Sam takes one look at me and rage takes over him. He picks Drekavac up by his throat, lifting him out of Liam’s hold like a doll, slamming him into the wall with a primal yell.
“Are you alright, Luz? Tell me he didn’t get a chance to do anything.” Mason’s voice is low and icy as he kneels close to me. The barely controlled fury is evident in his eyes.
“It was close, but no, he only beat the hell out of me. He had just started to…” I can’t even finish as a sob bursts out of me. The reality of the situation hits me hard and I can’t handle all of the emotions coursing through me.
Mason listens quietly to my ramblings and simply holds all of my broken pieces together. As my sobs calm and I look up at him, I don’t see pity in his eyes, only pride.
“You are so strong and amazing. We are lucky to have you, Luz. We will always try and save you, but when you have to save yourself, we will be here to hold you together. Always,” he promises. I cling to him and the hope he’s dangling in front of me.
“We have to go, Luz,” Sam says quietly. “This dick will heal soon, and we still need to find the souls and get out of here,” he urges and I shake off my emotions, locking them away again. I nod and I see respect in his eyes. “That’s my girl.”
Liam supports me with a strong arm around my waist, quickly taking me from the room. Mason leads and Sam stays behind us to protect our back.
We may have almost died in the process, but now we know even more about the demons and who we’re dealing with.
It’s eerily quiet as we wind our way through the mansion. Something isn’t right. I can feel it in my bones.
Finally we come across a demon. He’s laying on the floor with his head groggily rolling side to side as he tries his best to focus on us. Apparently when their master is wounded, so are they. Without hesitation, Mason slams his boot into the demon’s head until he’s still and bleeding out.
Walking a bit further down the hall I recognize the door I kicked in last time with Thea. It still hangs awkwardly despite the new nails piecing it together like a crude puzzle. My hand hesitates on the door, terrified the souls could be gone. But a reassuring touch from Sam has me pushing it open.
My excitement dies when I see only one soul inside. With all of the reports of missing souls, there should at least be forty or more.
“Why are you alone?” I ask the soul in a soft voice.
“The demons took them all to be drained.” Her words crush me. What energy was he really getting from the souls? And for what purpose?
“I can take you to the afterlife. I’m sorry we weren’t in time to save your friends,” I say, holding out a hand. Once she takes it, I realize I no longer have my chain.Fuck!
“Sam grabbed the chains from the head demon’s room,” Mason says softly, handing me mine. My scythe forms and the chain claims the soul. I hear a commotion outside of the room, and an echo of shrieks. Not wanting to wait and find out how fast Drekavac can find me, I open our portal. The door slams open and Drekavac’s scream of outrage motivates us to jump inside quickly.
It’s not the first time chaos has erupted when I’ve exited the portal to the gatekeepers. I have a sinking feeling, that with the direction my life has taken, it won’t be the last either.
“Take this soul to the After, then report to the council chambers,” one of the gatekeepers shouts out to us. I guess they’re still angry about not being kept in the loop.
We follow orders then head back to the council. I’m dragging my feet, still exhausted from the fight with the demons though at least my head is finally healing now that we aren’t in the demon realm. It felt as if healing was stunted there. If it wasn’t for Liam holding me up, I wouldn’t be able to make it at all.
Let’s just hope the council sees merit in the information we found.
ChapterFifteen
Luz
Sam does most of the talking, explaining what happened when they were taken and imprisoned as well as what happened after they found me. He skims over what the demon wanted from me, giving me the chance to share what I can handle.
I’ve been trying not to dwell on what Drekavac could have done to me, since thankfully he wasn’t able to get far enough for me to find out. Physically, I can feel my body slowly healing, thanks to the council meeting taking forever. My head is still spinning, but I’m mostly just sore now.
“Why did he want you as his mate, Luz?” the Head Councilor looks confused. “There’s no way he knew you were special.” The last statement is mumbled to himself, but I can still hear him.
“He’s been speaking to me in between the veils.” Angry outbursts interrupt me before I can say more.
“I knew she wasn’t one of us,” someone barks out. I hear my guys protest, but I remain silent. I’ve been through too much to deal with their petty bickering and I’ll speak when they are finished with their bitch fits.
“Why would you work with the enemy?” another asks, sounding more curious than angry.
“Are you spying on the reapers?”
I can no longer hold back at that ridiculous question, managing to stand up on my own. Wavering for a moment before regaining my balance, I glare down at the councilors yelling out at me.