Page 57 of Of Night and Blood: Special Edition

I scowled up at him, picturing my fist connecting to that face again. A chuckle to our right caught my attention, my head whipping towards the noise. Anger filled me to the brim—the most emotion I had felt since I was attacked—when my eyes met a pair of amused green irises.

Henry stood at the opening of the stall. The second our gazes connected he began laughing so violently that tears streamed down his face.

Without thinking I called to Frost’s mind.

Frost, I think Henry could use a bath.

I sent over an image to her, willing the horse to obey. Just like that, Frost leaned forward and rained spit down onto Henry’s face. I burst into a fit of laughter of my own, howling at Henry’s stunned expression.

“Good girl, Frost,” I said between chuckles. Bellamy’s own laugh rang through the wooden structure as he set me down. Henry attempted to wipe the spit onto his black and red leathers, but the fabric would not soak up the thick saliva.

I watched in glee as Henry stomped away to find something to clean himself off with. When he was out of sight, I stepped up to Frost and whispered into her ear, “That is my girl.” Scratching behind her ear, I peeked over at Bellamy to find him watching me with that smug smile still gracing his face.

“Impressive, the way you manipulated Frost’s mind. I knew that you two would get along,” he said, dipping his head towards the mare. I froze, the shock of him knowing quickly fading to annoyance. Of course, he knew. The damn demon knew everything.

I rolled my eyes, once again stepping onto the footrest of sorts, hoping this time I would be successful. Bellamy closed the space between us, offering me his hand. Oddly enough, I took his help, shocking even myself. Together, we successfully got me onto the horse.

I beamed down at him, proud that I had at least done some of the work. He smiled right back, the picture of joy. In his eyes there was something more, an emotion I could not, and would not, allow myself to understand.

“Now, I know that power of yours can make the process of riding easier, but you do not have to use it. Henry worked tirelessly with Frost to make sure she was perfectly trained, and she will listen to your vocal commands. She is incredibly intuitive and intelligent, just hold those reins and tell her what you need of her,” Bellamy explained, petting Frost as he did. He brought his nose close to hers, looking into her big, silver eyes. “Keep her safe Frost, she is important to me.”

Below me, Frost stomped, moving her head up and down as she huffed at him. Those actions satisfied Bellamy enough to warrant a smile, and then he was off, heading towards the black horse across the way. Ignoring his comment to Frost, I watched as he effortlessly mounted the large beast, winking at me once he was up. I rolled my eyes again, then closed them.

I could do this.

Henry appeared once more, face clean and mood deliciously foul. I was pleased that I had successfully annoyed him at least. He walked up to Frost, grabbing onto the straps on her head, and led us out of the wooden stables. When we were back in the open air, I let out a sigh of relief, this was not so horrible.

Yet.

Bellamy and his horse came trotting from behind, stopping beside me. His horse was bigger than I first estimated, towering over Frost by well over a foot. The prince saw me assessing his stallion and tilted his head to the side.

“Lucifer might be bigger and stronger than Frost, but she is far more cunning and fast. You are safe and in wonderful hands. Or, well, hooves.” He shrugged. I merely nodded, biting back my laugh, not wanting to feed his already inflated ego. As the others began emerging, tugging the straps of their own horses, I swallowed the rising fear.

Chapter Thirty-Two

The group gathered once more outside of the wooden stables, eight of us atop horses. It did not escape me that Bellamy and I were the only two who rode steeds that were not brown. A message given and heard without having to be spoken aloud.

The demon prince circled our party, doing a final assessment before we departed.

I caught sight of swords securely strapped to each of them, everyone prepared for the worst. As Lian and her horse trotted towards me, I noted that she seemed to have more weapons than the others. I raised my brows, eyeing her stock. Lian laughed at my assessment.

“I am Bell’s swordmaster. I maintain all weapons and I train every new recruit in his army with weapon work. You will rarely catch me unarmed,” she said with a wicked smile.

Surprise left me without words. I had always seen her with some sort of weapon since meeting her, but she now was armed to the teeth with two swords, multiple daggers, a bow, and a quiver of arrows strapped to her horse.

“Here,” she said, grabbing one of the daggers. Lian urged her horse up to Frost, and quickly grabbed onto my leg. I startled, trying to tug out of her hold, but she simply gripped me harder. I stilled when the realization of what she was doing hit.

Lian had strapped the dagger onto my thigh. The sheath was black with three red circles and a star in the center of the middle ring—the demon sigil. When she finished securing the straps, I removed the weapon, assessing it.

It was a gorgeous blade, the hilt the same silver as my mare. Red and black writing, jagged and sharp, covered it. Some sort of language that I had only ever seen once, older than even the demons perhaps. The same runes that graced the walls of my low level room, of my blocker. The sight of it sent chills up my spine.

“I cannot possibly take this, it is yours. Plus, your prince would not appreciate you arming me,” I said, trying to offer the hilt of the blade to her.

The clothes were a necessity, but the dagger, though I wanted desperately to have one for my own safety, was not. No, this was something else. An unsettling coincidence that made my stomach turn.

Lian shook her head, directing her horse away from me. “It was made for you, Bell just had me hold onto it.”

Made for me? That was enough to silence me. I held it in my hand, gripping so hard my fingers ached, and called onto my powers. No change.

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