell.”

“Of course they are,” I muttered. “Because a normal Saturday night was too much to ask for.”

As if confirming his words, another crack of that wrong thunder split the sky. The shadows crawling across neighboring buildings seemed to pulse in response, their movements becoming more purposeful, more hungry.

“How long?” I asked, but I already knew the answer from the way his mark pulsed, from the terror barely contained behind his professional mask.

“Hours. Maybe less.” His hands tightened on my arms. “Sean, I saw... I saw what's waiting on the other side. What wants to come through. They are planning to unlock the gates of hell and let demons free.”

I wanted to tell him it would be alright. Wanted to promise we'd stop whatever was coming, save the world, ride off into the bloody sunset together. But we both knew better. This wasn't that kind of story.

“Then we fight,” I said instead, letting my forehead rest against his. “We fight until we can't anymore. And if the world's ending anyway...” I managed a smile that I hoped looked braver than I felt. “At least I'm facing it with you.”

His laugh was shaky but real. “That's your plan? Face the apocalypse together?”

“Aye, well, not like I had anything better scheduled for today. Was gonna clean my guns and watch bad TV. This seems more exciting.”

Another blast of that terrible thunder shook the building. Through the windows, we could see more of those wrong things gathering, their forms becoming more solid as whatever barrier separated our world from theirs grew thinner.

We had hours at most. Hours before whatever waited on the other side broke through completely. Hours before the choice was taken from us entirely.

“Sean.” Cade's voice was strange, carrying an edge I'd never heard before. “If something happens...”

“Don't,” I interrupted, stepping closer until our foreheads nearly touched. My hands came up to cup his face, thumbs brushing against his cheekbones where tension made the muscles jump. “Nothing's happening to you. I won't let it.”

“You can't promise that.”

“Watch me. Been hunting monsters since before you got your fancy badge, Agent. Not about to let some hellspawn take what's mine.”

The possessive slipped out before I could catch it, but Cade's eyes darkened in response. He surged forward, closing the last inch between us. The kiss was raw, desperate, heavy with all the words we hadn't found time to say. His hands fisted in my jacket while mine slid into his hair, holding him like I could keep him anchored to this world through touch alone.

When we broke apart, his eyes burned with something between fear and determination. “Let's end this,” he whispered against my lips.

The first explosion rocked the street below. The sound of shattering glass mixed with gunfire as CITD agents engaged with what used to be Phoenix. But these weren't normal corporate guards anymore, their movements were wrong, too fluid, like puppets being jerked by invisible strings.

“Time to move,” I said, already heading for my weapons cache in the garage. Cade fell into step beside me, Heaven's Lash hanging at his hip like destiny made solid.

We reached my car just as another explosion lit up the pre-dawn sky. The trunk opened to reveal my personal arsenal, blessed silver, cold iron, ammunition that could kill almost anything. I grabbed my favorite blades while Cade checked his gun, the movements automatic after so many shared hunts.

A screech from above made us both look up. Dark shapes wheeled against the purple-bruised sky, their wings too numerous, their bodies shifting between forms. As we watched, sewer grates burst upward, letting things with too many limbs crawl into our reality.

“Ready?” I asked, though I already knew the answer.

Cade's smile was sharp as the blade at his hip. “Born ready.”

“That's my line, Agent,” I said with a smirk.

We moved as one, falling into the rhythm we'd developed over months of hunting together. My blades sang through the air while his gun barked precise death.

The first wave hit us at the corner of 5th Avenue. What used to be Phoenix security moved like a hivemind, their eyes glowing with borrowed power. I took the first one with a blade through the throat while Cade's bullets found two more.

But these weren't normal possessed humans. They got back up, black ichor leaking from wounds that should have been fatal. Only when I severed heads completely did they stay down.

“Little help here!” Cade called, and I spun to find him grappling with something that had too many joints, its flesh rippling like oil on water.

My blade took its head before it could sink claws into Cade's chest. “Watch your six, Agent.”

“That's what I've got you for.”

We fought our way forward, but I kept closer to him than strictly necessary. Every instinct screamed to protect him, to keep him safe from whatever waited at the end of this path. But I knew better, Cade wasn't some damsel to be saved. He was a warrior in his own right, marked by powers I couldn't understand but trusted him to wield.

