Melkor & Purity: Book Two Read online

  “You never told me who we were meeting,” I called.

  She slowed, turned her head, and her eyes glinted as she answered. “A ruthless sonovabitch called Redemption.”

  Chapter Two

  Melkor

  We piled into Alma’s old pickup, our bags stowed away under the canvas covering the bed.

  “Who the hell is Redemption?” Purity asked, and shuffled toward the middle of the bench seat.

  Alma yanked the door closed and started the old beast. “I’m not telling you anymore. I don’t want to freak you the fuck out.”

  There was fear in her eyes as Purity shot me a glance and then turned back, mumbling. “Why would I freak out? He’s not a Vamp, not if he’s out during the day. So, he’s shifter?”

  Alma shoved the truck into reverse and turned to look through the rear window. “No.”

  “Right, not a Vamp and not a shifter. Is he a Demon?” She refused to give up, even as the old woman clenched her jaw and refused to answer.

  I lifted my gaze to the towering green mountains and leaned forward, then cracked open the window and breathed in the cold, crisp air.

  Out here, the world was perfect.

  Out here, the world was at peace, but as Alma steered the truck and we lunged forward along the washed-out mountain trail back down to the highway…I knew it was anything but peaceful in Harbor City.

  The Soulless had escaped the confines of Hell, and broken into the mortal realm.

  We’d been tasked by the Lord of Hell to hunt them, and send them back to the levels of Hell, where they belonged.

  But until we captured them…they wreaked havoc. The old truck slid into the washed-out ruts, but Alma drove with care. She rode the ruts, letting the wheels slip into place as we made our way to the smooth asphalt.

  Drops of rain splashed the windshield as we turned right and headed toward the towering buildings of Harbor City in the distance…and, as always, I felt a burst of shame.

  It was because of my kind mortals were suffering. It was because of my kind they were killed.

  “Got the shotgun?” Alma checked, and Purity reached under the seat.

  She withdrew the pump-action, finger along the the trigger guard, muzzle pointed at the floor.

  “You good, Hellhound?”

  I glanced toward her, stilling the shakes, and nodded. In the first two weeks of the escape, we’d waited for the killings and the terror, but they hadn’t come…and a chilling uncertainty followed.

  But in the last week, there’d been more and more reports of Soulless attacks, and no one felt it more than Alma, the founder of the Circle, a trained group of hunters whose job was to keep mortals safe in this world where we all lived.

  Creature and mortal.

  They called Harbor City…home.

  I gripped the armrest as the old truck hurtled toward towering silver skyscrapers and built-up city streets. “I don’t like this…waiting.”

  “You’re training, there’s a difference. You run at them without knowing what you’re up against and you may as well hold still while I plunge an Archangel’s blade through your heart right now. Either way, you’re not gonna survive.”

  Alma glanced at Purity, “And neither will she. Be smart, be ruthless…be cunning. That’s the only way we’re going to make it through this.”

  She clenched her grip around the steering wheel and flew past the gas station on the outskirts of the city.

  “And this Redemption,” I murmured, and stared at the sudden change as the green pine trees turned into sparse, arid brushes. “He’s going to help us do that?”

  “He is,” she murmured. “He’s young, he’s got plenty to prove. He’s going to be the proverbial wall she’s going to need to get past,” she jerked her head once more to the woman beside her.

  “Sitting right here,” Purity snarled. “You don’t need to talk about me like I’m goddamn invisible.”

  “Does it help?” Alma muttered.

  “Does what help?”

  “If you know the enemy before it comes at you?” the old woman snarled. “Or would you just rather it come at you?”

  “I’m pretty sure you were the one who taught me knowledge is the most formidable weapon.”

  I turned to the white lines on the edge of the road and bit the insides of my cheeks. I wouldn’t laugh, not now, not when we had so much at stake.

  Alma grumbled, muttering about being too smart for her own damn good. “He’s Unseelie, if you must know.”

