I didn't turn.
If I turned, I might not be able to do it.
For years, I'd suppressed parts of myself. I wore a mask and became the king of pretending. I may have fooled everyone else, but not myself. No. I knew exactly who I was. A creature of the darkness.
My soul? Twisted. Wrong. Black.
My heart? Bloodthirsty. Distorted. Obsessed.
My being? Laser-focused on protecting what was mine, no matter the cost.
The familiar fire surged through my veins. While before I fought the darkness, now I would set it free. I could almost taste the sweetness of the flames on my tongue, and a smile spreadover my lips as my vision blurred into a fog of black, gray, and red.
I was finally returning to who I always was.
There was one last thing I needed to do before I destroyed the last piece that kept me away from the darkness. The darkness that I felt on the other side, brimming with desire to lay waste to these foolish demons who thought they could hurt my man.
Inhaling deeply, I looked up at the sky and then at the ground, whispering words meant for only one person.
“I’m sorry. I can’t keep my promise to you. It’s time to break all hell loose again.”
And then that was precisely what I did next.
Chapter twenty-five
Diablos
The ground beneath my feet shook. I didn’t know what was happening, but as I was about to grab Dagon’s hand, I froze mid-step. What was happening in front of me couldn’t possibly be real. All rational thoughts left me, and my breath caught in my throat.
Dagon stood mere feet from me, but I knew it wasn’t Dagon, not the human I used to know. The ground kept shaking, and I grabbed the car’s hood for support. Dagon’s body was tense, his posture exuding immeasurable power and nothing else.
Dagon spread his feet and said something in a language I didn’t understand. A black mist started swirling around him. Slowly, the mist revealed horns on his head.
HORNS!
They were bigger than my hands, pointing up and slightly curved toward his back. Their color was black, with lines that glistened in dark purple. He said something else, and in the next moment, wings spread from his back, obsidian black wings with feathers that had purple streaks too.
Dagon’s voice carried over me like a warm embrace. Even when I couldn’t understand what he was saying, his voice elicited goosebumps and brought forward a feeling of safety. It was like a powerful, protective caress all around me. It didn’t sound like his usual voice. It was deeper, more high-pitched, and colder.
I was too busy gawking at Dagon with my mind fried and my jaw hanging open, to see one of the demons coming my way. Dagon let out a feral roar that made me flinch. He crashed into the demon, sending him flying into the building next to us. They were a blur of limbs, and before I knew it, the demon who tried to attack me burst into flames and disappeared before my eyes.
Dagon turned to me. In a flash, everything else ceased to exist. His horns, wings, and eyes, now dark purple, captivated me and rendered me immobile. Something in my gut twisted, whether from fear or something else I couldn’t pinpoint. But I knew, I fucking knew, it wasn’t fear of my Dagon. And yes, this wasmy Dagon.The one I knew. Even if the form had changed.
Dagon’s torso was on display since his wings had torn through his shirt. I couldn’t take my eyes off him.
He was a demon.
My Dagon was a demon.
He looked toward the other demons and then back to me. He said something in that strange language, and out of nowhere, something appeared. It looked like a little dragon. It was as big as one of the smallest dogs and had black-blue-purple coloring. Only its feet and the tips of its wings were fully black. The three colors blended together to create something unique. This thingwrapped around Dagon's shoulders. I was pretty sure Dagon spoke to it.
I blinked, and the little creature was at my feet. I jumped and almost screamed, but there was no time for that. Dagon was heading toward the demons. They said something in that foreign language and hissed as he got closer. Only one of them had wings. The other ones had horns. And one had a tail.
In the name of all of my books, what the fuck was happening?
The demons stormed towards Dagon simultaneously, and all the air left my lungs. I was sure my heart was going to explode. Five against one? How would Dagon beat five demons?
One of the demons crashed into Dagon. They were all a blur of messy movement, bodies colliding, grunts, and growls. The only sound that was clear was the sound of the fight.
