Page 72 of Malice
“Oh, you’re good,” I snarled. “Good, but not good enough.”
Lifting the creature with one hand, I stared into the pitch-black eyes and tapped into my own power. Demons may not have souls in the way humans did, but they were still animated by somethingother. Spirit, or whatever you wanted to call it. And that was enough for me to lock onto. Inhaling deeply, I sucked every ounce of life force from the shapeshifter, taking without care for what I’d leave behind.
She dropped at my feet like a sack of bones, which frankly suited me just fine. I preferred her this way. Namely dead.
I spared my brothers a quick glance, clocking that they were still locked in whatever fantasy their demons had created. It would be easier to deal with these fuckers with their assistance, but they’d be fine. Merri needed me.
“Get your fucking hands off my succubus!” I shouted, advancing on the three satyrs who had Merri in their clutches. They were taking her kicking and screaming, her power worthless against them. With as much of it as she’d just used avenging my honor—fucking swoon—and without the rage fueling her instinctual use of it, she was little more than a baby calf attempting to walk. Not that I’d tell her so. I wasn’t a complete moron.
One of the three peeled away from the others, coming at me with a lascivious smirk.
“Cute,” I taunted, beckoning him closer with a finger.
He raced toward me, head lowering like he was about to ram into me.
“Ba-aa-aa-aa-aad satyr,” I mocked as I grabbed him by a horn and tugged down hard, bringing up my knee at the same time and slamming it into his throat. The jarring force of the impact was enough that I was able to snap the horn from his head. Before he could do more than let out a garbled scream, I swung my arm around and impaled the fucker with it.
He dropped dead at my feet.
What? You didn’t think I knew how to wreck a bitch?
Ye of little faith.
You don’t become a Horseman of the motherfucking Apocalypse without picking up a few skills.
“Merri!” I shouted when one of the satyrs tossed her over his shoulder.
She reached between the goat-man’s legs and grabbed his balls with a vicious grip, causing him to scream in agony. He dropped her, falling to the ground and holding himself as he worked through the pain. Merri’s palm was bloody, and I’m not gonna lie, a twinge of sympathy pain for the demon’s ruined balls hit me.
“Good job, kitten,” I called to her before turning my attention to the last guy.
He stared me down, indecision racing across his face.
“Come get some,” I crooned, my smile pure threat. It had been a while since I’d been able to show off like this, and knowing my girl was watching and I was kicking some serious ass was sort of turning me on.
Maybe when we were done here, she’d let me take her up against a tree and play out our own Bacchanalian fantasy.
“Get her out of here, Sin!” Chaos shouted, his body covered in black blood and ichor from the shapeshifter he’d defeated. Malice and Grim were still in the thrall of their attackers, but it looked as though Grim was already coming out of it.
Rushing to my girl, I snatched her up in the cradle of my arms and, as I turned back toward the estate, transported us both to the relative safety of the house. It was a huge power suck to do so, but I’d just topped off and Merri needed a quick escape.
She wobbled on her feet as we appeared back in the château’s main foyer. “Since when can you do that?” she asked, leaning into me.
“Forever.”
“So why do you guys waste time walking places?”
“That’s basically like asking why we don’t use a bazooka instead of a fork when we eat. Different tools for different occasions. Plus, it uses a lot of power, and up until recently, we were pretty drained.”
“Fair enough,” she said with a dry chuckle before her face creased into worried lines. “What were those things?”
“We’ll have to save the explanations for later, kitten. I gotta go back and make sure none of those assholes get away. Stay with Christian, all right?”
Christian appeared at the top of the staircase as though I’d summoned him. “Come with me, mademoiselle. I will keep you safe.”
“Don’t let anything happen to her, Chris. She’s the only priority, you got me?”
“Of course.”
