Darkness Eternal (Guardians of Eternity #7.5)(28)

Kata screamed, stumbling backward. Uriel didn’t blame her. He wanted to do a little screaming of his own.

Even by demon standards the thing was gruesome.

Shaped like a worm, it rose up to nearly eight feet in height. He couldn’t see any eyes, but its mouth gaped open to reveal several rows of razor sharp teeth. There were large barbs on top of its head and its skin was a pasty white and covered with a thick slime that dripped onto the stone with an audible hiss. Acid.

Like the nasty thing needed added ammunition.

Gripping his sword in both hands, he stepped between the beast and Kata.

“I’ll keep it distracted. Follow the other path . . .”

“No,” she sharply cut off his words.

He growled in frustration. “If you don’t go now we’ll be fighting Marika along with this . . .” He had no idea what the thing was. “Oversized worm.”

She grabbed his arm. “I’m not leaving you again.”

“Dammit, Kata.”

“Look, you may not want me as a mate, but as far as I’m concerned you’re stuck with me.” The words rang through the air with the clarity of a bell. “Forever.”

Uriel yanked his head around, unnerved by the serene expression on her beautiful face. As if she hadn’t just proclaimed herself as his mate.

Meeting her steady gaze, his heart squeezed with a painful need he could no longer deny.

Oh . . . Christ.

What did it matter how many times he had warned himself it was too dangerous to have Kata as his mate? That he had to keep her at a distance?

The simple truth was that he was irrevocably bound to this woman whether they ever completed the mating ceremony or not.

“You’re mine,” he softly declared.

“Yes.”

His hand lifted to cup her cheek. “Which is why I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to you.”

“Then don’t send me away,” she said, her pleading gaze a weapon of mass destruction on his heart. “Who will protect me if you’re not beside me?”

“Kata . . .” he groaned.

Sensing that victory was in her grasp, Kata turned her head to press her lips to the center of his palm.

“We’ve both been alone too long. Together we can face anything.”

He was whipped, he wryly acknowledged.

A pleading glance, a soft word and he was a lost cause. But, he didn’t care.

If a miracle occurred and they managed to get out of the underworld, he would happily devote himself to Kata’s pleasure.

It was surely the reason he was created?

“I can’t say no to you, even when I know I should,” he admitted.

She flashed a smile. “That’s promising.”

“Only if we get out of here alive.”

“Good point.”

They turned to the worm-like creature who continued to snake its way out of the rock. Uriel grimaced. No doubt the moment it was free all hell was going to break loose, but how did he kill the damned thing?

In the end, the monster took the decision out of his hands.

With a high-pitched cry, the worm swooped downward, aiming his massive teeth directly at Uriel’s head. Uriel held his ground, stabbing the sword upward to pierce the tender skin of the worm’s mouth.

The thing screamed and jerked backward, nearly snatching the sword out of Uriel’s grip. At the same time a shower of acid sprayed over his skin, burning deep into his flesh.

Bastard.

Gritting his teeth against the pain, Uriel shifted to make certain he stood between the creature and Kata, swinging his sword before the beast could repeat his attack.

The blade slid through glutinous hide with sickening ease. Like a knife through pudding. Worse, a disgusting flood of acid belched from the wound, forcing Uriel to back away.

Dammit. He needed to be rid of the thing before Marika could catch up with them.

He was busy debating whether he could lure the creature toward the nearby river of fire when Kata moved to stand at his side, her brow furrowed with concentration and her arm lifted to point the dagger at the worm’s head.

Uriel swore. Did she think that tiny dagger was going to cause any damage?

About to tug her back behind him, Uriel was halted as she muttered a harsh word and her curse blasted through the air, hitting the worm with shocking force.

There was a spine chilling cry from the worm, then it suddenly froze, as if it had been incased in ice.

“You might want to step back,” Kata warned, easing away from the towering beast.

Uriel was swift to obey her warning.

He didn’t understand magic, but he was smart enough to stay out of its path.

For long minutes nothing happened. Shifting uneasily, he was beginning to assume that the show was over when there was an odd sound of a crack echoing through the air. Was the surrounding rock being shattered?

But it wasn’t the rock.

No. Even as Uriel took another step backward the towering worm began to crumble, the once spongy flesh now as brittle as chalk.

Flakes of the creature floated through the air as the heavy body crashed onto the path, causing a mini earthquake. Uriel’s attention, however, had shifted to Kata who was clearly on the brink of collapse.

Angling his sword so the blade was pointed backward, Uriel scooped her into his arms and with one mighty shove was leaping over the decaying body of the worm.