Rune let out a fierce growl.
I twisted to find two new infected going for the pet’s neck. I smashed my boot into the face of the one on the right, throwing it back. Rune latched onto the infected’s collar on the left, dragging him off the pet before his teeth could puncture.
I sliced my blade through the infected’s neck, then moved to Rune. My blades sang through the air. Its head toppled for a second, turned to dust, then vanished.
Rune sent one sharp pulse of warning—shield.
I threw up a shadow barrier just as Ridigar’s toxic smoke enveloped us.
My vision turned thermal.
Ridigar and the other demons’ cold signatures were barely visible, disrupted by the particles surrounding them. They all but disappearedwhen his smoke lightly probed my shadows, seeking a way to slip in. He knew he couldn’t, hence the little effort he exerted.
We were safe from his noxious air.
For now.
“It’s funny. Normally, I’d be running by now, scared your shadows would take my blood and make me your servant. But they haven’t touched me yet. Any of us, in fact. I wonder why that is, General?”
His cocky tone had me gritting my teeth and readying my swords.
Ridigar crept up to the dense darkness separating us, his dull blue body becoming more visible. In my infrared vision, his veins glowed green, warm and alive with blood that wasn’t his. The dark icicle pressed against his wrist. Bright green, almost yellow blood gathered at the puncture site, pooling and dripping onto the ground.
The grass that had been a vibrant yellow turned dark blue, then black with every additional drop.
I controlled what my shadows absorbed by altering their density. Knowing what Ridigar planned to do shouldn’t concern me, but after the sight in the Eternal Forest and witnessing what he’d just done to the ground, I doubted my abilities.
“Did you happen to discover the secret about their second experiment?”
Get ready to hold your breath, Rune.
Worry pulsed through our bond, along with disapproval.
I am not risking our lives for the pet. What else would you have me do?I snapped.
We had no other option. At least if his smoke engulfed us, it’d buy us a few minutes to kill him.
Rune flanked the pet’s side, and I covered hers.
“Wonder how much praise I’d get for taking out Hell’s untouchable general. Maybe they’d promote me to Hell’s new king.”
Ridigar raised his wrist, I dropped my shadows, and a gray cloud swarmed us—thick and cloying.
I swung my swords toward his neck as my infrared vision distorted, slicing through the air. His blue signature faded in the smoke. I tried to follow, searching through the haze and wasting precious time.
I thought they’d attack, or at least go after the pet.
They targeted him before.
They were waiting us out.
We had minutes. They had all the time in the world to hide until we collapsed.
I luscelered toward where I thought Ridigar’s signature had faded, only to find more smoke.
Lucille’s panic drove through my chest.
Either she woke to the pet missing, or she could feel his pain.
