“Enough.”
He was still in the chamber above, fighting the horde singlehandedly. But I heard him as if he were right next to me. Before I could take a breath, my body jerked. I was snapped to an angle, before being wrenched from my hidden place in the haze, and dragged before Zemshaza. When I came to a stop before him, the remaining hèlborns froze on a command I hadn’t given them.
I felt the fiery sting against my cheek, heard the ringing in my ears, before registering the Fallen King had lifted his hand to backhand me.Hard.
“What in the?—”
“Shut your mouth,Slave,” Zemshaza hissed.
I looked at the Fallen High King through blurry vision, and trembled. Profound hatred pooled from his lightless eyes. The darkness in that gaze made me instantaneously nauseous. He was deformed. Grotesque. An eternal horror. Zemshaza clamped a hand around my neck, his long, thick claws digging into my skin.
“You will go through the portal and bring me with you.”
He foamed at the mouth. Steam slithered out of his broken ears. His long, limp hair slipped forward, tumbling over my face. It smelled like decay and rot. My stomach churned at the stench.
“No,” I wheezed. “I won’t.”
“I have clearly been too kind,” Zemshaza snarled. “You still have yet to learn what it is to truly beunmade.”
He leaned in, eyes boring into mine. As fear fought for prominence in my chest, something else rose beyond it.
Audacity.
Zemshaza wouldnotkeep me in the Six Hèls any longer.
“My brothers and I have been chained to this infernal realm longer than your planet has been alive. Sorellien, the entire Ouanaviel Empyrean, your foolish,stupid, Farasee Order.” The Fallen snarled in my face. I nearly choked on the breath thatviolated my nostrils. I gagged, still thrashing in his grip. “Every last one of those twelve islands, and their power-hungry order of priests, belong tous. Wewillhave it through. Your. Blood.”
Boldness surged through me. Summoning the might of my physical strength, amplified by my Soul Bending, I jerked my head back, then slammed my forehead into the Fallen’s. A resoundingcrackpopped in the air. Darkness swam in my vision but I shook it off.
Zemshaza roared.
Then the Fallen King began to shift into his true, hèllish form.
His wings enlarged. Several sets of horns protruded from his skull. One eye remained like midnight while the other became like blood. His back contorted like a four-legged beast. He transformed from a broken, deformed angel to living, breathing, monster.
Before he finished transforming, I lunged.
My fist collided into his jaw. I whipped around and swiped my wings once, twice,threetimes into his chest with my talons. The gaping wound at the center of his chest didn’t release blood. It instead poured out ash.
Zemshaza launched a swirling bolt of darkness at my chest. I dodged, whipped around, and thrust out a vortex of gnashing souls that tore across his face. Then I unleashed a torrent of physical violence on the Fallen Angel, brutalizing him by sheer force. I was too exhausted to use anymore ethèr, so I defaulted to beating the living rot out of him.
Zemshaza was strong.
Even in my weakest state, I was stronger.
Zemshaza finally yielded. He bent over, panting, holding the gaping, bleeding wounds on both of his sides. Without a moments hesitation, I jerked away, and raced for the RealmPortal. As I neared the opening, his large, monstrous hand, grabbed onto my ankle and held firm.
“I curse you, Tassarion Celèstian Everthorn. I curse your blood and your bones. I curse your spirit, your soul, and your mind. You will be a monster among angels. A devil among the Hallowed. You will be hated and rejected. You will never be loved nor tolerated. All who come before you will be terrified of you. You will never be free of this curse. You will never be free ofme. Only the blood and bond of a Nebulari will set you free. An impossibility that will plague you across eternity. You’remine, Slave. And I will ruin you,forever.”
Then Zemshaza released my ankle, shoving me through the Realm Portal. A present, living darkness surfaced in front of me, before fusing into my body, blending into my blood and veins. A dead, unnatural,unholything stirred inside of me. Then my will, my mind, mysoul, was possessed and shackled from within by the vile, wicked curse of the Fallen King.
Chapter 1
Nahomie
I stareddown at the dead bloodhound, unimpressed.
“Now, how in the stars did you get here?”
