Page 88 of Demons of Eden

I try to take the moment of apparent distraction to attempt another attack but find my feet locked in place and my magic unresponsive. The bastard clearly isn’t taking any chances.

His eyes flick up, staring piercingly at me as he registers what I was attempting. “It appears children are more troublesome than I anticipated, even the adult ones.”

“I’m not your child,” I growl. If I could move, I’d go for him again, whether it’s a stupid decision to do it or not. How fucking dare he…the fucking audacity to strike that claim here—where hemurderedher.

“You are. Althea may have hidden you for all of these years, but now you will finally take your place where you belong. Once we fix what she broke.”

“It’s gone. You can’t make it come back,” I tell him, despite feeling pretty confident that he’s going to try no matter how well I bluff.

“We shall see.”

“It won’t, but even if it did, I’d only use that power to kill you.”

The demon laughs coldly at the threat, simply flicking his hand and sending me into the wall with a harsh thump. In less than a second, he’s crossed the space between us, his hand pressing against my throat as he forces me to meet his eyes.

“With it unlocked, you will be powerful,” he admits, although it feels more as if he’s somehow making a compliment to himself for his genetic contribution. “As a hybrid, your raw potential will likely exceed even my own. However, do not mistake that raw power for the ability to best me. I have lived for a very long time, and I’ve spent my years of existence wisely, rising to the very top of iracaedi. Your attempt would be nothing more than an infant wielding a sledgehammer.”

“It doesn't change that I will never help you. Ihateyou, and I’ll spend every single moment trying to end your miserable existence.”

“You will do as I tell you. There will not be any other choice. We could have done this the easy way, had Althea not interfered with my ability to form a bond with you as a child; however, I’m sure pain will be a sufficient motivator. Eventually, you’ll learn your place.”

“Never gonna happen, asshole,” I inform him, my voice sounding far calmer and more confident than I feel.

“Enough,” he orders sharply, pulling me off from the wall just to slam me back into it again. It hurts worse than being thrown into it had. I can imagine the bruises already. “You should have far more respect for your sire. No matter; I will simply have to teach it to you.”

“Good luck with that.”

To my surprise and discomfort, the corners of his mouth curl up, unfazed, but the smile is a cold, twisted expression on his face. “We’ll start by fixing what was broken. Now, behave and try not to scream too much.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

I’m holding my breath as I look around the field, needing to make sure everyone I care about is okay, that they’ve survived. Suvi spots our arrival first and runs straight to my side.

“Your brother and Kit went to find your parents,” she explains quickly, probably sensing my fears or knowing me well enough to predict exactly where my head would go when I didn’t see them waiting here with the others. I can’t speak, simply nodding as I check the clearing for everyone else. “Holy hells, girl. I thought shit got crazy here, and then you just—where's all that blood from?”

“That’d be me,” Rio answers, smirking slightly as Suvi checks us both over with a critical eye. Probably confused and concerned over how there’s so much blood despite him being alive and looking mostly well. I have to push her aside for the moment, though.

Torrin comes jogging over next, panting, and wiping sweat off his brow. His hazel eyes go wide as he also takes in all the blood, but Rio raises a hand, cutting him off before he can ask.

“I was stabbed. Eden healed me.” He announces it indifferently, as if he’s describing the temperature outside.Yeah, it’s a little warm but tolerable. No biggie.

He might be calm, but I can feel my heart rate rising every second.Something is wrong.My ears ring as I move past my demon hunter, my chest tightening with worry.

Don’t panic yet. Keep calm.

Ash is grinning like a madman as he appears before me, placing his hand onto my belly. He frowns at all of the blood but must know none of it belongs to me, seeing as he doesn’t ask.

“Glad I didn’t need to kill half the planet to save you, little witch.” Ash chuckles at his own words, winking. Normally, I enjoy his playful charms, but right now I barely notice. The heavy sense of wrong finally clicks into understanding as I realise what the problem is. Someone is still missing.

Where the hell is Daion?

My best effort to sprint toward the bodies still littering the ground is a pathetic waddle at best. I shove my way past the others from my coven, the ones who took our side, and frantically search for Daion among the blood and dirt. I need to find him, but I’m even more desperate to not see his face with the rest of the dead.

There’s no way he could have died here. Not Daion.

“He’s not here. Where is he? Where’s Daion?” The pitch of my voice rises as I spin to face the others once again, finding they’d all followed me over here.

“He went to go and check something out during the fight,” Torrin explains, frowning as he glances around. “I thought he’d be back by now, but we’ll find him.”

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