Page 4 of Hell on Earth
“I don’t require help, demon,” shereplied
“Corson,” I said. “You could call mebyit.”
I itched to trace my finger over the tip of her chin when it rose more stubbornly into the air. “I’d prefer not to. You may be immortal, and it may take a decapitation to off you, but you’re still more likely to die out here thanIam.”
“Is that so?” Idrawled.
“Yep.”
“Are you afraid you’ll get attached me if you use my name and then something will happentome?”
“Of course not,” shescoffed.
The sun setting over her shoulder made her pale hair shimmer with oranges and golds as I strolled closer to her. Eyeing the string tied around the end of her braid, I contemplated pulling it free to undo the braid and run my fingers through her hair.Does it feel as silken as itlooks?
“You think I’m incapable of surviving the Wilds when I survived Hell?” Iinquired.
Stopping before her, I searched her eyes for the small flecks of sea green I’d noticed the first time I’d seen her. Every time I got close to her, I looked for that green. The color was such a striking contrast to the blue of her eyes, but so small it was barelynoticeable.
“I think you knew Hell and that, once you were free, you knew the safety and protection of the wall, but you don’t know theWilds.”
“And you don’t know what the fallen angels that recently escaped Hell are like,” I reminded her. “You also don’t know what the creatures who lived behind the seals in Hellarelike.”
“You don’t know what those creatures are like either,” sheretorted.
“True,” Iagreed.
I’d lived with Hell creatures, demons, and fallen angels, and I’d dealt with some of the things locked behind the seals while in Hell, but not all of them. Now, the seals that once kept the worst of Hell locked away to keep demons and other Hell creatures safe, had been destroyed and the occupants were free. Not all the things imprisoned behind the seals had managed to escape Hell, butnoneof the seals existed anymore. Many of those seal creatures were determined to slaughter everything in their way and were incapable of anyreasoning.
Unless a new gateway opened into Hell, one Kobal didn’t control, a lot of the creatures that escaped the seals would remain trapped within Hell, but enough had broken free to wreak havoc on thisplane.
I may not give a shit about most of mankind, but there were a few people I’d come to consider friends. Plus, the existence of demons and angels hinged on the survival of mankind. Out of the three species, humans were the only ones with a soul and the only ones capable of creating new souls. If humans became extinct, without the souls of their dead to feed us, angels and demons wouldperishtoo.
That was why we’d left the wall, built to separate these wildlands from the civilian population, to travel into the Wilds. Most of the old occupants of the seals, and the angels, avoided going near the wall. Not only was Kobal at the wall, but so was a human military presence and a fair number of palitondemons.
Until recently, most of the civilians on the other side of the wall hadn’t known about the existence of Hell and demons. When the gateway opened, they were told that a war with a foreign government had torn their country apart and left the central states decimated. The people who resided on the other side of the world had been told the same thing about the countries affected there. After the gateway opened and Hell spilled free, the human governments built the wall in an attempt to keep theircitizenssafe.
When the seals fell and Hell came to Earth, the wall and all those defending it were incapable of keeping the outpouring of monsters back. The tidal wave of Hell creatures going over the wall had eased since the initial rush, but the truth could no longer be hidden from thecivvies.
Most of the escapees from the seals remained in the Wilds of this country and Europe. The fallen angels hadn’t been seen much since Lucifer’s demise, but I didn’t doubt they were trying to gather a new army to fight Kobal, and I would do everything I could to stop thebastards.
Until then, I had Wren to contend with, and she was probably more hostile than most of the sealcreatures.
“One day I’ll hear you say my name, Wren,”Isaid.
“I doubt that, demon,” she snorted. “Where are yourearrings?”
Hostility flashed through her eyes. Did I crave her so badly that I’d imagined the tinge of jealousy in her words? She’d only ever seen me wearing earrings once, but I knew the others talked and that she was aware of what those earringsmeant.
My neck warmed as the flecks of green in her eyes deepened in hue and her steady gaze held mine. I wasn’t embarrassed or ashamed. I’d never be ashamed of pursuing the things I wanted. It was the way of demons after all, but I found myself not liking the fact Wren knew so much, yet so little about me. She’d judged me and found melacking.
Normally that wouldn’t have bothered me, but it didwithher.
I rubbed my thumb and index finger together as I resisted running them over the high arch of her cheekbone. “I’ve decided to try something new,” I replied with an indifference Ididn’tfeel.
“Hmm,” she said by way ofreply.
She turned and stalked into the woods with far less caution than she typically exhibited. I stared after her for a moment as I debated following her. Wind howled through the branches, causing them to click loudly together. A shiver ran up my spine as the chilly air cut through my clothes. The Wilders had revealed to us that when the gateway into Hell opened, this area became warmer. They said the closing of the gateway hadn’t changed that, but it was nowhere near as hot as Hell was, and I hated the chillyNovemberair.
