Chains of Frost: The Bellum Sisters 1 (16 page)

The guards stopped talking and
instantly were at her side. Though neither of them answered her question, they
peered out the gate with intent, alert eyes. Then they both sprang into action
at the same time.

The blond warrior slammed his
fist into a brick at the side of the gate. But instead of breaking, the brick
slid perfectly into the wall like some sort of button. In a matter of seconds,
guards swarmed onto the parapet walls back at the castle, and dozens more came
pouring out from all sides of the castle…heading straight for her.

The earth started moving. At
first, she thought it was from the warriors running toward them, but then she
saw snow flying into the air outside the gate in clouds and she realized it was
coming from the ground. The sickening, warning feeling started in her stomach.
A
little too late on the heads-up, stomach,
she thought angrily.

Warriors grabbed her, pushing her
further and further away from the gate.

“Wait, I want to see. What’s
going on?” No one answered her.

A wet, heavy sound like a body being
dropped into mud brought her eyes swinging over the heads of the warriors
blocking the gate. The sound didn’t stop. Repeatedly, it came like some kind of
eerie warning. Chloe fought against the warriors trying to pull her away and
jumped up and down to get a look. Her stomach bottomed out at what she saw.
Holes forming in the ground, arms coming out.

One hole was particularly big,
leaving a black cavern of a hole around it. Chloe’s eyes went huge. She
recognized that hole. The earth shuddered as if gods shouldered those snowy
mountains in the background and were pushing them with brute force. If not for
the warrior holding her arms, she would have fallen to the ground.

“KLLOOOOOOOOOOWEEEEEEEEEE!”

Chloe jumped at the long, rumble
of her name that was so loud she wouldn’t be surprised if those mountains just
had avalanches. The guards started shoving her hard, back toward the castle and
she went, straight into the arms of Tyrian.

He set her aside coldly, pushing
her into the arms of Rayn. “Take her into the castle. I’ll be there in a
minute.”

There was no hesitance. Suddenly
her body was tingling from her forehead to her toes, the snow and warriors
around her flickered, then disappeared as if by magic. Suddenly, she was
standing in Tyrian’s study surrounded by the warmth of the fireplace. Rayn only
gave her a brief nod, before he disappeared in that same strange way.

“What the hell was that?”
Vampires couldn’t teleport around. They didn’t have that kind of ability. That
was a power which demons had. Her hands flew to her mouth, stifling a gasp.

The sounds of shouts and screams
sent her running to the window. She braced her hands on the cold stone and
leaned out. Her jaw fell to the ground at what she saw.

It was her demon, and he wasn’t
alone. There were dozens of them, maybe forty, or fifty, attacking the gates
and walls with swords and claws. Yet her demon was different, big and
half-dead, and towering over them all.

Those around him were skinny as a
skeleton with greenish skin and hideous, contorted faces. Their jaws were long
and pointed out from faces that were covered with white lines of war paint.

These weren’t just any demons.
These were
idummi,
the worst of them all. Bottom feeders that would
listen and fight for anyone for a chance to cross the rift and be free. What
kind of demon had she summoned? How did it amass so many followers so quickly?

Her hands curled into the cold
stone and her gaze unerringly fell to Tyrian. Even amassed in a crowd of
warriors wearing the same fierce expressions, he stood out so clearly to her.
He gave orders, never shouting but speaking clearly.

Warriors opened the gate and
exploded at the skeletal warriors, swords and axes twirling and flying. Arrows
flew from the parapets, whizzing through the air like bullets.

Her demon stood at the back, its
black, fathomless eyes staring at the Atal Warriors. It tossed its gray head
back and howled a bone-chilling sound that she swore shook the walls of the
castle with its intensity. When the demon finally stopped, the roar echoed deep
into the cold mountains. The demon raised its black fathomless gaze and landed
straight on her.

Chloe’s mouth fell open and
watched, stunned, as it raised its long arm and pointed straight to her. Its
giant mouth, filled with those sharp black teeth, moved, spilling out sounds
and syllables she couldn’t decipher into any kind of recognizable language.

The demons screeched, their red
and yellow eyes fixing right on her.

“Oh, shit.”

Chapter Thirteen

A sudden popping sound filled the
space behind her and like a frightened heroine in a horror movie, Chloe slowly
turned to face it. A snarling demon, crouched at its knees, slowly stood. Its big
yellow eyes webbed with red spider web veins around the pupils eyed her like
she would be its next meal.

Chloe took a quick step back but
found her butt hitting the giant window. Oh, shit. The demon’s thin lips pulled
into a smile, a thick line of drool falling out of its mouth to glob on the
floor.

Her stomach rolled with the urge
to vomit. Then the
idummi
demon sprang at her. Sharp claws dug into her
arm, its bony legs wrapped around her as if it was trying to hug her. The demon
was incredibly strong and muscular for something barely five feet tall and bone
skinny. Its knobby bones dug hard into her hips and legs.

It spun her around, crashing them
both onto the hard floor. Screaming, Chloe struggled to free her arms from its
grasp—to gain some kind of purchase
—
b
ut it snarled at her, spit spraying
onto her face. She was momentarily stunned as the putrid, decaying smell of its
spit reached her nostrils. It squeezed her arms in a viciously hard grip and
she felt sharp pinching as her skin tore under his grip.

Chloe lurched forward and
screamed into the demon’s face. It pulled back in surprise, and she used that
moment to throw the demon off her. Its head slammed into the corner of the
hearth and she quickly ran for the door.

She reached for the doorknob, her
heart thundering in her ears, adrenaline driving her to be faster, stronger,
and then she was tackled from behind by a heavy weight. She went tumbling
forward, her cheek and mouth slapping against the hard wood door at an awkward
angle. Pain exploded in her head. She tasted coppery blood in her mouth and
winced as flaring, pulsing pain instantly beat around her busted lip.

