Soulstone Ch. 04 - The End

Scathe was a Prince?

Augisto turned away, shaking his head in disbelief. "Empress, shall we get on with this? I'm hungry."

"Be my guest." The Empress didn't look up from tormenting her prey. She opened a rusty cage and grabbed a too-still Scathe by the ankle, dragging him toward it with an expression of sadistic glee. He didn't struggle. Wasn't even making noise anymore. "In you go, pet."

Eirienna had to get them out of here. Maybe she could still get through to her friend. Surely a part of him had to be inside this stranger in front of her. She licked her lips and tried to sound cajoling. "Augisto --"

He didn't speak, but seized her talisman with an invisible fist of power, and pulled. Invisible fingers pierced her talisman, groping for her spells and dragging them away.

Darkness strangled her. She couldn't breathe. Her blood coursed, pulling against the flow, like some deep, fiery current had hold of her and wouldn't let go.

Augisto's silvery eyes gleamed orange. Sparks showered from his skin, red, purple, darkening to black.

Fuck me. When did he get so powerful?

She was losing strength and her will. The talisman burned, the magic inside whirling in agitation under the pressure of Augisto's grip.

Deep inside her, something ripped. Agony, pure and awful, stabbing like a rusty spike. Heat rushed up her body, filling her nose, ears, and mouth. Her magic was bleeding out, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

Augisto's face was flushed, his breath coming in short pants. A talisman stone around his neck brightened as her magic poured into it. "That's it. Give it up. It'll hurt less that way."

In her heart, her soul screamed. A velvety shadow snaked along the mental link, swift and silent.

Scathe's voice slid into her thoughts. Eirienna, let me help you. He caught her eyes, flicked his view to her chest -- no, her talisman, then met her eyes again.

Scraps of shadow around him streaked across the room toward her.

Blindly, she struggled. Sparks showered weakly from her talisman, her resistance almost spent. But she's killing you.

Shadows piled on shadows, forming a shimmering black cocoon around her. Stay alive.

But...

Trust me?

I do.

This time there was no question about it.

I meant to hurt you, baby. Let me make up for it. His shadowy touch whispered over her skin, boosting her power.

Rage gave her strength. Fury at Augisto's betrayal. At the Empress. At Scathe for giving up, and that demeaning pet name he insisted on calling her.

Don't. Call. Me. Baby!

She thought Scathe smiled as the Empress clanged the rusty cage door shut.

His eyes closed, and her heart squeezed. Scathe! He couldn't be dead.

Sensation tingled into her muscles. Awareness lit her nerves. Scathe's rosy scent, the unholy strength in his limbs, the ancient blood pulsing through his veins. Centuries of bold memories, joy and misery, hope and heartbreak.

And familiar.

The magic in her talisman. It was Scathe's. He'd always made her stronger.

Like she knew every part of him. Like he was part of her. Instinctively, Eirienna dragged his power in tight and let it explode. Light erupted in a dazzling fireball.

Augisto's grip on her talisman broke. The force of the blast flung him across the throne room, smacking him into the far wall with a sick thump. He slumped, blood trickling from his mouth.

The black shackles of flesh holding her screamed as they burned. They melted away, and Eirienna stumbled free.

But Scathe lay bleeding in the cage. His body wasn't moving. He wasn't breathing.

Her pulse skipped, her body still tingling electric with his power.

Scathe. For fuck's sake. Wake up. Take it back! He was an incubus. Surely he could take what he needed!

The Empress screeched, and huge purple bat wings erupted from her bony back. She soared aloft, cackling, and ichor dripped from her beaky lips. Her talons curled like a vulture's. "Now you've done it," she howled, triumphant. "Now, you're mine."

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Eirienna snarled, and leapt for her, bare-handed. They collided and crashed to the floor. Brittle demon bones snapped.

Eirienna's body jarred, hot spikes of pain shooting through her joints. Talons slashed at her face, missing by an inch. The monster was fast. She rolled, desperate to escape, landing behind the demoness.

The Empress' head snapped around. Wings vanished from her back and sprouted from her chest. Her arms squirmed around the wrong way. She grabbed Eirienna and jumped on her chest.

Eirienna's breath whooshed out. Fuck me, she's heavy for such a skinny bitch.

The demon grinned, her beak dripping acid, and slowly, her weight increased, crushing Eirienna into the stones.

Her ribs shuddered, ready to break. She couldn't breathe. She kicked, but the Empress evaded her easily. Mindless terror swamped her as taloned hands closed around her neck.

Fear struck her cold. How was she supposed to kill a higher demon? Scathe hadn't had the chance to tell her. Now she'd stolen his power, sucked his essence into her talisman to save herself, and he was dying only feet away.

If he wasn't already dead.

Eirienna reached for him, scrabbling inside her talisman with invisible hands. Their ethereal fingertips touched...and she felt him! His heartbeat, so strong before, was barely a flutter now.

Feed him. Wake him up, she pleaded with her power, sending her heart and soul along with her magic.

Please, please, please, let it work.

Darkness closed in at the edges of her vision. This was it. The Empress was going to kill her. Eirienna always knew she'd die fighting. She wasn't cut out for a growing old kind of life. All that was left were her last words.

