Page 64 of Hades' Shadow
I pick up the weapons I dropped to help Jayden and face the demons, trying to take steadying breaths to get the reminder that Jayden is shirtless out of my head.
I race into the horde of demons, but no matter what we do they just keep coming back. The humans have fled and it’s just us and the ugly fuckers.
“This isn’t working,” I yell at my team.
“We need to get out of here.” Jayden slashes his sword but now that the demons realize the son of Hades is alive and fighting them again, they change direction to go after him.
“Fall back before they surround you,” I scream.
Jayden takes several steps back but before he can get his back to the car, a demon slips in behind him. I crack my whip, filling the strike with electricity and my rage, and the demon bursts into flames.
Jayden turns to me, and his eyes widen. “Beth, watch out.”
I drop to the ground, spin around with my leg out in a sweeping kick, and hop back to my feet.
Jayden pushes his way through the demons, hacking at anything that gets in his way. When he reaches me, he spins me around so my back is to his front.
“No more giving them our backs, okay?” He presses his lips to my neck in a featherlight kiss that has me shivering.
He plasters his naked back to mine, the press of his muscles against my skin nearly frying my brain as I try to remember what we are doing. We fight as one, slowly inching our way to the car. It doesn’t appear to be messed with in the midst of all the chaos. Thank the gods.
An arrow flies past my head and hits a demon in the eye that was trying to come at Jayden from the side. It crumbles to dust just as Jayden opens the door to the passenger side.
“C’mon,” he says, pulling me into the car with him. Jayden crawls over the seats into the driver’s side, but his big body doesn’t make it easy to get behind the wheel. The blast of the horn makes me jump when he bumps his tight ass against the steering wheel.
Shit. I need to stop having these kinds of thoughts about Jayden.
I shake my head to clear it and hop in the car, slamming the door behind me. Jayden glances at me with a smirk.
“You want to go bowling for demons?” he asks with a wink.
“That sounds like a great idea,” I say as he starts the engine.
The engine roars in the nearly silent night. Jayden turns the wheel, smashing into a demon and barreling straight into another group that was about to attack Raven.
“Unlock the doors and let them in,” I shout to Jayden, and he unlocks them with a click.
Raven jumps inside, scooting over so Adrian can get in with her. They are both breathing heavily.
“Are you guys okay? Anyone injured?” I ask a bit frantically.
“Not anymore,” Jayden whispers, glancing at me through the corner of his eye.
Raven flops back in her seat. “Good, B. Just ready to get out of that mess.”
“Okay,” I say, turning back in my seat to face forward.
I do my best not to overanalyze the look Jayden shot me when he said that. Was it just gratitude or something more?
The fires burn hotter and spread to several buildings the farther we go. The strip club must be the epicenter because the closer we get to our destination, the more chaotic everything is.
Jayden lays on the horn, clearly uncaring about his previous plan to stay under the radar of the humans and demons, and I raise an eyebrow at him.
“What?” he asks. “They are standing in the middle of the road. Would you rather I hit them?”
“Of course not. You just wouldn’t honk at them before.” I shrug and shift in my seat.
“I just want to get to the underworld and see what’s going on there.” He shrugs with nonchalance, but I know Jayden. He’s worried about his father. He can pretend all he wants but it’s in his voice.
