Page 91 of The Book Reader
He fades from sight, and I know that when I leave here, there will be blood on my hands. I just hope Rex waits and doesn’t rip them apart before I get to them—I want to feel their flesh in my hands as I rip them apart.
Grinning, I fade from sight and appear behind the biggest one; he has a face full of tattoos, and I can smell Ari-Rose on his skin. A growl rumbles in my chest as I reach out and hook my arm around his neck, pulling him back to my chest. He tries to fight me, but he’s a tiny daemon, so he is no match for my brute strength.
My Ari-Rose whimpers. Her fear rushes over me, and I realize she is terrified ofme. I growl for only Gaelan to hear; he should have told her about me before all of this. I am no harm to her. She is mine to protect and look after, just like Gaelan. I soften my face a little, and she gasps, so I know she sees Gaelan behind my daemon features.
Growling at the daemon in my arms, I push him away with a hiss.
“He’s a lord?” The little one says.
The bigger one stands up and brushes the sand off his body. “I don’t give a shit; fucking cut its fucking face off.”
I chuckle darkly. “Try me, tiny daemon.”
He growls and shimmers from sight to appear in front of me. He punches me in the face, making my head snap to the left. My lips curl back, and my fangs lower as I snarl. My tail moves swiftly to curl around his neck, squeezing it tightly, and making it harder for him to breathe. I lift him off the floor and move himso that he’s the same height as me. I look into his eyes, snarling, “You touched my mate?”
He whimpers and shakes his head. “I-I didn’t touch her… He did,” he gasps out as he points to the other, smaller daemon, who is currently cowering after pissing his pants. I squeeze my tail tighter.
“You lie. You pay.” I reach forward and punch my hand through his chest, wrapping my claws around his heart and squeezing it. A blood-curdling scream is ripped from his mouth, and he starts to shake in my hold.
Tilting my head to the side, I watch the panic and pain fill his eyes; his heart is slowing down in my grasp. I want him tosufferfor what he has done. He starts gagging, choking on air, which makes me grin. “Feels good,” I growl at him. His heart has almost stopped beating, but I want him to feel it as I rip it out. I pull my hand back, ripping it clean from his chest. Dropping him to the floor, I squash the heart in my hand before throwing it down on the ground.
The other daemon turns to run;he is going to try and shimmer away, I think. I would let him, but Macy can’t know we were here—that my mate was here. I shimmer and appear in front of him, wrapping my hands around his neck. The glow of my eyes reflects in his pupils, and his hands come up and claw at the back of mine.
“Why are you here?” I ask him, loosening my hold on him so he can speak.
“The Princess of Hell wants this place guarded.”
“Why?” My eyes narrow and then flicker to the cage my Ari-Rose is in. She watches me with tears running down her face. I need to be quick. My mate is scared and needs me.
Looking back at the tiny daemon, who is currently trying to kick me, makes me chuckle darkly. “Tell me why.”
“The princess…”
I squeeze his neck tighter, digging my claws into “Stop calling her that,” I growl, and he starts to cry.
“Macy said the Book Reader might come home, so we were to wait. We’ve been waiting for a long time.” He wheezes out.
My jaw tenses, I want to shimmer to the palace and rip the bitch’s head off, but Gaelan reminds me we have our mate to look after, so I will have to be content with just rippinghishead off.
Lifting my hand, I shimmer one of my twin blades to me and slowly press it into the side of his neck. Tendons snap before the blade hits bone. I twist the dagger, digging it in deeper, and blood flows down his neck to the sand. He gargles, blood filling his lungs—a sound I really enjoy hearing. His body shakes as life begins to drain from him. I drop him, and a few seconds later, he turns to dust, the wind picking him up and blowing him away.
Turning to face the other daemon, I see he is also blowing away in the breeze, making an evil grin spread across my face. I forgot how good killing feels. Watching the light go out in a pair of terrified eyes makes me bloody thirsty. Suddenly, I hear a gasp followed by sobs.
“Ari-Rose?” I turn, and my eyes meet my mate’s. My eyes take in the Shivers that run along her body. She starts to pull on the cage door, trying to open it. Her fear licks over my skin again, and I hate it.
Gaelan is not coming out ever again. He keeps me from her.
I step closer and shimmer the lock into my hands. The door swings open with a loud bang. Rex appears beside the cage—his body shrinks in size, making himself smaller to soothe her. She reaches for him as she slowly crawls out of the cage. I never take my eyes from her; I take in the bruises covering her body and the handprints on her arms. Rage coils in my chest, making it heave with each breath I take. My hands are fists, needing to bring those daemons back to life so I can kill them again.
“Who are you?” Her voice shakes when she calls out to me. I look like Gaelan. I just need her to see past the blue skin, my markings, and my tail.
“Trelor,” I say my name in the hope that she will calm down, but she starts to edge around the cage nervously. She moves backward, away from me.
She holds her hands out. “Trelor? My boyfriend? ” her voice is soft, lighter than usual. She is nervous and confused at seeing Gaelan's features in me.
I narrow my eyes at her,What is a boyfriend? Gaelan laughs in my head.
“Me… she’s talking about me.”I grin because it was I who saved her, not the tiny daemon.
