Total pages in book: 56
Estimated words: 52578 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 263(@200wpm)___ 210(@250wpm)___ 175(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52578 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 263(@200wpm)___ 210(@250wpm)___ 175(@300wpm)
There’s a faint shtck sound like a blade being drawn. My heart leaps into my throat when I realize what it is. Ramanu’s claws. They were petite and black, but now they’re curved and look vicious enough to disembowel someone.
Any hope I had of this being all posturing and bullshit disappears. Ramanu may be dramatic, but they’ve shown no signs of being unnecessarily violent. They wouldn’t issue this unspoken threat if they didn’t mean it.
As if sensing my growing fear, they turn their head enough to speak to me over their shoulder. “Don’t run. They’ll have a third waiting to snatch you if you do. Stay close.”
I don’t know if they mean to reassure me, but I am very much not reassured. “You can’t take three of them on,” I hiss. “We have to run.”
“I have no intention of taking three of them on,” they murmur. “I’m stalling.”
“Stall—” The word dies in my throat as the double doors to the castle slam open with a violence that seems to shake the entire square we stand in. People hadn’t seemed to register the growing possibility of a fight before, but they scatter now, rushing away from us or taking refuge in the stores on either side. In seconds, the square is empty but for the two—three—attackers, Ramanu, and I.
A huge form fills the doorway, and I let out a sound of pure relief at the familiar sight of wide shoulders and horns as he steps into the fading light.
Azazel is here.
CHAPTER 8
AZAZEL
Itake in the scene with a single sweep. Three strangers. Ramanu doing their best to shield Eve. It won’t work. There are too many, and Ramanu isn’t trained as a bodyguard. I catch their eye and nod. The moment I got their signal—a little magical panic button that all my people carry when out in the world—I rushed here. I’m only glad I’m not too late.
Time to even the odds.
I barrel into the pair closest to me. The bigger one with wings dodges my swipe, but I catch the other in the throat and close my fingers around their neck. It would take nothing at all to change my grip, to rip out their fucking throat for daring to threaten what’s mine. Only the knowledge that we need whatever information they have on Brosh stays my hand.
That . . . and the desire for Eve not to view me as more of a monster than she already does.
Instead, I toss them through the doors and into the castle. “Dungeon!”
The doors slams shut for a brief moment. When they open again, only the empty hallway remains. Good. Now for the other two.
The one behind Ramanu and Eve rushes them, pulling a blade from their robes. Fear lodges itself in my chest. “Knife!” I roar.
“I see,” Ramanu snaps. They grab Eve’s arm and send her barreling behind them as they move to meet the attacker. I don’t have cause to see them fight often, but gods, they’re vicious and brutal. They break the bargainer’s wrist, snatch the knife, and plunge it into their enemy’s stomach. Then they twist it for good measure.
Eve’s shriek brings me back around. The winged bargainer has their arms around her and is tensing to launch into the air.
“No!”
I lunge just as they take off, getting a hand around their calf, but the panicked batting of their wings makes them lurch higher, sending my grip sliding down to their ankle.
I can take them out of the sky, but not without endangering Eve. “Ramanu!” I hold out my free hand, bracing as well as I can. “Get Eve!”
My second-in-command sprints to us and steps into my offered palm without missing a beat, and I use all my strength to toss them up. Their momentum works well, as does our enemy’s desperation. Ramanu snatches Eve right out of their arms as they fly over the bargainer’s head. The second they’re clear, I grab the unknown bargainer’s leg with both hands and slam them down on the ground hard enough to shatter the cobblestones beneath my feet. The crunch of their bones is so loud that I know they won’t be getting up again.
Ramanu lands lightly behind me, Eve safely in their arms. “That was eventful.”
I survey the two dead bodies. “You didn’t have to twist the knife.”
“You already have one captive. No need to waste resources with more.” They set Eve carefully on her feet. “Besides, you needed my assistance.”
But I’m not listening any longer. I go to Eve, staring at the bloodshed with wide eyes, her face gone too pale. She’s safe now, but she won’t believe it. Not yet. I sweep her into my arms. “Get this cleaned up,” I call over my shoulder.
“Of course.”
My tension doesn’t leave as I step through the doorway and back into the relative safety of the castle. Eve is shaking, her eyes too wide and her hand convulsively gripping my shirt. “You’re safe,” I say softly. “Eve, you’re safe.”