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My opponent chuckled softly. “Do you really think it wise to take me on so soon after receiving the royal mark? I saw you during that fight last night. Antonio managed to land a few strikes. You’ve always prided yourself on making it out of one without a single injury. You’re slow on your feet right now. Fighting me would be nothing short of tempting fate. Where would that leave that lovely prize of yours?”
It was reckless to allow a livid snarl to escape from my lips, yet I couldn’t stifle the noise before it escaped. Hell, the fact it had didn’t even seem to matter. The expression on my face was all he needed for him to realize he’d struck a nerve.
Malakai flexed his hands, allowing his knuckles to pop from the mundane movement. “You were more of a threat when you hadn’t tied yourself to such a fragile thing. Now you’re just as weak as that doll of yours is. Your toy.”
For a split second, I could feel my body willing itself over to my emotions. If I hadn’t recognized the searing heat tearing through my veins, I wouldn’t have been able to catch myself before I had shifted. My rage was willing to send me forward with a blind attack of my own. It didn’t matter if I would essentially miss, it was still more than willing to send me out. I managed to stiffen up my body, preventing the attack from being carried out.
The demon drew his head back slightly, stunned that I had managed to regain control over myself before I had moved an inch. The emotion was quickly dissolved by irritation. “You’re a fool if you believe the rest of our kind will embrace her as your queen, Asher. That girl is nothing more than a tainted bastard that should’ve been killed off by the one that spawned her. There will always be humanity lurking within that soul,” he scoffed. “Perhaps I’ll do us all a favor and remove her from the equation.”
It was another desperate attempt to get me to take the bait. I gritted my teeth as the rage continued to build within me, feeding into the fire that was already swirling within me. It wasn’t strong enough to cast out with a firm destination in mind. Allowing my magic freedom this early would guarantee that it would get everywhere and I had one precious soul that I had to protect. “Touch her and I’ll ensure you die slowly. No one will ever find the pieces.”
Malakai responded with a huff. “I fail to see what is so special about that one. No matter. It’s given you a weakness that Lazarus can use.” He spread his hands and roared, “Go get the little bitch, Kotto!”
It didn’t occur to me that maybe the brute was biding his time and fucking around with Archer. As soon as that order was cast into the air, he managed to jerk his feet free from the chunks of ice that kept them rooted to the floor. He swooped down to rip a large chunk of it off the tile, releasing a roar of his own as he slammed it against Archer’s face.
There was enough force packed behind the attack that the demon lord was driven down into the ground without a chance to deflect it.
As soon as the brute’s body angled toward the closed bedroom doors, I jolted in that direction. Every single part of me was prepared to lunge forward and jam my hand into his body as far as it would go. I would aim for his heart, content to rip it from the surrounding veins. It was something simple but critical that would essentially stop him cold. Yet the subtle movement on my part was quickly countered by Malakai.
“We’re not done,” he hissed. “If you want to save that little damsel of yours, Asher Aeternus, you’ll have to remove me from your path.”
Small flames sparked to life along my palm, snapping his dark gaze down. “Very well, then. Would you like to be charred to a crisp or falling apart as a pile of melted flesh? I’ll accept the bill to clean up bodily ooze.”
There was a brief flicker of fear leaking out into those eyes. Malakai was genuinely concerned by the presence of my magic, especially when he had assumed that I had been weakened to the point where I wouldn't risk using it.
While that was essentially true, he had forced my hand. I would do anything to ensure he was cast out of my way and Kotto didn’t have the chance to grab my treasured pet. With any luck, she would have heard all the commotion and taken refuge in the bathroom. It wouldn’t stop someone of Kotto’s size, but it would give me a chance to deal with his handler.
I flexed my fingers, allowing the small flames to grow across every inch of my skin until it had engulfed my entire hand. “I don’t have a problem with baking myself a traitor, Malakai. Perhaps I’ll take notes from the fabled Vlad the Impaler from the human’s mythology and jam a wooden stake up your ass to ensure you get charred.”
His upper lip curled. “You don’t have enough strength to back up that threat.”
“Want to run your chances?” I taunted him.
My opponent responded with a scoff. “I will gladly give my life to the cause if that means bringing you down!” He lunged at me.
It took everything I had to erase the rest of the world. Most of my senses were still pretty jumbled up from the flash grenade and I already had one moving target that I needed to bring down to ensure my pet’s safety. But the way Malakai was coming at me reminded me of the moment I chose to step into the ring with Antonio.
Just because he’d managed to land a few strikes didn’t guarantee him the win he sought. I could only hope the fates would grace me with the same luck because the bastard wasn’t wrong. I wasn’t at my full strength since the mark had been passed on to me. That didn’t mean I was down for the count. My upper lip curled as he charged straight for me. It took every ounce of restraint to avoid shifting until he was just outside of arm’s reach.
I jerked my body sideways, bringing myself both out of his grasp as well as his direct path. While he flew past me with an enraged roar, my hand lashed out and caught him by his collar. With one sharp pull, I snapped him back in my direction long enough for me to slam my foot into his back and send him straight down onto the tile. The flames caressing my hand immediately started dripping the second I had him pinned.
His eyes widened as the flames grew so hot that they took on a molten lava appearance. It was certainly not a level of my magic that I had allowed myself to showcase before. The fact that I was displaying it now was leaving the demon with second thoughts about where he’d placed his loyalty.
It was too little, far too late.
He’d threatened my pet’s safety. It was not something I would ever tolerate from anyone, common folk or royalty. His skin being cooked off the bones would be the message I would deliver around the world.
Quinn Faxiss was off-limits.
A violent crashing followed by a high-pitched scream was enough to jolt me out of the enraged haze that I had allowed myself to tumble into. My head whipped toward the bedroom. The searing heat within my veins was quickly replaced by an icy chill that could only rival an arctic freeze. I knew the doors wouldn’t stand much of a chance against someone like Kotto, but he’d gotten through the first set in record time.
Even if Malakai hadn’t intended to play the part as bait, he’d certainly succeeded because now the brute had taken down the bathroom door. Quinn’s panicked cry revealed that he was currently working his way into the room.
That was the only chance my opponent needed to grab a folded knife from his belt loop. With a flick of his wrist, the blade was freed from the handle and he twisted his upper body to jam the weapon into my leg.
Red dots painted my vision as an agonizing pain pulsed up the rest of my body. The air caught in my throat, my gaze snapping back to the demon still pinned beneath me. He wasn’t able to catch me in the one leg that was keeping him down, yet he still managed to force my leg to fold beneath me. I crashed down onto the ground with a gasp while liquid droplets of my magic were flung across the room.
The smell of burning flesh warned that Malakai hadn’t reacted fast enough to ensure his own hide was spared. Still, he seized the opportunity to scramble out from underneath and put himself outside of my reach. His upper body jerked wildly as he worked to shrug off his own suit jacket. It was nothing more than a feeble attempt to prevent the impending damage to his back.
