Page 37

Chaos.

It’s absolute chaos, and it’s destroying my biological parents’ house.

Magic flings through the air, screams bounce off all the walls, and the scent of blood makes bile rise in the back of my throat. I feel absolutely useless standing here in my demi-god’s shield with my back to the corner while Luka, Axel, and Thaddeus defend me. I should be out there fighting, keeping them safe just as they’re trying to keep me safe. But they’re the ones who put me here, saying they can focus better if I’m not somewhere in the melee.

The twins—my demon mates—are still nowhere to be found, and it sends worry shooting through me. Are they safe? Are they hurt, and I don’t know it?

It’s just not like them to leave, especially since it’s their job to protect me. So where the fuck are they?

“Luka! Duck!” I scream, sending out a blast of water to intercept the fireball heading his way.

They should really be inside the shield with me, but they’re not. They’re outside of the bubble of protection, putting their own lives on the line to take whoever these guys are down.

Some asshole comes charging at me from across the living room, ignoring the flashing blue sphere surrounding me. He must think he can get through it because he picks up speed, confident he’ll make it inside unscathed. Less than a foot from seeing if he’s right, a blur whips past, there and gone instantly.

A sticky liquid splatters against my face and the gurgle from dude’s torn out throat has me bending over and expelling stomach acid onto the floor.

Gross. I swipe the back of my hand across my lips, grimacing at the disgusting taste left behind in my mouth.

“Wrangle them up. I want to get what we came for and get out here before the cops show up,” an unfamiliar voice says from the direction of the front door.

Zane and Bane, my other two mates, finally make an appearance, and I breathe a sigh of relief knowing this will be over shortly now that they’re here.

At this point, I don’t give a shit where they’ve been when we needed them. All that matters is that they’re safe and they’re here. And the rest of these fuckers are going to regret stepping foot in my house.

My brows furrow and confusion leaks from my pores as I watch my demons walk right past the bad guys standing in a line to keep us from escaping out of the house. They ignore them in return, only jumping into the fight every time another one from their side goes down.

“What the fuck are you two doing?” Axel blurs to a stop in front of them, seeing the very same thing I did.

They should have torn the assholes apart already, so what are they waiting for?

Zane’s arm flashes out, his fingers wrapping around Axel’s throat and lifting him into the air. My vampire struggles in his grip, but no matter how many times he claws at Zane’s arm, the hold remains intact.

No. No. No. This can’t be happening.

Axel’s face starts to turn an alarming shade of red, small cracks tracking their way up his face.

“Axel!” I cry, tensing, ready to run over there and try to free him.

“Don’t kill the vampire, dumbass,” comes that voice again.

Zane tilts his head to the side, regarding the order, before throwing Axel at the closest wall. His body hits with a godawful bang, and he slides down to the floor, not getting up again.

Oh my gods. A waterfall of tears trails down my face as I beg my vampire to get up. To move. To do something other than lay there.

Luka and Thaddeus break away from the fight, racing over to check on my mate and their fallen friend, but the others don’t follow. They rejoin the line, watching on like this is the circus and we’re the sideshow freaks here for their entertainment.

It dawns on me a second later what they’re doing.

“It’s a trap!” I scream, but the realization didn’t come in time.

Zane and Bane join hands, and a stream of hellfire races across the floor with my guys and Thaddeus in the middle.

The second the two ends meet in the middle, forming a perfect circle, my bubble of safety flickers before dying out completely.

“Run, Bailey!” Luka yells, cursing as he tries to resurrect his shield around me, but no matter how many times he attempts it, it doesn’t return.

I tense, ready to run, even as my soul screams not to leave them behind. Only I never get the chance. Two steel-band-like grips latch onto my biceps, lifting me into the air and leaving my legs to dangle beneath me.

Aero, my Pegasus pony, who I completely forgot was tucked under my hair, plasters his tiny body against the back of my neck and a static-like electricity starts rolling over my skin. The little sparks, invisible to the naked eye, turn up a notch until there’s mini lightning bolts erupting on every inch of my flesh.

“Cool trick, little girl. It tickles,” the dick to my right chortles.

I don’t know what Aero’s plan was, but it’s obvious that whatever he was trying to do failed.

But I don’t care about that. No. Not at the moment. Right now, my eyes are trained on the two demons I gave parts of my soul to.

“Bane,” I call his name, hoping for him to snap out of whatever the fuck this is. “Baney,” I choke out next, knowing he always reacts to the stupid nickname I gave him.

Nothing. Not even a twitch on his handsome face.

“Zane, please look at me,” I plead, turning my gaze to him next. But he remains lifeless, staring ahead, not even a flicker of recognition in those dark orbs I’ve been falling into every night for the past week.

No. This isn’t right.

Something is wrong with them. It’s easy to see. There’s no way they’d hurt Axel and hold back Luka and Thaddeus from protecting me.

I struggle in the arms of my captors, the sparks of electricity licking across my body having no effect on them whatsoever.

I need to check on my vampire, make sure he’s okay, and get to my demons. Figure out what’s holding them in a trance-like state.

“We got her. You two are dismissed,” the prick on my left orders, his voice different from the one calling the shots earlier, while the one on my right starts to conjure a portal with one hand.

Almost like flipping a switch, the hellfire circle holding my other two mates and my friend captive disappears, releasing them from the fiery circle of confinement. But it’s already too late. The lightning bolt flashing in Luka’s hand is poised and ready to strike.

“Luka! No!”

“I’m sorry, goddess. I made a promise that if these two fucks put you in harm’s way, I’d end them, and I never break my promise.”

There’s a sickening smell of burnt flesh after Luka follows through with this swing. Clarity returns to my demons’ eyes for tick before their lights dim completely. Their heads slip from their bodies, hitting the floor with a nauseating thud.

Pain. All-encompassing pain engulfs my body, and the inhumane scream that rips from my throat is the only warning everyone gets before I detonate.

My pink fire explodes with the first shred of my soul, ripping the bond right out of me. The two guys holding me bellow in pain, but it’s drowned out by the cry still leaving my lips. Their hold on me disappears in a pop of ash, and I fall to my knees just as the second wave begins.

If I thought it hurt before, it has nothing on the second time my soul tears, taking with it the bond I shared with my other demon mate.

My fire is on a path of destruction, taking down every single person who hasn’t gotten a chance to escape yet, and mangling the ones who were killed earlier. The bodies left behind are charred beyond recognition, and not even supernatural forensics will be able to identify who the perpetrators are.

Only three remain safe from my fury, and that’s because my magic knows who they are. What they mean to me. Even if my demi-god is the reason I’m currently feeling like it’s the end of the world.

There is one thing I know with absolute certainty, though. I’ll find the person or persons behind this beautiful betrayal—because I refuse to believe my demons did this willingly—and I’ll kill them myself.

Even if it paints me as the monster the supernatural world thinks I am, and they take my life for it.