by Katie Reus
Instead of feeling weaker after the long trek today and killing those two males she was still pulsing with energy. It hummed in her, as if she’d woken something inside. She’d even tried to transport on the off chance she’d gotten her ability back, but no such luck. She couldn’t wait to get out of this realm, to talk to Bo about everything. Her lips were still tingling from his claiming, and that was exactly what that kiss had been. She felt it bone deep. Even if he didn’t realize it. She just hoped he would man up and stop pushing her away.
The path into the camp was a trail of uneven round stones. They passed through the broken-down ruins of what had likely once been a small castle. Or maybe just a fortress. She’d seen some truly great castles and this didn’t look like much. In the distance, between more falling-down pillars of stone, she could see two cages suspended in the air. It was difficult to tell because it was in the back part of the “castle”, but she could see a body in each.
Swallowing hard, she looked at the back of Rory’s head, focused on him. She forced herself to ignore how quiet it had gotten now that she and Rory were inside the ruins. She ignored the way two yellowish-colored males with razor-sharp teeth and scaly bodies inched closer to her.
“Don’t touch my merchandise.” Rory didn’t raise his voice as he turned to look at the males, but he did bare his…canines. Well that was interesting. She’d assumed he was half-demon, half-human. But maybe he was a shifter of some sort.
The males held up their hands as if they hadn’t been planning that at all, but they both leered at her, their lust clear and disgusting.
“I’ll enjoy fucking you later,” the closest said, the stench of his breath so overwhelming she gagged once as he flicked his extra-long, snakelike tongue at her.
A measure of fear slid through her veins, but at the same time, anger punched through her. Yeah, maybe it was arrogant, but she was a freaking demigod. She was the daughter of Chaos and a fae prince. And this male thought he could talk to her that way?
She looked away from him, not bothering to respond. Instead she imagined his ankle snapping completely in half, the bone shoving through his skin in the most painful way possible.
“Agh!” The male shouted in pain but she didn’t turn around to see her handiwork.
“What the fuck? You forget how to walk?” A male howled in laughter, clearly uncaring about his friend’s injury.
Rory flicked a glance over his shoulder, looked past her, then down at her. His mossy green eyes were bright with amusement, and a little respect, as he turned around. “Showtime,” he murmured, quiet enough for her ears only.
Nyx kept walking, but peeked around him to see twenty males walking their way, one leading the pack.
The male in the front was about half a foot taller than the rest. He had the same yellowish skin and reptilian features. Just like the first two males, this group wore what amounted to loin cloths and boots. Their scaly skin shimmered under the fading sunlight. Another reminder that their time was limited. They needed to save these females and get out alive.
“Wolf-demon,” the leader greeted Rory.
Nyx internally frowned at the name, but kept her expression as neutral as possible. Rory was a wolf shifter too? Made sense given that earlier show of canines.
Rory just grunted. “I have merchandise for the right price.” He roughly grabbed her arm, yanked her up to stand next to him.
Compared to humans, Nyx was an average height, but next to Rory and the near eight foot tall monster in front of her she felt small. Still, she kept her shoulders straight. She wouldn’t cower in front of this male. She wouldn’t do that in front of anyone. Ever. That, she knew, was part of her genetic makeup.
“Very pretty merchandise,” the male murmured, his pupils going to slits as he looked her over from head to toe. “Where did you get such a lovely fae bitch?”
Rory lifted a shoulder. “None of your fucking business. She’s got a mouth—and teeth—on her and I like my females accommodating. I know you don’t care so I figured we could do some business. But if you’re going to hassle me, I’ll find someone else—”
The male shook his head, held up one slightly webbed hand. “I’m interested.” He looked at her face, then flicked that creepy gaze to her wings. “I already have a captive to meet my needs, but…she is lovely.” His breathing became more rapid. “It’s been a while since I’ve had two females for myself.”
“Fuck that!” one of the males nearest the leader said. “You get two prime pieces while we get the leftovers?”
There was grumbling of agreement from a few other males. Dissension in the ranks? Even better, she thought.
The leader’s long arm snatched out whip-fast. He wrapped his fingers around the male’s neck, squeezed as the male went for a blade strapped to his hip. But the leader was faster. He grabbed his own knife, slammed it through the middle of the subordinate’s chest. A thick black liquid oozed from the wound as the male stopped breathing. The leader let him go, then kicked at the male’s chest viciously, sending the body flying backward.
“Anyone else want to question me?” he demanded.
No one said a word.
The leader looked back at Rory. “We’ll talk business in my tent.” His grin grew wide, lecherous as he glanced at Nyx. “You can meet your other new bedmate.”
“We’ll talk right here. I don’t want to stay in your filthy camp longer than I have to.” Rory’s voice was rude, dismissive.
She understood it was because they couldn’t go back to the male’s tent. It was where his other captive was—where Bo and Ian would be soon if they weren’t already.
The leader straightened a fraction, his gaze growing hostile. “Then maybe I just take your whore and kill you.”
