Dear girl, what else am I to do with you two?
Maybe I should have given Ryder the dagger.
The jelmadag lunged—a flash of midnight shadow arcing through the air.
Cheers broke the heady silence. The noise swirled around me, catching my attention so I didn’t hear or see Ryder coming. Almost a second too late, he grabbed my wrist and flung us out of the way.
“Focus, Riv. I’m not the enemy.” Ryder snapped his fingers and pointed at the jelmadag. “That is.”
Dark paws slammed into the ground, tiny licks of blue-tinted flames searing the dirt. The air around the beast was hot, warped, wavering like a mirage.
I’ve met plenty of other demons before, I said between breaths that stabbed like knives. A sharp tug dragged me away. Ryder. Dust kicked up from the thuds of our boots. Why are you the first I can speak mind-to-mind with?
Really? At least a third of the jelmadag’s spider eyes rolled while the others stayed fixed on me. The first ever?
Well, there were others, but they were?—
Angels. And angels and demons were… different sides of the same coin.
Was that so hard? Fanning his feathers, the creature let out a spine-curling roar. A thin silver chain glinted in the space between his shoulder blades, pinning his wings.
Thank goodness he couldn’t fly.
That was rude.
Oops. Forgot he could hear me.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, it’s even ruder to talk with your mouth full.
My blood froze in my veins. Wait!
Pressing off his hind legs, he pounced.
Pinned wings or not, the jelmadag was fast—too fast.
I narrowly dodged him again.
“We have to keep it moving, keep exhausting its energy,” Ryder said over his shoulder as we aimlessly sprinted through the pit, “unless you’re down to let me handle the weapon?” A knowing smirk darkened his stare, shadows eclipsing the golden green.
Arrgghhh. The demon’s cry rang in my skull, a sound of pure exasperation. Will you two just sit still?
“No.” I dropped Ryder’s hand. I wasn’t going to sit still or hand over my dagger—I was going to fight back.
I lashed out, hoping to catch my beastly opponent off guard.
Steel carving through the air, my blade met the creature’s claws with a clang that vibrated down the metal to my hand, my wrist, my arm. My teeth clamped down.
This can’t be how you face all your adversaries, I taunted. Sweat lined my upper lip. What do you do, bore them to death with your complaining?
The lone lamb leg growing out his chest kicked helplessly. Usually, I’m well-fed before a battle.
I twirled out of the way, slashing up in a quick, clean arc. My dagger met fur, resistance, and sudden heat burning up my forearm.
Lips curled back and steam spewed out of the demon’s mouth, hot and hissing. I brought my knife in front of me, looking like a toothpick against his gigantic bone-crushing fangs.
Hot wind blew strands loose from my braid. When I looked up, all I saw were the blistered pads of paws, curled black flews, and the bottomless depths of an abyssal throat.
“River!” Ryder yelled.
