“Kai,” I said, lifting my hands to calm him. “I think we need to?—”
“Try! Try! Try!” Kai shouted, his voice changing. It was layered, ancient almost. I snapped my head around, noticing the veins of shadow overcome the sides of his face, the way his eyes darkened to something ancient and threatening. “Do it. Hector. If not for us, do it for Romy and Arwyn.”
The problem was, I couldn’t becausehehad that power now. And, from the looks of it, Kai was unknowingly using it.
“I think you should calm down, mate. Like ASAP.”
What had I said earlier about telling an angry person to calm down? I should’ve heeded that warning, because a pool of ink spread out across the ground between us, conjured by the shard of Bahmet inside of Kai. And out from it came the sounds of strange, dangerous beasts.
A feral hiss sliced the skin from my bones, and the growl of something with sharp teeth and the taste for flesh.
I thought this was maybe the punishment given for using magic, but like Kai said, what Bahmet was stood for the anti-Christ of magic.
Kai relaxed as he looked down into the puddle of shadowy ink. “Thank you,” he hushed, still not fully understanding this was his doing. “Hector…”
“You’re welcome?” I said. Kai thought I was doing this, when he was the one to blame. He was the one whose veins swam with dark magic instead of fresh blood.
Out from the pool of shadow lurked two small beasts.
A snake, and a cat. One was recognisable, whereas the other was something I’d not had the pleasure of meeting before.
“What the fuck are those…” Kai gasped. “What have you done?”
Well, actually I haven’t done anything. You did.
“Demons,” I answered, just as a sharp voice slithered into my skull.
“I would say I am happy to see you, little witch,”Emon said, obsidian-scaled body slithering across the grass towards me.“But, as I can sense, you have done something very naughty. Haven’t you?”
“Now isn’t the time for a berating, Emon,”I replied, noticing the black-furred kitten that slunk towards Kai who had happily scooped it up into his arms.“But it’s good to see you too.”
Emon shot Kai a look of pure disgust.“Does the witchling know?”
“No, and I want to keep it that way.”
Emon slithered up my leg, scales gripping over my clothes until the demon came to rest around my wrist like a bracelet.“Well, the witch may not, but Bahmet will know now. That is why I brought backup with me, just in case it is required.”
Bahmet will know now. Who knew it took only four words, hissed by a demonic snake, to make me want to vomit.
“You think we’ll need it?”I eyed the cat, one brow raised as Kai nuzzled his face into its fur like a child receiving a pet they’d always asked for on Christmas day.
“Ithinkwe will soon find out.”
The universe answered my deepest fear with the shout of two voices. Witch and demon looked up to see the flash of bodies running in our direction. At first I thought it was Romy.
Then they got closer and I saw the truth.
I caught eyes with Kai. “Ready to let out all of that pent-up tension?” I asked, preparing my body into a fighting stance.
Kai nodded, teeth gritted as he laid his cat gently onto the ground. “I can’t tell you just how excited I am.”
Two Hunters ran towards us, something sharp and glinting held in their hands, a bloody cry of battle expelled from their lungs the closer they got. And I knew, deep down, that there would be two more dead bodies in a matter of minutes.
Silently, I put my bet on whose exactly, as I started running towards them in greeting, Kai chasing quickly at my heel.
27
ARWYN
