Page 86 of Demons of Eden

“Oh, ew,” I hiss, wrinkling my nose at the nasty sight.

“At first, I just wanted them dead for what they’d done, but then instead of pulling their energy into myself the way it usually happens, I felt…it’s hard to explain.” She pauses, taking a deep breath. “It was like a pushing of the flow coming from inside me. It shoved the power away from me and towards you. I think the baby was showing me how to use the vitav to heal you,” Eden murmurs the last part of her explanation, like she’s worried I’ll be offended by it.

My eyebrows shoot up as I turn back to her and question, “So, they helped save me too?”

Eden bites her lip as she nods in silent answer.

I set one of my hands on the top of her large rounded belly, leaning closer to whisper, “Thanks for the save, little one.”

She settles her hand over mine as she sniffles loudly. We stay like that for a moment, taking the chance to process and take comfort in the fact that all three of us are still alive.

“We need to go and help the others,” she eventually says. It feels too soon to carry on after what happened, but she’s right; we can’t leave my brothers and everyone else on our side to keep fighting without us. They also need to know Eden’s safe, as I know they’ve all got to be losing their minds right now.

“Okay,” I agree, glancing at her wings. “You think you can stow these bad boys? I’m not complaining, but the demon haters out there might, and they do draw a lot of attention.”

“Sure, I’ll try.” She climbs off my lap but refuses to take her hand off mine as I manage to get to my feet. She shouldn’t look so worried; I feel pretty great for having been stabbed.Twice.

“Hey.” I tug her back into my arms and then whisper, “I’m okay now. They’re both dead, and we’re all alive.” She looks up at me with sad eyes, tears still falling down her cheeks despite my words. “I’m sorry you had to go through that, but I need you to know there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you and this baby. If I have to die a thousand times over to keep you both safe, I will.”

“I don’t want you todiefor me, you moron,” she snaps, glaring at me through her tears, glowing red eyes turning back to her normal shade of blue. “I swear I’m tying you up in a basement the second this mess is over.”

“You can try.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

It’s fucking chaos. Spells are flying across the field as the witches on either side fight each other with their magic. Forrest’s fox shifter husband is putting his sharp teeth to good use too, and even the damn field sprites have got involved. They’ve swarmed the area to throw things, bite, and jab at several unlucky eyeballs. They’re surprisingly effective for beings no taller than fourteen inches on the larger end of the scale.

From an outward perspective, things seem to be going in our favour, but something still isn’t right. Ash is definitely moving strangely. I’d write it off as catching a nasty spell from one of the witches if I wasn’t also feeling like a weight has been tied to all of my limbs. It’s not just my physical body that feels weighed down either. There’s a strange dulling to my power as I cast, like a heavy blanket has been thrown over it. It seems to have affected me more slowly than it has with Ash, but it’s undeniably doing something, and it’s nothing good.

A terrible suspicion is nagging at my mind as I reach for the crystal hanging under my shirt. It’s been constantly warm with Eden and Ash’s presences recently, but now, only part of the crystal glows pink. The other half is clearly darker and deeper incolour, undeniably red. Red means iracaedi, and my powers are still very much sealed, which meanshe’shere.

I can’t let him get to Eden. I won’t.

I catch Torrin’s eye and quickly flash him a few of our hand signs.

Trouble. Demon. Checking it out.

He nods, expression clearly concerned, but he doesn’t have the time to ask questions as a wave of power comes hurtling at his head. He dodges and returns fire with a more precise use of his own magic, following it with a physical blow to the moron’s face. Satisfied my brother has it covered, I go hunting for the monster who destroyed my life once already. He won’t get to do it a second time.

Finding a demon isn’t all that challenging when it’s what you’ve trained for most of your life. As I track him, I find myself crossing into the next field over, feeling the weights on my limbs and magic lessen with every step. I head right towards a large, ugly-looking tree, and a figure leaps down from the branches before I can get too close.

“I was beginning to wonder if I would need to end the enchantment to come and fetch you, or if you would come to me,” the demon says as his yellow and black slitted eyes stare at me with an unreadable expression. I feel a chill shoot down my spine at his voice.

“So, you know.”

It’s obvious that he’s figured it out, but how?

“That you’re not as dead as I believed? Only for the last few minutes,” he answers, a hint of irritation bleeding into his otherwise emotionless words. “The spell was only meant to affect that moronic incubus, delaying him from following when I went to intercept where they had planned to sacrifice her.”

“They’re—”

“The blond one has gone after her, so he will have to rescue her now,” the demon waves a dismissive hand, cutting me off, then continues on as if I hadn't spoken at all. “I had planned to let her see the real danger she was in, that I was correct in my assumption the witches would come for her. I had hoped it would make her a little more…compliant to my protection.”

His protection?

The urge to gouge his eyes out with my bare hands crosses my mind, but I restrain myself from acting too rashly. He’s too dangerous to underestimate. Instead, I reach for my magic, finding it’s still not fully recovered from whatever the hell enchantment he placed on the other field. I need a little more time to recover.

“How did you get past the barrier?” I ask, attempting to stall him.

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