Page 76 of Hell Gate

They’re in trouble.

I take off, following the sounds of powers clashing as my pulse races. The steeper incline nearly trips me with uneven roots and the underbrush I crash through in my need to get to my mates. My heel slips on muddy leaves and I lose my balance. The wind knocks out of me when I land and slide down the hill for several feet, twigs and rocks jabbing my legs, my hair tie snagging and pulling free. Gritting my teeth, I push to my feet and keep going.

Three snarling howls echo around me, the familiar noises gutting me. I falter, my bond aching.

No, no, no. How did our enemies find us? This morning Valerian said there weren’t any traces of demons in the area. Could they have masked their presence with magic and carefully planned an attack while we thought we were safe?

It doesn’t matter. I have to get to them and help.

They are my everything. The matching shards of my heart and soul that bind together to make us whole together. They’re where I fit and I’m terrified of losing it and being isolated again without my fated mates.

I can’t think straight. Can’t breathe as terror settles like a leaden weight in the depths of my stomach.

Reaching the base of the hill, I burst out onto a backroad. An abandoned strip mall is across the street with the windows blacked out and half the buildings covered in graffiti. A crash inside an arcade at the end spurs me into action.

My ragged breaths scrape my throat and with a vicious slash of my hand, fire wraps around my fist. The locked handle melts beneath the searing heat covering my fingers and I shoulder my way inside.

“No!” I scream as I rush forward.

A frighteningly large demon with dark brown coiffed hair in a white suit oversees everything with a bored expression while several other thin, monstrous looking demons jump around the room chaotically, their features twisted in chilling fanged grins that stretch their skin. A woman in tight leather and a cloak shifts over to keep me at bay.

My worst fears play out before me.

Valerian, Alder, and Matthias fight the laughing demons that have them bound in chains. Valerian bares his fangs while Alder’s claws spark against their bindings. Matthias’ eyes glint with fury as he jerks against the restraints.

They won’t break. They must be infused with magic to drain their strength because they’re not using their flames.

Instinctively, my power takes over, fueled by my fury at seeing my mates hurt. Except when I push out to rain an attack on my enemies, the flames sputter out, stealing my breath as unbearable pain lances through my chest.

No. Not now. Don’t fail me when I need to save them.

I try again. Again.Again.

Nothing. My powers won’t obey while my mates are tortured before my eyes.

One of the demons stabs Matthias in the chest, right through his heart. Ice spreads through me, the stab echoing in my own chest as if those claws carved through my heart by stabbing my mate.

A wail wrenches from me as our eyes meet. He mouths my name before his eyes go dark. I freeze as his head slumps.

“Matthias!” The others fight harder at my shriek, calling for him to get up.

The demons make sure I’m watching as they position themselves behind Alder and Vale next. They struggle, but can’t escape before the laughing demons rip their throats out with their teeth.

Raw power races through me as I fall apart with heavy sobs. It scalds me from the inside out, unable to unleash like I want it to. Like I need it to in a vengeful, raging torrent of hellfire for daring to hurt my mates. My power razes me instead of my enemies.

I keep trying until my arms sear with pain and I struggle to breathe, my skin cracking and burning like paper, embers eating away at my flesh. Ignoring the agonizing scorch of flames, I push myself harder because I can’t lose them.

My failed attempts makes the demon near me peel back her blood red lips in a chilling, satisfied grin. “You should’ve died years ago,” she hisses. “You’re more trouble than you’re worth. We won’t have you wrecking our meticulous planning.”

Two tall, thin demons flanking her release sinister, shrieking, high-pitched hysterical laughter. They dance around, relishing my increasing panic when nothing works. They remind me of Matthias—tricksters, but purely evil.

I can’t break past an invisible barrier that kept me from running to them. Kicking dusty posters and a rotting piece of cardboard away from the floor, I gape at the eerie white glowing symbols circling around me. The bitchy demon and her minions laugh as I pound a fist weakly against the spell keeping me from getting to them.

I’m bound to a magic prison. They baited me. Lured me here after capturing my mates to force me to endure the agony of their deaths.

CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVE

LILY

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