Frosted Torment (Marked Mortals Saga #1)

Chapter 36

Once I had painstakingly cleared one of Baz’s wooden drawers, I nestled Dust Bunny into her new home. Then I changed into clothes more suited for facing demons and fallen angels. As we all gathered around the campfire waiting for Vallen, Jossy extended his arm toward me, holding a worn leather satchel.

I reached for it tentatively, fingers grazing over the worn leather’s rough texture before carefully flipping open the tarnished brass clasp. My hand delved into the bag’s depths and brushed against a cold, hard object. Drawing out two gleaming new daggers, their polished surfaces caught the firelight. Unlike the wolf hilts of my other daggers, these bore a single angel wing design and fit into my palm with ease.

A flood of gratitude washed over me; my breath caught as my hand flew to my mouth. I threw my arms around him in a tight hug .

“Thanks, Jossy,” I murmured, still clutching one of the new daggers.

Jossy shrugged as if it were no big deal. “We noticed you didn’t bring yours back with you,” he said, his eyes flicking toward my empty holster.

“I appreciate this.” I smiled warmly, feeling the weight of the angel-wing dagger in my hand.

“Maybe you can zap a demon with lightning as you stab it! Fry it right up!” Jossy laughed and wrinkled his nose before heading off to find Nakoma.

“Don’t be nervous,” I teased before he got too far. “If it weren’t for you guys finding me and exposing me to this, we’d all be doomed.”

Jossy’s grip on my shoulders tightened slightly. “Tell me you’re sure about entering this fight, Noa.”

“We have the upper hand.” I smiled confidently and put my hand on his shoulder in return. “Don’t back out on me now, Joss.”

“Never,” he promised.

As I secured the daggers into a sleeveless leather bodice Ena supplied me with earlier, approaching footsteps broke the momentary silence in camp. We all turned instinctively towards Vallen’s looming figure. His presence cast a shadow over us—his beauty was impossible to ignore—as everyone moved toward the edge of camp. Vallen reached out for my hand, and I accepted it willingly.

“It’s time to go,” he whispered, keeping us a few feet behind everyone as they began their walk. “You know what you need to do. ”

I nodded and squeezed his hand, then gestured for him to lead the way.

The journey toward Dawson’s field was unsettlingly quiet, broken only by the crunch of our footsteps on twigs and leaves. It wasn’t until we reached the edge of Dawson’s property that Vincent or Maros came into view. My heart pounded against my ribs as I spotted their figures moving around freely.

Maros barked orders to his army, and like clockwork, his soldiers snapped to face us. Their grotesque faces twisted into snarls, accompanied by eerie screeches from above. Vincent quickly noticed the shift and signaled for his troops to merge with them.

I clung tightly to Vallen’s hand as Dawson and Nevaeh continued along the perimeter toward their house. They stayed just behind the tree line with two wolves flanking them for protection. Jossy moved like a shadow through the open field, attacking fiercely from every angle to clear a path for Nakoma. Their synergy was breathtaking.

Vallen and I held back, waiting for the right moment as angels and wolves descended onto the field in a chaotic cluster. Ena stepped forward, her presence hidden from view. With a graceful wave of her arms, she summoned tiny twisters out of thin air, whipping them violently toward the demons and leaving them spinning in disorientation.

Maros crept along the back edge of the field, edging closer to Dawson’s house. He paused briefly, perhaps sensing my presence but unable to pinpoint me. I couldn’t help but wonder what twisted thoughts were churning through his mind.

I turned my attention away from Maros and saw Nakoma grappling with a horde of fallen angels. Their talons slashed at him in mid-air, like a storm of razors slicing through flesh. Ignoring the pain, he readied his bow and rapidly fired arrow after arrow, each shot trailing blurs of silver mist.

None of the demons could match his speed—except one with a thin, skeletal body that slipped past and grazed Nakoma’s leg. Blood seeped through his tattered pants, pooling on the ground beneath him.

“Nakoma!” I screamed before quickly covering my mouth.

“Steady, Noa,” Vallen remarked calmly.

Jossy expanded his wings and thundered toward Nakoma, his footsteps echoing against the earth. He leapt into flight, feathers cutting through demons like swords until he reached Nakoma. Each swipe thinned their ranks as easily as trimming overgrown hedges.

The scent of blood and sulfur hung heavy in the air, making my stomach churn violently. Bile rose to my throat while my eyes watered from the oppressive stench.

“Go ahead and puke,” Vallen advised. “Better now than later.”

I swallowed it down, holding back my discomfort, which only served as another source of embarrassment considering Vallen had seen enough of my vulnerability. Adding puking on top of everything else he had witnessed, which admittedly wasn’t much, I wasn’t ready for that.

“Nope. I’m okay,” I assured him.

Vallen’s eyes darkened, and his grip tightened around my hand. “Well, you’re up, Noa.”

