Page 24 of Taming Darkness

“Then you accept?” the man chuffs, as if I had a choice when surrounded. I doubt they're about to let me skip out on this.

I won’t let her get away with her atrocities. Her life is mine. “Whatever,” I grumble, rolling my eyes. This guy looks like a blockhead. I doubt he can cause half as much trouble as he claims.

“Good choice,” he grins. “My name is Terry. I thought you should know before I take you apart.” I glare at him, my fists clenched. “You think you can take me apart? We'll see who'll be in pieces by the end of this.” I take a step forward, ready for a fight.

Chapter12

~Darius~

As the words leave his lips, he lunges at me with one arm held up like a boxer, and the other jabs at my forehead. Instead of dodging, I step in and twist beside the attack before bringing my leg up and kicking Terry in the jaw.

The impact is so strong that his head snaps back, and he staggers. His teeth clashed together, and I have no doubt he lost more than a few as a result.

I don’t have to wonder for long, as the proof is right before my eyes the next moment. One of his green, splintered teeth drops to the ground, and he holds up a hand to his lips to stop the blood from dripping. “Lucky shot,” he sneers, then spits blood on the ground.

I barely hold back the urge to roll my eyes at his statement and his rage. Did he think this was going to be a cat fight, that I would pull his hair? Had he forgotten I am a Wraith? That name doesn’t instill fear for no reason.

For all his bulk, Terry isn’t very skilled at fighting. At best, he makes me feel as if I have been thrown into the ring with a child. Or a child who couldn’t swim and was chucked into the deep end of a pool for the flailing he does.

Watching Terry, the man who insisted I know his name, I feel a little bad. I was expecting a decent fight after all that nonsense, but instead, I got this idiot who tripped over his feet while trying to block me.

Terry gets back to his senses and feet. Really, he must really like pain, might be a fetish because he strikes at me again, this time a body blow with his other fist still protecting his face.

I step in quickly, swaying to the side to avoid the blow, and strike twice at his chest. His grunts remind me more of the pained cries of an animal than anything remotely close to a human, like a pig sniffing for truffles. No wonder I can’t feel pity for this shithead, despite the ridiculousness of this, even his comrades are looking at him like they expected more of him.

Besides, god-damn it, for all his talk, I half expected a challenge. At this point, I'm getting bored. Does this guy even realize that I can predict every move he makes? Every damn attempt to attack me?

So much for taking me apart. Someone is clearly awful at keeping promises.

Terry makes a strangled gurgle and stumbles backward, bringing his fists back up.

Using a technique Lycus taught me, I strike from above, driving my fist down on the bridge of Terry's nose. Blood spurts like a sprinkler, but I give it no time before I take my other hand and repeat the action until Terry squeals like a pig. It's almost too easy, he didn't even move at all, he even looked at my hand the second time when it came down, yet didn't think to dodge it?

Blood pours down his face. “Cheater!” Terry growls. His face becomes so red that he not only sounds like a pig but also looks like one.

He thrusts his fist at me, a shower of ice radiating from him, and it strikes me in the chest. My eyes travel down my body as the ice spreads across my body, traveling from my heart to my toes.

It lasts for mere seconds as I summon my flames. The flames from my hands melt Terry's thin ice shell.

Again, I have no idea where this guy found his insane level of confidence. He is shit at fistfights, even the ones he starts, which makes no sense when his abilities are below average in magic. Terry grins and sneers, “You think you can beat all of us? Think you can protect her. They'll stop at nothing until they get a hold of her. Aleera won't be yours much longer,” Terry mocks. I shake my head. If this idiot can't beat me, he stands no chance against her.

“You do realize what she is?” I ask. His arrogance is starting to bug me.

“I know exactly what she is… We've been looking for her.”

“And yet here you are. You need to see a shrink. You're suicidal.” I laugh. Terry shakes his head and laughs.

“How do you think we've stayed in power?” Terry asks with a smile tugging at his lips while my eyes follow him. That is one question that has always eluded everyone, Vampiric, and Demonic-Fae had ways of staying in power, but glancing around the majority here are pure Dark-Fae. Nothing special. That is when it dawns on me, like someone chucked a bucket full of icy water over me. If Aleera exists, what are the chances there are more of her kind?

Terry laughs. “That's right, Darius. This isn't our first encounter with a Harmony-Fae. She'll be another addition to our collection. And I can't fucking wait.”

I sneer, and he groans, grasping his cock through his pants. “I bet she's tight. Is her pussy as pretty as she is? I can already picture her on her knees, sucking on my cock. Or maybe I might strap her down to the table, fuck her while they experiment on her. Yes, that's what I'll do.”

My fists clench at my sides, my magic spilling out and vibrating my skin. “I can picture it, can't you? Your little mate. Tied down, legs in stirrups, while we all line up and take turns on her. I'm going to fuck her so hard, I'll make sure she feels every single inch of me while draining her of her magic. And if you're lucky, I'll let you live, so you can watch as she takes all our cocks.”

His words hit a nerve and fury rages through me, and I roar, sending a blast of magic at him. He barely has enough time to throw up a shield, which only serves to anger me as I unleash a wave of flames that engulfed him. He screams in agony as he tossed backward, crashing into the wall and sliding to the ground. I don't give him a chance to recover, instead making the flames burn hotter. Blinded with rage, I don't see her, yet I feel her as electricity jolts through my chest, blasting me into the courthouse wall.

“Enough!” A loud voice booms across the battlefield, stopping us all in our tracks.

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