AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I barrelled through the heavy door and into the dim corridor, but I ground to a halt, narrowly avoiding the puddle of golden fur on the floor. Ten heads lifted when I yelped, struggling to stay on my feet.
"How did you get out? You're supposed to stay in your room," I huffed.
But they were hellhounds, and I got the sense the room only contained them when they wanted it that way.
"You wanted to be close to your dad, huh?" I asked, jumping over them and trying not to land on their tails. The last thing I needed was to go flying and bruise my ass. The rest of me already hurt, and I was barely functioning. A tender peach was probably my last straw.
Alarm blared through me as more noise echoed through the castle. Eidolon was here; Ark was in danger.
When I found my balance on the cold stone floor, I ran and didn't look back. I focused on my tether to Arkan, frantic with the need to protect him. I couldn't lose anyone else. Dev and Taj were vulnerable as hell, but they were cloistered away in the hospital, and it was a damn nightmare to find that room. Arkan was outhere,trying to put the world to rights, in the thick of whatever action had hit the castle.
A deepboofof a bark came from behind me, and suddenly there were golden retrievers sprinting at my sides, surrounding me like an army of cute, furry warriors. If I had anything but dread in my chest, I would have laughed.
I wasn't the only one running towards the deep, thunderous sounds coming from across the castle. As well as Taj's pack of dogs, demons in all shapes, sizes, colours, and levels of spikiness came from rooms I passed, curiosity and dread driving them the same way as me.
That, or they were heading for the door to flee whatever was causing the noise. Not a bad idea; I commended them for their self-preservation instincts, but as someone who had none, I rantowardsthe commotion.
When I neared the front of the castle, I realised it wasn't an army slamming shields against the ground to intimidate us but voices—hundreds upon hundreds of voices. Something really bad had happened, hadn’t it?
I finally spotted the source of the hubbub when the ebb and flow of the crowd carried me out the big front doors and I saw the winged army gathered on the front lawn.
The winged army.
"Holy shit," I gasped, awe interrupting my panic for a split second at the legion of massive, brawny men and women in wicked armour, holding weapons I'd have killed for.2A tidal wave of power washed over me, violence surrounding these people like a second skin.
My shock at the warriors ruffling their batlike wings and talking amongst themselves in what was essentially my front garden made me short-circuit. But then my gaze snagged on a tall, white-haired head, and I elbowed my way past guards, stuffy council guys, excitedly murmuring cooks,3and tittering members of Dev's demon court I usually gave a wide berth to.4
"Ark," I called, my voice surprisingly raspy as I marched closer.5
He turned instantly, holding his hand out when he caught sight of my face. I was doing a miserable job of hiding how close I was to tears, and my usual composure was nowhere in sight. I couldn't even find snark or bravado to hide behind.
A rush of affection and worry brushed against my soul, like the wolf I imagined him as pressed protectively close. I wrapped my hand around his when I reached him, a lead weight falling off my chest when he squeezed my fingers and I registered that he was okay. He wasfine.No blood, no bruises, no bits hanging off that should be attached.
"What's going on?" I asked, turning to give the winged warriors a baffled look. They weren't attacking so they were obviously on Team Dev, and not Team Egomaniacal Mass Murdering Lizard Piece of Shit.6But they weren't standing in formation; they milled around greeting people like they hadn't been here in a while and were having a catch-up.
"This is the Company of Murkyr," Arkan replied, which did absolutely nothing to enlighten me. "And those four warriors everyone's clustered around are the Malefic Circle."
I gave him a blank look.
"Hell's deadliest circle," he explained, sending a brush of apology through the bond when he remembered I wasn't born here and knew jack shit about Hell and its denizens.
But I reared back in offence when his words computed. "What do you mean Hell's deadliest circle? That's us."
Ark laughed, but it was an empty sound. He lifted our joined hands and kissed my knuckles. "Maybe with you as a circle member, we'll get that title. But for now, the deadliest are over there and they came to our aid."
"I called for them," a velvety female voice inputted, and I startled to realise there was a woman standing opposite us. Ohhh, it was the HBIC who sent people into the throne room for Dev to murder as a gift for me.7
She gave a little wave to say, Yeah, I'm here too.I was too empty inside to apologise for not noticing her, and too wrecked to work out if apologising was the sort of thing I'd have done before Eidolon killed my mate.
"I'm Bel," she added, the smile on her dark gold face somewhere between sympathetic and coarse. I got the sense she was a coarse sort of person. "Short for Jezebel. Yes, that Jezebel, but no, I never did any of that stuff. I made the mistake of rejecting a man with a tiny dick and huge ego, and he started a slur campaign."
Arkan shifted closer to me, sensing that I was falling apart inside while this woman tried to make small talk.
"Ark, shift your backside," Bel ordered, and bustled him away from me—ignoring his low snarl of warning and the shadows that fluttered around him. I obviously wasn't feeling like myself because I didn't even reach for a knife when she neared, and no magic erupted when she grabbed me into a forceful, dare I say painful hug.
Taj's pack of dogs went mental behind me, but less in thestop maiming my mistress, you fiendway and more in ahugs? I want hugs! Give me hugs!way, which wasn't very supportive of them.
"I wanted to come to the hospital," Bel said while I spat out strands of her long dark hair and struggled to breathe. "But Ark said you'd probably kill me on sight, so I stayed away."
