She looked stunned for a moment and then continued. “Is that the delicious smell I’m getting from you? You can use magic and change into a Lycan?”
“I can.”
“Glorious.” She turned fully now, fixing me with her eyes, almost as if she was trying to hypnotize me. “Imagine what kind of devastation our offspring could create. The power and strength of the dragon mixed with the cunning of a wolf. If any of them could use magic, well, the universe would become our plaything.” She almost seemed to be purring. “Our children would simply be unstoppable.”
“I’m afraid that I am going to have to decline your offer.”
“No one says no to Nybras,” she growled. “You will submit to me willingly, or I will take you by force.”
“I know it’s probably been awhile since you heard this, but where I come from, no means no. So why don’t you open a portal for me, and I’ll be on my way.”
A roar escaped her. “Insufferable slime. You had your chance to rule beside me. Now I will take what I want and feast on your bones.”
Well, that didn’t sound like it was going to be pleasant. To my surprise, she didn’t shift back into her dragon, but ran at me in her human form. I called on my wolf’s strength and hoped that it would be enough. How long had it been since she actually fought someone with a chance of winning? Shit, maybe she never had. This was going to be educational for her, then.
She covered the ground between us quickly and leaped into the air, aiming a kick at the center of my chest. Moving to the side, I wrapped my arm around her leg and used her own momentum to toss her away from me. She flipped in the air, landing on her feet before charging in again.
This time, she came at me with a series of punches. I was playing defense, trying to figure out how hard those strikes would be. I deflected them easily enough, and I could tell she was growing frustrated. We broke apart, and she swore. Claws extended from her nails. I wondered if I bonded more with my wolf, if I would ever be able to do something like that. This time, she came at me with her palms up, ready to gouge out chunks of my flesh.
I did my best to block the next series of attacks. I started to get angry when she aimed a knee at my balls. It had all been kind of academic up until that point, but now I was ready to end it. “Hey, you’re going to need those if you win.”
“You’ll heal.”
She came at me with a quick series of blows. I managed to block all of them, and then I lashed out, catching her in the stomach with a fist. The air rushed out of her lungs, and she backed up a step. Our eyes locked, and I could see the rage burning in hers. I’d never been good at playing games, so I winked and made a come-here gesture with my hand.
A scream escaped her throat and didn’t stop until she had missed with her next three strikes. Then my hand slipped when I was blocking, and her claws tore into the muscles of my shoulder. It hurt, but I’d live as long as I could get her away from me long enough to heal. Thankfully, the muscles were already repairing themselves as her claws slid out.
She licked the blood off of her claws. “Yes, you will do just fine,” she purred. “You are strong enough, the perfect candidate to sire my children.”
“I hate to break it to you, but that’s never going to happen.”
“You keep saying that, and yet you only put up a token of resistance. I have the feeling you just want me to earn it.”
Token of resistance? What in the hell was she talking about? I’d given this all I had. The only thing I hadn’t done was reach for my swords or call on my gift. I’d thought about it, but it seemed unfair because she hadn’t shifted back into her dragon. “As nice as all of this has been, scales aren’t really my thing, and I’d just like to get home.”
“You are home,” she snarled, running toward me again.
We exchanged a few more blows, and I realized she was right. I was just wasting time. I needed to either end this or submit to her. I was never going to submit. She came at me hard, and I ducked around her and kicked her in the back. By the time she spun around, I had both of my swords out. This was it, now or never.
One of her eyebrows went up, and a wicked smile ran across her face. If she had planted a hand on her hip, it would have almost felt like I was back home. April had hit me with that same look more than once. Nybras seemed to size me up again and then ran forward. As she did, her scales shifted to fully cover her hands. I guess we would find out if my swords could penetrate those scales, after all.
Now I had a longer reach, so blocking her attacks was easy. The problem was that her scales did block my blades. She had on impenetrable armor everywhere except for her head and neck. I didn’t want to kill her. That would leave me here with exactly zero options for getting home. While she might have been able to fight forever, my strength was already wearing down. If it came to being stranded here or being this dragon’s bitch, I’d rather be stuck here.
Her strikes and blocks had become complacent. Maybe she had wondered the same thing—if her scales would hold up against my fabled blades. They had, and now we were stuck, neither of us having the advantage. It was my turn to press a momentary advantage, and so I did. I came at her from all sides, low and high, just waiting for the opening that I needed to make my point. Finally it came. She had used both hands to push one of my blades down and move it to the side. I let the blade drop, sending her off balance, and my left arm thrust toward her.
The tip of the blade tore through her shoulder just above her collarbone. The sound that came out of her mouth was both shocked and angry. I had a feeling it was the first time she had been hurt in centuries. She spun away, her hand cradling the wound. I bent down to pick up my other blade.
“Open the portal, and you will never see me again.”
“Maybe if you had given me what I wanted, that would have been an option. That is no longer the case.”
