Her Black Wings (The Dark Amulet Series Book 1) Read Free Page B

goat’s head rolled. Eyes still saucer-wide stared out from the skull as it spun like a top across the floor. The body dropped and the shocked nerves continued flailing the headless slave around for a few seconds.
    Annoyed with everything, Aba finished re-clothing Amalya with his mind. The lesser demon’s carcass he burned. Stalking off, he sealed the room.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER FIVE
     
     
    Elliott
     
    Bourbon. Elliott needed lots of it. The fifth was almost gone. He’d given up trying to pour the amber liquid into a lowball. Instead, he put the mouth up to his lips and took a swig, drinking directly from the bottle.
    “Ahhh, so smooth,” he said then leaned his head back on the lumpy couch he was lounging on, again. His gossamer wings squashed beneath him, their color now the shade of dingy sweat socks, not vibrant white. And their ethereal glow was dimmed to the point of non-existence. Even though he’d not bathed in a week and a half, his long, stark white hair was still shiny. Dark eyebrows, the color matching his low stubble, framed gleaming onyx eyes.
    “What in my name are you doing?”
    “Fuck!” Elliott spat clutching his chest.
    “I have a task for you,” Deus said, ignoring the curse. He was a patient deity.
    “What if I don’t want one?” Elliott took another drink and swished the alcohol around his mouth before swallowing.
    “Do you really think you have an option?”
    The bottle flew from Elliott’s hand. “ Heeey! ”
    Deus sighed heavily, glanced down at the bottle, and tossed it into the air. The angel waited with his eyes closed for a crash that never came. He popped one eye open. The divine being paced.
    “I’ve grown tired of your self-pity. You can’t save all of them. What have I always told you?”
    Elliott grumbled something incoherently only someone with acute senses could hear.
    “I don’t think so. Choose your words wisely, angel.”
    “You came here with a task. So spit it out.”
    Deus stopped in front of a crucifix hung on the cheap paneled wall above Elliott. His eyes widened at the wood and plastic dollar store depiction. The longer he stared, the more his brow furrowed.
    The angel smirked. The cross had been there when he’d moved in and he hadn’t bothered to remove the morbid atrocity. The crown of thorns and blood must be frightening to children. “Creator, how may I be of ser—?”
    “Go to Hell.” Deus averted his eyes from the obscene cross.
    “ What ?” Elliott recoiled. Yeah…he was totally sober now.
    “There’s a woman there who should not be. Abaddon seized her. She deserves redemption. I want you to find her. Set her free.”
    “I don’t understand why if she’s not supposed to be there then—”
    “Silence!” The walls rattled. “Please,” Deus softened. “Aba will have her shackled by now.”
    Elliott sympathized with the girl, but Netherworld? He blew out a breath. How in the world was he going to get in there? There was only one way as far as he knew. And his wings made him an easy mark for the legions of lesser demons. He shivered.
    “Why me? I’m a drunk.”
    “Exactly. Find her, find yourself.”
    “What? What does that even mean?”
    “Elliott the Redeemer, Angel of Redemption, I hereby command you to Netherworld!”
    A bright beam shot out from the Almighty’s raised palm and penetrated Elliott’s chest over his heart. His back arched off the sofa. Veins on his neck and arms popped as he strained. Stabbing pain sliced down the center of his body. Sweat glistened on his brow. The angel’s heart stopped.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER SIX
     
     
    Abaddon
     
    Aba needed something to cut with. Quick. The reality of what he was about to do didn’t make a whole lot of sense. After stashing Amalya away, he went on a mission to… pretty himself.
    The beastly appearance of him morphed into a human looking man inside his realm, except for the two horns protruding out from his skull. On Earth, he