Rory grinned, the action savage and way more terrifying than she’d ever seen him look. “You could try. But you know my brother’s waiting for me and you know what will happen if you try to double cross me.” He didn’t spell out the threat, but even Nyx could hear the unspoken words hanging in the air. Rory sounded as if he’d raze this whole place to the ground. “Now, can we talk currency exchange or not?”
Gritting his teeth, the leader nodded. “What do you want for her?”
“Dragon bones.”
The leader’s eyes narrowed even as his pupils turned to vertical slits. The contrasting action was jarring to see. “That’s impossible.”
Rory lifted a shoulder, casual indifference. “Nothing’s impossible. I want them, you want this female. Find me dragon bones, you get her. And she’s a virgin.”
The male shuddered at that, a huge bulge growing under his loin cloth. Nyx had to swallow back the bile in her throat and force herself not to lash out with her chaos.
It was very, very difficult when every survival instinct told her to kill this male and the surrounding ones who seemed to move closer with each second that ticked by. She wasn’t sure if Rory actually knew she was a virgin or if this was just part of his salesman spiel.
Didn’t matter because a second later a shrill whistle rent the air. All the males stiffened in alarm, turned at the sound.
Ian and Bo had been discovered.
Rory’s talons elongated and he slashed out at the nearest three males, moving lightning fast as he sliced their throats. “Now!” Black ooze flowed down their chests.
But she didn’t need his endorsement. She’d already let the leash on her chaos free, shoving out all her energy in a pulsing wave of terror. The surrounding walls didn’t crumble, they exploded like geysers.
She ignored the cries and shouts of fear as all the males withdrew their blades and raced toward the nearest opening, away from the falling rubble. They thought they were under attack from an outside force and didn’t think twice about dismissing her, of turning their backs to her as if she was a non-threat. She was just a silly fae female they didn’t fear.
Their mistake.
While her chaos reigned and the males scrambled to find their unseen oppressors, Rory
used the distraction. He threw her over his shoulder and ran. She focused the rest of her energy on the leader even though it wasn’t part of their original plan. No matter what happened here today, this male was going to die.
Looking up, she made eye contact with him as Rory flew toward the woods. She mouthed the word “die” seconds before his head exploded.
Chapter 11
Ten minutes earlier
Bo was humming with a raw energy he could barely contain as he and Ian moved into place behind a giant pile of rocks. He’d already shifted to a larger form, his beast growing a few inches in every direction. It only happened to his kind in extreme times of distress and he had no control over it. The single other time it had happened had been when he’d been running Nyx to safety after the collapse of those ruins.
He hadn’t even been sure it was a real thing, but now he knew for certain. Ian hadn’t shifted though so Bo knew this was directly related to his feelings for Nyx.
Fucking feelings.
They were going to get him killed. He hated that he barely knew how to handle all these emotions. Before her fucking and fighting had been his ways of releasing aggression. And aggression, thanks to his demon half, had been the real emotion he struggled with. This…possessiveness of Nyx was frustrating.
A couple months ago he’d have never thought he could experience such a protectiveness for another being. He loved and felt protective of his sister. But what he felt for Nyx eclipsed that.
And it was at odds with who he was. It sort of went with being a half-demon that caring so deeply for something made you weak. That had been ingrained into him from birth, part of his genetic makeup. Now, the only thing he knew was that if someone tried to take her from him, he’d kill them.
Slowly. Painfully.
“You in control?” Ian murmured, peering around the rocks.
A low grade murmur of male voices had gone up in volume, then quieted. Bo pushed up to see all the males from the back of the camp moving at a fast clip through a set of crumbling pillars. He couldn’t see farther without standing on the rocks but he knew Rory had to have breached the place with Nyx in tow. No wonder they were all running, everyone wanted to see her.
Bo rolled his shoulders once, nodded. “Fine.”
“There’s at least one guard inside the leader’s tent. He just went in. We free the females in cages, then move to the tent, take him out. It has to be seamless.”
Yeah it did. Nyx’s safety depended on it. “I’ll take the cage on the left.”
Ian nodded and they moved into action, using their stealth and speed to sprint across the open grassy incline to the two huge suspended cages. Bo didn’t look at Ian, just focused on his task. He had to trust that his half-brother would do his part. That was another thing he grappled with, trusting these two virtual strangers. His instinct told him he could though. He was betting not only his life on it, but Nyx’s.
The bars were strong, but it only took two pulls for him to wrench the door free. The lock snapped off with a clinking sound, the heavy thing slamming to the ground. He froze, looked around but all the males were still about a football field length away with their backs to him and Ian.
The naked female inside with matted black hair was too thin. The outline of her ribs were visible and he wasn’t even sure if she was breathing. When he gently reached for her, her eyes flew open. She instantly cringed back from him. Blood and other fluids covered her and it was clear her arm was broken. He couldn’t tell what she was exactly. Definitely at least part human, but she could have a mixed heritage.
Didn’t matter. “We’re here to help you.” He reached out a hand for her.
She just closed her eyes, rolled away.
