Page 64 of Chaos Demons

I no longer cared that I had to share her. At least it was with two peers whom I respected, even if I didn’t always like them.

If this was what it took to be with this woman, I was in. All in.

But that was for later. Right now, we had Nari and Melinoe to deal with.

ANAIS

Creatures of nightmaresand the corpses of giants swarmed around us, but I was pumped and ready for a fight. Not only was my war aspect surging, but my love was building a bridge between myself and my guys which connected us.

It was still new and tenuous, but it gave me hope and strength and the will to fight through anything. Sometime — later — I’d have to take a moment and study these new aspects, understand them, but right now, I had bigger concerns.

My army of glowing minions, along with my own shining blade, cut through anything and everything around us. Ramsey used his bare fists to pummel the foes while Grey crushed them with his void and Fen half-shifted and used his claws and teeth to tear at whatever was in our way.

At some point, we were joined by others and Eva added her radiant blasts while Harmonia added her sweeping peace.

Together, we cut through the line of cannon fodder until we were finally faced with Nari and Melinoe themselves.

This was the first time I’d seen the daemon of corpses with his pallid and jaundiced skin, limp hair, sunken eyes, and tall, skeletal frame. He didn’t look like much and a part of me was surprised he’d caused so much trouble.

Nari’s eyes went wide when he saw me, my army, and everyone with me. Melinoe’s expression turned into one of pure hatred and fury.

She lashed out, surging all her aspects with a palpable wave that crashed against me. Everyone around me moaned and gasped. They clutched their heads, their bodies trembling with the force of Melinoe’s attack as they fought to stay in control of themselves and their powers.

My pulse lurched as fear and madness flickered at the edge of my senses, but I wasn’t affected. Melinoe threw her head back and howled with laughter, not realizing I was immune to her onslaught.

Praying it would work, I sent a surge of love to my friends and family, overwhelming Melinoe’s power. Ramsey and Fen grunted and straightened while Grey sucked in a sharp breath. Harmonia and Eva stayed bent over, their breaths still hard from the force of Melinoe’s attack, but they weren’t trembling anymore, didn’t seem to be in pain, and weren’t lost in a nightmare.

Melinoe’s laughter choked off as Nari snapped his fingers. Four pale-skinned undead giants appeared in front of us, but before they could react, Ramsey leaped impossibly high and crushed in the skull of one, then another, and Fen attacked the third one. Grey released his void, tearing the fourth one apart, before turning his void on the other three.

I turned my glare to Nari, ready for another attack, but he swallowed hard and inched back a step.

“Enough!” he rasped, his tone filled with bravado despite his body language.

“You surrender?” I called out.

His eyes narrowed and he raised his hands as if he were about to summon something else. Except the fear that had filled his eyes when my guys took out his giants in less than a minute remained.

“Who the fuck are you?” he spat, still pretending to be in control when everyone knew he wasn’t.

I was.

“My name doesn’t matter, my sword does,” I yelled back. “The only scenario where I don’t cut you to ribbons is if you end this now and return all the dead to their graves!”

“Fuck me. I don’t know where this new Ana came from,” Ramsey said from behind me. “But Ilikeher!”

Melinoe huffed and blasted more madness at us.

I barely registered it as it slid against my senses and the others only flinched for a moment.

Grey, Eva, and Harmonia — bolstered with my love — turned to deal with her along with the remains of her nightmare creatures, while I stared down Nari.

“What’s it going to be?” I raised an eyebrow at him. His gaze darted around, as if he were looking for a way to escape.

Like hell.

I was a goddess and I was in control.

Before he could do anything, I leaped forward and pressed my sword tip against his throat.

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