Scathe, I love you.

Her hands fell to the cold stone floor. The Empress laughed.

Shadows erupted from her talisman in a roll of thunder that shook the world. The walls shuddered and cracked. Stones tumbled. Tortured souls screamed from the pits.

Huge black hands tore the demoness from Eirienna's chest and hurled the Empress into a pit. Flesh smacked. Bones splintered. Blood spurted from her ugly beak.

The creatures thrashed, ravenous, and sank their mindless teeth in deep. The Empress screamed.

Eirienna retched and rolled away, coughing. The floor quaked and fractured. Flames leapt from the cracks, and stinking black smoke poured in.

"Scathe!" She scrambled to get feet, fending off falling debris. "Scathe, where the fuck --"

"Right here, baby." His big arms enfolded her. His scent, stained with blood and pain but still familiar, filled her nose.

His dark eyes flashed and warmth thrilled her soul. She knew him. Felt him inside her, like the ghost of the soul they'd shared.

With a sepulchral groan, the walls started to collapse. The ceiling shattered, raining chunks of rock and bleeding flesh.

"Can we get out of here?" she yelled over the noise.

"By all means." Scathe swiftly wove a shield of shadow, deflecting the falling rocks.

Eirienna hurled a spear of green sparks. The portal tore apart, and they dove through into the night.

Standing in the park, Eirienna shivered in the chilly dawn. Already, the heat had subsided. All over the park, Hunters wove glittering spells, delicately repairing the broken portal, and sealing it for good.

Pale winter sunlight poured over the ground, highlighting the bright greenery. Logan wove a gossamer like web of green fire -- delicate work for such a huge man -- and Giselle stitched it together with her sparkling magic, closing the tiniest of gaps.

They worked well together. Trusted each other with their lives. Their souls. Their hearts. Somehow, that didn't seem ridiculous anymore.

The air was redolent with the fresh smell of fir needles. A breeze flowed, raising goosebumps on her arms. Snowflakes fell from the sky, creating a white blanket on the earth.

Soon, there would be no evidence that the portal or demons had ever been on this world.

Scathe stood at her back, arms wrapped around her. She cleared her throat and pushed away. Dust and flakes of dried blood drifted from his dark hair. The claw slashes had healed to faint pink lines. Fatigue gave him a haggard look.

He was frighteningly real. Almost human. Dawn light glinted in his coal-dark eyes.

"I'm sorry I doubted you. That I --"

"You know me," he whispered, his lips close enough to brush hers. "And I'm free."

"Free...from what?" She hardly dared hope. If he was corporeal...and if he was no longer the Empress' slave...

"Everything. The Empress is dead. The portal is sealed for good. I couldn't go back to that world if I wanted to." He gave her a curl of cocky smile. "Why? You have something in mind?"

What about his throne? He was a Prince! He acted like that wasn't a big deal. And, he was still a demon. Eirienna's heart ached. "Look, Scathe, I...well, I kind of like you, and everything, but--"

"Kind of?" He trailed light kisses over her cheekbone toward her mouth. "Only love shares magic."

"Busted," she murmured. Her eyes fluttered closed, and she ached for his touch. His mouth. The pull of his lips on her breasts. The warm embrace of his shadows.

Kiss me. Please. Just kiss me one more time...

Eirienna backed up a step. "This is impossible," she said desperately. "I'm a Hunter, you're...well, I don't know what you are anymore, but --"

"I was thinking about dinner." He tugged her dusty braid straight and tucked it over her shoulder with one fingertip. Dropped a feather-light kiss on her nose. "Drinks. A movie. Whatever it is you kids do these days."

"You want to go out on a date?" Eirienna couldn't help a grin. "With... With me?"

"Sure. Why not?" He grinned, too, and then it faded. "I want to know you. Is that so unbelievable?"

His eyes lit with hope. It made him look...young. Fresh. Unsullied by centuries of torment and violence.

Eirienna raised her chin. "I don't go out on dates with strange men," she said in her most prim and proper tone. "Tell me your real name."

Would he? He'd asked for her trust and she hadn't given it to him. She was asking a lot of trust from him by demanding his true name.

He didn't hesitate. "Dáire."

"And, I want to see your real self. Don't show me what you think I want to see."

Dáire glanced down and held out his arms to display himself. He was still her ideal man. Tall, dark, muscled, handsome. "Well... I'm not usually covered in dust and demon blood, but this is my natural form."

She gave him a skeptical look.

He gave her a crooked smile. "Trust me."

Her heart melted. "Okay, Dáire. You may pick me up at my place tonight, seeing as how you already know where it is."

"See you at six thirty." With a wicked wink, he sauntered a few steps away. "Oh, wait." He paused. "You don't expect me to put out on the first date, do you? Because I warn you, baby, I'm shy."

A smile plastered itself across her face and wouldn't leave. She had a date. With possibly the hottest man on the planet. And he liked her. More than that -- he loved her.

"Dáire?"

He half turned, one eyebrow raised. "Yes?"

"Don't call me baby," she shot over her shoulder, and strode away.