Dark shapes wheeled overhead as we fought our way toward Central Park, the city's normal bustle continuing around us in surreal contrast. Sterling's witch had done her job well, pedestrians' eyes slid past the carnage like oil on water, their minds instinctively rejecting the supernatural chaos unfolding before them. They navigated around battles without seeing them, their consciousness creating comfortable blind spots where reality had fractured.

“On your left!” I shouted, tossing a vial of holy water to Cade. He caught it one-handed, immediately splashing it across a suited executive whose eyes had just turned solid black. The possessed woman screamed, her flesh smoking where the blessed water hit.

“We can't just kill them,” Cade gritted out, dodging a swipe from a claw. “They're innocent people! There has to be another way.”

“Catch!” I pulled my favorite dagger from its sheath. “Kills the demon, spares the host. Gift from a Vatican exorcist who owed me a favor.”

Cade grabbed the blade just as three more possessed civilians converged on us. A businessman in an expensive suit moved like a spider, joints bending backwards. A teenage barista's face split into too many teeth. A construction worker's eyes leaked black smoke as he charged.

The dagger sang through the air as Cade struck, precise and deadly. Blue light flared where the blade touched flesh, and black smoke poured from the wounds instead of blood. The hosts collapsed, unconscious but alive, while their demons burned away to nothing.

“Nice trick,” Cade said, but his relief was short-lived as more shadows took human form around us.

“Aye, well, I'm full of surprises. Should see what I can do with a bottle of whiskey and a deck of cards.” I spun, taking a possessed jogger's head clean off with my silver blade. This one wasn't human anymore, hadn't been for a while based on how its flesh melted away to reveal scales beneath. “Though I'm starting to think we might be a wee bit outnumbered.”

All around us, Manhattan continued its morning routine. Businesspeople walked past with phones to their ears, tourists consulted maps, and delivery trucks made their rounds. None of them noticed the battle raging in their midst.

“The perception ward's holding,” Cade noted, ducking under a swipe from something with too many arms. “But for how long?”

“Long enough,” I hoped, driving my blade through another demon's chest. “Just wish I'd packed more ammo. And maybe a tank.”

A sound like reality tearing drowned out the rest of my words. Above Central Park, the purple-bruised sky split open, revealing something vast and dark writhing behind the veil of our world.

“Well,” I managed, pulling Cade behind a taxi as more possessed humans converged on our position. “That's not good. Any of your fancy research cover what we're looking at?”

“Incoming!” Lex's voice crackled through our comms with real fear.

The rest of his warning was lost as something massive erupted through the side of a high-rise, sending glass and steel raining onto the magically oblivious crowds below. What emerged triggered an ancient alarm in my hunter's blood. My body reacted before my mind could process it, every instinct honed through years of hunting screaming danger at a level I'd never encountered.

It moved like a glitch in the world's programming. Too many eyes blinked in patterns that hurt to look at, and its mouth... Christ, its mouth stretched wide enough to swallow a car, filled with row upon row of teeth arranged in geometric patterns that defied physics.

But worst of all was the hunger it radiated, not just physical hunger, but something deeper. The kind of appetite that could devour souls.

“Oh, you have got to be kidding me,” I muttered, placing myself slightly in front of Cade.

The thing landed on the street between us and Central Park, its massive form somehow both solid and smoke. Cars continued to drive past, their drivers' eyes sliding right over the horror in their midst thanks to Sterling's witch's work.

It didn't attack immediately. Instead, it tilted its head at an angle that made my bones ache, regarding us with that galaxy of hungry eyes. When it spoke, its voice was like glass breaking in reverse, like screams played backward underwater.

“The prince sends his regards.” Each word made reality ripple around it. “The marked one belongs to us.”

“Like hell,” I snarled, stepping in front of Cade with my blessed blade raised. “He's not up for grabs. Find your own federal agent.”

But something made me pause, a change in the air, a shift in the very fabric of reality around us.

Cade's hand on my shoulder stopped me before I could attack. The touch was gentle but carried weight I'd never felt before. When I turned to look at him, my breath caught in my throat.

Power crackled through his veins like visible electricity, making his skin almost translucent. The mark on his chest blazed cold and bright, painting patterns in the air that seemed to reach toward something beyond our understanding. But it was his eyes that truly gave me pause, they burned with something ancient and primal, something that made even my hardened hunter's soul want to kneel.

