Page 54 of Bitten By Desire

She crumpled to the side, revealing Julian standing above me, outstretched hand gripping her still-beating, black heart. His eyes glowed crimson, his curls flew wild, and his body was covered in a mixture of black and red fluid. My avenging angel of death had saved me.

Tossing the heart to the side, he helped me to my feet. His eyes dimmed to sapphires in his pale face.

Setting a hand on his chest, I whispered, “Don’t forget to feed.”

With a simple nod, he zoomed past me. Pausing only for one deep breath, I scanned the room again and finally caught sight of exactly who I was aiming for. I’d almost missed him because he wasn’t covered in fur anymore and he’d gained height when he used his glamour.

The unseelie king, Bres, stood near the dimensional tear his minions had come through, eyes alight with pleasure as he watched the mayhem. When another demon fell, torn to shreds by three fairies, he whooped, throwing a fist in the air.

Coward, I thought as I approached him. When he caught sight of me, he grinned and clapped his hands together. Though just as I approached, strong arms caught me from behind, lifting me into the air in a crushing embrace that stole my breath.

“I regret this, Doctor,” the general’s deep voice said as my head spun and the edges of my consciousness started to darken. “But I have to do as told. You understand what that’s like.”

My legs flailed helplessly, and the fairy king’s face reddened in anger. He lifted a hand, and a shining scepter appeared in his grasp as he pointed it toward me. A strange word fell from his lips that I couldn’t quite wrap my fuzzy mind around, and a bolt of lightning shot from the tip of his staff, striking the exact spot where the general’s hands gripped each other in front of me.

Stone cracked and burst apart, shooting out in all directions as I dropped to the ground, sucking in greedy breaths. Above me, the general howled in agony as Bres repeated the movement and more lightning shot over my head. I looked up to find the general’s entire body had splintered like a shattered vase someone had decided to glue back together. Golden light burst from every crooked crack. We stared at each other for a moment, and Bres yelled, “Roll.”

I threw myself to the side, spinning like a log across the floor to his feet as the general’s body blew apart into rubble, raining down over us. I blinked up into the king’s face as stones peppered my skin.

“Freeze,” I rasped. It took a full minute for me to be sure it had worked. Then I scrambled up and grabbed his arm. “Tell me the truth. What will it take to end this?”

“Handing you to the queen,” he answered. “She’s in quite the hurry. Never any patience, that woman. She refused to wait for more of my changelings to be ready, so I was forced to plan this.”

“What are you getting out of the deal?” I shook his arm a little as I pressed him for more.

“Equality with the damn Seelie. I will rule beside the bitch. Nothing can stop us then.”

It was the same sentiment I’d heard Sirena express in the demon dimension.

“Why does she want the demons dead?”

“She doesn’t like competition, and she heard they were trying to become more powerful than us.”

I wanted to scream. Such greed and pettiness had caused what was practically a war and killed too many. It was time for the final question before we started to clean up this mess.

“Who are the changelings still alive?” I asked.

“I don’t know if I’d use the word ‘alive’,” Bres argued, and I shook him. “Fine. That woman,” he nodded toward where Lorraine scratched with her giant claws at a fairy that had gone for Hazel.

“And?” I asked, turning back to Bres. But he wasn’t there. I was holding on to a demon’s severed arm, which I dropped instantly. The portal he’d gone through closed with a pop, leaving the rest of those who’d come through behind.

I swayed on my feet and reached for the closest wall to slide to my bottom and stare out at the chaos. The shards of stone scattered across the floor were the last remains of the general, a complicated being that, if circumstances had been different, I would have liked to understand better. I couldn’t regret his demise because it saved my life, but I could still focus my anger on the demons and fae.

My gaze traveled toward where Julian and Grival circled each other. Blood coated Julian’s chin, and I released a breath, thankful he’d fed from someone, though I didn’t want to consider who. Could he drink demon or fairy blood?

Grival reached over his shoulder and pulled a curved sword from nowhere. It gleamed black in the light and glowed with an aura of scarlet magic. The auras of everyone else in the room bent and angled toward the blade like it was trying to suck them inside.

Soul Eater, Pythia whispered.

I didn’t like that name. Nor did I trust that it couldn’t do just that. I called up my own magic and swept it from his hand and across the room to land at Daphne’s feet.

She picked it up without missing a beat and dispatched the fairy in front of her. I swallowed hard as I watched the fairy’s fuscia aura absorb into the dark metal. That thing needed to be destroyed when we were through.

Focusing back on Julian’s battle, I watched as he sank his fangs into the demon’s shoulder. But Grival grabbed a handful of Julian’s hair and ripped him away, sending a spray of blood and skin several feet out. He threw Julian with a cry, and my vampire crashed into Sam, forcing the wolf off of a demon woman and into a tangle of limbs.

Grival scanned the carnage of the room and zeroed in on me. He growled low, and I felt it in the back of my brain. He raised his arms, and my vision narrowed into a dark tunnel until he stood alone at the other end. Bright red rage and power built from his feet to the tips of his fingers, and I knew what he meant to do.

No, I shouted silently, panic and power rising within me as I walked myself back up along the wall to a standing position.

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