"Stop arguing. You can't do anything to stop me. Just get ready to run."
The door starts to creak open, and I steady my breath. Kane is caught off guard as the man steps in with a few friends. He's thrown backwards by a gust of power as a powerful, dark aura clouds up the room.
"Ah... Castine's pet. You're nowhere nearly as strong as she boasts," he says as the other men fill the room.
His red eyes stir, telling me his dirty little secret as Kane struggles for air, pinned against the wall behind him.
Demon.
"Fuck you, Jude. I thought Castine dumped you centuries ago," Kane growls through a strangled breath.
The demon laughs, and then his eyes fall on me. The look he gives me chills me to the bone. He licks his lips, and the glowing blue eyes of his accompanying night stalkers turn their sights on me.
"She's definitely a beauty. I see why Castine is so hell bent on getting rid of her." He turns his attention back to Kane. "Too bad I want to be rid of you just as badly. You've been the thorn in my side for far too long."
Kane struggles harder, but he can't break free from the demon's hold. I watch the red eyes find me once more, raking over me with sadistic delight.
"Have your way with her. I'll make sure he gets to watch," he says to the hoard of foaming-at-the-mouth fanged ones.
"No! You fucking son of a bitch, I'll kill you if you-"
"Don't waste your breath, Kane. You know as well as I do you can't touch me."
Jude laughs, enjoying his powerful hold over the night stalker I thought to be untouchable by any magic. Apparently he's only protected from witchcraft.
The blue eyes surround me, malice teeming in their twisted thoughts, as they slowly stalk toward me. I don't care what Gage or Kane said about not using my power. I refuse to go down without a fight.
"Alyssa, get the hell out of here!" Kane yells, essentially telling me to do what I was already planning, but before I can, Jude falls to the ground, choking on the air he can't find.
What the hell?
Kane looks to me, questioning whether or not I'm strong enough to take down a demon, and I shake my head.
The night stalkers look to their fallen leader, and the hold he has on Kane collapses as Jude struggles more beneath the phantom force. Then the chill, the scent, and the taste find me, igniting a depth of dread I'd forgotten.
The night stalkers in the room fall to their knees, crumbling from the force. Kane falls, too, and I rush to his side, instantly forcing out my magic to surround him with the protection only I can offer without a blessing from the wielder of this invisible power.
"What the fuck?" He stands to his feet, but before he can back away, I pull him to me.
"If you let go of me, you'll die with them."
He looks at me, stumped by the fact he's the one feeling naive for a change.
"You'redoing this?"
"No, but I know who is, and you're going to want to run. I can't protect you for long. Once he loses it, you'll be crushed."
"Once who loses it?"
I take a shaky breath as shadows pass through the dungeon, the whispering spirits slinking back into the grasp of the undead force radiating throughout the walls.
"Drackus."
