Page 65 of Surrendering Hope (The Hope Legacy)

“Yes, unicorns are real,” Nathan says, interrupting our bickering. “Although we call them Pegasi. They are white, with a golden horn and wings.”

“Flying unicorns,” I mutter, swinging both blades in an arc across a demon’s shoulders and slicing a diagonal line through his heart. “Do they poop rainbows?” I have to check.

“No, their shit is pink,” Nathan answers.

“And it’s damn near impossible to get it out of your shirt,” Zac mutters. I bark out a laugh at the image of Zac being shit on from overhead by a pink, pooping, flying unicorn.

An audible pop breaks my concentration, I spin around to find Ty and Lawrence gliding through the chaos towards us. They’ve set this up to overwhelm us before coming out of their hidey hole. I raise my sword, lightning crackling in my hands, blending with the flames running down my swords. I’m ready to end the Prince of Violence, he brought me into this world and now it’s time to take him out. His obsidian eyes catch mine as he drops his human shell for his true form. Inky tattoos slither across his chest and down his arms, which end in long-fingered hands with wicked sharp hooked claws.

I nod towards his hands. “Manipedi overdue?”

A hand snaps around my throat from behind. I flip my sword in my left hand and jab backwards. The demon rasps in my ear and squeezes tight, its putrid breath licking the side of my neck. More shadows catch my hands, their fingers digging into the pressure points between my thumb and forefinger. My swords clang to the ground and I swallow the pain. Its rasp turns choking. It’s laughing. Why do I always get stuck with crazy demons? Is it too much for them to send me one with all his marbles? The demon spins me to face Lawrence as he approaches. I glance over his shoulder.

Nathan cracks a wicked, glowing lasso towards Ty.

Ty snaps his hand out, the stream snakes around his arm, creating welts.

He snarls and rips the snare from Nathan’s hand.

Nathan trips and throws his hands out to break his fall.

Ty lashes out at Nathan just as he glances up. A laceration rips open his pale face as the whip moves across his cheek, over his nose and into his eye. He cries out.

I need to get loose. My head snaps back, a satisfying crunch precedes the loosening of his arms.

I throw my hands out and release everything I have into an air shield blocking a determined looking Ty from reaching Nathan.

Ty stops a couple of inches from my shield. He studies it, his eyes tracking the power back to me. That’s right asshole, I won’t let you kill someone whose death would break Archan.

My ribs constrict, I glance down to see the shadows squeezing me like a boa constrictor. Everything I have is being poured into the shield; I’ve left myself vulnerable. I glance at Nathan who’s up on his feet. His pale grey eyes catch mine as he mouths, “Drop the shield.” I shake my head.

“Don’t kill her,” Lawrence mutters. My gaze snaps to him, he’s crept up on me. He glances at my stomach where my shirt has ridden up. His lips pull up on one side, as he traces the outline of the scar he inflicted with his sharp claws.

“You carry my mark so well,” he murmurs.

Ty appears next to him in a whoosh of speed. He grabs Lawrence’s hand and jerks it away from my body. Whilst I’m grateful the Prince of Violence has stopped touching me, the possession shining from Ty’s face is not a welcome replacement. In fact, I’m not sure I could attract a more dangerous psycho.

“Keep your hands off her,” he grinds out, his eyes flashing gold before bleeding back to flat black. My breath catches in my chest. Archan? The demon behind me shrinks away from the promise of wrath from the King of Monsters. I glance around, Nathan, Duncan, Zee… where’s Zac? I spot a pile of shadows on the floor, there must be twenty demons. The pile shudders, then they fly back as Zac hulks out on them, his body shuddering with rage. The demons don’t even pause before they swarm him again. There are hundreds on this island, the sheer numbers making them effective cannon fodder to overwhelm us.

Lawrence launches towards me as Nathan swipes out his palm in an arc, a spinning circle of white wrapping around Ty, runes appearing in the air above his head. He glances up and arches an eyebrow, his face a picture of boredom. Lawrence grips my throat and moves around to my back.

“Time to stop these games,” he mutters as I snap my head back. He expects it and moves out of the way with a chuckle. “Such a violent little Iris.” He puts more pressure on the side of my throat, restricting the blood flow. Dark spots dance in my vision, as Ty turns towards me, his eyes bleeding fully gold.

“Archan?” I say as I suck in a last breath before the darkness claims me.

Chapter Seventeen

Natia

The worst thing about a Taurus is they never see the betrayal coming. We don’t get down like that, so we never expect it.

Headaches are classified according to their location, intensity and sensation. The one pulsating around my skull right now was everywhere and hurt like a bitch. I’m confident if I move too quickly, or open my eyes, I’d vomit. The cold hard ground beneath me omits an odor which makes me not want to question why it was damp. Years of training took over as I steady my breathing and open my senses. When in doubt of your location, situation or company, pretend to be out of it whilst you gather information. There was no movement of light from behind my eyelids, meaning it was dark. I was lying on my side, one hand tucked under my temple, the other at my side. There was no weight around my wrists or ankles, it was unlikely I was bound. My hearing is obscured by my left ear lying against my hand, but there is some scuffling from behind me. I stretch my senses further, finding a source of water dripping a drab tune some distance away. Metal creaks, bangs and slams, the noise jolting my senses. “Wakey, wakey, pretty Iris.” Lawrence. I need to kill this leech.

My eyes blink open, and my gaze narrows on the spineless fiend hiding behind the bars of the cell. “Why do you insist on calling me a flower? My name is Natia, or Pandora, if you’re feeling mythological. Or is a five letter name too much for your tiny brain to handle?” His grin drops as several snorts of amusement echo in the room. I roll and find Duncan and Zee sitting propped up against a stone wall. I almost laugh. What an idiot sticking us in here together.

“Natia,” a voice dripped in honey and sin says from the darkness in the furthest corner. Jumping to my feet, my head swims and nausea takes up a battle in my guts. Ty moves forward, favoring his right side. With my posture straight, I hold my ground and dig deep for my power. Nothing. I grimace and shoot an inward glare at my toddler power.

Ty moves closer, I take a step back and hold out my hand. “Stop.”

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