Page 100 of Crown of Chaos

“I thought that was just my hand.”

“Nope. Your eyes and your hands lit up with fire, and then turned into a golden light. It looked like it moved up your arms and that maybe you had some more marks on your back, but you were wearing a shirt, so I can’t be sure. But your entire back looked as if it were glowing along your spine. I’ve never known anything like it before,” Esme stated softly, wiping the blood off my cheek. “You’re a mess, Aria.”

“And a glow bug, apparently.” I smiled tightly before looking at Avyanna. “You think the stitches will stay in place if I have to fight?” I asked, and she huffed.

“Will it matter if I say they won’t?”

Aw, she knew me too well.

“No, at least not in this case.”

Forcing myself up to my feet, I tested my limbs and stretched to see how badly I was screwed up. They had pushed moss against the hole in my chest, but I assured Avyanna I’d suffered worse. She’d merely gawked at me before throwing her arms into the air. Laughing, I studied her ramrod straight spine as she muttered about obtuse women and their brain-dead reactions to pain.

I stretched my legs before marching toward the altar, while cutting my hand, and let the blood drip to the earthen floor. The wind shifted and picked up speed, so I snapped a mental order for the undead army to create wind barriers for me. It only forced the wind to come from the other direction, slamming Knox and his army against the barrier.

Snickering, I winced as his eyes widened while his men crashed against him from behind. Oh well, he deserved that shit. My attention moved over the girls and then lifted to where a single witch was being held. The undead soldier covering her mouth with a hand was missing half his fingers, which she’d probably bitten off. Not that he would have felt her bite, though.

I nodded subtly, my signal to let the warrior know I was ready for the witch. He leaped from the high wall and landed ungracefully on the bodies of the others below him. The witch looked furious as she broke free and scrambled down the pile of bodies.

She rushed toward the barrier, likely intending to throw herself on the mercy of the army instead of facing me. I considered telling her she was barking up the wrong leg if she thought he had any mercy to offer, but instead, I just watched as she bounced face-first off the barrier and fell backward screaming. Dismissing her, I turned my attention back to where the star and circle insignia were forming on the ground around the altar.

Why couldn’t this asshole assist me? It would be nice if he just yanked me into whatever paradox shit they had forced him to live in. It would have been so much easier and far less bloody.But no, someone was playing hard to get. The cross lifted from the ground, and I elevated my finger, hearing her horrified scream ripping through the air.

“We wouldn’t be at this point of our relationship if you hadn’t been a murderous, backstabbing asshole,” I snapped over my shoulder. “I don’t know why you would even want to help those bastards in the first place. So he would make you some prized witch and toot his horn about how powerful you are? Plot twist, you’re not. I am not even all powerful, and yet, here I am, sacrificing your ass.” The snort escaped my lips, and I flicked my wrist, dragging her to me. “Come on now, you weren’t playing hard to get for the lord, were you?” She just kept screaming, and I shook my head as I answered my own question. “No, so don’t act like you don’t want to play with me.”

The moment she slammed against the cross, leather straps wrapped around her arms and secured her in place. Her blabbering of profanities at me didn’t slow, but when I stepped closer to her, they changed to shrieks. The hilt of a dagger was slapped into my waiting palm, and I sliced her throat just to shut her up.

“We have charged you with being a murderous bitch. How do you plea? I say guilty. You, on the other hand, cannot speak.Oops, my bad.” Blood was gushing from the wound and into the circle, spreading out on the ground. “Thank you for your sacrifice. It will not be in vain. Blah, blah, blah, and no, we’ll not be asking the goddess to protect you because she’s a bitch!”

The symbol was almost full and had started closing around me. The others remained outside of it, studying me as I operated. I didn’t blame them, and I knew they worried—Siobhan, especially since she’d watched it happen before. Of course, I’d been much weaker back then.

Directing the magic to place the dying witch on the altar, I watched the last of the blood droplets seep in to the ground. When I was sure enough time had passed, I stepped forward and touched the altar. The power erupted around me immediately, and when I turned to see who—or what—had joined me, I froze.

“Holy demon, I think I want to be a sinner,” I murmured.

The man standing behind me wasn’t pretty. He was fucking terrifying and utterly naked. My eyes lowered, and my head canted to the side. A low whistle escaped my lips as I ogled his appendage. To say he was packing a weapon that could do some serious damage to a woman would be an understatement. His lips jerked back, revealing sharp white teeth that made me do a double-take. Maybehewas one enormous weapon?

“Damn, wasn’t expecting something so . . .wicked?” I continued sliding my attention over the wealth of sinewy muscles that covered his entire body and the wispy tendrils of ink that curved around his waist and down his thighs.

The wind became merciless, whipping my hair and shirt while he stared unabashedly. Slowly, he approached, and my hackles rose in warning. He paused the moment I gathered power to me.

“You’re not Hecate.” His timbre was raspy and seductive, slamming over every feminine part of me abrasively.

“Please don’t be stupid. I have no more crayons on me,” I muttered, groaning as his vibrant blue eyes gradually slid over me. “Hecate is my grandmother. I need your power to end her. So, help a girl out.”

“I cannot give it to you so easily, Little Mouse.”

“What is it with the pet names? My name is Aria, and yours is?” I countered, wanting to hurry this up.

“Elias, Prince of the Incubi,” he stated while smiling tightly.

“And Hecate probably threw a wingding because you withheld that dick from her?” I probed, and his eyes narrowed to slits.

“You’re very forward, woman. Aren’t you? Please tell me you’re not like that during sex.” He moved closer to where I leaned against the altar to remain upright. “And yes, Hecate and my father brokered an agreement to place me here. They gave me the option of serving her, or enduring this punishment for the rest of my life. And since I’m immortal, it meant I’d hunger and suffer this torture forever.”

“Damn, you really know how to old out on the D? You should teach me your tricks,” I said, but he merely gave me a funny look before I went on. People in this place had no sense of humor, or enjoyment. “Shocker, and such a waste,” I mumbled while hungrily taking in the strength, and sinewy muscle covering his body. “Although, I can see why she’d want you as a pet. Honestly, in the gist of it all, I’m seeing the appeal of offering you a similar, less dire offer.”

He laughed darkly, and allowed his eyes to sparkle with mirth. “You’re coloring is strange but beautiful. You have the look of those who age, and yet, you’re flawless everywhere else.”

---