Page 73 of All Your Deadly Truths (The Filthy Duet #2)

Kairhyse

I ’m barely capable of dodging his attack, slipping into the darkness behind him.

I cast an attack with one of my shadows at him, but he takes the blow to his back as if it were nothing more than an inconvenience.

When he turns, he’s regarding me with a weary expression.

It’s as though he feels bad for threatening to kill me.

She warned me he was weird, and this just confirms it.

As I take a step toward him, we truly begin a back and forth that feels like it will be endless. I’d land a punch, only for him to stand straight and swing at me. His actions are bored, as though it’s an annoyance to have to fight me.

Whatever you’d call this thing happening between us could go on for hours, days, or even weeks, because as we circle one another, he isn’t even out of breath.

“Are you a Necroth?” I spit.

“Sort of,” he answers quickly. “Sort of not.” When he smiles, his eyes disappear behind his cheeks. “My lifeforce was consumed by an Amoro, and then returned back to me.”

Flexing my hands in and out of fists, I narrow my eyes. During the moment of silence I strain my ears to hear anything, anyone , beyond just the two of us. The only noise is Mister’s yowling behind me, and then soon, his words.

“Unnatural beings. All of you need to be snuffed from this world. What Witch broke Vendra’s law?!”

Jay moves his shoulders up and down, an expression of ‘Whatever ’.

“You do realize that killing Kairhyse will damn you, correct?” Mister hisses.

“I don’t think he cares.” My words coming out with toxic rage. “He is a puppet to his master, not capable of thinking on his own.”

Jay then laughs before pointing at me. “I understand the consequences of killing you. It’s why I’m the one that is going to do it.”

I’m unsure if I truly understand why he is so eager to be damned, but at this point, I don’t care.

“Tali took my lifeforce, and someone returned it to me. It gave me eternal life, and that is all I know.” He takes a step to me, slowly closing the distance between us. “I don’t want to have to chase after your other friends and threaten their life over yours. That’s so much work.”

My foot pivots and I’m right before him, my hand around his throat. A snarl slipping from my lips as I spit, “Just a smart-mouthed zombie.” As I squeeze, I can feel the lack of a pulse under my grip. How had I not noticed even his heart wasn’t beating before?

All he does is smile, and as I tighten my grip a sharp pain bursts through my chest.

“No!”

My free hand grabs his wrist, just as he pushes further through in an attempt to grab my heart.

It’ll grow back, but I won’t be able to function, and he’ll easily take my head.

His strength is beyond what should be possible for someone that once was so easily breakable. The moment his other hand is coming up for my neck, I release his and grab it before it can wrap his fingers around what will be the death of me.

“On your knees,” he whispers, as I strain to keep my knees from buckling. I’m focused on his hand nearly wrist deep in my torso, which makes the pressure downward too much.

The moment my knee hits the soil below, a loud hiss below tears Jay’s gaze away from me. “I love cats, but I need you to not bite me.” When I look, his foot makes contact with Mister’s side, sending him several feet back.

My eyes round and I grit through my teeth, “I’ll kill you for that.” I’m grateful I know that the feline can’t die—but still.

“I’m already dead,” he jests.

He pulls his hand from my torso and drives his heel into the space between my pecs. I barely grunt as I crash against the side of the cabin, splintered logs digging into my back, and before I can react, he’s standing over me.

“Don’t feel defeated.” His hand finds my throat, the other gripping my chin and tilting my head up. “I’m as old as Tali herself… nearly. I’m ready for my soul to be released. The afterlife will be more peaceful, I promise.”

I can feel my skin tearing as my head begins to separate from my shoulder. The moment my hands grab around his wrists, my foot lands into his stomach.

He doesn’t budge.

“Sleep well,” he drones.

No…

My fight isn’t enough, and as the first bone in my spine snaps, I take a deep breath.

Warm liquid splatters across my face and torso.

Truth be told, I’m surprised I can even feel it. My body isn’t numb, and I don’t understand how that’s possible. Phantom pains? Is that a thing when you die?

My eyes, which had instinctively closed, shoot open.

It isn’t me that has lost their head, instead, it’s Jay’s that is slowly slipping from on top of his shoulders. His grip on me releases and I shrug up the wall, coming to stand quickly.

My gaze locks on silvern eyes, and in them, is fear that’s consuming her, leaking out like black ink spilling over a canvas. Her entire body shakes, every part of her succumbing to it as I watch her Amoro trickle down, inch by beautiful inch of her.

