Page 130 of Legendary

Lilith was right next to Elise now, looming near her ear. “Getting boys to fight your battles, huh?”

Elise thrashed her arms out, but Lilith was gone. She turned back around just to face Lilith again, but the dark queen raised her hand and smacked her across the face before grabbing her by the chin, raising her up as if she weighed nothing. “You were such a wild card when I took you in.” She tilted Elise’s face right to left, inspecting her.

Dani let shadow demons loose and I ran through them, shredding them with my sword one after the other until they puffed up in black smoke or shook violently and disappeared. Reese shot into the sky to reach the high ground, releasing his angelic arrows at any demon he could. Dani followed suit and let her wings out, pursuing him as I fought my way to Lilith, dipping my sword down and aiming for her side or her stomach.

Right as my sword slashed at her body, I heard Elise’s strained voice. “It’s a shame you can’t kill me, right?” My blade cut into Lilith, and she immediately dropped Elise, who caught herself before she completely fell to the floor. Lilith clamped hand to her side and hissed at me. I was about to run my blade into her again, but I heard wings behind me, felt hands grip my shirt. I was yanked from the ground and flown high toward the ceiling; I looked up to find Dani staring back at me with pitch black eyes, her expression uncaring and unmoved.

An arrow whizzed by her head and she ducked, snarling over at where Reese had another arrow ready, blazing with his angelic magic as he aimed right for us. Right forher. He let the arrow fly and she smiled in return, but she also let me go. I sailed to the ground faster than I thought, but I manifested my wings out, catching myself right before I hit the ground. The tips of my wings glazed over the stones as I soared upward.

Elise shot out red shadow flames, causing the shadow demons to run rampant, running into each other and making the flames grow higher. Dani flew up behind Reese and lassoed a dark rope around his throat, throttling him forward then back. He dropped his bow, and she held him against her, tightening the rope. He brought his elbow back towards her face, causing her to pull back and growl. She readjusted her hand on the rope and pulled again as he twisted his arm around, collecting light in his hand and pressing it against her face as best he could. I could hear her scream as she let go of therope and used more shadows to cinch his wings together, harder and harder. She tugged so hard, parts of his wings tore and fell to the ground.

I flapped my wings harder, shaking off the shadow demons that had jumped onto me, trying to pull me down. I flipped my sword in my hand and hit Dani with the hilt before she realized what was happening. She fumbled back and I cut the rope with my weapon, severing her connection to Reese. He yelled in agony as he flew towards the ground, and I quickly followed, trying to catch him, only to end up falling over once he was in my arms.

Elise had her tail aimed at Lilith when the doors slammed open. Dimitri pushed Garrett’s scarred, bloody body into the room, while two shadow demons dumped Beetee’s naked, bruised one next to him. They were both breathing, but just barely. “Haven’t seen a demon with an anchoring tattoo in some time now.” Dimitri fixed the sleeves of his jacket, the material ripped in places, his shirt untucked and covered in dirt and blood. Blood gathered near his lips, but he stuck his tongue out to lick it away.

Isabel sent rainbow-hued magic towards Elise, tying her hands behind her back, sparks flying from her wrists. Lilith watched on with interest but then looked over at Beetee. “Anchoring tattoo? Hmm…we’ll have to keep that one then, won’t we? And Garrett, it’s about time you returned to me.”

“Your fight is with us, not with them!” I yelled, gaining her attention. She gave me a knowing look, pushing her foot against Beetee’s arm as the pinked haired demon groaned.

“Anyone who threatens what I want is a problem. I wish you would understand that.” The doors closed behind Isabel and Dimitri as they looked down at the friends we’d made with disgust. Reese tried to get to his feet, but Dimitri pinned him down with a look, his eyes turning red. I knew every angry feeling Reese ever had was coming back to haunt him when he screamed out, holding a shaky hand to his head. Isabel released another stream of colorful magic at Elise, taking hold of her throat. Every time her tail tried to remove them, it snapped back, singed from the electric current.

I felt my hands burning with angelic light and I shot it at Isabel who raised her hands towards her face, trying to shield herself from it. Unfortunately for her, angelic magic could be hot, close to the temperature of the sun if you really felt like it. Her arms were red and bleeding as the skin melted off, and she screamed as she held her arms out from her face, seeing the disfiguration I’d caused.

“You little fucking shit!” she cursed while Dimitri stood nearby snickering. Lilith put her hand up, using her magic to shut Isabel’s mouth, silencing her for the time being.

“Finish this, my love,” Lilith ordered, not talking to either of the creaturesin front of me, but to the demon who shifted towards me the moment Lilith commanded. “I’m eager to see Heaven’s Gate fall to the one who saved them, the Soul Seether who wouldn’t yield. Look at her now: everything they knew she’d be.” Dani gripped the front of my shirt, slamming me into the wall, putting pressure on my chest.

