I blinked hard against the familiar sting of tears. Pressing my lips together, I stared at him, at the small army of hellhounds. There were a dozen now waiting, each one poised to attack at any moment. The smell of sulphur and blood grew heavier in the air.
By staying quiet, I was confirming everything he said. Maybe I was showing all these people exactly what kind of person I really was. Weak, reliant on others. I’d gotten so used to having my power after fearing it for so long, that now, I couldn’t exist without it.
The demon laughed again, startling me. It was a cruel, sadistic laugh. “What makes you think you’re any better than Dante? You allow these weakened creatures to stand for you, while you hide yourself away. Pathetic.”
I gritted my teeth, heart racing. “You’re right,” I said, voice breaking. “But I’m nothing like Dante. I didn’t weaken these creatures, he did. I didn’t trap them in cages,hedid. I didn’t force literal children to shift, didn’t torture them when they couldn’t.He did.”
I stepped out from behind Hawk, each pounding beat of my heart guiding me through our group to the front where Lazarus and Onyx stood, both giving me looks as if to tell me to go back.
From behind, I heard Hawk and Xerxes try and push their way through to me, but Greer’s mates held them back. Stopped them from proving the demon right.
“I might be weaker now,” I said, lifting my chin and meeting his dead stare. “I might not have my power, but you’re wrong about me letting others die for me.”
“Am I?” He cocked his head, lips curled in a dark smirk. “The death toll up there is rising.”
“But so are the number of escapes,” Sunniva said, her voice cutting, dark. “They found a way out. And once they’re out, don’t you realise how easily this place will be found?”
I didn’t take my eyes off him as his expressiondarkened before settling into one of anger. “There have been escapes before,” he replied, voice low. “But they never found their way back here. This won’t last. They’re easy pickings up there, just like they are down here.”
The demon grinned. “Did you know your mate was amongst the original escapees?” he asked, taking a threatening step towards me. “The wolf. Here, he was known by another name, after his whore of a mother birthed him.”
It felt like ice running down my spine as I stepped back.
He matched my step, the hounds moving in sync behind him. “He was my favourite to break.”
I stared at him as my stomach churned. “The scars…that was you.”
“Cyrus, the traitor, helped.” The demon shrugged as if it were such an easy, throwaway thing. But my mind locked on the fact that my mate’s mentor, the closest thing he had to a father, had been instrumental in hurting him. Hadwhipped himas a child, put those scars on his back.
Worst of all, Elias had been born down here, just like the baby in my arms.
My throat tightened with emotion as I took another step back, horror filling me. But with that horror came the familiar burn of rage. A fiery sensation that normally called for me to take control over my magic.
I didn’t expect to feel the small flicker of something deep in my chest that felt too right to ignore.
“You won’t survive this,” the demon sneered, taking one last step towards me. Two of the hounds moved to stand in front of him almost protectively. “Once the hounds are done with you, you’ll be wishing for death. You and those little bastards you’re carrying. I wouldn’t have minded having a chance at the little cunt River’s fathered. It would have been poetic. His father, him, and then his spawn.”
I couldn’t stop my lips from pulling back in a snarl as I snapped, “You won’t ever touch my child. Not now, not ever. And you will never touch my mates again.”
The demon laughed, but I felt that familiar tug in my chesttowards power. It was there, that familiar beckoning of magic. This time, though, it was almost painful.
Cato and Sunniva moved to stand either side of Onyx and Lazarus; the former handed his gun over to the white-haired demon who’d always unsettled me, especially after the way he’d spoken to my mates about Orion, while the latter raised her weapon, though rather than aiming it at the pain demon, she had it on the hounds.
There were too many for us to take down. Of course, I’d watched Adrian, Rowan, and Elias take three on when they’d come after me. But the demon had been right about how weak we were. Greer’s mates were powerful, but they’d spent more time than me in a cage. And now that Greer was dead, I wasn’t sure what their power levels were at.
Yet despite that, there was a handoff of children. Those too weak to fight now held two babies and a leash. I was pushed back, away from the front line. Hawk gave me his toddler, eyes dark as he spared me a look.
Do not try and get in the middle of this fight,he said.Stay back.
I gritted my teeth but gave him a nod, holding the toddler on one hip, the baby still against my chest.
Xerxes appeared beside me, and I watched as he lowered Thor to the ground. The bear shifter was still out cold, though his lashes fluttered with sleep, and his chest rose with each breath he took.
The Primal then cupped my cheek, his large hand covering almost half of my face. “Stay.”
“I will,” I whispered, moving to stand protectively in front of Thor as Theon, Otto, and Leith moved to stand with me. Ya’Dahir, Magnus, Amais, Lazarus, Onyx, and Hugo created almost a barrier around us and the children, while Hawk, Xerxes, Cato, and Sunniva took the lead.
A sinking feeling hit me hard as I stared through the barrier at the hellhounds. Only one thought raced through my head.This is going to be a blood bath.
