Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 131708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
Small and cramped, it was bordered by tall-as-hell cliffs. The tawny-brown sand was littered with grit, sharp pebbles, and seaweed. Frothy, dark-blue waves tumbled inland and turned into foam. Other waves angrily crashed against rocks. Thick gray clouds blocked the sun and cast shadows everywhere, giving the beach a gloomy look.
Unease flickered in the demons’ red eyes as they stared at the sea. A strix’s aversion to water wasn’t about fear. They just hated being wet. And Viper had no reservations about exposing fucking child eaters to anything they hated.
All the strix are now here, including those we had to go back for, Jester reported through the telepathic channel as everyone shrugged out of their jackets.
Viper dropped his on a rock that protruded out of the sand. “You were all gonna feed on children? Really?”
“What do you care?” a demon sniped. It stepped back but then stilled as water lapped at its feet. “They are human. Cattle.”
The strix beside it hissed at Viper, greed carved into its face. “Now we feed on you instead.” It leaped at him.
Viper didn’t try to dodge it, just braced himself for impact so he wouldn’t tip over. The strix landed on him, snapped its limbs around his body, and sank its teeth into his throat. It was a hard, vicious, feral bite that hurt like a bitch.
But not as much as it hurt the strix to drink Viper’s blood.
It slumped to the sandy floor at his feet with an agonized cry. Arching and writhing on the ground, it hissed and cried out as Viper’s blood ate at its insides.
Letting out a shriek of grief, another strix came at him. Viper telekinetically shoved it hard, sending it zooming backwards. The demon hit the water with a plop. It emerged, staggering under the pull of undertow; its shriek getting lost beneath the sounds of battle as chaos broke out.
Viper released an archangelic blast that gleamed as it rolled toward the demon. The slice of unholy fire severed the body with no effort, sending its ashes scattering into the sea.
Battle adrenaline flooded his bloodstream as he fought alongside his brothers. Orbs were volleyed this way and that. Whips of black fire cracked out. Strix were dumped in the sea or thrown against the cliffs.
The earlier peaceful vibe to the beach disappeared, its natural music disappearing beneath the cracks of whips, the snapping and popping of flames, the harsh splashes of water, the grunts and hisses and laughs and shrieks.
The fresh smell of the sea air became tainted with those of sulphur, brimstone, acid, blood, and pain.
Even as sand stuck to his blistered skin, even as splatters of salty water stung his wounds, even as fucking Darko annoyingly sang “Under the Sea” in a Jamaican accent, Viper kept fighting.
A sweltering hot orb collided into his chest, punching the breath from his lungs and sending pain radiating through his torso. He tracked its sender, conjuring an orb of unholy fire. But then Dice curved his covered-in-flames body around the strix, burning it alive with a bear hug.
All right.
“Coming to the beach was a bad shout,” clipped Jester as he stomped out of the water. “Fucking hate salt water.”
Blackjack smirked. “You hate everything.”
A series of flaming balls whooshed through the air toward Viper. He returned fire. Literally. Hurled several orbs of unholy fire at his foe until, finally, the fucker became ashes.
A heavy weight landed on his back as two hands grasped his head in a viselike grip. He grunted as sharp nails dug into his scalp like thick needles.
As those hands tried wrenching his head to the side, Viper teleported them both right into the sea, the shock of the cold water making him go still for a split second.
With a dramatic shriek, the strix strived to rise and escape. Viper surfaced at the same time, nabbed the demon by the throat, and plunged its head back into the sea. Its limbs flailed frantically, splashing water everywhere. He tightened his grip on the strix, not allowing it to resurface. Finally, its struggles ceased and the body disintegrated in his hands.
Viper teleported back onto the shore, water sluicing down his body and weighing down his sodden clothes. He noted with relief that none of his brothers were badly injured. In fact, they were laughing and grinning and living their best lives. As for the strix? Their numbers had dropped fast.
Omen groaned, his face all scrunched up. “Think I’ve got sand in my eye.”
Jester grunted, his back covered in sand as if he’d fallen at some point. “Think I’ve got it down the crack of my ass.”
A stream of ultraviolet fire gushed past Viper, lighting up the strix who’d just been coming at him from the side. Before he could give Jester a nod of thanks, another strix advanced on him, all nails and fangs and long limbs. Viper was impressed it was still alive, considering its skin was a collage of blisters, burns, cuts, and rotting patches.