Page 68 of Hades' Shadow
“Watch out,” Orpheus roars. Jayden glances away before grabbing me and pushing me out of the way.
I land on my ass and cry out in a mixture of surprise and pain as Jayden lashes out with his chains and hellfire.
This demon isn’t nearly as stupid as the others. He dodges to the left and lashes out at Jayden. “Son of Hades. It will be my pleasure to end you.”
Raven scoffs. “We’ve heard this song and dance before. Why don’t you fuck off?”
“Raven, shut up,” Jayden yells, rolling his eyes.
“We need to open the gate and send him back,” I shout.
Orpheus shakes his head and brandishes a sword. “No, it’s too dangerous.”
“We don’t have a choice. They can’t die until we get the helm,” I argue.
Orpheus lashes out at the demon anyway.
Jayden’s shadows slide down his body toward the demon and his eyes turn black.
He’s losing control. Shit.
I scramble to my feet, dusting myself off and touching my lightning bolt charm, calling my whip to me.
“All we are doing is pissing him off,” I grumble.
I flick my whip at the demon and it bellows in pain. Its eerie red eyes pierce me as his head snaps to mine. He sniffs the air and grins.
“As much as I hate Hades, I hate Zeus even more. Who do you think banished us to the underworld?” the demon says on a growl.
Shit! I really should have thought of that. The demons would hate all the gods.
“Yeah, well, he put you where you deserve to be.” I smirk, flicking out the whip again. “I’ll be happy to send you back.”
Orpheus attacks with his blade while the demon has all his attention on me. “Daughter of Zeus. Shut the fuck up.”
“Rude,” I scoff, glancing at Raven.
She shrugs her shoulders, unconcerned.
The demon roars before turning and rushing for me. I call on my magic and my whip turns white-hot with power as I flick it out, wrapping it around the demon’s neck just as a claw with green sickly poison lashes out, hitting me in the shoulder.
I cry out as I drop my hold on my magic, but the demon is already exploding into ash. My knees buckle and white spots dance in my vision as a searing pain in my shoulder intensifies.
“Beth,” Jayden screams and lunges for me. He wraps his arms around me as I crumple, catching me before I hit the ground.
“It burns,” I scream out my agony.
“Raven, get the healing shit.” Jayden scoops me up against his chest, holding me to him so my flailing and thrashing will stop.
“It’s in my bag,” I say through gritted teeth.
How does it burn and sting like ants biting me at the same time?
“Hurry,” Jayden says. “It’s spreading fast.”
“W-what’s s-spreading?” I slur.
My eyes are becoming heavy. What the fuck is happening? Am I dying?