  Fear was a sledgehammer in my chest. I jerked my gaze toward her and felt the blood rush from my face. “You’ve got to be joking, right?”

  “Why?” Purity searched my gaze. “What’s an Inseelie?”

  “It’s Unseelie,” I murmured, and stared at the old woman. “And it’s someone you don’t want to mess with.”

  “He can’t be any more intimidating than Lucifer,” she murmured.

  I just cut her a look that said you don’t want to know. And she didn’t. She didn’t want to know anything about the Dark Fae. They weren’t ones to be messed with, and they sure as hell weren’t ones to train with.

  I opened my mouth to say just those words and saw the old woman tense. I should trust her. She hadn’t let us down yet, stepping up to the plate as I left my home behind the day…the day my father was murdered.

  The ache across my chest was a burning sting, like thorny tendrils wrapped around my chest and pulled tight. I tried to drag in a heavy breath, and the pain moved deeper, past the skin and bone to the pulsing muscle underneath.

  I should be at home.

  I should be with Mom and Kel. I should be with my brother. But Rykor didn’t want me there, he didn’t even want to see me at all.

  He hadn’t seen anyone since the day Dad died, not Mom, not even our Lord, Lucifer.

  Rykor was hell-bent on destruction…and there was only one person in the firing line…himself. He blamed himself for Dad’s death, blamed himself for falling victim to that manipulative scum Hellhound, Deimos. He’d used Rykor, first to hurt Dad, and then as a decoy, while he stole the four keys to the four levels of Hell and broke the Soulless free.

  But not before he tried to kill Purity.

  And he would’ve…if it hadn’t been for the Fallen Angel, Kaos.

  He saved her, stopping her fall as she plunged toward the Dragon’s Breath at the base of the pit. She owed her life to the Nephilim, and I owed mine to her.

  Without her, I’d be lost. Without her, I’d be a seething, hollowed-out thing.

  I reached out, grasped her hand in mine, and gave her a squeeze. She turned toward me and forced a smile. Lucifer would be so damn proud…my dad would be so damn proud. My throat tightened, heart thundering, just as it always did when she was around.

  She was angry with herself for not getting through the training in a few short weeks, hated herself, even. But if she could only see herself. If she could see how far she’d come…if she could see herself with my eyes, then she’d know the truth.

  Purity was the most amazing person I’d ever met…and would ever meet. I knew that, just as I knew the Dragon’s Breath would burn and the Hellfire skies would crack with infernal storms.

  I knew it just as my heart sped when I looked at her.

  I just wished she knew how perfect she was.

  She just clenched my grip with one hand and the stock of the pump-action shotgun with the other. I knew then, knew what Lucifer had seen all those years ago when he brought us together as friends.

  Cars flew past in the opposite direction. A blue Camaro had its windshield smashed in, the outline of a fallen body left behind, along with fresh blood-splatter on the hood.

  “Jesus,” Purity murmured.

  She inhaled hard as a four-wheel-drive SUV followed, packed to the roof with kids and belongings. Mortals were fleeing Harbor City, but they’d find no salvation where they were headed.

  If anything, they were racing toward their death.

  There would be
no Circle out there, not like here in Harbor, anyway. The few hunters were scattered to the wind, fighting an enemy they couldn’t even see, let alone kill.

  “What are they doing?” Purity turned her head, following the packed-up four-wheel-drive as we passed. “What the hell are they doing? They’ll die out there…they won’t last a damn week.”

  My stomach dropped, my heart raced. I felt her fear…and I felt my own. I wanted to hunt now. I wanted to protect all the ones who couldn’t protect themselves.

  “Stupid fucking idiots, can’t they read?” Alma snarled. “We sent out broadcasts on the TV, sent out fliers, even blasted it all over damn social media. What more can we do? What can we say other than ‘stay put, we’re safer together’?” She shook her head, watching as car after car passed us in their desperation to get away from the one place they were safest.

  Alma pressed her foot on the accelerator, making the old truck surge ahead. The speedometer climbed. We had no traffic to weave amongst as the highway speared out into three lanes.

