Page 15 of A Surrender Of Hope

“Get fucked!” he shouts in response, taking another step forward, as his fingers inch toward the blade at his side. I scoff and dart out a hand, my big fingers wrapping around Creed’s throat before he can react, but the move doesn’t faze him in the least. As brothers, we have fought countless times, and it’s only been a few years since I started to win every time. Up until about ten years ago, Creed would kick my ass in every fight we had.

I glare at him, adding my magic into it to ensure he submits, hating the disapproving glint in his eyes. He knows I would never harm Meyer. Even if I wanted to, which I don’t, I wouldn’t be able to now. This back-and-forth thing between me and her is none of his business, and he needs to keep his nose out of it.

“Get out,” I repeat, letting the dominance of my position overwhelm him until he curses and yanks his eyes from mine. My triumph is short-lived, however, as my Little Demon goes absolutely feral in my arms, her tiny nails raking across my arms as she leans toward the bed, grabs a pillow, and starts pounding me over the head with the damn thing.

“You overgrown…whack…rat bastard…whack… damn infuriating Viking,” Meyer yells, the surprisingly strong hits with the pillow jar me more than I thought they would. She’s definitely stronger than she was only a few days ago, and thereis a wildness surrounding her, reminding me of Razar when he gets mad. I snarl at her, unable to yank the pillow out of her hand as Creed blinks in surprise at her sudden outburst, then starts roaring with laughter, my hand still wrapped around his throat. “Get your damn hands off him!” Meyer continues to yell, her eyes darkening until small sparks of red flash from their stunning depths.

Creed’s laughter dries up the moment he spots the red magic within her eyes. I curse, letting Creed go while keeping Meyer clutched to me, despite her efforts and insistent whacking to be set free.

“Watch him!” I command, pointing to Valen and grunting in approval when Creed nods, no longer arguing with me. The fear radiating off him mimics my own as I storm from my room, trying and failing to get Meyer under control, all while ignoring the shocked looks of the Drakos Rangers I stride past on my way to Creed’s empty room.

“Enough,” I grind out as I kick his door open, stepping into the room and tossing the feral woman in my arms onto the soft bed in front of me. I slam the door shut, letting my magic take over, encompassing my skin as I stride forward and grab Meyer’s hand. The red glowing symbol of Inanis flashes with dark magic, making me hiss in anger at the sight.

“Stop manhandling me, Lennox!” Meyer snaps, yanking her hand from me as she raises up to her knees on the bed. The oversized shirt falls off one of her creamy shoulders, and like a love-sick fool, my attention is immediately drawn to it. Her long, blonde hair falls down her back, making it look like she’s encompasses by a silver halo.

She reaches up, tucking back the tiny braid Valen wove into her hair, making the small silver protection charm he added sparkle in the sunlight. She looks so soft and delicate in this moment, a complete contradiction to the fiery power and angerin her beautiful eyes. Growling, I shake my head, gritting my teeth and hating how undone I am. I need to keep her safe, but that’s not going to happen when I’m near her.

Frustrated, I reach for her again, needing to feel the magic inside her with my own in order to figure out what I should do next. But I spring back the moment our fingers touch, because the red magic attacks, making red-hot pain shoot through my hand and into my arm.

I look down at my hand, mouth agape at the burns Meyer inflicted without uttering a single word. There’s a brief moment of tense silence as Meyer stares at my burnt hand, and then she’s up on her feet, rushing toward me with a gasp on her lips.

“Oh, my god! What… what did I do? I felt it… him. Nox, there’s a man, he’s been in my dreams… in my mind! And I can see things better at night, and my temper is getting worse. Like a lot worse! Creed mentioned a girl seeing him naked when we were sparring a while back, and I wanted to…” she trails off, probably not wanting to admit she was contemplating murder, and I arch a brow in surprise at all that information. By the sounds of it, she’s been scared of Inanis for longer than I thought, and if I’m not mistaken, her Demon traits are making an appearance. “Shit, I’m going crazy, aren’t I?!” she rasps, staring down at my hand and then the glowing red mark on her wrist.

