Page 23 of Carved
The tires spun on the pavement, squealing asthey tried to gain purchase on the battered road. My hands fumbledfor the handle above my head when the truck caught on the asphaltand leapt forward. A scream from the back caused me to whip aroundas I realized who Hawk had been shouting out the window at.
A man standing in the back tumbled over theside of the truck and bounced across the pavement. I hadn’trealized there were still people in the back of the truck, and Hawkseemed not to care about their safety as he didn’t ease on thegas.
The woman and man still in the truck fellback, bouncing over the supplies before crashing into the tailgate.The man flipped over the back of the truck, but somehow managed tograsp hold of the tailgate at the last second. Only his knucklesand fingers gripping over the edge were visible. I feared his legsand feet bounced over the ground behind us.
The woman lurched toward him and grabbed hiswrist. I heaved a breath of relief when his head popped up over theback of the truck. Then a leg swung over the tailgate and the womanmanaged to help pull him back into the truck bed.
“Don’t do it!” Hawk snapped when my hand fellon the door handle.
“They need our help against thosethings!”
“I don’t know what you are, but I do know youshoot fire, came from where humans reside, not demons, and thismission wasn’t organized untilyouarrived. It’s been made clear to us throughout our training forthis journey that your life is the most vital part of this mission,and I will do whatever it takes to fulfill my duty.”
Gone was the hunched-over man who’d spentmost of yesterday trying to avoid touching the two of us. In hisplace was a soldier. He glanced at me, his indigo eyes remorseless.“He’ll kill me if you get out of this truck, and personally, I likemy head where it is. It’s a pretty good-looking head.”
My hand fell off the handle. I couldn’t arguewith his statement, and I couldn’t live with myself if Kobal killedhim because of me. I spun in my seat to take in the carnage behindus. I bit back the bile rising in my throat when I saw the arms andlegs scattered across the road. Intestines and blood splattered theearth, torn from the bellies of humans and gargoyles alike. Theblood was almost technicolor against the burnt-out gray and blackcity.
As I watched, more fire erupted into the air,lighting the creatures diving toward Kobal and the others who hadgrouped together to present a united front against their attackers.I had no idea how many humans were still alive, but I didn’t heargunshots peppering the air with the same frequency they had in thebeginning.
From the corner of my eye, I spottedsomething coming down the road. My eyes widened on Corson, with hishead bent and his arms and legs pumping as he raced toward us farfaster than I’d ever considered possible. He easily closed thedistance between us to run beside the truck. Over his shoulder, Ispotted two gargoyles breaking away from the others in pursuit ofthe truck.
“Don’t slow down!” Corson shouted when Hawkeased on the gas.
Hawk pushed back down on the accelerator asCorson ran beside us for a good fifteen feet before grabbing theside of the truck and vaulting into the back. I fumbled with thewindow in the middle of the glass behind me as the two gargoylesdove for Corson. The demon with the blue feathers dangling from hisears let out a roar of fury. I gawked at the claws that burst fromthe backs of his hands. Over a foot long, white talons shone asCorson ducked low and slashed upward at a gargoyle soaring abovehim.
I shoved the window open just as black gooand intestines splashed over Corson and into my face. Recoiling, Ifrantically wiped at the warm splatters coating my lips and lashes.The gutted gargoyle crashed into the road before us. It bouncedover the pavement before coming to a stop ten feet directly infront of us.
Hawk swerved the truck to avoid hitting theeasily hundred-pound creature, which was the size of a GermanShepherd. Unprepared for the motion, I fell against his side as thetires squealed in protest on the pavement. The three in the backcried out when they were thrust against the side. The woman almosttoppled out, but Corson grasped her wrist and jerked her back.Somehow, he managed to avoid slicing her flesh open with his lethalclaws. Corson shoved her against the cab of the truck beforeturning to face the remaining gargoyle coming at us.
I pushed myself off of Hawk and turned backto the window as the city vanished from view. The sides of the roadnarrowed in on us; boulders crowded against the sides of thevehicle as we steadily climbed higher.
“What are you doing?” Hawk demanded when myfingers curled around the edge of the sliding window.
“Helping,” I replied.
I shoved myself through the window, kickingmy feet as I squirmed to pull myself into the bed of the truck. Ifell into the back, landing on a pack of bottled water that bitinto my ribs. The woman ducked and came up firing her gun when thegargoyle dove at her, not making the mistake of going at Corson asthe other one had.
Shoving myself up, I held onto the window tobrace myself before rising to my feet. Corson glanced over at me asthe gargoyle turned and came back at us. The creature opened itsawful black pit of a mouth and shrieked. Fire slid across myfingertips. It wasn’t as powerful as it had been before, and Irealized my demon ability to throw fire tired out far faster thanmy angelic ability to harvest and wield life did, but flames stilldanced over my flesh.
Corson stepped to the side as the gargoyledove at us. It meant to take out the truck, I realized when itshifted course and aimed for the back tires. It would flip uscompletely if it succeeded in hitting us.
The flames blazed across my flesh as I raisedmy hands and let the fire have its way. It erupted from me in ashort burst, but it was enough to hit the creature and knock it offcourse. The gargoyle screamed as fire licked over its body and itplowed into the rock walls lining the sides of the road. The rockwalls exploded from the impact. I threw my arms over my head toshield myself as bits of debris pelted the truck and us. Shards ofbroken rock sliced across my arms, spilling my blood.
I dared to chance a glance when a sound likethunder erupted through the air. Even with our growing distancefrom where the gargoyle had hit, I could feel the earth quakingbeneath the truck as the gargoyle’s impact caused some of thesurrounding rocks and boulders to break free of the mountain. Itappeared as though they slid toward the earth in slow motion atfirst, before tumbling faster and crashing against each other in animmense cloud of rolling dust.
I could only stand and gawk at the rockslideas more and more fell. My heart sank when some of the dust clearedto reveal the pile of boulders blocking the roadway behind us.“No!” I shouted.
Lifting my head to the sky, my knees wobbledwhen I spotted the flames and smoke rising high on the horizon fromthe city we’d left behind. “Kobal,” I whispered.
“He’ll be fine. They’ll find a way around therocks,” Corson said. Kneeling down, he leaned through the window tospeak with Hawk. “Keep driving and don’t stop for anything.”
CHAPTER 11
Kobal
Bending, I gripped the undercarriage of apickup truck and heaved it upward, flinging it away from me. Metalbent and twisted, and glass shattered as the roof of the truckfolded in on itself when it rolled side over side. It tumbledtoward the building, crushing four gargoyles beneath its punishingweight. Supplies spilled out all over the street. Water bottles,clothes, and food scattered everywhere as humans scrambled to getout of the way of the flying debris.
Another gargoyle landed to the right of me,running forward on its back legs before falling to all fours andbounding across the roadway like a dog. Bale raced forward, grabbedit by its tail,