Then there were heavy footsteps
behind her and the bony weight at her back was gone. Chloe quickly rolled over
and saw Tyrian and Rayn there. Tyrian snapped the demon’s neck with a nasty
twist and threw the bony body into the burning fireplace. He came to her, raw
anger on his face. The ice completely melted. He bent down and picked her up,
cradling her against his chest.

Chloe fought it. “Put me down.
I’m fine.” He didn’t and she fought harder, pushing against his chest, which he
ignored and walked her over to Rayn. “Come on, I was doing great there. I could
have taken him. Okay, in all honesty, I appreciate you helping me out there but
I hate you. So put me down.” He still ignored her, so she did something
completely crazy, and that logic would later argue was driven by adrenaline—and
kissed him.

She felt the shock in his body,
the stiffening. But then his grip changed, moved, became soft and encouraging
as his tongue slid easily into her mouth. God, did this vampire know how to kiss
.
He pulled back and her lips went searching after his. The pain from her
fight—she didn’t feel it. The liquid arousal flooding her sex—she totally felt.

He turned his cheek and spoke
quickly to Rayn. She didn’t bother to listen, was too captivated by the strong
muscle flexing at his neck. She followed it, tasting it with the flat of her
tongue.

“Mmm,” she moaned. “You taste
good, Tyrian.” His arms tightened around her and she loved it. Suddenly another
pair of arms was around her and she lifted her head to glare at Rayn. “Hey, no
sharing here. He’s mine.”

Okay, maybe she was delirious, or
maybe it was the adrenaline, or the fact that her vampire boyfriend was holding
her. Had even kissed her hard and sweet. Was she really so fickle to go back to
calling him her boyfriend after a single kiss? Yes.

She had only a second to glare at
Rayn for doing this to her when her body tingled all over again and the room
around them flickered, disappearing like magic, then a new place appeared. Somewhere
she didn’t recognize.

From the looks of it, they were
just outside a major city. Skyscrapers, extravagant hotels, and posh apartments
lit up the night sky to draw in wanderers and thrill seekers. Only it was dark
as night here. Chloe peeked at Tyrian and Rayn and wondered just what kind of
powers these vampires had.

“Someone better explain to me
what the hell’s going on.” Rayn smiled at her, and then the warrior was gone in
the next blink. “How does he do that?”

Tyrian set her on her feet. “Rayn
is half-demon. He carries some of their powers with him including the ability
to teleport.” Chloe stared at him.

“He’s half-demon. Demon as in
those guys you’ve been fighting to keep back in the rift for a thousand years.”
There were different species of demons. The
idummi,
like the one she just
fought, were considered the bottom rung of the demons. They lived a layer
beneath the rift and feasted upon living flesh for sustenance. A shiver wracked
through her.

Then there were the normal
demons. The ‘non-cannibalistic’ demons that she’d heard looked just like anyone
else, but were strong like shapeshifters, fast like vampires, and had magical
powers that no other being on earth had. It made them powerful foes.

“Yes,” he said simply.

“How does that even make sense? I
thought you hated demons. But you’re okay with little half-demons so long as
they work for you or something? Sounds kind of exploitative, Tyrian.”

Tyrian’s face was back to the
normal, impassive, nothing-bothers-me face that she both liked and hated. “I do
not hate demons, Chloe. Someone must lead the Atal Warriors and keep the demons
in the rift. I am just the vampire who does that. I do hate some demons, but
they are specific people whom I hope to meet again someday.” Chloe felt the
death threat in his words and wondered what the demons did to deserve such
hate. She had an idea but she hoped she was wrong.

“Where are we?”

“We are outside of Atlanta,
Georgia.”

She waited for him to elaborate. When
he didn’t, she ground her teeth together and said, “And why is that?” He looked
down at her as if surprised by her question.

“There is an unusual demon after
you. It is no longer safe at the castle. Obviously, it can track you, something
I had not foreseen. I must figure out how to return the demonic creature before
it completes its task and kills you.” He said it so casually that she just
stared at him.

“And we can figure this out in
Atlanta?”

A nod, and then he cupped her
elbow and started walking her toward the bright city lights. “I have
connections in Atlanta, powerful people who owe me favors. They will help us,
if necessary. One man in particular.” Chloe pulled her arm away from him and
wrapped it around her middle. She couldn’t think when he touched her. Memories
of naked skin, flushed faces, and heavy breathing entered her mind.

“You’re going to call in favors
from important people just to help me?”

“Of course. I am your Protector.”

Chloe sighed with disappointment.
Of course, that was why. What was she expecting really?

“Well, where are we going first?
I hate not knowing.”

He was silent for a minute then
he said, “Telal Demuzi.”

Chloe stumbled a step and stared
up at him in shock. “Telal Demuzi? The freaking only demon to be allowed to
live outside of the rift because he’s so powerful? Oh, my God.” As an
afterthought, she added, “That’s the man Lily is supposed to be given to.”

Tyrian looked at her but didn’t
slow his pace. “Francis listed Telal as your sister’s Protector? That is
interesting.”

Her stomach rolled. “Why’s that?”

“I wouldn’t worry for your
sister. Telal may be a demon, but he fought on our side to push the demons back
at The Great War. He’s been most beneficial to our cause.”

“Yes, that’s neat and all, but
why is that
interesting
?”

He shook his head the barest of
movements. Was he exasperated? “From what I know, your father allied with Telal
for demon’s rights. They were both trying to open the rift so that the demons
can cross over and live among us.”

Chloe knew that Papa believed in
the rights of demons. Though she’d never known he’d fought against the demons
in The Great War. Maybe he realized his mistake years later and wanted to make
amends. She was learning there was a lot more about her Papa than she ever
knew.