  There was no one heading into the city, no cars honking, no furious drivers waving. There was nothing but a handful of cars…but on the other side, the traffic was bumper to bumper the entire way out.

  “Holy shit,” Purity murmured, watching them as we rumbled along the main roads and into the heart of Harbor.

  The city was divided, and it wasn’t just those who wanted to flee and those wanting to stay. It was a division of hatred, a division of fear…it was the immortal line which cut the city into two.

  We headed for the far side, where creatures like me existed…and lived amongst mortals. Tires squealed on the other side, and a blur of movement followed as a car cut across the three lanes of panicked drivers to head toward us.

  “What the hell?” Alma growled, glancing at the car heading toward us.

  She cut across the lanes and slammed the accelerator to the floor until it could go no more. Still, the old hunk of metal responded with a sluggish groan and raced forward.

  It was a man behind the wheel, hunched over and focused on us.

  “Alma,” Purity muttered.

  “I see him…you don’t think I see him?” the old woman snapped, and cut her a glare.

  But in that moment, she was all business, calm and controlled, as the car across the roadway hit the small lip on the opposite lanes and launched into the grassy area between their lane and us.

  Roadwork signs peppered the side of the highway. Steel cables used as a barrier were down while the Harbor City workmen embedded new posts into the ground and replaced the thick wire cables.

  But now, in this moment, it was all useless.

  Gaps between the work trucks let the hurtling car slip through. I tightened my grip on Purity as the damn thing hit the edge of the lip on our side and was flung into the air once more. Tires hit the asphalt. The front of the car bottomed out before it jerked to the right, the ass end of the sedan swung wide, and the car slipped into a skid.

  “Fuck,” Purity leaned forward, dragged the shotgun up across her lap. Her face was pale, eyes wide…and my Hound was right there. I clenched my grip, feeling the rush of him under my skin. I’d punch through the metal, and tear her out in an instant. I’d make her safe, even if it was the last thing I ever did.

  “Hold on,” Alma growled as she clenched her hands on the large steering wheel.

  But there was something about the car skidding across the lanes in front of us, something about the man behind the wheel as he straightened, flailed in the air, and shoved open the driver’s door while the car was doing at least sixty.

  The air shimmered above the roof of the car…for a damn second. My heart stilled, my gut clenched. I slipped my hand from Purity’s and shoved against the seat. “Did you see that?”

  Alma cut me a glare as the car continued to skid across all three lanes right in front of us.

  And in an instant, the damn thing spun sideways, then around and around, until it finally rolled.

  Glass shattered, hunks of metal tore free. A side mirror flew through the air and hit the hood of the old truck with a boom! Purity flinched and wrenched her arm up to cover her face. But I was already pulling her away from the windshield and leaning forward, protecting her.

  “It’s a Soulless,” I growled and then glanced at the shotgun. “Stop the car.”

  “No,” the old woman growled. “You can’t—”

  “Stop the damn car, Alma.” I grabbed the shotgun.

  Salt pellets wouldn’t scratch an itch on the damn thing. But then again, all the weapons we’d tried against the corrupted entities so far hadn’t done a damn thing.

  “You wait for me, Hound.” The old woman commanded and tapped the brakes. “You hear me? You damn well wait…”

  She handled the hunk of scrap metal like a woman made for the racetrack and the pickup lost speed. Tires skidded, but still she held on as the bitter smell of burning rubber mingled with the arid stench from the motor.

  The sedan in front pulled to a stop sideways right in the middle of the three lanes. I was already clawing for the doorhandle. “Purity, stay here.”

  But she gave a snarl of defiance and claws punctured my heart. I wrenched my gaze to her, letting her see all the desperation and fear trapped inside. “Please…”

  I turned back to the highway and slipped from the car. Don’t…don’t follow me…don’t get hurt. Never be hurt.

  Fear crowded in, spilling from my chest as I lunged around the open passenger’s door and drove my boots into the asphalt.