A sharp pain shot through my fingers as I yanked my hand away. “I need these,” I scolded .

“Sorry,” he offered. “Are you certain you’re ready?” Vallen’s eyebrows knitted together, a flicker of guilt crossing his features.

Charging headlong into the chaos with nothing but bare hands and some daggers I still didn’t know how to properly use felt like madness, but hesitation wasn’t an option.

“I’ll see you on the other side, right?” I asked with wide eyes.

Vallen lowered his head, then lifted my chin with his finger and thumb. Looking deep into my eyes, he promised, “I will find you.”

I nervously licked my lips, then nodded. “That’s all I need to know.”

I turned away and walked onto the field where angel bones and demon ashes covered the ground. The battle blurred around me; flashes of demonic wings and gleaming weapons filled my vision while muffled screams blended into an unearthly orchestration. Metallic clangs and sharp thuds of combat mingled with the rough grit underfoot as I searched for my target.

Maros.

A blood-curdling scream shattered the air, sending a jolt of adrenaline through me as I whipped around to find its source. Ena’s face drained of color, her arms limp at her sides. I followed her eyes to see Dawson suspended from the grip of a fallen angel, its merciless claws punched clean through his chest. Blood trickled from the corners of Dawson’s lips as he stared back at us, his eyes reflecting pure torment as they met ours.

“No!” The word tore from my throat like a jagged blade. I grabbed Ena’s shoulders, forcing her to look at me and Vallen. “Not Dawson. Please, not him,” I pleaded desperately.

Nakoma and Jossy sprinted towards us, dodging demonic attacks with fluid precision. Nakoma reached Ena first, clutching her hands tightly to ensure she wasn’t hurt.

“Come on, Ena! We need to move!” Nakoma yelled.

They all took off, running around the edge of the clearing. Ena tossed angels and demons out of the way as if they weighed nothing. Nakoma’s arrows flew into each demon who dove for Ena; their bodies immediately turned to ash. Jossy hovered behind them, guarding their backs until they reached Dawson.

I stood in the middle of the clearing, paralyzed by fury. My body quivered violently as I saw what happened next. Dawson hung in mid-air like a marionette with cut strings. Higher he rose until, with a dismissive flick, the force holding him let go. He tumbled back to the ground.

I watched in mute horror as he fell, his body striking the ground with a sickening crunch. He lay splayed at an awkward angle, eyes staring sightlessly at the ashen sky, and I knew with horrible certainty that his neck had snapped.

A red haze clouded my vision. The voice that came from my throat didn’t sound like my own, choked with unspeakable grief. All I could focus on was Dawson’s broken, dead body and the unholy thing responsible, hovering just out of reach.

In that moment, I didn’t care about Maros or Vincent or any locked secrets in my mind anymore. The only thing that mattered was making that fallen angel pay. Even if it killed me, I would send it screaming back to hell, and I would laugh as I watched it burn.

I scarcely made it two steps before a different demon lunged for me, its blackened claws outstretched. I braced myself for impact, but it never came. A massive shape hurtled over my head, slamming into the demon and bowling it over in a tangle of fur.

I lifted my arms, and with one swift motion, I unleashed an unending round of electricity straight through its body, causing it to explode.

“Noa!” Baz’s voice cut through the noise, distant and distorted as if he were calling to me from under water.

I tried to answer him, but my tongue was thick and clumsy in my mouth, now full of demon blood. I blinked and spit the blood from my mouth, and when I looked up, Baz’s sapphire eyes were glued to mine.

Sobs overcame me as I laughed, burying myself in his chest. “You’re alive!”

“Takes more than that to get rid of me,” he said with a grunt.

A heartbeat later, Vallen swooped down from the sky, his massive wings stirring the air around us, causing Baz and me to cough as the sharp smell of sulfur pierced our nostrils.

“O’Neil told me that Vallen saved my life,” Baz admitted as he scanned the area for unexpected attacks.

I gestured with a nod at Vallen and smiled. “Baz knows you helped.”

“Keep an eye on her then,” Vallen told Baz, his voice tinged with urgency.

“Seriously?” I remarked, shaking my head. “It’s like that, Vallen?”

“You’re the one who has to finish this, Noa. Remember that,” Vallen said to me, then turned to face Vincent on the other side of the field.

“I know!” I called after him as my hands found Baz. I stroked his fur, grateful I had him back with me .

As I whipped my head back around to search for Maros, Vallen had Vincent cornered, and the demons and fallen angels were retreating. Maros had disappeared from view, and I didn’t trust that he wasn’t waiting for me somewhere.

Baz and I ran up the side of the field closest to Dawson and Nevaeh’s now-destroyed home. Nevaeh’s face drained of color as she stepped out of the tree line. Her eyes bulged with shock when she saw Dawson’s body. Nakoma caught his grandmother, holding Nevaeh up as her legs gave way beneath her.

