Page 1 of Rage of the Fallen

CHAPTER ONE

The once-vast Aegis serpent’s cave now felt suffocating. Walls seemed to close in, trapping us between the colossal serpent and something far worse. My lungs burned, each breath a struggle, as if the serpent’s massive coils were squeezing the life out of me.

I won’t hurt you, the serpent’s voice slithered through my mind.You’re not the enemy. But this one comes from the deepest, darkest depths of hell. Run.

Ice flooded my veins, and I risked a glance over my shoulder. The cave’s mouth gaped barely twenty feet away, yet it might as well have been a million miles. Justice, Damon, Zara, Brody, and Lisa huddled behind me, their faces etched with the same paralyzing fear I felt.

Brody was alive again, and Lisa was on our side, but Maci wasn’t done with us yet.

Maci stood before us, a vision of terrible beauty. Her long black hair cascaded over her shoulders like a waterfall of midnight. Her pale skin had an otherworldly glow, contrasting sharply with the darkness surrounding her. Her eyes, pools of deep obsidian, glittered with malice and something else. A hunger that froze my blood.

She raised a slender arm, pointing a long, tapered finger at me. Her nail was more like a claw. Sharp, curved, and stained with what looked disturbingly like dried blood.

“You don’t think you can escape us?” Maci purred, her voice a hypnotic blend of silk and venom. A cruel smile played across her lips, revealing teeth too sharp to be human. “You foolish Chosen Ones. You’ll never leave this cave alive.”

The Aegis serpent hissed, its forked tongue dancing in the air. Its ancient eyes, gleaming with otherworldly intelligence, fixed upon our true threat. The snake was terrifying, but what terrified me more was the demon of rage.

He could have stepped off Wall Street. Crisp suit, polished shoes, manicured hands. But those eyes…endless voids swallowing all light.

No light.

No soul.

Only rage.

His shadow fell over me like an eclipse, transforming me from person to prey. I felt minuscule, insignificant. An ant waiting to be crushed beneath his polished shoe. Justice, Brody, and my brother were far from short, but this thing towered over them, a skyscraper of malevolence.

As he drew closer, I could see his skin. If you could call it that. It was almost translucent, a ghastly canvas stretched over a framework of pulsing, angry red veins. The effect was horrifying, like staring at a living anatomy model from some nightmare medical school.

His deep black suit was impeccable. It clung to his towering frame perfectly, as if tailored by demons with a flair for haute couture. He looked ready for a high-end fashion show, not a hellish confrontation in a dank cave.

But it was his face that truly paralyzed me with terror. Classically handsome features—high cheekbones, strong jaw,aquiline nose—were twisted into a mask of barely contained rage. Those eyes, like twin black holes, burned with an inner fire that threatened to consume everything in its path.

Then, he smiled.

Dear God, that smile. It was wide and predatory, filled with teeth too sharp, too numerous for any human mouth. That grin promised pain, reveled in the prospect of inflicting suffering. The smile of a beast that enjoyed playing with its food before devouring it whole.

The demon’s gaze locked onto me, and I felt naked, exposed, as if he could see every fear, every weakness I possessed. He took a slow, deliberate step forward, his movement liquid grace and lethal intent.

“You’re a pretty little thing,” he purred, his voice a blend of velvet and venom.

Justice was there, his broad back a wall between me and the approaching nightmare. “Stay away from her,” he growled.

At that moment, Justice’s presence overwhelmed my senses. The cool aura emanating from him seemed to wrap around me, a stark contrast to the paralyzing fear that had gripped me seconds before. His scent, a mix of earth after a rain and something uniquely him, filled my nostrils, grounding me in the midst of chaos. The low rumble of his growl reverberated through my body, sending tremors of fear and comfort coursing through my veins.

Justice would do anything to protect me. I knew that with bone-deep certainty. His unwavering loyalty had been proven time and time again, each sacrifice etching itself into my heart. However, though he was a vampire with all the supernatural strength and speed that entailed, a flicker of doubt gnawed at my mind. Was he strong enough to face this demon? The creature exuded an ancient, primordial power that made the air thick and oppressive.

My gaze traced the taut lines of Justice’s back, noting the tension in every corded muscle. He stood immovable, a shield of flesh and bone between me and oblivion. The sight of him, so fierce and determined, stirred something within me. He was more than my protector. He was my knight in shining armor, my north star in a world gone mad.

Memories flashed through my mind. Justice’s rare smile, the gentle touch of his hand, the softness of his lips, the depths of understanding in his eyes. Each tender moment we shared, each trial we’d faced together, had woven an unbreakable bond between us. His lips and his hands on my body, branding me, filled with a fury to protect me.

He was my life, the reason I found strength to face each new danger. The thought of losing him again, of watching him snatched away from me as he had been in the Unseelie realm, twisted my nerves into knots.

I refused to lose him again. Not to this demon, not to Maci, not to anyone or anything. My fingers twitched, longing to reach out and touch him, to infuse him with my own determination. In this deadly dance of monsters and magic, Justice wasn’t only my protector. He was my heart, beating outside my chest.

“Ah, the vampire.” The demon chuckled. “Her protector. Hertruelove.” His sharp voice grated on my nerves.

Justice gritted his teeth. “Like I said, stay away from her.”

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