  My Hound was already racing for the light, becoming what I was born to be. And as I punched out my hand and inky claws drove through the tips of my fingers, I thought of Dad.

  Memories filled me, hiding behind the rocky outcrop of the second level of Hell as Dad trained new recruits for the front line of battle.

  He’d been fearless, ruthless…dark hair flying out behind him as he lunged and drove the obsidian sword toward the trembling recruits who dared face him.

  He was battle-scarred and war-worn, and yet…to me he was Dad.

  I opened my mouth and a savage, burning cry tore free as the human stumbled out of the driver’s side of the sedan and windmilled his arms high over his head.

  Clothing tore along my spine and my muscles swelled, pushing against the frail stitching of my jeans. Black fur sprouted under pink skin. I leapt into the air as a man, and landed once more as a beast.

  Red skies raged above and shadows danced like phantoms. I saw the world through new eyes…those of my Hound. I slapped my open palm against the hood of the car with a heavy thud. Claws scraped, piercing the air with a sickening squeal as I drove my paws against the asphalt and flung myself into the air toward the human.

  “Melkor!”

  Purity’s voice was a blazing neon light inside my head. My heart thundered, panic ratcheting with the cocking of the shotgun.

  Alma was there, racing toward the danger with me, and Purity was close behind. I could feel her…like the silver strands of my soul were wrapped around her.

  I knew the distance between us…knew the space between my heartbeat and hers.

  I swung my claws through the air as the darkness shimmered and shook. And the chilling howl of this creature filled the air.

  I hit the thing, slammed into the human before he flew to the side. But I had the thing, and mindless, infernal black eyes filled my gaze. It was all teeth and claws…and hate.

  The boom of the shotgun filled the night. And the Soulless in my claws screamed. But the salt pellets did nothing, if anything, they pissed the thing off even more.

  One swipe of its talons, and pain ripped across my cheek. I winced and shoved the thing out wide as my jaw ached.“There’s more coming!” Alma roared.

  I glanced toward her as she pointed to the highway in front of us.

  It was heading for them, the thought filled me, as I grabbed the creature and yanked it toward me.

  Kill it…kill them all. Send them back
to the burning level of Hell where they belong.

  The thought filled me. I clung to it, opened my mouth wide, and bit.

  I closed my eyes to the pain and the heady scent of my own blood filling my nose. Pain came at my shoulder, and then my side. Still I wrenched my head to the side, biting and tearing.

  But no matter how much my Hound fought, the thing still didn’t die.

  The crack of the shotgun came once more.

  Followed by the boom behind me.

  Purity.

  An ache speared through my chest. But this was savage, made by claws and fangs. Something hit me, warm hands found me.

  “Get the fuck off him!” Purity roared.

  I tried to stop her, tried to throw my hand toward her, keep her safe, but my arm refused to move, hanging limply by my side, and no amount of commands could make it move.

  “I said, get off him!” She lashed out, driving the blunt-edged, training dagger embedded with Lucifer’s sigil of protection into the Soulless.

  The shadowed beast threw its head backwards and screamed. She lashed out her hand again, driving the worn, wooden edge into the formless beast again and again.

  And in an instant, the sun was snatched away.

  Night descended on us…only it was a night that was accompanied by the whoop…whoop…whoop…of gigantic wings.

  The creature was ripped from my hold in an instant. Arrow’s flame-filled eyes found mine, before he scanned my body and then turned to the mortal woman at my side.

  “You know we have a two-way connection now, right?”

  She just stood there, blonde hair a mess. Her hands, red and shaking, gripped the hilt of the worn blade as she sucked in hard breaths. But she never cowered under the leader of the Nephilim’s gaze, never once showed anything but a fierce loyalty as the Soulless clawed and thrashed in Arrow’s grasp. “What the hell does that even mean?”

  “It means,” he snarled, and drove his wings downwards, hovering in the air, “every time you get pissed off…or ahem, interested in the Hound here, you project it like a neon goddamn sign in my head. So maybe, in future…keep it to yourself.”