Descent - Tara Fuller Page 0,64

footsteps stopped on the other side of the barrels. I squeezed my eyes shut as if that would make the threat go away. Easton pressed his lips against the side of my neck, just below my jaw. Not kissing, just touching, keeping me calm, still. He knew what was about to happen. He knew I’d feel it. Oh God…I didn’t want to feel it.

“What’s the matter?” the voice rumbled. “You feeling neglected? Well, let’s fix that, shall we?”

The shrill sound of a chain saw ripped through the warehouse, and a wave of violent fear washed over me. The demon cackled, basking in it. The soul grunted and moaned. The hook creaked, and the sharp bite of the point seemed to wriggle through him and into me. I tensed, waiting for the slice of the motorized blade. Easton cursed against my neck and moved me to the floor beside him. He shot me a look that said stay put and pulled his blade free from his belt and disappeared around the corner.

“You might want to stop,” he said coolly. “Fair warning. I’m not in the best of moods today.”

Scout crawled forward next to me, weaving his arm through mine as if he thought I’d run away. The sound of the chain saw died, and silence stretched around us.

“Little far out for a delivery, aren’t you, reaper?”

“I’m not here for a delivery.” His voice dropped, and the danger that rumbled behind it made my hair stand on end.

The demon laughed. “Then what are you here for? A show? Perhaps a little pain?”

I scrambled forward on my knees, as far as Scout would let me go, and peeked through a crack in the barrels. Easton stepped forward, his face a mask of cold cruelty. Something inside my chest twisted painfully at the sight of it. He looked…like a stranger. He looked like one of them. I forced myself to keep watching, ignoring the sick feeling brewing in my gut.

“At the moment?” He cocked his head to the side, inspecting the shadow of a demon. “Your head will do.”

He didn’t give the demon time to react. There was a blur of movement and Easton’s blade sliced through his neck. A surprised look registered on the demon’s face a second before his head fell off and he crumpled to the ground in a heap. I slapped my hand over my mouth to hold back a horrified scream.

“Great,” Scout muttered, climbing to his feet. “Your boyfriend’s gone off the deep end.”

I followed him around the barrels to where Easton stood staring down at the demon’s head. His knuckles were white around the hilt of his blade, and he was breathing hard. As I touched his arm, he seemed to come out of a trance.

“What the hell was that?” Scout hissed.

“She was going to feel that.” He pointed to the chain saw lying on the ground. “You expect me to sit back and let it happen?”

“I expect you to keep a low profile,” Scout said. “Get the kid and get out. Quick and quiet. That was the plan.”

A muscle in Easton’s jaw ticked. “It still is.”

“That”—Scout pointed to the beheaded demon—“is not quick and quiet. That is you letting this thing with the angel get in the way of a job.”

Easton shoved his scythe back into its holster, ignoring Scout. He turned, grabbing me by the arm and dragging me behind the row of barrels, out from under the eyes of Scout and the souls hanging all around us.

“What are you—”

He kissed me. He kissed me with a kind of desperation that took my breath away. I whimpered and melted against him, into him. The heady butterfly feeling consuming me was almost too much on the heels of all that fear. He pulled away to allow me the breath my lungs demanded and took my face in his hands. Pressing his forehead against mine, a long breath shuddered out of him.

“You have to stop running away from me,” he said, voice tight. “If something happened to you…”

“You needed someone to distract them,” I said. “They were hurting you. They were going to…”

Tears stung my eyes at the mere thought of the things they would have done to him. If I could spare him that, I would have taken on all the pain in Hell. Easton had already endured so much already. He didn’t deserve any more. If I’d known the truth about this place, this reaper, I would never have asked him to come here. I would