Deliver Me from Chaos Read online

  Deliver Me from Chaos

  ISBN: 978-0-9896040-4-8

  Copyright © 2018 by Tes Hilaire

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from the author, Tes Hilaire.

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Excerpt of Blindsided copyright 2015 by Tes Hilaire

  Young Adult Novels by Tes Hilaire

  The Hunger Chronicles:

  Life Bites

  Dead Chic Walking (Coming soon)

  Pandora Trilogy:

  Fifteen Forever

  Adult Novels by Tes Hilaire

  Contemporary Romance:

  Lady of the Lake (Coming soon)

  A Viadal Soldier Novel:

  Blindsided

  The Paladin Warrior Novels:

  Deliver Me from Darkness

  Deliver Me from Temptation

  Deliver Me a Paladin for Christmas (A Paladin Warrior Short)

  Prince of Shadows

  For my mom who is always willing to be one of my first beta readers, even when what I write makes her blush.

  Table of Contents

  Copyright Information

  Other Works

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Epilogue

  Excerpt Blindsided

  About the Author

  Back Cover Blurb Deliver Me from Chaos

  Chapter One

  What the hell just happened? Mike dug his nails into the pavement, air rasping as he sucked the precious gas deep into lungs that felt more like day-old road kill than working organs. Blackness swirled around the edges of his vision. He lifted a shaking hand to rub the last of the fuzziness from his eyes, but stopped as the tacky slickness coating his skin registered. Bloody hands, bloody clothes, bloody…

  He swallowed, flashes of memories slamming into him and making him want to vomit up the choking mix of copper and ash that coated his throat. Though given the foul taste in his mouth, perhaps he’d already tried to jettison the noxious substance.

  “Oh shit. Oh Christ.”

  He grabbed his head, fingers digging into his scalp as if he could somehow squeeze the horrific images of slaughter away, even as he searched for an explanation behind the uncompromising truth of the memories. He’d been following a lead. Word had come of a new drug on the street. He’d tracked the source down, pretending interest. They said to deal he needed to be a true convert and came after him with that black vial of shit. He’d known beyond a shadow of a doubt that he could not let that filth touch him. Though maybe he’d overreacted just a little.

  Six men, all with guns. And he was the only one left breathing. There was no way he could have taken them all on himself, yet he knew without a doubt that he had. Which meant…

  It’s happened again.

  His gut clenched, forcing some more of the vile contents up into the back of his throat. Acid, copper, and a mix of something so horrifying that he couldn’t even think about it. He couldn’t stop it and wretched and wretched, his body heaving with a desperate need to purge. He wretched until there could be nothing left. And all the while, all he could think was, Fuck, what have I done?

  “By Lucifer…” a soft voice whispered, barely audible over his pounding heart.

  His head snapped up, his gaze latching on the source of that light, airy voice. Small and compact, her curves tucked tight in a red corset, skintight jeans, and fuck-me boots, the woman stood at the entrance of the alley, a slight breeze blowing her blond curls across her face. Full lips parted as her wide eyes took in the circle of destruction radiating out from where he crouched.

  Aw, shit. He looked around at the strewn body parts, the pools of oily blood coagulating in the dips of pavement, looked back at her.

  Witness…

  He lunged.

  ***

  Katrina didn’t miss the tensing of the man’s muscles before he lunged. Still the shock from the bloodbath she’d stumbled upon held her, costing her precious moments. He was halfway across the swath of destruction between them before she cursed, and backpedaled out of the mouth of the alley.

  The moment she hit the street she spun, her boots catching on a stray bottle and almost sending her down. Scrambling to restore her balance she bolted for the nearest intersection, hoping to find some other soul out in this part of town at this time of night. Not that there were many about. And not that she had much hope that whomever she found would be willing to help her. But maybe it would give the Paladin pause.

  Crap. A Paladin. She hadn’t ever actually seen one of the angelic warriors, but she’d been trained to recognize them. And that man was definitely one. Worse, he was one of the beast-ridden. Everyone said their line had died out, but obviously everyone was also wrong. And because she had absolutely no luck lately, it would be just her luck she’d find evidence to refute that bit of misinformation tonight.

  Normally she thought a Paladin might have left her alone, a single half-succubus being the least of his worries in a city being overrun by hell’s creatures, but given what she’d stumbled upon? He’d be just as likely to assume she was associated with the lost souls he’d so expertly dispatched as not.

  And he’d be wrong, Kat?

  She pushed harder, sure she could feel the heat of his breath as she ran down the street. She didn’t look back as she blasted into the intersection, cutting the corner as she made the turn onto the wider avenue. And found the street devoid of any other soul to buy her a reprieve from the Paladin’s blade.

