Page 98 of Laid Bare

Oh my gods.A waterfall of tears trails down my face as I beg my vampire to get up. To move. To do something other than lay there.

Luka and Thaddeus break away from the fight, racing over to check on my mate and their fallen friend, but the others don’t follow. They rejoin the line, watching on like this is the circus and we’re the sideshow freaks here for their entertainment.

It dawns on me a second later what they’re doing.

“It’s a trap!” I scream, but the realization didn’t come in time.

Zane and Bane join hands, and a stream of hellfire races across the floor with my guys and Thaddeus in the middle.

The second the two ends meet in the middle, forming a perfect circle, my bubble of safety flickers before dying out completely.

“Run, Bailey!” Luka yells, cursing as he tries to resurrect his shield around me, but no matter how many times he attempts it, it doesn’t return.

I tense, ready to run, even as my soul screams not to leave them behind. Only I never get the chance. Two steel-band-like grips latch onto my biceps, lifting me into the air and leaving my legs to dangle beneath me.

Aero, my Pegasus pony, who I completely forgot was tucked under my hair, plasters his tiny body against the back of my neck and a static-like electricity starts rolling over my skin. The little sparks, invisible to the naked eye, turn up a notch until there’s mini lightning bolts erupting on every inch of my flesh.

“Cool trick, little girl. It tickles,” the dick to my right chortles.

I don’t know what Aero’s plan was, but it’s obvious that whatever he was trying to do failed.

But I don’t care about that. No. Not at the moment. Right now, my eyes are trained on the two demons I gave parts of my soul to.

“Bane,” I call his name, hoping for him to snap out of whatever the fuck this is. “Baney,” I choke out next, knowing healwaysreacts to the stupid nickname I gave him.

Nothing. Not even a twitch on his handsome face.

“Zane, please look at me,” I plead, turning my gaze to him next. But he remains lifeless, staring ahead, not even a flicker of recognition in those dark orbs I’ve been falling into every night for the past week.

No. This isn’t right.

Something is wrong with them. It’s easy to see. There’s no way they’d hurt Axel and hold back Luka and Thaddeus from protecting me.

I struggle in the arms of my captors, the sparks of electricity licking across my body having no effect on them whatsoever.

I need to check on my vampire, make sure he’s okay, and get to my demons. Figure out what’s holding them in a trance-like state.

“We got her. You two are dismissed,” the prick on my left orders, his voice different from the one calling the shots earlier, while the one on my right starts to conjure a portal with one hand.

Almost like flipping a switch, the hellfire circle holding my other two mates and my friend captive disappears, releasing them from the fiery circle of confinement. But it’s already too late. The lightning bolt flashing in Luka’s hand is poised and ready to strike.

“Luka! No!”

“I’m sorry, goddess. I made a promise that if these two fucks put you in harm’s way, I’d end them, and I never break my promise.”

There’s a sickening smell of burnt flesh after Luka follows through with this swing. Clarity returns to my demons’ eyes for tick before their lights dim completely. Their heads slip from their bodies, hitting the floor with a nauseating thud.

Pain. All-encompassing pain engulfs my body, and the inhumane scream that rips from my throat is the only warning everyone gets before I detonate.

My pink fire explodes with the first shred of my soul, ripping the bond right out of me. The two guys holding me bellow in pain, but it’s drowned out by the cry still leaving my lips. Their hold on me disappears in a pop of ash, and I fall to my knees just as the second wave begins.

If I thought it hurt before, it has nothing on the second time my soul tears, taking with it the bond I shared with my other demon mate.

My fire is on a path of destruction, taking down every single person who hasn’t gotten a chance to escape yet, and mangling the ones who were killed earlier. The bodies left behind are charred beyond recognition, and not even supernatural forensics will be able to identify who the perpetrators are.

Only three remain safe from my fury, and that’s because my magic knows who they are. What they mean to me. Even if my demi-god is the reason I’m currently feeling like it’s the end of the world.

There is one thing I know with absolute certainty, though. I’ll find the person or persons behind this beautiful betrayal—because I refuse to believe my demons did this willingly—and I’ll kill them myself.

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