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Cunning Little Serpent

JEDIDIAH

S he’s here.

Vampire venom screamed through my veins and it was like holding a ten-thousand-pound boulder on my back just to stay awake, but I couldn’t take my eyes off her.

Her hair was different. She’d tied it up into a high, tight braid that hung down her back like a lethal whip. The look in her bright dragon eyes was this impossible concoction of emptiness and passion. Her dragon leathers made her a dangerous, fathomless creature, the way they wrapped around her figure so snugly. Like a second skin.

There she was, absolutely surrounded, water rivers twining through the air like a giant spider web, vampires flanking her at every turn.

I could feel her heartbeat thrashing in my own chest.

The demon cunt—whom I just so happened to share blood with because of fucking course this evil creature was the spawn of my father—was giving Nyx a choice.

Between me and the tortured angel unconscious at my back.

I didn’t stand a chance.

The agony in my heart spread through the rest of my body, scorching extra harsh in every spot that had been bitten, and where the jaws of the animal trap gnarled into my wrists.

“Which one do you choose, girl?” the demon cunt’s voice thundered, her impatience permeating the air.

Nyx’s fathomless eyes met mine. I felt her heart tumble into her stomach when she found me awake. I shook my head at her. Run. Get yourself out.

Then her gaze flicked to Solaris, who was still unresponsive.

Her eyes settled back on the one they called Rashira.

“Both.”

Murmurs rumbled through the hall. Some whispers, some laughs. Rashira held up her hand to silence her people.

“I will not free them both. You must choose.”

Nyx said nothing.

“Whatever claim you feel you have over them is nothing compared to mine. They are my blood . In fact, perhaps I will not give you one at all. They should stay with me.” Rashira leaned forward in her dais, her eyes beaming with malice. “I’ll treat them better.”

Nyx bared her teeth, her stony demeanor beginning to crack.

“I am so curious to know which one you will pick!” The demon cunt laughed. “After sifting through their minds, I cannot decide which one loves you more. Their affections are different, but equally hopeless in their pathetic, unending devotion. Whichever you choose will be yours forever. Humor us, Nyx Morningstar.”

“I’m not choosing,” Nyx rallied back.

Rashira cocked a brow. “A woman who fancies two men is doomed. Divine Union does not come in threes, I fear.”

My heart stuttered and tumbled. Divine Union? An outdated concept my mind was too drained to ponder. But it stirred me all the same.

Nyx scoffed, and took a step closer to the stupid pool. “It’s not like that. But, even if it was, Morningstars never followed the path of Divine Union anyways.”

“Ah, yes. One of the many nails in the coffin of your bloodline.”

“Enough of this!” the female vampire sitting below the dais hissed. “They all deserve to die. Let us be done with this ridiculous charade!”

The male with the white and black hair gave her a solemn look.

Rashira turned her head slowly to face the female. “Now, now, Varian. All is fair in love and war. We will give the girl a chance to leave in peace.” Her demonic stare slid back to Nyx. “Last chance. Which one will you take?”

Nyx gave a long-winded sigh. “How many times do I have to say it, Ra’ah? I’m taking them both. Go ahead if you’d like to sacrifice your army here and now. But I’m not leaving without both Solaris and Jedidiah and I’ll reduce whoever stands in my way to ash. Why don’t you stop me yourself? You wield shadows, after all. Right?”

A long pause followed, where all eyes landed on the demon cunt expectantly.

“Your ungratefulness for my generous offer has offended me. I have changed my mind, indeed.” Rashira shrugged, leaned back haughtily. “I will not give you one. Not until you return the demon blade to me. Perhaps not even then.”

The answering silence was charged with tension so thick I could hardly stay awake. My eyelids drooped, my chest, throat, wrists, and arms inflamed with venom.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, and even if I did, I wouldn’t give you shit.” She spat on the ground. “Fuck you, Ra’ah. I’m taking them both, and I can’t wait to see you try and stop me.”