  Unable to resist knowing how close death was to her heels, she twisted, looking over her shoulder only…he wasn’t there.

  “What the heck?” she slowed, easing into the shadows beneath the tattered awning of a boarded up pawnshop. She waited what seemed like an eternity, but was probably only a couple minutes, and still he didn’t round the corner. Had she really lost him? Maybe he was too spent after calling forward the beast to follow? Or, more likely, he really had decided she wasn’t worth the effort.

  “Gift horses, Kat, let’s not look too closely.”

  Edgy, and still unable to shake the feeling of being hunted, she stared down the empty street. Her apartment was only three blocks over, but she didn’t dare retreat to its promise of safety yet. Not until she was sure he wasn’t tracking her. Nor could she stay here. With nothing left to do she stepped out of the shadows, briskly walking down the sidewalk.

  For over a half-hour she walked, zigzagging through the streets, switching back and forth before slowly making her way back. Eventually she decided that even her paranoia was satisfied and worked her way towards her a
partment.

  The grungy building was tucked tightly between two others, their hollow-eyed windows and crumbling brick facades testament to the harsh life they led. They’d passed from barely livable to hazards decades before and even had the faded condemned signs to prove it. Not that those signs were easily distinguishable against all the graffiti spray-painted onto the bottom couple stories.

  The apartment building she lived in hadn’t escaped the questionable artistic abilities of the locals either, though it had dodged the more official exterior decoration of the condemned signs.

  Kat wasn’t sure this was because her building boasted a better health & safety rating, or whether the building manager just happened to know the right hands to grease, but whatever the case, the small studio apartment she rented held all the qualities she required. Namely that it was cheap, out of the elements, and had a distinct lack of nosey neighbors. No one here cared who you were or what you did as long as the favor of anonymity was returned.

  With a last glance over her shoulder, she strode across the street to the apartment door. No codes or fancy security here. The door creaked open, blasting her with the stale scent of hopelessness, mold, piss, and despair. Breathing shallowly through her teeth, she made her way up the groaning stairs to the third floor.

  It wasn’t until she was in her apartment, the door firmly closed, chained, and bolted behind her that she dared take a deep breath. The action was the catalyst toward opening the floodgates, the stress of the last forty-eight hours slamming into her all at once and compromising her limbs. Paint chips flaked, catching in her hair as she used the door behind her to control her fall to something akin to a slow slide to the floor.

  She lifted her shaking hands, burying her face in them as she counted backwards from twenty down. Get it together, Kat. You can’t afford the time to break down.

  Five years ago she’d fled Ganelon’s little corner in the upper reaches of hell and spent every waking and often non-waking moment since trying to stay out…until now. Now she had to find a way back in. The one entrance she knew of was well warded, and the only way in undetected would be to shadow another tainted soul past the wards when they checked in to report. Only there was no way any of those scum she’d been tracking tonight were going to be able to report anything. Not to Ganelon, not to one of his merker, not to anyone.

  There had to be another way in.

  Why don’t you just go back there and let that Paladin take care of you? That will get you back in Hell.

  Laughter bubbled up in her throat, echoing eerily in her apartment. Yeah, that would solve all her problems. Lucifer was so merciful to those who were returned to him that way. Not to mention his lordship would no doubt turn her right over into Ganelon’s capable hands.

  She shuddered, the hysterical laughter snuffed with the thought of what Ganelon would do when he got his hands on her. He did not take kindly to those who reneged on their bargains, which made her goal of sneaking back into the hellhole Ganelon called home highly inadvisable. She would though. She had no choice.

  “Oh Mia, Mia, Mia.” She closed her eyes, swallowing. “Hold on, baby. I’m coming for you.”

  “Coming for who?”

  She lifted her head, the scream in her throat cut short by the hand that clamped down over her mouth.

  Chapter Two

  Kat stared into the eyes of the blood-covered madman kneeling before her, her heart pounding against the palm that had shifted from her mouth to grip her throat.

  Stupid, stupid, stupid. It was no question as to how he’d gotten in: the cracked window by the fire escape that was so sticky it couldn’t be shut the full way. The real question was what he would do with her now.

  Even with her lovely succubus genetics, she couldn’t make sense of his rolling emotions. Hot anger, disgust, frustration, and something more. Something that made her gut cramp and her instincts scream in alarm. She searched his face for more clues. Brown eyes glared at her over hard-planed cheekbones. His mouth, which she suspected was rather full and wide for a man, had pulled into a grim line and was now just a slash of pale amongst the dusting of dark stubble on his face. He would be a handsome devil if not for the slightly crooked nose and the deranged killer vibe he was emitting.

  At least his eyes aren’t glowing anymore.

