She rolled off of me, but I kept my hold on her horn, jerking her head back toward me. Her body twisted because of my yank and her head remained close to me but the momentum of her movement carried her lower half away.
A loud crack echoed through the air as her horn came off in my hand, leaving a jagged stump sticking a few inches out of her forehead.
Another screech of pain escaped her before drawing out into a high-pitched wail. Apparently, daemon horns were very sensitive. She sat up, her back to me as her hands lifted toward her face, but I wasn’t about to give her a chance to recover.
Daemons breathed like humans and bled like humans. Hopefully, their arterial structure was similar as well. I slid my arm around her neck from behind, making sure to line my elbow up with her chin. Once my arm was all the way around her neck, I grabbed my own shirt with that hand, fisting it tightly. My other hand went to the back of her head, pressing forward as Isqueezed her neck between my bicep and forearm. Tucking my chin, I ducked my head lower behind hers. It was probably a bad idea to do this, but I was afraid I wouldn’t be strong enough to hold her in the choke with just my arms, so sat back and locked my legs around her torso and squeezed.
She clawed at my arm, tearing the skin, but I managed to hook one leg around her arm, then the other. Once I locked my ankles together, it was a fight to keep her arms down, but her struggles were already growing weaker.
I squeezed tighter and pushed harder against the back of her head, trying to keep the pressure on the sides of her neck. I would never use a blood choke like this on someone for this long, but I had to be sure she was completely unconscious before I let go.
Hot rivulets of my blood dripped down my arm and onto her stomach and my legs as I continued with my desperate hold on her. My muscles shook with strain when she tried to fight her arms free. She was already weaker, the lack of blood flow to her brain making it difficult.
In a human, this choke would have been effective in seconds, but she managed to fight it for nearly a minute. Finally, her body went limp in my hold. I waited a few more seconds, afraid she was faking it.
Then, Guldan boomed, “The challenger has submitted! The human won!”
Once I heard the words and the roar of the soldiers surrounding the ring, I released my grip on Venna. Her body flopped limply to the ground as I shoved her away.
My head swam as I got to my feet, and I swayed a bit, blinking before I regained my balance. After a few seconds, my vision cleared, and I was able to see.
Every single soldier training at Bokkan’s estate stood around the fence, all beating their chest in a steady beat and releasingdeep, loud grunts that were more like a short roar. Their rhythm got faster and faster until a huge cry went up from the daemons.
I glanced down at Venna and saw that her eyes were beginning to flutter. Not wanting to be close to her when she came to, I moved to the fence. Before I could climb over, giant clawed hands gripped me and lifted me over the rails.
“You’re bleeding,” Bokkan growled out.
I glanced down at my arm. “Yeah. It burns like a sonuvabitch, too,” I mumbled.
Shit, my vision was getting spotty. I wasn’t sure if it was the adrenaline crash or the fact that I’d never fought so hard in my life, but I feared I was moments away from passing out.
Bokkan noticed and bent as though he intended to pick me up.
“No, don’t carry me.”
He straightened. “You’re weak. I don’t want you to fall.”
“I will walk into that house on my own two feet,” I stated.
The daemon didn’t look happy, but he nodded. He also stayed right next to me as I started toward the manor.
“My dagger?” I asked him.
He handed it back to me in silence, stopping when I paused to tie the makeshift holster to my right thigh.
“You pathetic quim!”
I paused at the shriek and turned to look over my shoulder. Venna was on her feet and trying to storm toward me. Guldan and, surprisingly, Talus, stepped in front of her, holding their arms up until she stopped.
“I will end you!” she screamed, her eyes flashing blood red. The jagged edge of her broken horn glinted in the sunlight. I couldn’t believe that I’d managed to snap it in half. Seeing the sneer on her face, I hoped that it hurt like hell.
I stopped and faced her completely. “According to Guldan, you lost. I’m sure you don’t remember it since you were unconscious when he announced it.”
She surged forward, pushing Guldan and Talus back a couple of steps, and getting a bit closer to where I stood with Bokkan. “You used magic on me. And you broke my horn! It’s not allowed!”
I glanced at Guldan to see if what she said was true, but he gave a quick shake of his head.
I scoffed as I turned my gaze back to her. “No, I used a choke on you. It restricts blood flow to the brain and causes unconsciousness. If I held it a little longer, it might have even caused permanent brain damage or even killed you.”
