Page 72 of All Your Deadly Truths (The Filthy Duet #2)
She stares at me, and for the first time, there is no gentle reassurance she’s alright. A look I’ve seen all too well in my little demon comes over her. This is a look of fiery resilience, and fucking fury.
“Okay…” I look back where I had hit Archer. “Brice, Sydni… take care of the assholes surrounding us.” The Incubus emerges, seemingly unphased, as if I hadn’t just sent him yards away with a single punch. “Please… watch your head,” I say, pointing at my little butterfly.
A loud crash nearly takes my gaze away from Archer, but I stay steadfast. From my peripherals, I see a familiar face. Chase . He has blood drawing down his torso where his left arm would normally be, irritation evident in the snarl on his lip.
I’d be thrilled with the sight, if it weren’t for the girl he’s got slung over his shoulder—Desiray, motionless and dangling limply.
“Fucking Vampires…” he curses.
Beyond him, a third male approaches and I swear I’ve seen him before.
Blond hair, bright blue eyes that I can make out even in the darkness, and a smile that seems carefree.
He is merely Mundane by his scent, but he stands beside them as though he could withstand a building falling on him and walk away from it unscathed.
Brice and Sydni disappear just as Kayn and Niyla come to my side. The scent of blood wafts from Niyla and I peer over at her, her eyes bloodshot as she stares off toward the three men twenty or so feet in front of us.
“Assholes.” She rubs her hand across her face, smearing the crimson over her nose. “I’m surprised the girl’s alive, the Shifter was not gentle. If I had held onto her any longer, we would have torn her in half.”
Not sure allowing her to return to Lars is in our best interest. Killing her may be better, but they haven’t left yet, so I still have time to think about her fate.
“Niyla.” Kayn steps ahead of me, his knuckles cracking under the pressure of his palm. “Any hidden talents under that friendly facade?”
My neck pops as I roll my head around my shoulders.
“Just a normal Vampire, unfortunately. Sorry.” She shrugs, not really sounding apologetic. Not that she should be out of the fight—her natural strength will help. But I’m unsure what it’ll do against an Incubus and a Shifter who doesn’t give a damn about the arm she ripped off.
“Is Lars with you?” I shout. “What about Tali?”
Archer grins. “Oh, you’d know if she was here. Is Xeraphine back yet?”
My blood boils hearing her name from his lips.
As the Shifter hands over Desiray to the blond boy, I take a step toward them.
“We can exchange the girls,” he continues. “Xeraphine for the pussy Shifter.”
“Sounds like an unfair trade to me,” Kayn chortles. “Plus, none of you are leaving anyway. No point in striking a bargain with the dead.”
“This is so pointless,” Chase grits out. “Whether it is today or in five hundred years, Tali will get what she wants. You really will stand here and ‘defend her honor’ when she’d cut you all to pieces without a single fucking thought?”
The twitch in my nose accompanies my furious words. “You know nothing of her, do not speak to us as though you do.”
“Given the choice, she’d pick herself over everyone. It’s in her biology to do so. If you think otherwise, then you are a fool .” He moves his gaze from mine, to Kayn, then to Niyla. “My arm; you are lucky I can grow it back, bitch.”
“Settle down, Chase,” Archer croons, his hand coming to rest on his shoulder. When he catches my gaze, he smiles wider. “I’m going to enjoy hurting you, but lucky for you… I can’t kill you, or so I’d be damned.”
He tilts his head to the side, rolling his shoulders forward.
His build is no bigger than mine, but that means little for his kind.
Xera’s smaller than me, and fully fed, she could bring me to my knees with the right motivation.
I remember Achille saying she once took down a rhino Shifter—her kind doesn’t need bulk to be powerful.
“Shall we dance?” In a single blink, he’s gone.
The night, once pitch black, melts into hues of red as Kayn pulls the Crimson Dawn across the sky.
