My stomach bottomed out, and my heart beat faster. This female knew what I was to Kaden, though she didn’t seem to know that I was half-witch. One small mercy.
“Underwhelming,” I repeated, nostrils flaring with my rage as I looked her over. “Funny. You stole the word right out of my mouth.”
And then I lunged.
My blade arced toward the demon’s chest with superhuman speed, but she was faster.
Her hand shot out and captured my arm just as I flung out my left. I managed to graze the bitch’s jaw, but she twisted my knife arm around with such strength and precision that my wrist screamed in protest.
I sucked in a gasp as my dagger slipped from my grip, clattering to the floor.
Adriel lunged, but at that moment, three more demons appeared in the cell.
These creatures bore little resemblance to the cruel, beautiful female who held my arm in a death grip. These demons were the stuff of nightmares, with angry-lookingred skin, crowns of horns protruding from their skulls, and long, whip-like tails.
Sorsha and Adriel responded in unison, their blades slashing toward the beasts. Sorsha’s lodged in the side of one demon’s neck, her blade too dull to decapitate the beast.
The princess growled as she wrenched her sword free, thick ropes of blood spurting from the wound. The demon let out a furious shriek as he attacked, and the princess’s screams were enough to drown out the thunder of my racing heart.
Adriel’s swords cut through the air, the picture of lethal grace. There was a crunch followed by an ear-splitting screech, and he flung the demon off of Sorsha.
My relief was short-lived, however, as the female drove me back. I hit the rock wall of the chamber with enough force to rattle my teeth, but I reflexively threw out a knee, colliding with her pubic bone.
Fresh strength surged into me at the sound of the demon’s gurgle, but then she lashed out with her claws, and I shrieked as the silver tips sliced across my cheek.
I sank a punch into her gut, throwing her off me before diving to the floor to reach my dagger.
In half a heartbeat, she was on me — flipping me effortlessly onto my back and pinning my arms with her knees. A sickly sweet scent clogged my airways — something artificial layered atop the stink of sulfur.
A sultry smile curved her lips as she bent to whisper in my ear, “You cannot save him, you know. He is the Dark Prince. He belongs to Semphrys. Not some half-huntresswhore.”
“Kaden doesn’t need saving,” I gritted, bringing my knee up as hard as I could and connecting with her spine.
The female’s grip didn’t loosen, but I could practically taste her rage as she pressed the tips of her claws to my cheek. She dug in, and I felt the slick warmth of my blood running down the side of my face.
“You truly believe he cares for you, don’t you?” she whispered, her eyes narrowing in feigned pity. “Then again, perhaps he does. Males think only with their cocks.”
Reaching down, she wrenched both my arms above my head, pinning my wrists in place with one monstrously strong hand. I let out a gurgle of pain and rage, glaring up into those savage black eyes.
“I wonder if he would be so devoted if that pretty face of yours wasn’t so pretty?”
Light glinted off the bloody tips of her nails as she brought them to my other cheek. My skin burned as she carved three identical lines into my flesh, but I pressed my lips together and swallowed my cry of pain.
Hot blood coated my skin, and my vision narrowed to a point.
A fiendish grin split her face, but I was no longer focused on her. I could feel my power humming just beneath my skin, rising with the tide of my rage. It raised the hairs along my arms, begging for release.
“We shall see if the demon prince can stand to bed you once I’m through with you.”
And then she slashed, those razor-sharp talons cutting across my brow and nose with a hot sizzle of agony. I winced, and the angular shape of a rune danced in my vision — a dozen long, jagged triangles framed in a circle.
Pain.
I projected it outward, willing her to feel what I was feeling.
I didn’t just want to end the bitch; I wanted her to suffer for whatever she’d done to my mate. I wanted to peel the flesh from her bones and bask in the sound of her screams.
And suddenly, shewasscreaming. The noise was so jarring, the pain in my face so raw, that it took me a moment to realize the screams were coming from her.