“I do love when she puts on a show,” I heard Dimitri say as he leaned against the wall.

Lilith admired Dani from a distance. “Start with the handsome one first.” She said it like she knew that if Dani was herself, it would hurt her to hurt me. The dagger in my waistband dug into my skin, reminding me it was there.

The room rumbled as shadow demons erupted from the floor, and alongside them, vines of silvery black thread snaked from the cracks. Dani’s magic overtook Isabel’s, wrapping around Elise’s tail and then around the psycho demon herself. Elise thrashed and fought, trying to use her own reddish shadows to deter Dani’s, but it was no use. Dani was stronger, and she lifted her up, not looking away from me, and pressed her against the wall. Elise was trapped like a spider as the shadows covered her mouth, stopping her from speaking as they moved into her eyes, cutting off her sight.

Reese was pushed back down by shadows, a misty foot slamming down on his back, pressing into his broken wings. The silvery black threads grew from the ground, and one of them formed itself into an arrow, aiming for his calf. He let out a loud cry of pain as it made contact, and blood gushed from his leg. Incredibly, the arrow was still there, as if holding him in place.

I tried to fight Dani, wanting to use my sword in some way against her, but she used her shadows to trap one of my wrists against the wall, her hand grasping the one holding my sword. I hadn’t realized how strong she actually was, how much effort she wasn’t putting into keeping me pinned. She slammed my hand against the stone over and over until the vibration sent my sword flying to the ground.

She brought her other hand up and cupped her fingers, as if she was squeezing something and I felt the shadows tighten around my wrists. She did it again and again before she flicked her wrist, and I heard a snap. I swore and bit my tongue when I heard my wrist snap. The sharp pain pushed through me, but I couldn’t dwell on it, not right now. Her shadows were like pin pricks on my skin and her black eyes bore into my soul. I knew she was right in front of me; I could feel her skin and even smell that familiar cinnamon scent, everything else, though…none of it was the same.

“Dani, stop.” Her shadows wrapped around my legs and around my chest, pushing down, making it hard to breathe. She reached up and grippedmy hair pulling my head back. “Please, remember who you are,” I pleaded, feeling the sting at my scalp. Shadows wrapped around my throat, burning my skin as they pulled at pieces of my soul.

I felt her laughter vibrate through me, dark and hollow. “Poor Nicholas—so lost, so pathetic thinking you can save anybody.” Her voice was the same, but it was missing the tone that made her…her. Shadows swirled near us, and they started to tear apart and morph into something else, but she kept her eyes on me. I heard Reese’s cries of pain as he flexed his fingers and tried to reach for his bow, mere centimeters from his fingertips.

“You only have yourself to blame. So weak, such a sorry excuse for an angel.” I looked to my right, stunned to see Jonah’s face, I looked to my left and again, Jonah’s face. I tried to blink it away, but they only got closer. She tugged my hair harder, tightening the shadow around my neck. Her nails forced themselves against the fabric of my shirt, and I could feel my skin starting to break from the pressure. She’d taken some of my pain, some of my hurt, and now she was relaying it back to me. Whatever she was now, she was using it against me in the worst way.

You are always enough, Nicholas Cassial. Broken and in pieces, you are enough.

Her words ran through me, and I held onto them, knowing they were said by the real Dani. That was how she really thought about me, not this. This wasn’t her at all. “Dani, you have to stop.” I took a breath as I watched Lilith assessing the scene. She looked proud of Dani. She’d turned her into the monster she always thought she’d be, the monster I told her she never was. “It’s me, Dani, you have to know that. This isn’t you.”

She smirked as she pressed harder, and I could feel my heart race as I felt her shadows plunging into my veins. She wanted me to hurt, and she wasn’t even hesitating. She didn’t have to harm me in any way that left a physical bruise because what I was seeing, what I was feeling was hurtful enough.

Heroes are allowed to be broken; it doesn’t make them any less of a hero.

I closed my eyes, telling myself Jonah would forgive me and maybe one day I would be able to forgive myself. Darkness or not, I was okay, even when I wasn’t. The shadows that mimicked Jonah’s face were so vivid and life-like that they almost made me cave, but I couldn’t, I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction. I could accept my pain, but it didn’t own me.

“I can’t wait to see you submit,” she smirked as I yelled out from the pain of her fingers digging into me.

“You’re good, Dani, you’re something good,” I said, hoping there was some glimmer of light in her black eyes. Then she blinked, and it was like I had hit a nerve. Just as quickly as it came, it disappeared, and she raised aneyebrow as she continued to block my airways. My vision was starting to get hazy, and that darkness was starting to burn my insides, binding themselves to my entire being.

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