“Xera…” My voice is a mere whisper.

She outstretches her hand to my throat, her thumb drawing a line across my Adam’s apple. The sting of her warm hand against where the skin began to tear goes ignored. I can audibly hear her swallow, and the fear that had encompassed her turns to fury.

The way she shakes is terror-inducing. Even now, with her eyes veiled in twilight—like they do when her Demon takes over—these are deeper, far more lost to the abyss.

It’s as if I can see through her, into a void where nothing exists beyond what she’s experiencing.

No other thoughts. Just pure, untamable rage.

He was going to tear my head off, and if she hadn’t shown up when she had, I’d be dead.

“Hear me, baby.” I reach out with my hands and cradle her face, my thumbs brushing across her cheeks. “I’m fine.”

Her skin blazes like the sun, and it’s not just the heat I can feel. The Amoro inside her is surging outward, pulsing with a force so strong it feels like it’s trying to tear itself away from her.

A loud boom explodes behind her, but she doesn’t shift. Trees fall in the wake of whatever happened, yet she doesn’t so much as blink. I’ve never truly seen her lose control, and while I wouldn’t mind watching her slaughter everyone here… I can’t have her accidently decapitating Sydni in her rage .

“Little demon.” Her head slightly twitches, along with her eye lids widening. “You got him. There are more for you to kill… but you need to stay in control.”

It’s only now do I realize she isn’t breathing.

“Breathe for me,” I murmur, leaning in and brushing a kiss to her lips. “Breathe, Xera.”

Her lips part as she sucks in a shaky breath, the air catching in her throat. Her eyes flutter rapidly, as if trying to ground herself. Then, without hesitation, she slides a hand behind my back and pulls me into an embrace.

My arms encircle her head as my eyes shift from left to right, watching for an attack. I can hear shuffling occurring in the forest, but nothing has stepped in our direction. I’m able to take this moment with her, but only these fleeting seconds.

“What the fuck happened?!” she bites out, her grip around me tightening as she violently trembles. “Why are they here—How did Jay have you pinned down?!” Her words come out in a jumbled mess. “If I had been two seconds later…”

“Shh…” I soothe, running my hand down the back of her head. “Let’s talk about this later. Kayn has his hands full with that Incubus.”

She doesn’t release me, but lifts her head to peer up at me. The black has receded, and now all I can see is her silvern eyes that are bloodshot.

“Alaric is helping,” she whispers. Both of her hands move up to rest against my cheeks. “Damn it you can’t be… reckless.”

I chuckle. “I don’t think I was being reckless, little demon, they came here.”

The tremble of her bottom lip accompanies her soft words, “I’m sorry. It’s my fault, all of this.” The crack in her voice breaks my heart. “I’m sorry…”

“Xera…”

I don’t get more than that when Mister rushes up between our feet, stepping over the motionless body of Jay. My girl turns her head downward, seeing the cat looking up at her.

Murrrow. Rrrow.

She takes in a shaky breath and a sudden expression shift on her face has me tensing.

“Mister? You’re here…”

“There you are.” A slithery voice catches my attention, and instinct takes over—I grab Xera, dragging her behind me. My eyes snap to Archer as he steps out from the thicket, looking like he was just thrown through a blender. “You know, this is all so tiresome. ”

I should know better not to try and hide her, but I will always be protective of my girl. Regardless of whether she wants it or not.

She pushes around me and stomps toward the Incubus. “Where is Tali? And matter of fact, Lars, while we’re at it. He needs to be dealt with before I send that bitch to the Beyond.”

He laughs, and while I’m watching their engagement—slowly following right behind Xera—I’m equally listening for Kayn. The red sky still hugs our vicinity, so I know he isn’t dead. He is twice as strong as I am, so I can’t imagine this man bested him in such a short amount of time.

Archer shrugs his shoulders. “You weren’t really our target tonight, anyway—just a consolation prize.

Unfortunately, it looks like our little mission has failed.

” His eyes dart off to the side of me, and when I gaze back, it’s Jay that he is looking at.

“Endless battles aren’t really my thing, and…

” He strains his head up, ear pointed toward the sky.

“It sounds like your little crew has taken care of our distraction.”

Xera stops a dozen or so feet away from him. “Archer, what did she promise you?”