Holy fuck . I knew Nyx wouldn’t yield, but—

Rashira growled, the sound purely animalistic.

The very atmosphere itself went cold and dense.

“Jedidiah,” a hoarse voice murmured from behind me.

He was awake.

I stiffened, listening.

“They’re going to attack,” he said, so quietly it took me a moment to register what he’d said. “She can’t summon flame.”

My heavy, throbbing heart started to race. “ What?”

“She can’t…summon…fire. In her shifted…” Solaris trailed off, too weak to finish.

Holy fucking gods.

Fowl, murderous intentions stunk up the air.

And Nyx was ready for it. Which was reckless and idiotic beyond belief. I could tell by looking at her now that Solaris was right. If she could, she would have been burning them already. But she wasn’t backing down so what the fuck was her plan?

Rashira gave a nod to the waterlings standing around the pool.

Nyx’s eyes met mine. The desperation that raged inside of me made my whole body tremble.

You should have never come here. We don’t deserve you. I’m sorry, Nyx.

She shuddered as if she heard my pitiful thoughts. The moment stretched between us, and I regretted everything. I never should have talked to her that night last year at the club. I should have left her the fuck alone. I was no better than Solaris.

As we stared at each other, her eyes softened. And her form shifted.

Her arms splayed wide and ignited with gold fire.

And then the rivers of water threading through the air snapped out of their dozy trance and assembled into one giant vein that sailed right for the girl on fire.

She released a battle cry as she lunged back, attempting to avoid the ravenous current but it claimed her, dousing her flames and sending her flying.

The mob closed in and I lost sight of her.

Chaos ensued, both inside and outside of me. My brain sloshed against the inside of my skull as I desperately tried to gather my strength. The venom weighed me down. Down. Down down down.

Weakness filled every single one of my pores and it was impossible to tap into my magic, but I still found myself desperately trying to pull my wrists from the traps. Pain turned my vision white, blood drenching me as I mutilated my flesh in an attempt to get free.

“I don’t think so, Romeo,” a sickening feminine voice taunted.

The demon called Varian stood in front of me, her jagged teeth puncturing her lip as she grinned at me. This one especially hated me. Apparently, I had killed her mate.

I growled, thrashing against the chains, and spat in her cunt face.

“Ooh,” she purred, wiping the spit from her cheek, and popping her finger in her mouth to taste it. “Kinky.”

I bellowed a furious cry as she latched onto my throat and drained what little blood I had left.

Consciousness threatened to evade me as more venom scorched through my veins like a fire started from toxic waste.

“Come on, baby. Don’t go to sleep. I want you to see this. Oh—and if you do manage to get out of here,” the vampire bitch murmured, “make sure you ask your girlfriend what she got up to when she thought me and Luc were you and your dear brother.”

She vanished with a ghostly laugh.

I fought against the darkness that assailed me. I needed to stay awake.

I couldn’t fade. I couldn’t. I couldn’t.

The only thing that kept me from slipping was a flash of silver. I caught sight of her—her braid, lashing wildly as she whirled, conjuring her bright flames. It was like a shot of adrenaline straight to my heart.

Blood spilled down her arm from a stab wound in her shoulder. The vines wrapped around her wrist nearly pulled her down to the—wait, what the fuck? How was she being attacked by earth magic?

She released an ear-shattering howl as a vampire closed in on her from behind, his jaws sinking into her throat.

Another came at her from the front. They drove a dagger into her stomach, and her scream rang out as she disappeared into the thick of the hysteria.

“No!” I snarled. “No. No, no, no!”

Why wasn’t she finishing this?

She was powerful enough to kill them all. She could cast a shock wave of fire that would incinerate every single one of them.

She wasn’t doing that… Why?

“Solaris?” I panted, desperate. I didn’t know if I really spoke or if I’d imagined it.

I could feel his breath leaving him hard and ragged against my back.

“She’s not going to do what needs to be done,” I hissed.