  “Well?” he prompted, one dark eyebrow arching.

  She swallowed, noting that though his hand was firm on her throat, he wasn’t crushing her windpipe. The pressure just enough to let her know he meant business, but still allowing her to speak—assuming she could force the words past the hysterical scream that seemed to be lodged in the base of her throat.

  “How, uh…how did you find me?” she managed.

  He shrugged. “You’re easier to follow than you think.”

  “I didn’t even hear you get in.” And she should have. Whenever she tried to pry up the window in its warped casing it squealed like an affronted pig.

  “I’m very good.” He gave her a feral smile, the action pulling at the dried blood coating his cheekbones and cracking it with fine lines. She shuddered, remembering the torn bodies in the alley and the inhuman roar that had emitted from between those lips as he’d howled his triumph over his kill.

  Don’t show weakness, Kat. Nope, weakness wouldn’t ease the legendary beast that was said to ride this man’s soul, but there were other things that might appeal. Things she’d sworn to never use again except in the direst of circumstances.

  And this doesn’t count?

  No it didn’t. Not yet.

  She lifted her brow, staring him full in the face. “And conceited, I see.” She sniffed in mock disdain. “Should I be flattered you worked so hard to track me down? Seems like an awful lot of effort to get a girl’s number. Not that I have one to give you. No phone.”

  His eyes narrowed, dark brows shadowing the piercing gaze. “Uh-huh. No phone. Which means you have no way to call the cops. And if they did show up asking questions, you’d probably say you didn’t see a thing, either, right?”

  She sucked in a breath. Was that what he wanted? To ensure her silence? Given the unnatural darkness of the souls he’d just sent off to hell, it seemed like it should be the least of his worries. Though she supposed that drawing the attention of human law enforcement could be a real wrench in the Paladin’s task of tracking down the source of what had corrupted the dead men’s souls. Why he would think that she would care enough to report him to the cops was beyond her, though the fact he hadn’t killed her outright boded well and if she could convince him she wasn’t a threat…

  She shrugged, hoping the offhand movement would hide her rising optimism. “Can’t say I saw something I didn’t see.”

  “And you didn’t see anything in that alley?” he asked, his voice hoarse as if he’d scratched it up by swallowing a box of nails. Or a few dozen crushed bones.

  She fluttered her eyes in her best bubble-headed blonde blink. “What alley? I’ve been here all night.”

  “Right,” he drawled. He lifted his hand and eased back on his heels. She didn’t dare move, knowing he could have that hand back on her throat in a split second.

  “Well?” she asked when he continued to stare at her, unmoving.

  “Well what?”

  “What are you waiting for? Hopefully not an offer for coffee because I don’t have that either.”

  His mouth quirked up, exposing a dimple she hadn’t noticed before. It softened his face, easing the harsh lines from deranged killer to lady-killer. Too bad for him she was completely immune to that sort of thing.

  “No coffee, no phone number, you don’t have much to offer a man, do you?”

  She stiffened, cursing herself for overplaying her role. “I’ve already offered my silence.”

  “Ah, and here I thought you hadn’t seen anything. Can’t offer silence for something you didn’t see, remember?”

  “It amounts to the same thing.”

  “Does it?” He leaned closer, his hands folded
in a seemingly relaxed pose across his bent knees as he stared searchingly into her face. “What did you see, beauty?”

  She sucked in a breath, her hands fisting at her sides. This was quickly becoming a lose-lose situation. He wasn’t going to take her offer of silence. Which meant his only reason for keeping her alive was to wring whatever information he could from her before putting her down…or get his jollies before he tore her limb to limb. And considering she didn’t have any information beyond the obvious…

  She had to try to get out of this. Damn if she didn’t have to try.

  She shifted forward, putting on her best hooded-eyed look as she darted her tongue over her lips. “What, exactly, do you want me to have seen? You won’t take nothing, so how about a man defending himself against six armed killers? Or would you rather I saw a beast for my beauty? I could be your beauty, if you like. Tame your beast.”

  She trailed her hand up his arm, shuddering at the lick of heat that sparked under her fingertips as she traced the curve of his bicep. A low rumble emitted from his throat, his eyes sparking as his beast warred with the Paladin, eager and willing to take the offering that it doubtlessly saw as its due reward after its earlier battle. So strong, so much power, his Paladin blood strengthened further from his dual heritage.

  Hellfire, what am I doing? This was exactly the kind of bargain that had gotten her in the mess she was in now. She’d do it though. Desperation was a powerful motivator and right now she’d do anything to get away from him. To live another day. And find Mia.

  He grabbed her hand, using it to yank her against him. “Beast? What’s this of a beast?”