Page 160 of Her Blood Revenge

‘You’re here,’ I whisper, falling into him. I’m too weak to lift my head or open my eyes, and even though his arms and body feel different, and even though he sounds like a demonic whisper, I know who has me. And I’m not afraid. ‘They said you were dead.’

‘Banished. Not dead,’ Dorian replies. ‘I would never allow myself to be parted from you so permanently. Now, come on. Stay awake. We need to get back through the gate. The souls of the blood witches are getting closer, and they’re all staring at you like you’re their next meal.’

He’s lethal and twisted. All of him. His aura is of pure malice, and a promise of death carries all around it.

But I know that for me, it means salvation.

My head tilts all the way back as I look up at him. The top of my head reaches the middle of his stomach. He’s fucking huge and as far from human as could be!

His entire form is that of a robed man. He has a veiled cloak covering his head and two wings at his back, slowly beating. His clothing is smoke but solid. He’s of an ancient magic. Of legend. I thought he was powerful before. This is something I could never have imagined.

He scoops me up and spreads his wings. The sound of the blood witch spirits chasing us makes me shudder. Their gurgling and harrowing wails. The sound of the blood dripping to the sand and sizzling on impact. And their high-pitched demonic screech that never ends.

They don’t take a breath. They just go on and on.

My body becomes unresponsive. Darkness rolls around me, and I know that it is him.

It’s the Shadow Master in his primitive form.

We reach the gate, and he wastes no time before flying through. The blood smothers me once more as he pins me to his chest. And the next breath I take is of icy cold air filled with falling snow.

I land in a soft blanket of white. I must have been gone a while as several inches of snow now coats the ground. All of which become red as I touch it.

Pushing myself up, I don’t see Dorian. I came through alone.

‘Pixie!’ Shaw screams my name.

There’s a low giggle in my mind. It starts to come out of my mouth. My body convulses, and a surge of powerful magic explodes from my body.

I’m free,Hel whispers.Thank you… “Pixie”.

Everything goes a blinding white.

Chapter thirty

The Shadow Master

My form is unstable as I claw my way through the blood of the gate. I got her through. That’s what matters. If I make it, I make it. If I don’t, at least I know she’s safe. Shaw and Archie will look after her, and she will be away from Hel.

Her manacles broke shortly after I was forced from my human form and banished back here to hell. I watched her writhe in the blood and pull against that collar around her neck, and she laughed in victory when it finally snapped.

The coward in me hid. The souls I claimed are gone, and I’m in a weakened state without them. They give me power and fuel my magic. Without them, I’m just a swarm of malice and death.

But I’m changed. I feel it. I’m not consumed with the hatred and violence I was when I was last in this place. My thoughts are coherent. And all I can think about is my girl. That thought pushes me through the blood. It gives me a singular purpose. It used to be death. Now, it is her.

And she’s all I need to break through the gate and explode into the human realm.

I’m not strong enough to hold my form yet, so I find the body of a dead unseelie and take it for my own. The possession won’t hold for long. It never did, but I only needto make sure she is okay, and then I will return to what I was. If I must, I will return to hell.

This body takes in a breath and sits bolt upright. Its throat was slit, and it’s only been dead a few minutes. Good. Fresh is best.

The creature was a dark fae, and its wings are still good. I stretch them out and take flight.

Below, the valley is in chaos. A battle rages between unseelie and witch. Not only witches but humans and creatures, too.

Ahead is the great gate. It’s still active, and on the floor in front of it is my girl, who is slowly getting to her feet.

I land beside her and take her arm, easing her up. My body is covered in silver scales, and my hands are three-fingered claws.

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