I clenched my teeth. The despair coiling in my chest was suffocating. I tried, I fucking tried with every ounce of vigor I had to tap into my magic. Something—anything. But the venom coursing through me made it impossible.

Her sparks shot over the horde of figures that ambushed her. More and more of them were closing in, and I could tell by the way they all conjugated in one spot, that she was down.

The horrible, cosmic joke was that we were both too weak to do a damn thing.

We were two of the most powerful males in the Celestial Society and there wasn’t a thing we could do to help her.

We deserved the hell that was in store for us.

The blood-curdling scream that split the air cleaved my heart in two.

They were piling on her, and she was screaming for her fucking life.

I retched.

Found myself praying to a Goddess I’d never believed in.

“ Now ,” Solaris growled.

The ground began to shake. Slow and subtle at first, but the momentum built up quickly. The walls trembled, paintings tumbling and shattering on the floor. The force intensified until the swarm was forced backward. The demon queen hissed in disapproval, but her army retreated anyway.

To get away from the horde of snakes that burst from the ground around Nyx.

Furious serpents of black and gold. They hissed venomously, their long, thick bodies slithering toward the army of stunned cunts.

Nyx stood shakily on her feet, her skin covered in blood and ash. My insides shredded at the sight. In her shifted form once more, she had her fingers curled inward, commanding the ground to convulse and the serpents to attack.

The snakes wrapped their bodies around the dark soldiers, stealing the breath from their lungs, sending their eyes bulging from their sockets.

“RASHIRA!” Nyx bellowed, vengeance ringing in her tone. “Finish this yourself!”

The demon cunt watched as her people now fought an army of serpents, her fanged jaw hanging open slightly.

The treacherous Celestials on her side cast their elements at the snakes. Mortals stabbed them with blades and daggers. Vampires shredded them apart with their bare hands. But the snakes kept coming, manifesting out of thin air, unrelenting.

Until finally, Nyx waved her hand, and the ground fell still, and the snakes turned to dust.

The silence screamed.

Rashira’s chest heaved. Her crimson glare scanned the room. Eventually, she shouted, “ Kill her !”

But her army hesitated. They fucking hesitated, watching Nyx.

“That’s right,” Nyx rasped, nodding in approval as she spoke to the mob. Her dragon eyes scanned over each face. “Your instincts are right! Your queen is sending you to your death!” Nyx’s voice rung loud and full of authority and conviction.

“I can shift back in a second,” she lied, but it was convincing as fuck. “All it will take is one measly thought from me and you’ll be piles of ash! Rashira knows this. Perhaps you’re no more disposable to her than the ones I killed on Hallows Eve? Do you really believe you mean anything to her?”

Rashira went as stiff as the dead.

A hundred sets of eyes turned to look at their degenerate queen, and I could see in their faces, Nyx was getting to them.

“Do not listen to her! Just look at her! She is a serpent—a manipulator!”

But her people were not so sure.

A long, heavy moment passed. Some faces remained painted with hostility, eager to attack. Running on pure, illogical bloodlust. But some were apprehensive as if they knew they were being set up for their inevitable demise.

“There are more of you, right?” Nyx went on, speaking to the army. Her eyes swept over them intimately. “Yes, there are many, many more members in this degenerate court , aren’t there? Members and fighters who outrank you. Let me guess—you are all fairly new initiates. Yet it is you , who dwell at the bottom of the pyramid that she summoned here tonight. To fight me . Sounds pretty fucking disposable considering her history with that strategy, but that’s just my opinion, I guess.”

What a cunning, gorgeous little serpent she was.

The two vampires who sat at the foot of the dais watched their queen. The female, Varian, had war written all over her features. She wanted this to end in a bloodbath. The male, however, the one with the white and black hair, seemed pensive.

“She is trying to confuse you, my beloveds,” the demon cunt purred. “She is one, and you are legion. I have lost my patience now, I’m afraid. Kill her !”