A sudden shift in his expression has my heart physically flipping in my chest.

What the…

“You deserve the worst kind of punishment,” she continues before he can find the words to answer her question. “The things you did to me… I’ve made men eat their own shit for less.”

His lips twitch as he tries to smile, but it’s like he understands what is coming next. “Did she promise you would see her again?”

“You don’t know shit, Xeraphine.”

“Don’t I?!” When I blink, she’s gone, and a loud crack accompanies Archer’s shrill scream. Xera’s hand is wrapped around his throat, his body crushing into the dirt below. “Did she promise to bring her back?! Or did she promise your release?!”

He jerks before swiping his hand up at her face, three nails slicing through her cheek so deep I can see a whites of her teeth. Even if tears spring to the corner of her eyes, she doesn’t react.

“Annabell.” The moment the name slips from her lips, Archer completely freezes. “Your Mark.”

She wipes her hand across her bloody cheek, and with her fingers coated in the crimson liquid, she forcefully shoves them down into the Incubus’ mouth.

“Answer ME! Did she promise you!?”

There is not moment of hesitation, as he obeys her command. “Yes.”

It works …

A chill runs down my spine, and as the soft pitter-patter of paws echoes beside me, I glance down to see Mister padding past me toward them.

“I want to punish you so fucking badly…” Xera raises her fist, balling it so tight I can see the veins in it pop and spread down her forearm. “To hurt you… to make you suffer… You don’t deserve to be happy. You don’t!” The crack of her teeth makes me take a step toward her, ready to comfort her.

However, she shoots me a warning glance, and shakes her head.

Archer huffs out a laugh that’s not built from humor, but one filled with anguish. “I’m only here because of you! Because your mother found me at my weakest. I’m cursed to stay on this bullshit world without her!”

Xera’s fist trembles, her other hand squeezing tighter around his throat, keeping him pinned deep into the dirt. She has her knees straddling his waist, poised to deliver a blow that could temporarily shut him up.

“You think any of us have choice when Tali is around. You are wrong.”

“Everyone has a choice,” she spits. “She isn’t commanding your Vigoro. You raped me on your own accord!”

“Because she’d send me to be with her! You mean nothing to me. Annabell is everything!”

“Yeah?!” She leans forward, mere inches from his face. “What would Annabell think of your actions against me?!”

He hesitates, but only briefly, before saying, “She’d hate me.

Her eyes would look at me with disgust.” A moment of silence falls between them.

It’s his next words that, if I had any sympathy for this man, it would be now, because it would be exactly how I’d feel.

“But even then, at least she’d be looking at me again. ”

I don’t know what Xera is doing right now, because this is completely unlike her. If she were the same girl as when I met her, Archer would be in pieces right now.

Time passes in slow motion, and as she sits up and drops her arms, she takes a deep breath. “You can pass through the gates, Archer—I’ve made a deal on your behalf. But there is one condition, one thing you must do for me.”

“How?” he asks quickly. “She bound me.”

“You’re unbound.”

“How…? And how do you know about Annabell?”

Xera slowly slips from on top of him. “One condition: If I ever see you on this world, I will send Annabell to the furthest depths of the Void. Do we have an understanding? ”

Archer begins to sit up, and just beyond him, I spot Alaric and Kayn emerging from the tree line. The Fallen has the shark Shifter bound in a radiant light, while Kayn is rolling his head around his shoulders as he approaches.

The Incubus never takes his eyes off my girl, and as he stands at his full height in front of her, he lets out a frustrated breath. “Understood, Xeraphine.”

I don’t know if I can stomach this deal.

I want to fucking kill him for what he’s done—he doesn’t deserve to live knowing what my little demon tastes like, feels like…

but I can see this choice isn’t easy for her.

It’s not just that I know her; it’s the way her hands tremble at her sides, and through this strange bond of ours I’m still getting used to, she’s crying out in pain.

Oh, Xera… baby, I’m so sorry.

“Leave! Alaric…” She turns her head to the Fallen, and I’m blown away that he stands straighter at her command. “Take him to the gates, and make sure it closes behind him.”

I don’t know what happened while she was in the Beyond, but something tells me that knowing this about Archer didn’t come without a cost.

She will tell me, and I swear if she gave them anything but a promise to be careful, I’ll be preparing to tear down the Beyond along with this world.

How many times must I say it… She’s mine, and not even she is allowed to give herself up to anyone but me.