Fuck. He didn’t want to jostle her but there was no choice. He just hoped she didn’t cry out. Grasping her uninjured upper arm, he pulled her from the cage and into his arms. She stared up at him, but he could tell she wasn’t really seeing him.
A burst of rage fired through him. This female had been abused in ways he didn’t want to think about. And for a long time. He clamped his jaw shut, shoving back the primal roar he wanted to let loose and looked over at Ian who’d pulled the other female from the cage.
“She’s dead,” he murmured, his expression as dark as Bo felt. “I still can’t leave her here.”
Bo nodded once, understanding. No one deserved to be left here. “If we don’t kill everyone today I’m coming back.” Right now getting Nyx and any survivors to safety was the most important thing but if there were any survivors Bo would come back.
“I’m right there with you.” Ian’s voice was savage.
Maybe his half-brothers were all right after all. He nodded once in the direction of the biggest tent. It was in the middle of six smaller ones spread out into a half circle. According to Rory it was where another captive was being held.
Bo held the female close to his chest, silently praying for Nyx’s safety as they hurried across the open encampment. He was pretty certain no one would listen to his prayers but at this point, he’d try anything.
A move like this was ballsy, but also so damn unexpected that it might work. No, it would work.
He refused to accept anything less.
Ian set the dead female down outside the tent door so Bo did the same with the other female. Wincing, she sat up and drew her legs to her chest. He gave her his blade in case she needed to defend herself. He wasn’t certain she could even do that but he needed to give her a weapon, give her hope. Moving quickly he stripped off his tunic as well, handed it to her.
He held a finger to his lips before turning to Ian. They’d have one chance to disable the guard before he made a distress call to the others. That was if he was even alone.
Bo counted down from three with his fingers and they rushed in. The doors flapped open.
Two males were standing over a table looking at something. A female was in the corner curled up on a cot. She sat up when she saw them, her eyes wide as she held a blanket up to her neck.
He dismissed her for now and rushed at the males without letting loose the instinctive battle cry building in his throat.
One grabbed a horn from the table, blew into it. Bo slammed into him, cutting off the shrill warning sound as he tackled the male to the ground.
“I’ll gut you!” the male shouted, slicing out at Bo with sharp talons similar to his own.
He ignored the threat, ignored everything as he slashed at the male’s throat, cutting deep enough to take his head halfway off. Why bother with threats when he could just kill the guy? Out of the corner of his eye he saw Ian disembowel the other Koighan with a grunt of satisfaction, before ripping his head off.
The ground was rumbling and fearful cries filled the air from outside. That meant Nyx was alive to create her chaos. It was the only thing keeping Bo sane right now when he wanted nothing more than to be out there protecting her.
“We’re here to help you,” Ian said holding his hands up in a calming gesture. It probably didn’t help that his hands were covered in blood and other gore. The Irish lilt to his voice was a little thicker as he moved toward the female. Definitely human.
She shoved her blanket off to reveal she was mostly naked except for loose, sheer harem pants. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a braid and she was cleaner and in better shape than the other females but her dark eyes held fear. Her gaze darted to the tent opening then back to them.
“You can leave on your own, we won’t stop you, but the Koighans are out there. And we’re leaving this realm tonight.” He motioned to Bo. “Come with us if you want a chance to live.”
He could see the indecision on her face, but after a long moment, she nodded.
“If I carry you we’ll go faster,” Ian said again.
Bo tamped down his impatience, that growing need to rush out of here and find Nyx. It was easy to hear that the place was falling apart outside.
The female nodded and Ian picked her up as if she weighed nothing.
“I’m going out first,” Bo murmured. He needed to retrieve the other female and though he hated the thought of leaving the dead woman here they would simply have to come back to bury her later. He couldn’t carry them both and fight his way out.
He slashed the tent door completely off with his talons in case someone was waiting to attack. His gut twisted at the sight in front of him. The female he’d taken from the cage had stabbed his blade straight through her heart. Without testing her pulse he already knew she was dead.
Ian touched his arm. “We’ll come back for them later.”
“Take her to the woods. I’ll meet you at our rendezvous point.”
Ian’s jaw clenched, clear he wanted to argue, but Bo wasn’t going with them. Ian would be escaping with the female through the back of the encampment and circling back using the woods as cover. It was the securest escape route since there were no Koighans in the way. Bo couldn’t do safe now, however.
Not when he had to make sure Nyx was alive. She was his to protect, no matter what. He would prove to her and himself that he was worthy of mating her.
“Go.” Then Ian was gone, a flash of movement sprinting toward one of the fallen walls.
Ignoring the twinge of regret in his chest, Bo pulled the blade free from the dead woman and raced toward the front of the ruins. He dodged a falling boulder, jumping into a smoldering fire pit to avoid it. The coals burned his feet but he ignored the pain, ignored everything as he raced through the fray of running Koighans.
Their leader was a mess of blood and body parts and they were all running around like buzzing bees. Typical of their kind. Without someone to lead them and without a visible enemy to fight they revealed their true cowardly nature.
With his left hand he slashed out at the nearest enemy, cut his throat. With his right, he used his blade to slice and dice anything in his way.