Nevaeh’s wail echoed across the clearing as she cradled Dawson’s head in her lap. “Curse you, Vincent, for taking him from me!”

“Stay close to me,” I instructed Baz as I looked over at him.

Baz sighed. “Always.”

Glancing around the field, I asked him, “Where do you think Maros went?”

“No idea,” he replied with a low growl, his skeptical gaze not matching my growing alarm. “Something doesn’t feel right, though.”

Vincent’s soldiers started to retreat or were gathered up by angels from our side and taken away. The once deafening roars of battle began to quiet as even the Baneful drew back. My attention snapped back to the battlefield when a sudden shout filled the air.

Vincent had next to no time to draw his own sword before they lunged at each other, their blades ringing in a metallic frenzy. Vincent’s blade sliced across Vallen’s cheek, sending droplets of blood flying. Vallen snarled and retaliated, his sword cutting into Vincent’s arm.

Sparks erupted as their weapons clashed again and again. They crashed to the ground in a whirlwind of tangled limbs and feathers, rolling through blood-soaked dirt. Finally, Vallen pinned Vincent beneath him, holding his sword to Vincent’s throat.

“It’s over, brother,” Vallen growled, pressing the sword up into Vincent’s jaw.

“You’re wrong,” Vincent spat back. “I will have, Noa! And if not me, then Maros.”

With a burst of strength, Vincent threw Vallen off and lunged at him. But Vallen leaped over Vincent’s head, twisted midair, and brought his sword whistling down in a ruthless arc. Vincent let out a shriek of agony as Vallen’s blade sliced clean through his wing, severing it in a spray of blood and feathers.

His wing turned to ash in mid-air, and the bones landed in a crumpled heap next to Vincent, who fell to his knees. Vallen broke one of the most sacred laws of the angels by taking his brother’s wing.

Vincent’s voice trembled with agony as he cried out to Vallen, “Do the laws of honor mean nothing to you?”

Vallen’s eyes flashed with rage. “After keeping me prisoner in a cave and after kidnapping Sasha, you want to talk to me about honor, brother?”

Vallen’s sword glinted in the fading light of day, and his grip on it tightened. Vincent knelt before Vallen, wincing as blood seeped from his missing wing.

Vallen towered over him and sneered, “You aren’t worthy of honor.”

Then, with another strike, Vallen took Vincent’s other wing, leaving him convulsing in the middle of the field. Vallen lifted his sword and, in one final movement, struck downward, removing Vincent’s head. It rolled away from his body and disintegrated.

Suddenly, a fissure snaked across the field, fracturing the earth open with a deafening roar. My eyes searched for Vallen across the hole, and when I saw him, I ran to him as fast as I could, Baz close behind. Maros emerged from behind the trees, his hulking form silhouetted against the sky. His eyes burned with a sinister glow as he advanced toward us.

I whirled around, and my heart jolted at seeing those crimson orbs searching mine. Then he gestured for his demons to blend into the shadows concealing their true numbers. They watched and waited for his instructions.

“I figured I’d see what you’re made of, Noa,” he drawled, his breath uneven. “Consider me impressed.”

“I’m going to end you!” I promised him.

“I’ve already given you plenty of chances, and yet,” Maros gave a shoulder lift with raised brows. “Here I am.”

Baz snarled, his body coiling and fur bristling, but Maros chuckled and, with a quick flick of his wrist, seized my throat. He wrenched me up into the air, and I scratched at his hand, gasping for air, but his grip was unbreakable.

Black spots danced at the edges of my vision as he pulled me backward, away from Baz, away from Vallen, and away from my hope of salvation. As we reached the edge of the trees, his demons and charred ones gathered close.

Maros smirked, unfazed as he turned me around and dangled me in front of Baz. “Come on, doggy. Let’s play.”

“You’re a coward, Maros!” Vallen’s voice rumbled across the field. “Let her go. ”

Baz lunged forward but halted as Maros tightened his grip on my throat.

“Don’t be stupid, pup,” Maros sneered. “No one else has to die today. If you’re a good doggy, I’ll let Noa live.”

“Baz, get back,” Vallen insisted.

Baz released a glass-shattering howl, but did as Vallen asked. I struggled against Maros’s hand, unable to breathe, and he pulled me close, bringing my mouth to his ear.

“What’s that?” he asked, loud enough for everyone to hear. “Your mom is looking forward to seeing you, and you can’t wait to join her?”

Vallen and the others stepped back, their eyes widening with shock. Maros’s grip on me loosened slightly, and a malicious grin spread across his face. Vallen narrowed his eyes at Maros. The other wolves were gathered and ready to fight again.

“Put her down, Maros,” Jossy shouted, his voice low and grave. “Or I swear, I’ll rip you apart myself.”

