The Rose Witch - Chandelle LaVaun Page 0,66

then widened. Bright lights flashed and sparkled. A road was not far from us and it was bumper to bumper full of cars. And then I saw the Eiffel Tower…but no, that wasn’t right. It was too small, and surrounded by other buildings. We were definitely not in Paris.

I let my gaze slide more until I spotted the neon sign that read Caesars Palace. And then it hit me. “Wait, is this Las Vegas?”

“Sin city itself.”

“Why lead us all the way to America—” I screamed as sharp pain slammed into my chest.

The pain was so piercing that my vision wobbled. It shot down my legs and my body just gave out. I crashed to my knees, but Malachi caught me before I hit the pavement. I cried out and gripped my chest. Blue light shined out from me like the bat signal. Electric shocks ripped down my spine, making my limbs tremble and flail. My back arched, my hair falling over my head to hang down to the pavement.

DEMONS. That was what this pain meant.

Malachi cursed and gently laid me on the ground. My arms and legs curled into fetal position. Sounds of the world around us were drowned out by a sharp high-pitched ringing. I looked up into my soulmate’s face as I lay beneath him, between his legs. The blue crescent moon of Lilith’s locket reflected on his black shirt.

A dark object jumped out of nowhere. At the last second I saw glowing red eyes and three inch-long fangs. DEMON. I tried to scream to warn him since his eyes were locked on me. But Malachi just threw his hand out and caught the demon by the face. It thrashed around to try and break free. Black smoke billowed out of Malachi’s palm and the demon dropped dead. It vanished into dust before it ever hit the ground beside me.

I tried to get up. We had to move, to get to safety.

“Stay,” he rumbled. His black wings blacked out the buildings behind him. A loud, fierce growl burst out of him that made the ground tremble under me. His eyes shined brighter than the sun and I had to look away. “Come and get her.”

The air pulsed out of him like a giant shock wave.

Half a dozen demons charged for us on each side. I gasped and tried to get up but my body was locked down. The pain seared sharper, hotter, like I was being burned at the stake. I couldn’t even scream. My throat was too raw. There was no oxygen in my lungs. Tunnel vision was creeping in.

The demons surrounded us and were moving closer with every breath. They were only a matter of feet away. This was it, we were going to lose. I was going to die right here on the pavement. But then Malachi threw his hands out and black smoke poured out of him like a fireman’s hose. It hit each and every demon at the same time. They shrieked and hissed and exploded into dust.

The pain vanished. My body unlocked. I sucked in as much air as I could. Cold air coiled around my body and my face was buried in something warm. I coughed and snuggled into it, shivering as my muscles spasmed and trembled. I sniffed and the scent of smoke from a bonfire seeped into my lungs.

Malachi.

And then my face was cupped in his hands and those bright gold eyes were shining down on me. “Are you okay now?”

I licked my lips. “I forgot you could do that death smoke thing.”

He snorted. “Okay, but are you all right now? Are you still in pain?”

“Um…” I did a quick mental scan of my body. “The pain is gone.”

He sighed and pulled me back into his chest, then wrapped his arms around me tight. “We have to get that damn thing off of you,” he growled in my ear.

I nodded. I took five deep breaths and then stepped out of his embrace. “That’s two roses. Let’s go for three.”

“I figure it won’t be far from here.”

Here. In Las Vegas. I’d always wanted to come here but definitely under different circumstances. I spun in a slow circle, trying to take everything in. It wasn’t until I turned nearly all the way around that I saw their version of the colosseum, which looked a lot like the pictures I’d seen of the real one. “So before you mentioned that arcana home country, Eden, was in Italy for a while…where?”

“Eden’s been in