Page 71 of Hunted By Darkness

I only kept a single dagger for myself. I didn’t need much, not with Tometi by my side. Letting go of the massive man, he stared down at the now ghostly weapons and pouch in open befuddlement.

“The less he has available to him, the better. You saw what Ryker did. This is the best way to keep his things away from him if he wakes up, but don’t ever underestimate what he can do,” I explained. “Demons are crafty and bring powers from the After most of us can’t fathom.”

Tometi nodded and pocketed the pouch. He clipped one dagger to his hip, but the other he kept a tight hold on. “The demon bleeds, but he does not die.”

The subtle rise and fall of Rilas’s chest caught my eye. “Guess that’s what makes his kind so dangerous. He can’t be killed without…”

“Taking a soul.”

My stomach hurt. “Yeah.”

“Will you do it?” he asked, no judgment or persuasion in his tone.

I gripped the weapon I held tighter, glaring at the demon. The flutter of my dormant power was the only way I knew I still had it. “I don’t have a choice.”

Tometi stared at me, humming. “You do, but Salvator is right. He’s the one you should choose. Like you’ve accepted your destiny, so has he. You’ve given him a chance at redemption, Nika. It’s a great gift for someone whose soul has been darkened by evil.”

I turned my head, but in an instant, a loud crackling erupted out of nowhere. My magic had been broken. I sensed the snap. The bindings around Rilas dissolved to nothing, and the demon was already in front of me, red eyes ablaze. Black smoke wove around his body.

“I was arrogant to underestimate you, Fated One.”

Tometi had already touched me so he could stab the demon in the throat, but fire exploded in my stomach so fierce I staggered back. The unmistakable burn of a blade penetrating my body caused me to suck in a surprised gasp.

It’d been so long since I’d been impaled like this, I nearly didn’t recognize the feeling. I wasn’t sure where the sword had come from, but as quickly as it struck, it was twisted and yanked out. Trouble was, Rilas still had his hands cuffed behind hisback. He’d used his magic to stab me, an ability I wasn’t aware he had.

I pressed a hand over my stomach, stumbling back, every step agony. Blood poured past my fingers and down my front. Nothing I did stopped it. I would’ve fallen if not for the man keeping a tight hold on my hand.

Tometi roared and slammed the demon into a nearby wall. It was a shove that hit with the force of a train, but Tometi was careful not to jostle me in the violent forward shift. Rilas went straight through the wall, hitting something on the other side with a grunt.

Frantic, Tometi gently lifted me into his arms as carefully as he could and searched for anything to stanch the bleeding. But it wouldn’t stop. My shirt was completely saturated already, the stab too deep and too severe.

I hadn’t lost this much blood in a long time. Without intervention, I’d bleed out. The shock numbed my initial reaction, and my head lulled back against Tometi’s bulging arm as I was hit with a wave of intense dizziness.

In a swirl of sparkles, Silas was suddenly in the room with us, postured for a fight. Time seemed to slow when I caught sight of the man I’d been most desperate to see again.

It couldn’t be overstated how incredibly relieved I was that he’d found me. He was so fucking beautiful, and I’d taken every moment with him for granted. I shouldn’t have. I should’ve kissed him every chance I got. I should’ve told him I loved him every second of every day. I’d been so wrapped up in the end of the world that I took my own happiness for granted, and as I bled out, I had nothing but regrets.

Tears blazed down my face as his familiar figure pivoted. “Silas,” I breathed, my voice laced with grief.

His silver eyes scanned the room until they found me, then they dropped to my blood-covered stomach. I saw fear beamin his gaze, but he couldn’t come over. Not yet. Salvator came rampaging through, his wolf all fangs and claws, limber and terrifyingly fast despite nearly no room to move in.

Rilas was overwhelmed in a second by the two. They worked in tandem to attack the demon as if they’d been fighting together forever. Silas and Rilas met in a spark of magic, the two colors colliding in a deafening explosion.

Tometi hurried us back, avoiding the violence with his hand pressing over mine in an attempt to control the bleeding. Bright red liquid covered both our hands. I hissed and groaned, trying not to push his hand away. The pain was excruciating. I might’ve been on this side of agony more than a few times, but it never got any easier.

Silas’s magic was swift and deadly. It swirled and bound the demon before Rilas could counter it. The masked assassin activated an item, and the demon was hit with a sudden rush of magic. His head dropped forward like it had earlier.

Salvator snarled and leapt through the air in a magnificent display of agility. Without waiting, he removed the demon’s head with his great maw. I’d never forget the terrible stomach-churning sound of bone breaking and flesh tearing as he did.

The wolf strutted across the room on all fours with Rilas’s head still in its mouth, keeping it away from the demon’s destroyed body. Silas stood over the carnage in his assassin attire, sword resting on his shoulder. But just as quickly, he was in front of me to check on the gash in my stomach. He tore my shirt to give him a better view of it.

“Silas,” I murmured, wincing.

He grabbed my face and brushed away an ever-flowing stream of tears. Our mouths met for a moment before he let loose a breath. “You had me out of my bloody fucking mind, little rebel. Who said you could get yourself hurt?”

“My bad,” I sassed, groaning when every word was followed by a throb of pain.

“Fucking hell.” His eyes flashed, and he glanced over his shoulder. “Where’s the lad when you need him?” Every word that left his mouth was a vicious snarl. “Wasn’t he right behind us?”

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