Page 24 of Stolen By the Reaper

CHAPTER TEN

AZRAEL

Pain. Endless, searing pain. Hester’s face flashed before me, her eyes wide with terror as Clauneck’s shadowy form engulfed her. Then Josephine, her lips parted in a silent scream as the cult’s blade descended.

I thrashed against the cage’s bars, my glyphs flickering weakly. I couldn’t break through. Couldn’t save her. “No!”

Clauneck’s laughter echoed through the chamber as the visions of horror dissolved. “Still fighting, Azrael? How... amusing.”

The gathered audience of underworld denizens snickered. The clink of coins on bets rattled through the crowd. How long I lived. What torments I suffered. A never-ending game for the lords and ladies of the underworld.

I spat blood, glaring at the demon. “Go fuck yourself.”

My head throbbed. My body ached. He’d let some of his heavy hitters into the cage, then spun thick visions to keep me from any rest.

But if he held me, if he tried to tenderize my every inch, he didn’t have Josephine.

His vessel’s angelic features twisted into a sneer. The fucker was gearing up for another round of torture. I braced myself,determined not to give him the satisfaction of hearing me scream again.

A fool’s impossible hope.

But before he could start, he stiffened. His head snapped to the side, nostrils flaring. “What the?—”

The cage rattled. Screams echoed through the halls. I grinned.

“What did you do?” Clauneck’s eyes blazed with fury.

“Me?” I laughed. The sound was harsh, edged with madness and triumph. “I’ve been in this cage, remember? Your hospitality leaves much to be desired.”

Another tremor shook the palace. Cracks spiderwebbed across the marble floors. Clauneck’s minions scurried about like rats fleeing a sinking ship.

“Sounds like you pissed off the wrong person,” I commented, turning my sprawl across the floor of the cage to a relaxed lounge. As relaxed as broken ribs allowed.

Clauneck rose from his throne and stalked toward me. His hands flicked through the motions of a spell, the words hissed through gritted teeth.

But the ground only rumbled harder. The walls shook, bits of debris raining down on us. I grasped the bars, clinging to them as the cage swung.

She materialized in the center of the room, a vision of terrible beauty. Gone was the scared, confused woman I’d stolen from the altar. In her place stood a queen of shadows, her skin glowing with power and her eyes burning with righteous fury.

The demon’s face paled. For the first time in centuries, I saw fear flicker across his features.

It was delicious.

“Hello, Clauneck,” Josephine purred, her voice a deadly caress. “Looking for this?”

Alain knelt at her feet, his body bent and shivering. Dark energy coiled around his neck and tethered him to her. She jerked the leash, and his body contorted in a painful arc.

“You,” the demon snarled. “How dare you enter my domain? Fuck with my followers?”

“Your domain? Not anymore. Your followers?” Josephine’s laugh was cold and sharp as a blade. “I gorged myself on their power.”

I chuckled, the sound as raw and grating as it felt in my throat. “Looks like someone got sloppy with the knife play, Clauneck. Your pet there fucked up big time.”

Clauneck turned icy eyes on Alain. A muscle along his vessel’s perfect jaw twitched as he realized the threat that forced her way through his wards and stood before him.

The only kind that could truly threaten a demon.

“Younickedher?”

---