Those around him were skinny as a skeleton with greenish skin and hideous, contorted faces. Their jaws were long and pointed out from faces that were covered with white lines of war paint.
These weren’t just any demons. These were idummu, the worst of them all. Bottom feeders that would listen and fight for anyone for a chance to cross the rift and be free. What kind of demon had she summoned? How did it amass so many followers so quickly?
Her hands curled into the cold stone and her gaze unerringly fell to Tyrian. Even amassed in a crowd of warriors wearing the same fierce expressions, he stood out so clearly to her. He gave orders, never shouting but speaking clearly.
Warriors opened the gate and exploded at the skeletal warriors, swords and axes twirling and flying. Arrows flew from the parapets, whizzing through the air like bullets.
Her demon stood at the back, its black, fathomless eyes staring at the Atal Warriors. It tossed its gray head back and howled a bone-chilling sound that she swore shook the walls of the castle with its intensity. When the demon finally stopped, the roar echoed deep into the cold mountains. The demon raised its black fathomless gaze and landed straight on her.
Chloe’s mouth fell open and watched, stunned, as it raised its long arm and pointed straight to her. Its giant mouth, filled with those sharp black teeth, moved, spilling out sounds and syllables she couldn’t decipher into any kind of recognizable language.
The demons screeched, their red and yellow eyes fixing right on her.
“Oh, shit.”
Chapter Thirteen
A sudden popping sound filled the space behind her and like a frightened heroine in a horror movie, Chloe slowly turned to face it. A snarling demon, crouched at its knees, slowly stood. Its big yellow eyes webbed with red spider web veins around the pupils eyed her like she would be its next meal.
Chloe took a quick step back but found her butt hitting the giant window. Oh, shit. The demon’s thin lips pulled into a smile, a thick line of drool falling out of its mouth to glob onto the floor.
Her stomach rolled with the urge to vomit. Then the idummi demon sprang at her. Sharp claws dug into her arm, its bony legs wrapped around her as if it was trying to hug her. The demon was incredibly strong and muscular for something barely five feet tall and bone skinny.
Its knobby bones dug hard into her hips and legs.
It spun her around, crashing them both onto the hard floor. Screaming, Chloe struggled to free her arms from its grasp—to gain some kind of purchase—but it snarled at her, spit spraying onto her face. She was momentarily stunned as the putrid, decaying smell of its spit reached her nostrils. It squeezed her arms in a viciously hard grip and she felt sharp pinching as her skin tore under his grip.
Chloe lurched forward and screamed into the demon’s face, it pulled back in surprised, and she used that moment to throw the demon off her. Its head slammed into the corner of the hearth and Chloe quickly ran for the door.
She reached for the doorknob, her heart thundering in her ears, adrenaline driving her to be faster, stronger, and then she was tackled from behind by a heavy weight. She went tumbling forward, her cheek and mouth slapping against the hard wood door at an awkward angle. Pain exploded in her head. She tasted coppery blood in her mouth and winced as flaring, pulsing pain instantly beat around her busted lip.
Then there were heavy footsteps behind her and the bony weight at her back was gone.
Chloe quickly rolled over and saw Tyrian and Rayn there. Tyrian snapped the demon’s neck with a nasty twist and threw the bony body into the burning fireplace. He came to her, raw anger on his face. The ice completely melted. He bent down and picked her up, cradling her against his chest.
Chloe fought it. “Put me down. I’m fine.” He didn’t and she fought harder, pushing
against his chest, which he ignored and walked her over to Rayn. “Come on, I was doing great there. I could have taken him. Okay, in all honesty, I appreciate you helping me out there but I hate you. So put me down.” He still ignored her, so she did something completely crazy, and that logic would later argue was driven by adrenaline—and kissed him.
She felt the shock in his body, the stiffening. But then his grip changed, moved, became soft and encouraging as his tongue slid easily into her mouth. God, did this vampire know how to kiss . He pulled back and her lips went searching after his. The pain from her fight—didn’t feel it.
The liquid arousal flooding her sex—totally felt.
He turned his cheek and spoke quickly to Rayn. She didn’t bother to listen, was too captivated by the strong muscle flexing at his neck. She followed it, tasting it with the flat of her tongue.
“Mmm,” she moaned. “You taste good, Tyrian.” His arms tightened around her and she
loved it. Suddenly another pair of arms was around her and she lifted her head to glare at Rayn.
“Hey, no sharing here. He’s mine.”
Okay, maybe she was delirious, or maybe it was the adrenaline, or the fact that her vampire boyfriend was holding her. Had even kissed her hard and sweet. Was she really so fickle to go back to calling him her boyfriend after a single kiss? Yes.
Her body tingled all over her, she had only a second to glare at Rayn for doing this to her when the room around them flickered, disappearing again like magic, then a new place appeared.
Somewhere she didn’t recognize.
From the looks of it, they were just outside a major city. Skyscrapers, extravagant hotels, and posh apartments lit up the night sky to draw in wanderers and thrill seekers. Only it was dark as night here. Chloe peeked at Tyrian and Rayn and wondered just what kind of powers these vampires had.
“Someone better explain to me what the hell’s going on.” Rayn smiled at her, and then the warrior was gone in the next blink. “How does he do that?”
Tyrian set her on her feet. “Rayn is half-demon. He carries some of their powers with him including the ability to teleport.” Chloe stared at him.
“He’s half-demon. Demon as in those guys you’ve been fighting to keep back in the rift for a thousand years.” There were different species of demons. The idummi like the one she just fought were considered the bottom rung of the demons. They lived a layer beneath the rift and feasted upon living flesh for sustenance. A shiver wracked through her.
Then there were the normal demons. The “non-cannibal” demons that she’d heard looked just like anyone else but were strong like shapeshifters, fast like vampires, and had magical powers that no other being on earth had. It made them powerful foes.
“Yes,” he said simply.
“How does that even make sense? I thought you hated demons. But you’re okay with
little half-demons so long as they work for you or something? Sounds kind of exploitative, Tyrian.”
Tyrian’s face was back to the normal, passive, nothing-bothers-me face that she both liked and hated. “I do not hate demons, Chloe. Someone must lead the Atal Warriors and keep the demons in the rift. I am just the vampire who does that. I do hate some demons, but they are specific people whom I hope to meet again someday.” Chloe felt the death threat in his words and wondered what the demons did to deserve such hate. She had an idea but she hoped she was wrong.
“Where are we?”
“We are outside of Atlanta, Georgia.”
Chloe waited for him to elaborate, when he didn’t she ground her teeth together and said,
“And why is that?” He looked down at her as if surprised by her question.
“There is an unusual demon after you. It is no longer safe at the castle. Obviously it can track you, something I had not foreseen. I must figure out how to return the demonic creature before it completes its task and kills you.” He said it so casually that she just stared at him.