Page 77 of The Book Reader
I don’t bother walking; I shimmer down to the front door—it’s quicker. “Rex?” I shout, annoyed. I hear that low warning growl again, and the back of my neck tingles with something I don’t like. Shimmering my twin blades into my hands, I slowly make my way toward the living room. The lights are out, but I can make out one set of large red eyes —eyes that belong to a Hell-hound, but he’s not one of mine.
Fisting my daggers in my hands, the hound lunges forward but is taken out from the side as Rex comes out of nowhere and grabs ahold of his neck in his mouth. Both hounds go crashing through the wall, Rex whimpers, and blood splashes over my chest. Lifting my hand, I go to throw my dagger, but stop when Maddie screams upstairs. It pierces through my body and rips my heart in half.
“Not again,” I whisper as I shimmer to our bedroom. “Maddie?” I yell out, she’s gone from the bed, and there’s blood all over the sheets and walls. Fear rushes through my body, making it hard to breathe. “Maddie?” I yell again, checking the bathroom, the closet, then rushing into the hall, searching the other bedrooms. “Maddie!” She can’t have been taken, not yet.
My feet are moving on their own., I’ve done this so many times now that my body is on autopilot, hoping I can find her before they hurt her, hoping I can save her.
The thought of losing her again is so fucking painful, my heart is already breaking. I run down the stairs and come to a stop when I see the front door now open and Maddie crawling on her hands and knees into the hallway, a blood trail behind her. “Maddie?”
She looks up at me and shakes her head when I move to take a step forward. Abaddon steps into view and places his foot on her back, pushing her to the ground. I try to move forward, but my body is frozen in place—I can’t move. Fuck, why can’t I move?
“I’m sorry, Gaelan,” Maddie sobs, making me frown. I can feel a tingle of magic in the air, which makes me look up. Above my head is a daemon trap, painted in gold. It’s gold because it’s the Book Readers' magic, a spell My Rose cast on the house. Hearing a dark chuckle, I watch myself walk toward us. It’s a trick; they have tricked her into this.
“You know…” The body of my look-alike starts to shift. Macy’s green and black hair comes into view before her body begins to take over. “…when she thought you were in danger, she was quick to protect you; it’s a shame that it also bound you.” She comes over and waves her hand in front of me as if she’s feeling the barrier between us. “I have to be careful I don’t get trapped in there with you.” She mocks.
My hands are at my sides, and I can’t move. The spell is too powerful, but if I could, I would rip her fucking head off with my teeth. “I will find you and make you pay for this.”
“You need a new line, Gaelan; that one is thousands of years old, it’s boring now.” Macy deadpans.
My eyes flash darker. “When I find a way, and I will, I’m going to kill you cunt.”
Macy tsks at me. “That is no way to treat a lady.” She walks over to Maddie and crouches down next to her. “Gaelan is going to have a tough choice to make here; either stay here and watch you die or go back to save his little village. I wonder which one he will pick?” Macy muses.
Maddie whimpers as a raw growl is ripped from my body. I fight in the hold the daemon trap has me in, but it pulls at my muscles, gripping around me tighter.
Macy stands up and smiles over at me. “Enjoy the show.” She winks and is gone.
Abaddon lifts his foot from Maddie’s back and steps back, as a daemon I’ve never seen before, walks into the house and grins at me. “Paid a pretty penny for this, bonus you get to watch,” he sneers.
I narrow my eyes at him, my voice lethal. “Touch her and I will rip your fucking heart out.”
He laughs at me, then pulls his cock out of his pants. “Try it, Dream Daemon, from where I’m standing, it looks like you can’t do shit.”
He lowers and straddles Maddie’s back, her eyes locking with mine in panic as she whispers, “I’m sorry.”
Tears fill my eyes in anger and frustration, my body shaking as I try to fight the hold on me. I don’t care if it rips me apart, I just need a second to save her, just one second to rip these daemons in half.
She whispers again, “I’m sorry.” It takes me a moment to realize she has the cuffs on—the cuffs that she’d made centuries ago to bind magic. They were stolen, and now I know who had them. Maddie cries out in pain and starts to sob as the daemon thrusts his cock into her ass. My nostrils flare, and my chest starts to heave in a mix of pain and anger.
“Rose?” Her name on my lips is a silent prayer to the gods of hell that they stop this.
She closes her eyes for a moment before she snaps them open and finds mine. The daemon is now lying on her back, grunting and thrusting into her faster. The sound of his body slapping against her makes me grit my teeth so hard, I’m surprised my jaw hasn’t shattered. I’m going to cut this piece of shit apart when I get hold of him.
He moves his hand to her neck and squeezes tightly, cutting off her air, her mouth opening in a silent scream.
“Let hergo!” I shout, my voice unrecognizable. Maddie is still sobbing silently, and it breaks my heart further knowing I’m unable to help her, helpless to just watch.
The daemons’ thrusts get even faster, and I can hear him panting from the effort. He slams into her a few more times before grunting one last time, freezing in place as he fills her with his cum.
“Fuck, that was better than I thought.” He slaps her ass, then pulls his dripping cock out of her. As he moves to stand up, he grins at me. “Felt like I was the first one to take her ass.”
I say nothing to him; all words have left my body, only anger and pain are gone; he was the first. She wasn’t ready for that yet, so we were waiting. He turns and kicks her in her side before he shimmers away.
Abaddon laughs as he steps forward. The asshole has been standing, leaning against the wall, playing with his knife, watching the whole time. “I love my job sometimes; I get to shit all over wasted daemons like you and this bitch.” He crouches down and pulls Maddie’s head up by her hair and spits in her face. I struggle against the invisible bonds that are holding me, and I can now lift my hands to bang on the wards—the spell is getting weaker, which means that Maddie is getting weaker.
Abaddon drops her head to the ground, then kicks her side to roll her over. “See you around, Gaelan.” With that, heshimmers away. My eyes frantically search Maddie’s body for a wound—there’s blood on her stomach; they sliced her open.
“Maddie, my Rose… hold on.” She says nothing, but I can see her chest moving—she’s alive, barely. “Maddie, I’m coming. Hold on just a little bit longer.” The spell breaks a little more, allowing me to drop to my knees. I lie down so I’m at her eye level, her face still facing me.