Maros’s laughter was sharp and mocking. “Oh, I don’t think so, little cherub. One more step and I’ll snap her pretty little neck.”

His fingers tightened in warning, and Ena began to pull at her own throat. I heaved my leg up and rammed my foot into Maros’s stomach. He grunted for a heartbeat, releasing Ena’s slender neck from his iron grip, then mine. She coughed into her hand, wiping away tears as I hit the ground, and I gulped down air.

“Bastard!” The word barely escaped me as I ran to Ena and Jossy.

“It’s possible,” Maros replied casually, an arrogant smirk unfurling across his thin lips. He laughed as I glared up at him. “Noa, you’re a child playing at villainy.”

“Let’s end this now,” Vallen snarled as he released his wings and rose into the air.

Baz stepped forward into a crouch, and the other wolves lined up with him.

“If you value Noa’s life, or any of yours for that matter, don’t!” Maros warned, his eyes flicking to the shadows behind him; then he snatched me up once more.

“Fight!” My voice trembled, betraying my attempt at bravery.

A cold sweat trickled down my back as I pleaded with my friends. Vallen’s eyes flickered with bursts of golden stars as they locked onto mine. His clenched fists trembled slightly, betraying his desire to do more than we both knew he could.

Pulling from the depths of my gut, I nodded and mouthed, “To the death.”

Jossy turned to Nakoma. “Get Nevaeh back to camp and stay there.”

Nakoma’s jaw tightened, his eyes shimmering with unshed tears that threatened to spill. “I won’t leave you, Joss,” he whispered, his voice cracking under the weight of his words.

Jossy took Nakoma’s face in his hands and pressed their foreheads together. “And I won’t lose you. Take care of your leg, and I’ll see you soon. Now go.”

“It’s sweet you think the humans will live through this, little cherub.” Maros tilted his chin toward Ena, a cruel glint in his eye. “I know what you did so that girl could practice magic here. She could come in handy for me too. ”

With a surge of energy, I flung my hands out with all my might and lashed at Maros’s face. He recoiled from the shock and rubbed the side of his face where a red mark was starting to form. Baz growled low in his throat, muscles coiled to attack, but Vallen gestured for him to wait.

“You no longer know your place, girl!” Maros’s hand shot out; a sharp crack reverberated through my skull as pain exploded in my jaw.

My body went limp like a puppet with cut strings. He fisted my hair and yanked my head back painfully; my legs dangled uselessly beneath me.

“I wanted to kill you, but now I’ll make you watch as I turn your world upside down,” Maros growled. “With you at the center, as my bitch.”

My neck snapped.

Darkness swallowed me whole, then spat me out into a carnival of dread. Pain speared through me as I landed hard on an unseen surface. The air reeked of decay and stagnant sweat; a vile stench that clawed at my nostrils.

A sharp smack split open my lip once again as I lay there helpless. When I attempted to push myself up onto my knees, I slipped again and slammed my face into the cold ground. The pain and nausea washed over me in waves as I lay there in the dark, unsure of how much time had passed

Strange noises echoed around me, accompanied by intermittent flashes of light that felt almost taunting. A small, circular, blacked-out window opened and closed repeatedly until its rhythmic clatter annoyed me enough to move. I managed to struggle to my feet, my head spinning with disorientation .

My hands groped through the pitch-black void until they collided with a rough and slimy stone wall. Feeling along its surface, I discovered the window, about the size of a baseball. With trembling fingers, I pushed it open.

“Anyone there?” My voice wavered as I patted around the edges of the hole, flickering lights blocking my vision.

A sudden, unexpected touch grazed my hand, causing a jolt of surprise to shoot up my arm. I yanked my hand back, pulling it so close to my chest that I could feel the thud of my pounding heart against my fingers. An icy shiver ran down my spine as I watched long, bony fingers creep through the small hole in the wall.

Their razor-sharp, black nails gleamed ominously in the dim light, like the claws of some predatory creature reaching out for its prey.

“Noa,” a voice crooned from the other side of the barrier, its tone dripping with mischief that made my heart skip a beat. “Hiya, doll!”

A shudder passed over me at the sound of my name spoken in that unmistakable lilt. My pulse quickened to a frenzied pace, and I pressed my back against the wall. Sliding down until I was huddled on the floor, I pulled my knees up to my chest and buried my face in my hands.

When had the last shreds of my sanity begun to fray at the edges, twisting into the abyss of madness?

She couldn’t be here. It wasn’t possible. Yet the voice was unmistakable - it was her. I dragged my palms down over my face, wiping away the cold sweat that had broken out on my forehead. A soft sniff escaped me as I pushed back the unruly strands of hair that had fallen into my eyes .

As I looked up, the small window in the wall swung open once more, causing me to jump in surprise.

“Uno,” I choked out. “Is that you?”