AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What do you want?” I forced myself to look away from the arena, to look directly at Lucifer. “You always want something. You put them in a no-win situation for a reason, sowhatdo you want from me?”
He curled his lips into a satisfied grin. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t play game with me. Just tell me.”
“You said you would do anything for them. Well, now is the time. I don’t lie, and I am telling you that unless you do something, that reaper will kill all four of the men you claim to care so much about.”
“What am I supposed to do againstthat?”
He sat back and crossed one ankle over his other knee, as if the entire thing didn’t matter to him.
My head ached from that sound and from the mental gymnastics I had to perform to try and work out what I needed to do.
In the arena, Kase moved much slower than he had before—a sign that the reaper had hurt him—and the others simply dove out of the way when the reaper charged. Even as I watched, it was clear that it wasn’t so much attackingthemas it was trying to escape and didn’t much care if they were in its way.
My feet moved before I could think about it, before I could figure out my plan. I just knew I had to do something. I couldn’t sit there and watch them get slaughtered in front of me.
When I reached the line of rocks, I paused. Heat came from it, like a warning. I turned to spot Lucifer, and the look on his face was pure expectation.
He’dpushedme here, to do this. Even though a fear struck me, a sense that crossing that line wasn’t a good idea, I knew damn well Lucifer wasn’t going to kill me.
He wanted me to do this, and while I didn’t know what or exactly why, it didn’t stop that I needed to. I remembered Grant’s words, when he’d told me that asking if something was possible was pointless if it was my only choice.
I drew my hands into fists and forced myself across the line of rocks.
Heat seared me, but I pushed through it. It felt like trying to walk through a waterfall of lava.
At the other side I collapsed forward, into the dirt. Even though the barrier had only been perhaps a foot wide of space, it had felt like crossing miles.
“You havenothing?” Kase asked, voice less controlled than it usually was. “What good are you?”
“Well, I’m sorry, but fighting areaperwasn’t ever one of the things we considered,” Grant shouted back.
I shoved myself to my feet to find the men moving, all faster than I could, and the reaper following the line of the barrier, looking for an escape.
“You have got to be kidding me,” Troy snapped from farther away, and that tone said he’d seen me. It was his strictly for me annoyed voice.
Smoke surrounded me for a moment before it took form as Hunter—naked, but I was used to that—stood just in front of me. “You need to take a few steps backward, shadow-girl.” He set his hands on my shoulders to shove me backward, through the barrier.
When my back hit that line, however, a searing pain than before overcame me. It forced a scream from my lips, and even with his quick shove, the wall held like a one-way path that wouldn’t allow me out.
Hunter yanked me away from the barrier, a curse on his lips. “She’s trapped in here,” he called out.
“Wewilltalk about this as soon as we are out of it,” Kase all but snarled in my direction, his finger pointed at me like that was scarier than what we currently faced.
Grant came over, breathing hard, then grabbed my hand. He flipped it over, and I wasn’t even startled when a sharp pain spread through my palm. I’d gotten used to Grant slicing my hand at his whim.
He did the same to himself, whispered quick words before grasping hands with me. The blood mixed, and I ignored the risk of bloodborne illnesses because, again, that was a worry for another day.
If we got one.
He released my hand, then pressed his bloodied palm against my forehead along with a sharp word in a language I didn’t recognize. “You are an idiot,” he said with no sense of affection.
“Is she protected?” Troy asked from across the arena.
“Best I can do. No idea if it’ll work againstthat, though. They don’t teach reaper defense in the guild.” Grant turned away, but I caught his wrist.
“Lucifer wants me here.”
