Page 20 of Give a Devil his Due
Eric’s chuckle drowns their screams.
Helena
Sweat trickles down my back as I slash, twist, turn, and bend in the hopes that I will avoid the sharp teeth and razor claws of our enemies from sinking into my skin. The odds are more evenly matched now that Eric is in his true form, although neither him nor Raphael have their wings out. And honestly, there is no way they’ll fit in here like that.
Decapitated demons litter the ground around my feet, their numbers seeming to multiply with each kill I make. I’m starting to think there is a hole somewhere on the roof where they trickle in the tunnel like ants sensing something sweet, but I can’t see anything past them to find out if my thought is right.
Eric and Raphael work in turns to take out the trolls. Unfortunately, the dumb creatures aren’t as stupid as I’d originally believed because, instead of trying to bulldoze through the two males, they hold themselves back. They also switch out like tag-team wrestles when one gets tired or hurt too bad to continue. There are four hurt, but four others are left blocking that side of the tunnel.
“Are they coming from the roof?” Panting for breath that doesn’t come, I kick a rogue soccer-ball style and call out to Eric. “Can you see?”
Raphael is right.
We should’ve brought Narsi. My sidekick would’ve eaten most of them by now.
“Only a dozen or so left.” My mate grunts from the effort he puts into peppering punches on a troll, his voice coming at me through the soles of my feet.
“How”—I gasp to suck in air before I spin, using the momentum to high kick a rogue right in his ugly head—“nice.”
The lowest class of demon shrieks like a banshee, running with his arms and legs flailing before he flies back like a cannon ball, taking a few of his buddies down with him. They turn on him with snapping jaws, and a horrified expression covers my face when I watch them eat half of his body. My dagger glows brighter while I fight the bile burning the back of my throat, though I can’t pry my eyes from the sight for a too-long moment.
When I can finally look away, I realized Eric was right about one thing: there are not that many left. But I’m tired, sore, and thirsty as hell, so it still feels like there is a never-ending river of them coming at me. Not that I will stop or ask for help. I just gained a foothold with Eric’s protectiveness, and I plan to fight until I can no longer lift a hand. Even after that, though, I’ll use my teeth if need be. I think Narsi is rubbing off on me.
Choking on the acid flooding my mouth, I throw the dagger, embedding it in the middle of a rogue’s forehead before jumping to snatch it and slice another’s head almost completely off his shoulders. The ground quakes when another troll goes down, and it makes me stumble.
“The others.” I don’t dare say anything more. They are fine, I’m sure. They musgt not have heard the signal.
Grabbing a demon with my free hand, I yank as hard as I can, putting my back into it and flinging him at the wall. He smacks it like a melon dropped from a few stories high and slides down, leaving a dark smear on the concrete.
A demon screams from behind me, and I whirl around, strands of my hair slapping my face.
“I’m touched, she-devil. You were worried about us.” Colt appears over the heads of the few rogues left, his smirk firmly in place.
My mouth twists at his arrogance, and I imagine it looks like I’ve taken a big bite of a rotten lemon. “Don’t dilute yourself, Colt. I was worried about my father, Beelzebub, and George.”
Said father popped out of nowhere behind Colt’s shoulder, his eyes wide as they locked on me. “Do not worry, Helena. I will not perish while you need me.”
My groan is wrenched from the bottom of my feet.
He misunderstands it, because of course he does.
“I give you my word, daughter. Do not fear.” With plate-sized hands, he smacks the remaining rogues out of his way. One or two scramble away as if they are bolting for their lives.
I give Satanael my flattest look.
He grins proudly.
“Can you go help them with the trolls?” The question is not even out of my mouth yet when he puffs his chest and saunters to join Eric and Raphael.
“You okay?” George rushes to me, his hands fluttering around my arms. When he can’t find a place not covered in black blood, he drops them to his sides.
“Yeah, it was just rogues.” Even I can hear the petulance in my voice. “Apparently I’m not allowed to fight anything bigger than a Great Dane.”
“You don’t sound too happy about it.” My hunter friend smiles so wide that his white teeth glint in the light still coming from Raphael.
“You think?” Beelzebub and Colt snicker at me, and I stick my tongue out at them.
Two more roars make me flinch, and I jerk my shoulders to my ears when the sound makes my brain rattle. The four of us turn in time to see my father, my mate, and my Archangel friend finish off the last troll. The poor thing doesn’t have time to see where he is before his head is dangling on his shoulders, only attached by a thin piece of skin.
