Page 97 of Demons and Darlings


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Someone was here.

I sat straighter, pushing myself against the concrete wall behind me and lifting my chin as best I could. The chains had become so heavy, weighing down more and more on my bones with every passing minute.

Whispering voices muffled from outside the window.

And then the entire thing shattered.

Broken glass fell into the basement, and those tiny threads of light returned. “Lyra?” a familiar voice asked.

Salem.

“Lyra, are you in there?”

“I’m here,” I responded, my voice barely over a whisper. “I’m down here!”

I could hear a few male voices with her, but I could only see Salem’s slim body from the outside of the window. “We’re getting you out of here, Lyra. Just hold on!”

My stomach flipped. I could have vomited from the wave of emotion that rolled through me, but Salem’s body sliding through that tiny window distracted each of my thoughts.

“She’ll catch you,” I warned as Salem landed on her feet and began surveying the situation. “She’ll know you’re here.”

Salem knelt in front of me and took the chains in her hands, cursing under her breath. “We won’t let her touch you again,” she promised. “Alek, get down here. These chains are too strong.”

Alek. My stomach erupted in excitement as his body slid, barely fitting through the window where Salem had just come from.

They had actually come for me. They actually cared.

He landed on his feet with a satisfying thud.

“What the fuck is this?” he muttered. He looked around the room, surveying the chains, the lack of furniture, and then—finally—me. “Your mother keeps you down here?” he hissed. “She did this?”

He joined Salem before me, his hand reaching up to brush my jawline as he surveyed the chains that held my neck. His thumb tickled across the bruised skin of my face. “Lyra,” he breathed, barely even a whisper, “I had no idea.”

“Get me out of here,” I managed to reply. “Before she comes back.”

“Shit,” Salem muttered. “You don’t have to tell me twice.”

A loud grunt interrupted us from outside the window. Zac called out, “Alek, we’ve got company.”

Alek cursed under his breath before standing up and running back to the window. He pulled a long knife from his belt and held it tightly in his hand. “Get behind me,” he ordered Salem.

I was left helpless on the cement floor.

Zac grunted again, and through the small basement window, I could see a creature flash in his direction.

It most certainly wasn’t human, and it most certainly did not belong in this world.

“What the hell is that?” I gasped.

Alek’s jaw tightened. “It looks like your mother assigned you some protection.”

And then he jumped out of the window.

Salem stayed behind, watching carefully as Zac and Alek fought the unworldly beast outside.

I could hardly believe my eyes.

We were going to die.My mother was sending paranormal beasts to protect me; she knew they would come for me.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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