Page 71 of One Bad Knight

Where the fuck were Travis and Krystan? They should have been here to get Kat out and stop her uncle.

Before Kat even properly got steady on her feet, she wrapped her arms around my shoulders and kissed me soundly. When she pulled back, I didn’t even bother hiding my surprise.

"If you ever tell me you’re bad again, I’ll spank you like a child and then command Bear to sit on you until you’ve come to your senses.”

My gut tightened in response as feeling cascaded over me. Though I’d sped out of town, getting as far as Wyoming, Krystan and Travis’s little talk had wriggled into the cracks of my brain.

The story I’d been telling myself was the one Master Wu taught me. No matter how many sigils I tattooed on to keep from being found, I kept my ghosts closer than anything.

But Travis was right. No one could protect Kat better than me because I would give up everything for her. My freedom, my life, my heart.

When I first arrived to protect Kat, it had been because I saw how close his election was. I knew John Hart would only make a deal with the family demon if he was in danger of losing. I planned to hang around and make sure Kat wasn’t in danger. Then I almost actively sabotaged John’s campaign, defiling his niece, doing everything I could to make her mine. To show her how much more she deserved than her shitty family. But I also believed I would be her downfall.

As long as her uncle was successful, Kat would never be in danger of being a bargaining chip. She could live in her glass house with the family she loved.

Then when I motored out of town, I believed leaving would convince John Hart there was nothing standing in the way of his election win anymore. He was ahead in the polls when I left, but the further I drove, the more I couldn’t help but think he wouldn’t be satisfied unless he had a sure win. I had bet his ambition against Kat’s life. The second I realized how stupid a bet that was to make, I whipped my bike around and sped back. Only to find my worst fears came true.

The lights flickered as an ominous, inhuman laugh rolled through the room like thunder.

“The broken knight,” a deep voice rumbled. The demon was a swirling blackness.

I pushed Kat behind me and brandished my sword at the demon. “You can’t have her. So fuck off, before I’m forced to destroy you.”

The laugh thundered even louder. “You cannot stop me. Her soul is mine.”

Before the demon could finish its sentence, I ran and jumped on the desk, slicing through the smoke. A screech of pain went through the air, as the black mass split. My sword shimmered with red light. My magic may be faulty, but the weapon was an ancient magic artifact infused with power all its own.

“Kat, run,” I commanded.

“But—”

“Do it now, princess,” I yelled.

The farther she got away from the thing thirsting for her soul, the better off she was.

She turned and ran out of the room. Her uncle chased after her. I wanted to follow and pound him into a bloody pulp, but I had to first convince this demon her soul was too much trouble. Swiping my blade through the dark particles of its sulfurous evil being, the demon screeched over and over again.

Sharp blades tore down my back, and I cried out. Warm blood welled and dripped from my wounds. I wheeled around and cut through the clawed hand of the demon. Another screech as the talons evaporated.

Sweat beaded and dripped down my face and body as I continued to chop and slice at the incorporeal entity, forcing it to split over and over again. Yet the dark being continued to reform. I was only distracting it.

“You can’t destroy me, knight,” it hissed. “I am Azgexin.”

The name hit me like a brick. The demon who tried to sacrifice those kids. It said it served Azgexin. This fucker fed on souls using proxies, dipping his dark claws in our world for too long, in too many ways.

I raised my free hand, harnessing my power to banish this thing back to hell.

Light flickered weakly from my hand.

The dark shadows gathered in front of me, red eyes opening inside it to stare at me with smug malice. Then it slammed into my chest. I flew across the room, my back cracking against the massive bookcases. I slumped to the floor, the air knocked out of me, leaving me gasping. My sword lay several feet away.

Azgexin appeared next to me, a dark tendril wrapping around my throat. I tried to grab it, but my hands fell through the dark mist even as it choked me. “You are weak and broken,” it rumbled. “I will take her soul and there is nothing you can do about it. You stole a soul from me once. You won’t do it again.”

It took all my effort to force words out, as I continued to claw at a tentacle I couldn’t grip. “She’s long gone now, so if you want a soul, you’ll have to take mine.” I already knew it couldn’t. Her uncle had signed the dark book with her soul in exchange for power. Her soul was the only thing binding the demon to this world.

But Travis and Krystan would find her; Calan and Leonidas would banish the demon. They would save her where I couldn’t. As blackness began to creep into my vision, I wondered how much easier this would have been if I’d gone to my brothers for help in the first place.

“Let me go,” Kat screamed.