Page 105 of Bedeviled

I’m about to shove my power out at the creature when it’s ripped away by Kane’s clawed hand. The shifter tosses the demon off me, sending the thing tumbling. And then Kane is lunging after it, his body rippling, not quite a man, not quite a wolf but somewhere in between. Snarls rise as the two roll.

Blood drips down my shoulder as I stand up.

Are you on coven property? Memnon asks. I can sense the terrible violence rising in him.

Yes.

Good. I’m coming. Until then, est amage, release your wrath on that hellspawn. Make him regret ever targeting you.

“Release me, wolf, and you won’t be harmed,” the demon commands Kane. “I’m not after you. All I want is the woman.”

His words send a chill through me. He knows who I am—he’s been hunting me. Just like Maelverynox.

I stumble over, determined to help Kane as he slams his fist into the demon’s face. The violence seems to trigger the lycan’s change because a moment later his back sprouts fur and his face elongates.

Maybe it’s the shift that destabilizes him, or perhaps it’s the demon’s sheer strength, but the two roll again, and then it’s the demon who’s on top. I make out now that the thing is a man, one with long brown hair that’s tied back.

The malevolent creature rises, dragging Kane up by his neck scruff.

The lycan twists in his hold, caught mid-shift.

The demon hisses, and then, with inhuman strength, he throws Kane clear across the woods. The lycan’s body hits a tree trunk with a sickening crack, and Kane goes still.

My scream lodges in my throat. This is the second time Kane has been brutalized on my behalf. And tonight, it was because he was trying to protect me.

The demon wastes no time lunging at me, sending the two of us careening.

We roll, twigs catching in my hair as the demon’s hands go to my throat. Already I’m reaching for my sheathed daggers. I withdraw one and slam the blade into the demon’s side.

The creature cries out, the unholy sound echoing through the forest. The weapon makes a slick, slurping sound as I pull it out of his body and slam it in again.

The demon shrieks again, the sound raising the hairs on my arms. This time, however, he lunges for my throat, sinking those sharp teeth into my flesh.

I scream as my skin parts and I feel the warm wetness of my blood.

The demon groans, and I feel something hard press against my thigh.

Oh, that is so sick.

I withdraw my blade again, and I have every intention of shoving it back into the creature, but fuck, I’m distracted by pain and the nauseating realization that I’m getting fed on.

I can hear slick, slurping sounds coming from his mouth. I nearly gag.

Selene! Memnon sounds alarmed. I am nearly there. Fight back!

His words snap me back to reality, and for a third time, I stab the demon in his side. I feel the blade carve up the soft tissue, feel more of that black blood spill out from his side, and this time I’m certain I’ve hit important organs. It doesn’t seem to matter. The demon doesn’t respond to the pain at all, not even when I yank out my blade. It’s as though bloodlust has completely eclipsed every other sense.

And, fuck, I can hear the creature gulping down swallow after swallow of my blood.

… Emmmpresssss …

… Forgotten queen …

I close my eyes as the whispered voices rise from the earth.

The demon stills, then pulls away from my neck so it can peer down at me curiously.

“Queen?” it echoes, eyeing me. “Who are you, and how have you caught the attention of the Old Ones?”