Page 40 of Releasing Darkness

Soldiers flooded the elevator. Instead of grabbing me or my brothers, the females screamed as rough hands grabbed them, dragging them from the metal box. I growled, struggling to get up to help as Sasha fought beside me, trying to slice the arm of the male holding her. He screamed as his arm fell to the floor. Then she turned, grabbing Juliette while stabbing the male who had his arms around her with the dagger through his left eye. Once Juliette was free from the shrieking male, Sasha pushed her with a hard shove back into the elevator before immediately turning to grab Kallista.

As soon as she sank her blade into the arm of the male holding Kallista, Sasha was yanked backward by her long red braid. She let out a pained, startled scream as she fell to the floor with a thud. I struggled to get to my feet as she was dragged toward the portal by her hair. During the surprise attack, Sasha had dropped her blade and used both of her hands to hold onto her scalp as she kicked her legs, writhing on the floor, trying to free herself.

Just as I took a step forward to help my mate, three more arrows struck me. Two more hit my chest, while the third landed in my thigh. As I roared in pain, Sasha made eye contact with me. I could read the pain and the fear in her eyes as she lied to me.

“I will be okay, Varos! I swear it! I will be okay.”

Then she disappeared through the portal.

Chapter

Twenty-Four

SASHA

My scalp was screaming in agony, and it was everything I could do to try to keep my hair from being ripped clean off my head. If I’d still had my dagger, instead of dropping it like a fucking idiot, I would have cut my own hair off. Instead, my own body was used as a weapon against me.

Seeing Varos look so furious and terrified made me want to cry. As I was being dragged away, all I could think to do was reassure him. It was a poor excuse for comfort. We all knew I likely wouldn't make it out of the situation alive. And if I was taken to my father, because I had no doubts that was my ultimate destination, I was going to suffer horribly before he ended my life for good.

I was sighing in relief that everyone else seemed to be safe in Brimstone as the soldiers poured back through the portal into the Underworld. But when Kallista was dragged through with a knife to her throat, I began to scream in fury.

“No! Take her back! She isn’t a part of this! Take her back now, you fucking cowards!” I thrashed in the hold of the male who was still dragging me, twisting my body until I caughtsight of his sword. With a grunt, I launched myself toward it, my fingers just grazing the hilt enough that I managed to wrap my fingers around it. With the fierce yank I gave it, the soldier stumbled sideways, giving me enough slack on my hair to twist my head along with the sword. I had a terrible angle for what I was attempting to do, and instead of slicing his arm clean off the way I had intended, I cut diagonally across his forearm, the sword sliding across his bone. It was still enough to have him let me go as his scream of agony had every creature nearby scurrying for cover.

I turned back to the male who held Kallista and scrambled to my feet. “I said, let her go, you bastard! Now!”

As I ran toward them, the first male who stepped in my way, thinking to stop me, lost his head. The second one received a deep gash to his belly. Depending on what breed of demon he was, he may be able to survive. Too bad I didn’t give half a shit. I advanced on the male holding my new friend, bloody sword raised for battle, when a deep, commanding voice had the blood freezing in my veins.

“Halt!”

Fingers of dread crawled up my spine, and my already labored breathing started coming out in pants, causing spots to dance in my vision as I began to hyperventilate.Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.I couldn’t face him. I always wondered what I would do if I ever saw him again. Oftentimes, I imagined myself staring him down, taunting him. Sometimes, I saw myself simply slicing open his throat and watching him bleed out with a smile on my face.

Instead, I was frozen with terror at being near my father again.

“Well, look at you, daughter. So impressive. In mere seconds, you took down three of my best guards. Someone taught you well, I see. Amazing." I heard him clapping his hands slowly,mockingly, as he came closer. "I didn’t think a female was capable of this kind of brutality. Is that what happens to females in the Earth realm? Or were you just lucky?”

I took a deep gulp of air into my burning lungs as tears prickled my eyes. I was still frozen in place, struck dumb by an inner trauma I thought I had overcome long ago. Instead, it seemed I had lied to myself, as it had apparently just been lying dormant deep inside me.

The High General circled around me as he spoke, studying me, taking in every single weakness I had tried to train out of myself. As he came to stop in front of me, he snatched my left wrist and held it up, looking at the black mating brand as he tsked. “You were meant to be given to my best soldier as a reward for service. You females can’t do anything right. Can you?”

Then he gave a vicious twist, and I cried out as I felt and heard the bones break in my wrist. At the same time, one of the soldiers snatched the sword that I had forgotten I was still holding in my right hand. Shame filled me as I realized I had the means to end him right there in my grasp but was too frozen in fear to move.

I bowed my head, unable to meet his eyes. As I cradled my wrist to my chest, I could already feel the bones starting to mend together. But I had a feeling that nothing would ever be able to mend my wounded pride or my broken heart.

“It doesn’t matter anymore, though, does it?” my father asked in a deceptively light tone. “You’ve already betrayed me.” I didn’t see the backhand coming, though I had been expecting it. I landed on the hard ground, my hand instinctively moving to the burning skin as I stifled the sob that wanted to escape from my throat. The blow had split the skin on my cheekbone, but that, too, would heal quickly.

“I will make you pay for what you’ve done, you deceitful bitch! How did you manage to get all my soldiers away from their posts? How did you plan the escape?" He screamed down at me, spittle flying. "I should have tossed you in the fire as soon as you were born with a cunt. Both you and your pitiful waste of a sister.”

“Don’t speak of my sister!” I shrieked, my fragile control breaking. “You are nothing but a murdering monster who destroys everything good and kind.”

The kick to my ribs had me rolling over with a pained grunt. I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the next blow. I didn’t have to wait long. I cried out as the sword I had stolen was driven into the back of my thigh. Not wanting to give him too much of a show of weakness, I gritted my teeth, holding back the screams of pain I felt when he twisted the blade before pulling it out. I was starting to understand that this male had no intention of letting me live out the rest of the day.

A slight movement distracted me enough to catch my eye. I blinked, trying to make what I was glimpsing come into focus. I thought I must have really been delirious with pain when I realized several sticks were lining themselves up at the edge of the path leading into the North Forest. I squinted as I watched them… sharpen themselves.What the fuck?

The next kick had me sprawling to my other side, and it took all I had to hold in my cry of pain as my thigh burned with fire. I slowly turned my head to face Kallista, wanting to apologize for putting her in so much danger. They had no reason to keep her in the Underworld other than to be hateful. I didn't want to imagine what Valen and Varos were going through at that moment. Considering Varek had always been unable to enter the portal, I could only assume that the other brothers had been warded against it as well. It was just me and Kallista, and I wasn’t sure I would live through the next few moments.

A tear escaped my eye and rolled down to my temple to soak into my hair.I’m sorry.I mouthed the words to her, hoping she knew how deeply I regretted that she had been pulled into this situation. Through bleary eyes, I saw her tap her leg. I had to blink several times to clear my vision enough to see what she was doing.

Kallista held three fingers against her thigh, tapping them in a subtle movement I nearly missed. I darted my eyes up to hers to see that she was staring at me, and then she moved her gaze toward the tree line, over to where the sticks were acting strangely. She was concentrating, her whole focus in the direction of the sticks, as she curled one finger into her palm, leaving two.

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