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CHAPTER23
Riley put her hands together as if she were praying. “Please. Why do you need to use her? There has to be another way.”
Deruthel’s eyes fell on her hands. “While I can get used to you praying to me. Worshiping me. We must sanctify the portal with virgin blood.”
“Let me try something else,” Riley begged.
Deruthel growled. “There was another way but you sullied yourself with the shadow. I was never going to kill you, just use your blood, but you have removed that option.”
“If you were going to spare me, please do the same for Tara. I’ll use a combination of her blood. Colton’s blood. Anything you ask if you spare her life.”
Black mist rolled over Tara’s body. She whimpered as her pupils turned black. “I cannot guarantee she will live. If we sacrifice her now, the blood is stronger.”
“But her blood isn’t as strong as mine. Let me try with our blood combined.”
Deruthel walked on his spindly legs, moving toward the squirming teenager. Her body contorted as the cracking sounds echoed in the chamber. Her mouth opened and closed, but no sound escaped. Riley remembered those moments when she was between the human and the shadow world, and her organs felt like they were dissolving inside her body. And her veins felt like they were fueled with acid. “Halak, prepare the girl.”
“Don’t kill her,” Riley hissed.
Deruthel turned. “While you will probably be my first bride. Do not assume that will give you any rights. You may speak to me, even offer suggestions if I ask, but you are a resource. A tool that I will use to rule this realm. You will never have the power to issue an order.”
Halak grabbed the demon caller. Tara continued to squirm on the ground as parts of her body phased into the shadows, then reformed. “It may be difficult to get a vein while she is mid transition.”
Deruthel glanced at the mottled body of the teenager. “Cut her and bleed enough blood into the chalice to start the incantation. We will sacrifice her later.”
Halak took out a black blade and sliced open Tara’s wrist. She screamed, but the sound was cut off when her face began to phase into the shadows. Her blood ran from the gouge in her wrist like a crimson river, filling the demon caller with her life force.
Tara’s face reformed to flesh as her whispered words caressed the air in morbid pleading. “Please. Kill me.”
Riley had begged for death during the transformation. She had been able to voice her wishes. She understood Tara’s need to end the pain. Right now, it felt like it would never end. The eternity of torment was all the future held. She leaned toward Colton. “Is there anything we can do to help her?”
Colton shook his head. “No, but her chances are better going through the transition with reaper venom than demon.”
Riley pursed her lips. “Deruthel, you said there was something wrong with Dannika’s blood. Maybe something happens as we age; I don’t know. You wanted to use mine and Colton’s blood mixed with Dannika’s for the portal. Let me try with ours and Tara’s. I will perform any ritual you ask.”
“Dannika’s blood should be strong, but it is not. If she is failing, then you too will meet the same fate.”
Riley’s eyes widened. “You think Dannika is dying?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. Her blood opened a portal before, but when we used it on its own, it was completely ineffective. If I had to guess, I’d say she’s sterile.”
Riley tried not to let the implications of that affect her. That was a problem for another day. Hopefully, one Anaisa would be able to cure. Hell, maybe they were already working on it and her health was due to treatment. “Tara has given enough blood. Let me take mine and Colton’s and add to it. I am a better candidate to sever the portal than Halak.”
Halak removed Tara’s arm from the bowl, allowing the wound to close over and begin to heal. “She has a point. A priestess opened the first portal. A priestess should sever it. If she does it by her choice, it holds more power.”
Deruthel clasped his hands behind his back. “That is true.” He looked lost in thought before his eyes glowed amber and he clutched his head. “Stop, Father!” He growled and staggered to the wall, leaning against it as he wailed in pain.
Halak shook his head. “I warned you that the king was more powerful than you. How many of your brethren have attempted to overthrow him. Ashkara will crush your mind and usurp your body.”
Deruthel hissed at Halak. “You betrayed me. You wish to be Ashkara’s plaything when you could have been my second. You will never gain power under my father, as you are not of his blood.”
Halak sighed. “I did not alert Ashkara. I did not need to. I warned you he was aware of your intent to abandon him in his current realm. You seem to have forgotten that I don’t possess the power to contact the king. Only you have that ability.”
Deruthel hissed. “He is attempting to overthrow my mind.”
Halak nodded. “I told you this fight was coming. You either resist him or you die. The demon army belongs to the victor. No matter who that will be.”
Deruthel turned to Riley. “Start the ritual. Use yours and Colton’s blood along with the girl’s. Sever the portal and I will give your people a two-week amnesty before the war.”
Riley dashed to Halak and grabbed the demon caller. She went to Colton and took his wrist. She cut his arm and squeezed several ounces of blood into the bowl before having him hold the chalice.
She cut her own wrist, allowing the chalice to fill with her own. Once her wound had closed over, she placed her hand into the mixture of blood and mixed it. She turned when Deruthel screamed and fell to the ground.
His claws punctured the flesh at his temple. Black blood ran from the wounds, making it look like his skull was releasing rivers of oil. “Father. No!”