An ear-splitting scream issued from her throat. The scream turned into a roar as her form shifted into that of a dragon. The green and black scales glittered against the yellow light from the lava. When her eyes settled on me, she licked her lips. I couldn’t express in words how disturbing it was to have a dragon mark you out as a tasty treat. The only thing I had going in my favor was that the wound on her shoulder remained open. It wasn’t bleeding freely, but it also wasn’t covered in scales. That meant I had a chance.
Nybras charged for me, and I only had time to get a shield in place before her claws slammed into me and we were flying through the air. My shield was doing the job of making sure she couldn’t crush me or rip me to shreds, but I had to find a way to inch forward and get my sword into that wound. If she decided to dive to the cavern floor and smash me against it, there was nothing I could do to stop her.
The demon must have thought of the same thing, because she started to fly higher. When we reached the top of the cavern, she dropped into a dive. I was about to go splat. I dropped my shield, and before I replaced it, I managed to slam a blade into the open wound on her shoulder. Blood started to pour from the wound right away. My shield flickered back into place as the dragon flew sideways. We tumbled across the ground, her jaws snapping close to me but not able to reach me. Two figures stood watching us. Was that April?
The moment of distraction cost me, and the dragon’s claws closed around me once again. She had me in the air, and we were flying forward, this time straight toward the lava. The dragon dunked me into the steaming liquid and let go. I could hear her scream of triumph as she landed. My shield held, but it wouldn’t for much longer. I flew up from the lava and landed silently behind her. The dragon’s attention was fixed on the two figures walking into the room. One of them was crying, and the other wore a satisfied smirk. That wouldn’t last for long.
Chapter Twenty
April
I watched with growing horror as the dragon flew away. It had Jackson in its claws. I didn’t see what happened next, but its scream of victory was all I needed to hear. This couldn’t be happening, not now, not ever. I had
almost been close enough to touch him, and now he was gone. The tears came before I could stop them. The last thing I wanted to do was look weak in front of this monster.
“It seems I might not need your services, after all.” The tittering laugh filled the room.
The grip the demon had on my arm went from friendly to painful in an instant as he dragged me toward the other room. His laughter continued to bubble forth, almost as if he couldn’t control it. When our eyes met, I received a brief flash of compassion. The look was quickly replaced with one of amusement.
“I have good news and bad news for you,” he said. “The good news is if Jackson is dead, I no longer need you. That’s also the bad news.” He laughed again.
“Whatever happened to you to make you like this? I feel sorry for you.”
He cuffed me across the head. My vision started to spin before coming back into focus.
“A lady only speaks when spoken to.”
Oh God, that laugh was threatening to drive me insane. I knew the demon was just needling me to provoke a reaction, but if he thought I was going to die without putting up a fight, he had another thing coming. This wasn’t over yet. My fingers brushed against the hilt of one of my daggers. Not by a long shot.
“Nybras, be a dear and change so we can talk without me having to look up to you.”
He told her to do it almost like a request, but it was a command. The dragon’s shape started to shimmer, and I could make out a female figure in the mist. The mist started to dissipate as she walked toward us. Another figure emerged from the mist, sword raised. He leaped silently into the air and brought his sword down into the woman’s skull. He ripped the blade free and then cut off her head. He continued past the corpse toward us and placed the tip of the blade to the demon’s throat.
His eyes flicked briefly to mine. “April, it’s good to see you again, but I have to say the company you started keeping in my absence is sorely lacking.”
“Well, when you disappear to hell and everyone thinks you’re dead, you don’t leave a girl with a lot of choices.”
The demon’s laughter had stopped as soon as Jackson had struck the demoness down. Now he looked terrified. I pulled my arm free and went to stand next to Jackson. That was when my body stopped responding to my own thoughts and desires. This time, my fingers did more than brush around the hilt of my dagger; they closed firmly around it. My eyes started to water as I tried to fight back, but nothing happened. Jackson was too transfixed on the demon in front of him to notice what was happening to me. The dagger started to inch out of the sheath, and then my arm stopped moving.
“I made a deal with your people,” the demon said. It came out as almost a whisper.
“Why should I believe you?”
“Just ask your friend. I brought her here for that very reason, after all.”
He laughed again, obviously feeling back in control. Jackson would never expect an attack to come from me. If this demon ordered me to kill him, my body would obey. There was nothing I could do to stop it. It was as if one of my worst nightmares had come to life.
Chapter Twenty-One
Jackson
I looked at April without lowering my sword. I could tell that something was wrong instantly. She had one hand under her jacket, but the rest of her didn’t seem to be able to move. Her eyes moved between me and the demon. Somehow he had her in his grip. I remembered the feeling when he had been trying to invade my mind, but I had been able to fight him off. My wolf chuckled, reminding me of what had really happened. Correction, my wolf had been able to fight against him.
If we were both going to live through this, I was going to have to approach the problem from another angle. I turned back toward the demon, stared at him over the tip of my sword, and then pulled it back and sheathed it. “Let her go. I promise neither of us will attack you.”