I disappear into the shadows it casts. Moving through this phantom realm feels like a fever dream, causing a slight bit of lightheadedness, but not enough to be disorienting.
The world moves slower here, everything muted in a vantablack, outlined by a harsh white hue.
The places I can’t exit this realm are blanketed by that pearl contrast, but with Kayn’s specialty, the entire space is possible to move in and out of.
I can see Archer reaching Niyla, and just as his hand is nearing her neck, I launch from the darkness.
Grabbing his wrist, I swing my elbow straight into his jaw, hearing the crack under the force.
He grunts, followed by a hiss as I keep a hold on him and, as though he is a rag doll, I throw him hard into the wooden patio flooring.
It cracks and splinters upward, causing the metallic scent of blood to swirl in the air.
Just as his lips are parting to speak, my foot comes down onto his face and crushes him further into the ground.
“So much violence.” I hadn’t even heard footsteps approach me. But the voice is right at my backside.
When I look, it’s that blond. It’s that Mundane… Jay, did she call him?
As he pulls back his fist to punch me, I swear I nearly laugh. Kayn suddenly appears behind him and grabs his throat. I can't help but let my mirth come to life.
“Idiot,” I scoff. “Don’t kill him, Xera wants to?—”
I’m cut off as Jay throws his elbow back, just barely, and I can hear the shattering of bone. Kayn’s jaw and nose break, bowing inward and I don’t blame him for releasing the Mundane.
What the fuck?!
Jay smiles, and now I see why he is carefree. He swings at me, and I’m not stupid to even allow the wind to caress me from it. Retreating, I release Archer and stand a few feet back.
The moment I’m going to call for Niyla to stand at my side, we both hear Sydni screaming in the distance. I look at her, her ebony cheeks darkening as fear radiates in her eyes.
She looks at me, but only briefly, before she is disappearing out into the forest. Shit .
My butterfly comes first, so I can’t be angry at her decision. Just as I’m about to run after her, a soft tsk makes me turn. Jay is helping Archer up from the splintered ground, dusting him off.
“You know…” Now I understand why this one pissed Xera off. He is nonchalant, so calm it’s ticking me off. My chest heaves, nostrils flaring as he chuckles. “I was originally brought on to calm Xeraphine. Sooth the delirium into lucidity. But now, with you, Tali has given me a higher purpose.”
Kayn’s fist, just inches from Jay’s face, is intercepted with a deafening smack. The force of the blow shakes the ground beneath me, the impact reverberating like a small quake.
The grin that Archer gives my friend makes my stomach tumble. “Let’s leave them to play.” He swings a kick into Kayn’s side and as he flies across the space and into the trees, the Incubus gives me one final smirk before chasing after him.
The Mundane steps to me. “I don’t know how I didn’t recognize you.” He sighs before continuing, “There at the bar…”
My mind soars back to Ashfer, a seaside bar, an annoying Mundane trying to buy me my drink. Jay . Holy fuck. I hadn’t smelled Xeraphine on him, how had I missed that?!
I was so close…
“I have no qualms with you, Kairhyse. Truthfully, I feel bad for you.” He steps to me, but I don’t falter, and stand my ground.
I think I shouldn’t refer to him as Mundane anymore—I believe he is another Necroth.
There is no way that a mere mortal could be this strong without some sort of intervention.
“They both trapped us in a life of servitude.”
I scoff. “Technically, I trapped her. You are just a dog to its owner. Woof, woof .”
His shoulders raise as he takes a deep breath. He tucks one hand into his jeans, and waves the other in front of him. “Yeah, doesn’t really matter at this point. With her final command, I’ll be free.”
“And what’s that command, Jay? Fight an endless battle with me until my girl returns to separate your head?”
As his brows pinch, a sense of dread slaps me in the face. A weight pushes down on my chest, and a strange sense of impending death crashes over me.
What is that?
“No, Kairhyse. I’m here to kill you.”
I want to laugh, but he’s in front of me before the thought even finishes.