Page 2 of Into the Abyss
“Every day, I daydream about what it wouldhave been like if the gateway never opened and we wereallanywhere but here. Every day, I wish we could all experience thelives we want most, the lives we were supposed to lead before Hellcame to Earth.”
“Who is all?” he inquired.
“All the people in the camp and the demonstoo, I suppose. I bet some of them would like their old lives backtoo.”
“Oh, howperfect.” Placing his fingerunder her chin, he lifted her head until she gazed into hisstriking, electric blue eyes.
“And you? What would you wish for?” sheasked.
“I know better than to make wishes, butyourwish is my command.”
She giggled, but when she leaned closer, heabruptly rose and wiped the bits of bark from his mouthwateringass. Confusion swirled through her as she watched him step over thelog and stroll further away from her. She’d been so certain she wasabout to get laid by this delicious man.
They’d just met, but she’d had sex withplenty of men she barely knew or hadn’t known at all since thatdemon murdered her Ricky. No man would ever matter after Ricky;they were merely a way to forget, if only for a few minutes.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
“I have what I came for,” he replied with abackward wave of his hand.
She tried to rise, but a wave of darknessslid over her, and she collapsed onto the ground.
• • •
“Your wish is my command, isn’t that a littlecliché?” Eron asked.
Olgon smiled as he clapped his youngerbrother on the shoulder. “It is, but as we’ve learned during ourtime on Earth, it is what these ridiculous humans expect from thejinn, and who am I to disappoint?”
“At least it finally got us the wish werequired.”
“It did. Come now, we have a wish to fulfillfor so many others.”
They grinned at each other before separatingto sow their misery.
CHAPTER 1
Magnus
“What happened? What thefuckhappened?”Corson hissed.
The woman’s dead weight on my shouldershifted when I grabbed Corson’s arm to hold him back before hecould plunge heedlessly into the clearing. I dodged the talons heswung at me when he lashed out. I didn’t blame him for trying toattack me; we’d left his Chosen, Wren, at the camp when we went outto hunt for the day.
We’d found plenty of game, and stashed it ina cave nearby, but it seemed as if everyone who stayed behind atthe camp was….
Well, I wasn’t sure what they were, but theydefinitely weren’t withusright now.
“Easy,” I cautioned, my hand constricting onCorson’s arm as I gazed at the bodies sprawled around the smallclearing. Judging by the number of bodies, not everyone in the campwas here, but I suspected we’d find them somewhere nearby and justas unmoving as those here. “Losing it isn’t going to save anyone orhelp anything.”
Whatever happened to those at the camp whilewe were gone occurred quickly as none of the affected tried tobreak their fall before hitting the ground. There were no outspreadhands, no one was braced against anything, and just as many lay ontheir backs as on their faces.
Most of their chests still rose and fellwith their breaths, but one man didn’t move at all and his headlulled at an unnatural angle. When he fell, he’d slammed his headon a rock and broken his neck before collapsing across the boulderthat killed him.
Usually, there was chatter in the camp, theclink of plates being washed after a meal, or the shuffle of cardsas the players looked to kill some time. Silence hung like a thickfog over everything now, not even the song of a bird pierced theair as they seemed to have taken flight or hidden somewhere.
Typically, there would have been guards togreet us or lookouts spread through the woods. We’d encountered oneof the lookouts on our way into camp after storing the game we’dhunted. Sitting in a tree, she was slumped over its branch. I’dremoved her from the tree and, uncertain about what happened toher, carried her back to the camp. She remained draped over myshoulder.
What happened here?
My mind spun at the possibilities. Demonsand humans alike had fallen where they stood or sat. I didn’t thinkthis phenomenon was spread throughout the Wilds. Otherwise me,Corson, Caim, and Raphael would be napping too.
