Page 33 of Till Death

The moment he snapped, shadowy forms appeared in the middle of the room between us, solidifying by the second, an additional line blocking the door behind me.

They came at me in a frenzy half a second later. Crawling over each other in their desperation to keep me contained. I reacted on instinct with my stance wide, balancing on the balls of my feet.

This was a demonstration but it was also a warning. What would happen if I tried to come between the demon lord and what he wanted.

There was no easy way for me to get out of this situation without hurting myself in the process. I called for my sword and the moment Bertha materialized in my hand, I swung, meeting the oncoming swarm with a yell of my own because by this point, it was all old hat. I swiped through its leg until I knocked the thing off balance and when it went down, I slammed the steel right down his throat.

A second Halfling almost had me from behind and I whirled just in time to see a claw swipe out from the right and slice the thing’s arm clean off.

The crouched form practically flew into the fray without hesitation, moving on four limbs until something inside of me shattered.

“Cole!”

I barely had enough time to shout his name before something wrapped round my hair and pulled. Nails scraped against my scalp before tugging me back hard and I slammed down into the ground, pain shooting through every limb. Stars flashed before my eyes briefly, darkness crowding the edges of my vision as I struggled to stay conscious.

I gathered enough strength to shift onto my side and swing. The blade made contact with the Halfling and blinding light exploded out from the contact. The flash consumed the room until I had to blink against the glare and when the wail of pain dissipated, when the light shrank back, the creature was gone.

Poof.

Ashes to ashes and all that.

I got to my feet slowly, pushing a hand along my very sore scalp and sighing at Amon. It took way too long for me to fight against the swell of dizziness but with Cole keeping the rest of the swarm distracted… ”This whole thing takes me back,” I said softly. A hint of a smile played on my features. “To the first time I slayed your kind. Almost makes a girl feel nostalgic.”

Once again, pushing his buttons doesn’t seem to make a difference. Amon simply stared at me while he took my measure, and only then I realized the room had gone quiet. No screams or shouts or roars from the other creatures. Nothing except the frenzied gasping of my own lungs.

Oof, this was worse than the noise. This kind of silence seems beneath the skin.

The rest of the Halflings were frozen in place, including Cole, not even a hair out of place on them. As though he’d frozen a particular scene in a movie by pressing the pause button.

“Well?” I prompted when Amon was silent for too long. Rule number one of fighting with demons:posture. When frightened, be boastful and act fearless to establish dominance. Hopefully he didn’t see me quivering in my boots. “What else do you want to throw at me, huh? What other reminders of Cole’s fate do you want to rub in my face?”

I didn’t even glance at Cole because I didn’t want to start crying. He’d come to my aid again and again through the brief time we’d known each other, and even as a semi-transformed Halfling, he hadn’t wanted me to get hurt.

Did I even deserve him?

More on that later.

“You act like this is all a joke, but I can assure you, I’m not joking when I tell you you’re staying here for a long time. In fact, ask my brother. He’ll tell you I have a terrible sense of humor. I’ve never really mastered the art of joke telling, although I can appreciate a good one when I hear it.” Amon flashed a humorless smile to prove his point. “My point, Jade, is that it’s better for me and my kind if you stay here. Don’t you want to spend the last minutes of Cole’s conscious life with him? Before you lose him forever?”

Oh, low blow. Even knowing what Amon tried to do, my stomach churned and bile rose to burn the insides of my throat.

“I’m going to find a way to save him with or without you. You and God—oh, excuse me, you and your baby brother can suck it. I don’t care what you say.” I pointed Bertha straight at Amon’s heart to prove my point. Even when my own beat fast enough to give me a heart attack.

Wouldn’t that be something? The savior, taken down by a surprise aneurysm. I’d go down in the history books for sure. If anyone bothered to write about me.

“Now, I’m going to walk out of here, and I’m taking Cole with me. It’s the end of the discussion.”

I made the mistake of looking down at the man in question. A mistake, because Amon took control of the situation in the split second I broke eye contact. My sword arm seized and I dropped Bertha when a sharp pain began in my wrist and traveled up to my shoulder. I cried out, the pain continuing down my chest and spine until my knees locked and I went down on the ground again hard.

“Listen to me.” Amon’s voice had changed. Deepened into a guttural growl so low I barely made out the individual syllables.

Trying to fight against his hold only made it worse. Cold chills accompanied the pain and whenever my mouth tried to work, my throat clenched and the words died in my throat. A thought from him and the pain began to grow and change, warping my blood so that each heartbeat pumped pure acid through me.

Tears leaked from my eyes but I couldn’t blink. Amon had taken control of my body completely.

“You’re not going anywhere,” he said. “I thought a little taste of what you might face outside of this room would dissuade you from leaving, but again, you showed that stubborn streak of yours. Once you get a goal in mind, you go after it with a singular type of determination. I hate it even as much as I admire it, though I’m not sure which one wins out in the end.”

“The hate,” I claimed. “At least for me.”

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