But they did not attack right away. Another long pause stretched through the air. Some began to slowly close in on her, but many stayed rooted in place. The disobedience had Rashira nearly foaming at the mouth.

“Kill her!” she shouted again. “She is lying! She cannot burn you!”

Again, nothing.

“KILL HER.”

Some of them obeyed their queen, growling as they stalked toward Nyx, closing in around her.

She breathed hard, her expression furious, but I could see the glimmer of fear in her sapphire eyes. And I knew exactly what she was feeling. She knew it was either kill them all or die herself. Despite her cold, hard bravado, Nyx Morningstar was not a coldblooded killer. She didn’t want to be, anyway. She didn’t want to be responsible for the death of all these creatures, despite their treacherous nature.

Even if she did want to vanquish them all, I knew she couldn’t shift back. She had yet to master control of her dragon form. Whatever magic those snakes had come from, it wasn’t enough.

I watched the fight leave her eyes.

No. No, no, no.

She should have never come.

Nyx Morningstar did not deserve this life. Every day she was forced into a new fresh hell. The Celestial Society had cast her out and labeled her a terrorist, a monster. Solaris and I had nearly torn her in two by fighting over her, only to eventually lure her here to her death. And for what ? What had she ever done to deserve this cursed fate? She had been nothing but faithful to her Goddess, and what did she have to show for it?

When her eyes fluttered shut, her arms falling limp at her sides, my heart shattered.

She wasn’t giving up—she was accepting her fate.

She was tired. She was done. She tilted her head back, whispering one final prayer to the Goddess.

Rashira grinned and gave a curt nod, commanding her army to finish the job.

They began to move in on her. Snarling and circling like a pack of wolves around a deer. They were leisurely about it now, cocky in the wake of her defeat.

A baying shriek from the heavens stole the attention of every creature in the room.

All eyes instinctively flew up, searching for the source of the sound.

At first, there was nothing.

My pulse slammed, chills rushing down my spine.

Solaris said something, but I didn’t catch the word.

A shock of blue light descended upon the stained glass, like a falling star plummeting to the earth.

The glass trembled before it shattered into oblivion. A torrent of ethereal flames rained down as another bird-like shriek tore the air to ribbons. The dragon emerged from a burst of silver-blue fire, his wings beating the air while he shot around like a bullet.

The eruption of gasps and wails was music to my fucking ears. They all flung back, retreating even further from Nyx, who stood frozen in awe. She watched as the golden dragon circled overhead. It kept screeching, its leathery wings cracking as it veered lower.

Some degenerates didn’t move out of the way in time before he released another blast of sapphire flame. Their screams of agony lasted only mere seconds before they were piles of silent, smoldering ash.

The army started to try and flee, but their queen had locked them in. There was no escape.

The dragon slowed before beginning to circle over Nyx, shrieking still. She tilted her head, taking in the miracle of the fathomless creature who had finally come for her, but she was just as fucking mythic as the dragon.

The dragon angled himself over her, flying in place momentarily before he lowered and landed right in front of her. He shrieked as he wrapped his tail around her legs. Protective, possessive, and furious .

Her expression brightened with pure glory. The dragon’s wide-spanned wings were splayed, his chest puffed out, making himself as big as possible. His front scales rippled and turned black as his focus landed on Rashira, who looked as if she’d been flash-frozen. Petrified.

The dragon opened its jaws and released a warning cry that lasted several seconds.

And then there was just silence.

My entire body welled with something I’d never felt before.

The dragon snarled into the silence. Smoke seeped from both of their nostrils.

Rashira jolted, as if she’d been startled awake.

Then, ever the dumb cunt, she cried, “Kill them! Kill them at once!”

No one made a move.

Desperation stank up the air around her. “What are you waiting for? Kill them!”

Again, nothing.

“KILL THEM!!”

The army of Underworlders responded, but not with obedience.

One by one, they lowered their heads.

Bowing in submission to Nyx and her dragon.

A roaring blaze of ethereal fire burst from the dragon’s jaws, incinerating the dais.