I can feel her panic bubbling up as her eyes lose the red sparks and return to the normal dark green I love so much. She hesitantly reaches for me, then stops and shakes her head, afraid to touch me again.

“Meyer,” I whisper as her heart starts to thunder in her chest. Her eyes dart from me to her wrist to the door of the room, and I know she’s about to bolt. I step forward, gathering her tense body into my arms, and shake my head. “I don’t think you are, Little Demon,” I whisper into her hair and swallow hard whenshe slowly softens into my hold. “I think it’s time I tell you a few things about our realm… and us,” I add, hoping like hell she’s in the mood to listen and not kill me once I’ve told her everything.

EIGHT

Meyer

“Inanis?” I repeat as Lennox paces the length of the room in front of me. He grunts and nods, running a hand through his long black hair while pacing, making the small silver charms woven into the braids clink together. His shoulders are tense, his muscles are practically bulging under the tight black shirt he’s wearing, and it’s way too distracting. “And he’s a king?” I ask, trying to keep up with the story. I wring my hands together, feeling exhausted, like I could lay down on this bed and sleep for days, yet there’s a nervous energy in me, dancing just beneath my skin. It started right after I woke up and keeps growing by the minute.

“More like the Devil. Inanis was once the ruler of his kingdom, lording over a race of Demons similar to mine, in the way that the Royalty could shift into larger, more monstrous forms. But they also controlled the Therion,” he says, hands moving from his hair to his hips as he turns and looks at me. “The beasts they created to protect their lands.”

“Okay,” I murmur, letting that information sink in. “And I’m guessing something went wrong to cause a war,” I add, thinking about the dreams I’ve had. Nox frowns and nods, head tilting tothe side as he studies me. I rub at the weird ache in my chest, trying to get it to go away as I keep piecing together parts of this Demon puzzle.

“Yes, Inanis wanted more control. He felt our kingdoms should unite and remove the Veil between the human and Fae realms. Both realms had resources that ours lacked, so instead of coming up with a solution to help revive and restore our world, he wanted to take them from the other realms. To strip them of their inhabitants and replace them with Demons. One kingdom per realm.”

“That’s insane,” I whisper, trying not to get too distracted by the mentions of Fae. It’s not the time or place, but we’re totally circling back to that topic once we have a moment.

“It is, and the problem was that Inanis had supporters on every side. Ones in my father's very house—his family—who felt that being the strongest of the three realms meant we could take from those weaker than us. The Dark Wars began when my father and Varick refused to follow Inanis’ plans. Inanis took his Therion and made them more monstrous and deadly to even the strongest Demons to have more power.”

“The Beastia,” I whisper, and Nox nods.

“He needed an army to take Orcus and Varick’s Kingdoms.”

“Varick?” I ask, having an idea of who Nox is talking about, but wanting to make sure.

“The Dream Walker King,” Nox says, confirming my suspicions.

“Right,” I mutter and frown. “The Dark Wars… really? That’s the best your so-called superior race could come up with?” I tease, making Nox crack a smile. He looks at me from the corner of his eye and chuckles as he walks over and sits on the bed beside me. My heart skips a beat from his close proximity, the ache in my chest doubling, making me curl my shoulders in to help relieve it.

“Yeah, it’s not the best name, but at least it’s better than the Beast Feud,” he says, and I blink at him, shaking my head in disappointment.

“The… Beast Feud? Who the hell is in charge of the names? They need to be fired.”

“Agreed,” Nox grumbles, then sighs and reaches out his hand slowly, holding it between us in a silent offer. I wrinkle my nose, but eventually take hold of his hand, trying not to shiver at the warmth from his rough skin. “This,” he says in a deep voice, his big thumb gently running over the bright red mark on my wrist, “is Inanis’ mark. The sigil for his kingdom. The fact that it’s on you is concerning.” I snort at that remark, then grin when Nox glares at me.

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