He waved a hand in her direction, and April stumbled to her knees. I helped her back to her feet and pulled her into my arms. She still smelled like strawberries, wild and sweet. I could have held her for days, but the demon standing next to us kind of ruined the moment for me.
I cupped her face with one hand and gave her a kiss. It was the kind of kiss that said everything I couldn’t express with words. When she kissed me back, I knew she understood. Screw the demon, he could fucking wait. It had been too long since I had seen my lady. We broke apart, and I looked into her eyes and fell in love all over again. “Tell me what is going on.”
She reached out and took my hand. I understood the feeling. I didn’t want to ever let her go again either. She squeezed my hand once more before finally speaking.
“Adam agreed to a deal. We get to bring you home, and the demons will leave earth forever.”
“Sounds like bullshit to me.”
“I’m here now,” she said with a faint smile.
I turned to look back at the demon. “Is that really your intention, demon, to leave earth and never come back?”
“You have my word.”
My wolf laughed inside of my head almost as loud as I wanted to. Taking the word of a demon was out of the question. I might as well have plunked a bottle of booze down in an AA meeting and waited for someone to crack. But until I knew the full extent of what was happening back home, I had to try a more diplomatic approach. “I can’t take the word of someone when I don’t even know their name.”
The demon laughed. I hated that sound. I heard it in my nightmares when I slept. Everything about it rubbed me the wrong way.
“You can call me Lucky.”
Well, he didn’t seem very lucky. With his hood down, I finally was able to get a look at him. He looked human enough, minus the graying skin and the red eyes. Every now and again, his eyes dimmed and seemed to give off an expression of being trapped. Maybe it was the fact that he had no hair that was throwing me off. I also noticed a gem around his neck that pulsed from time to time. If this creature had been human once, he wasn’t anymore.
I looked at April. “You said Adam agreed to it?”
“We all did.” She fidgeted for a moment and cast a look at the demon before responding. “We all wanted you home.”
She squeezed my hand again. I knew what she was saying was true, but it wasn’t the whole story. Her quick glance at the demon just confirmed it for me. She had more to tell me, but she couldn’t do it here, or wouldn’t in the presence of the demon.
“So tell me how this is going to work, Lucky.”
“I’ll send your lady back first. She will come out exactly where we left. There she will witness the demons leaving. While she is doing that, I will return you to your world.”
“No deal. We have to go back together.”
“My magic doesn’t work like that. I can only return her to where she was taken from. Since you weren’t taken by me, I have to make a couple of hops while we travel.” He started to laugh again. It almost seemed as if he couldn’t control it. “It’s safe, I assure you.”
April gave my hand another squeeze, and then she rubbed her thumb against me. I knew what she meant—we had to do it. I knew that we couldn’t trust the demons, but if we said no now, neither of us was getting home. I pulled her into my arms again and relished the feeling of her pressed against me. I took in one last tantalizing breath close to her hair and then pulled away.
Lucky waved his arm, and a portal appeared. April gave me a weak smile and stepped into it. The portal closed almost instantly, and she was gone. “I swear to God, demon, if she is hurt in any way, I’m coming for you.”
“She will be fine. As for you, let’s get you out of my realms.”
The insane laughter sounded again as he grabbed my arm. We stepped through the portal together. I felt three distinct pulls, and then I was standing on solid albeit wet ground. I stood up and looked down onto the city of Las Vegas. The lights were bright even through the rain. The city wasn’t on fire, and even from here, I could make out people walking on the strip. They had the gift of living their lives not knowin
g just how horrible they could be if demons like Lucky got their way. It reminded me of the people I saved. What would happen to them now?
“So where do we go from here?”
“I’m leaving to see to my end of the bargain. I trust you can make your own way from this point.”
“Lucky.”
He turned back to me. “Yes.”
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but I hope I never see you again.”
Another peal of his disturbing laughter started, and then he was gone. I looked down at the city and raised my arms into the air as if to embrace it. I missed being in this world. It was good to be home.
Now all I had to do was figure out just where in the fuck everyone was so we could start planning what to do next. I didn’t think for one second that this was over. Lucky might keep his word for now, but he would be back, and with more demons than ever at his disposal. Turning to the left, I saw a glitter of purple in the sky. That had to be where everyone was. I’d never tried it outside of hell, but I wondered if I could still fly.
I squatted down and gathered my power. It came slowly. At least, slower than I was accustomed to after my time in hell. When it felt right, I released it and shot into the air. Marcus was never going to believe this.
Chapter Twenty-Two
April
Just like that, I was back standing where I had been only hours before. Jackson was alive and well, and if everything worked out, he was back here now. John and Sarah rushed forward, both of them pulling me into a hug. I knew they wanted to know about their son and why he wasn’t with me, but they cared about me enough to make sure I was ok first.
John pulled back but had his hands on my shoulders. “Is he ok?”
Redemption (Ascendancy Legacy 6) Page 17