All these months, I'd watched his abilities grow without fully understanding what he was becoming. It started with his uncanny awareness, the way he could sense supernatural threats before they manifested. Then came his resistance to demonic influence, the way lesser demons recoiled from his touch. With each hunt, each confrontation, I'd noticed how the mark responded, how it seemed to absorb and transform the energies around it.

But this was something else entirely. The air around him rippled with potential, as if reality itself bent to his will. I'd seen what demon blood could do to a human, what angelic grace could accomplish through a willing vessel. Cade was neither, yet somehow both. Something new. Something even Hallow's ancient texts hadn't prepared me for.

I didn't know what he was capable of now. I only knew that whatever power flowed through him recognized me as safe harbor in the storm. And that was enough.

The demon actually took a step back, its countless eyes blinking in what might have been fear. The hunger in its presence dimmed slightly, overwhelmed by whatever was awakening in Cade.

“I belong,” Cade said softly, but his voice carried weight that made windows vibrate, “to no one.”

The very air seemed to thicken around him, reality itself bending toward him like metal to a magnet. Heaven's Lash hummed at his hip, resonating with whatever power was flowing through him.

“Jaysus, Mary, and Joseph,” I breathed, caught between awe and terror. “Remind me not to steal your coffee in the morning.”

The demon-thing made a sound like breaking bones, gathering itself as if for attack. But I caught the tremor in its impossible limbs, the way its eyes wouldn't quite meet Cade's burning gaze.

“The prince will have what is his,” it insisted, but the glass-breaking quality of its voice had gained an edge of uncertainty.

Cade's laugh was terrible and beautiful. “Tell your prince,” he said, power making his words echo strangely, “that if he wants me, he should come himself. Instead of sending slaves to do his work.”

The insult hit home. The thing reared up, its form expanding to block out the sky. But before it could strike, Cade moved.

I'd seen him fight before. But this was different. This was power given form, grace that shouldn't be possible in a human body.

His hand moved toward Heaven's Lash but stopped, something like cruel understanding crossing his features. “No,” he said softly. “You're not worth it. That's for your master.”

The demon-thing howled in rage at the dismissal, its form expanding further. But before it could strike, a blur of movement hit it from the side, Juno, moving with that impossible vampire speed, her blade already painted black with demon ichor.

“Boys,” she called out, dancing between the creature's strikes with deadly grace. “Lovely evening for an apocalypse, isn't it?”

“Took your sweet time getting here,” I shot back, already moving to flank the monster's other side. My silver blade sang through corrupted flesh while Juno's attacks kept it off balance. “Stop for a manicure on the way?”

“Had to do my hair.” She grinned, fangs catching what little light penetrated the unnatural storm above. “A girl has standards, even for the end of the world.”

The demon tried to track both of us, its countless eyes blinking in confused patterns. But we'd fought together before, back when she was still human, still a hunter. Some rhythms you never forget.

Cade didn't join our dance, didn't need to. He stood completely still, power radiating from him in waves that made lesser demons skitter back into the shadows. The mark pulsed steadily, calling to something that waited in the heart of the park.

“We need to move,” he said, voice carrying that strange resonance that made reality tremble. “Now. While the way is clear.”

“Clear?” I spun, taking a possessed security guard's head clean off. “You call this clear? We've got monsters on all sides!”

But I saw what he meant. The demons were pulling back, creating a path toward Central Park.

“Well,” Juno said, falling into step beside us as we moved forward. “That's not ominous at all.”

The park's entrance loomed ahead, its familiar gates contorted into geometries that sent cold nausea rippling through my gut. The metal had folded in on itself, creating impossible angles that made my vision swim and my teeth ache when I tried to follow their twisted lines. Beyond, trees writhed in unnatural currents, their branches moving with deliberate purpose like grasping hands, straining toward a sky that continued to tear itself apart.

“You don't have to come with us,” Cade said softly, but I caught the way his hand drifted toward mine.

“Don't be daft,” I replied, letting our fingers brush. “Where else would I be? Someone's gotta make sure you don't go full superhero and get yourself killed.”

Juno made a sound suspiciously like a snort. “You two are disgustingly cute. Can we go kill a Prince of Hell now, or should we wait for you to finish making eyes at each other?”

Together, we stepped into what used to be Central Park. Whatever waited at its heart would have to go through all of us first.

And I intended to make that a very, very difficult task.