Page 45 of Deranged Demons

There’s a grunt of agreement, and another alpha responds. “The demon king likes to play games, but for once, he’s gotten more than he bargained for. I’m just glad the tip off we received about the king’s plans turned out to be accurate.”

Tip off?My blood chills.

“They knew we were going to get sent here,” I mutter under my breath in disbelief.

Prince Callan draws his sword, his face a mask ofcasual indifference. “How fortunate for them. Now, who gets to take the extra one. You or me?”

I adjust my grip on my sword. Before I can answer, Nate bounds onto the street in his shifted form and pads up beside us. His gaze focuses on the giants up ahead as the three of them turn toward us.

“Well, I guess we get one each then,” Prince Callan amends like he’s disappointed.

“Ah, Princess Blake, you’ve finally found us,” Drax, the giant in the middle of the trio says. Now that he’s facing me, I instantly recognize that he’s the same giant Prince Callan toyed with in the ballroom. Drax smiles cruelly when he spots the archangel. “And I see you have company.”

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” I say, my voice dripping with sarcasm. “Had I known you’d throw a temper tantrum until you had my attention, I’d have come sooner. Though, I must say, if we’re fated mates I think I might have to cut out my own eyes.”

Drax scowls. “That’s big talk for someone in your position.”

Prince Callan strokes his chin. “And what position would that be?”

“The position of someone who’s about to lose a kingdom and witness the downfall of the demons,” the giant on the right laughs, and Drax shoots him a stern look.

Nate starts to pace, and the churning in my stomach intensifies. “What are you talking about?”

Drax’s smile grows wider. “Yeah, I suspectyou have no idea what’s goin’ on, do you, your highness? All you need to know is that you won’t need to worry about becomin’ queen of Seral. Arrangements ’ave already been made.”

The giant on his right laughs again, and as if on cue, the other giant who’s been silent this whole time lifts his hand and brings a small, tubed instrument to his mouth. I frown.No, it’s not an instrument…“Stop!” I shout as Nate and Prince Callan launch forward.

My warning comes too late, and Nate growls as a dart sinks into his chest. Prince Callan deflects a dart aimed at his face, but another strikes his arm.

The wind whips around us as Prince Callan tries to use his power, but it dies off quickly as the archangel staggers and then collapses to the ground. Nate keeps trying to run toward the giants, but his legs buckle and his chin slams to the stones beneath his paws.

I narrow my eyes at the giants, but my vision starts to blur. Peering down, I blink at the dart that’s now protruding from my lower leg. I hadn’t even felt it.

“I’m coming!”Shade’s distressed voice fills my mind, and she swoops down, her claws closing around the small, tubed weapon. Before she can fly off, the giant holding the weapon swats at her. She lets out a pained squawk, and I hear a thud.

“No!”I stumble forward, trying to clear my vision, but I can feel the poison polluting my bloodstream and weakening me. My body tingles as it tries to heal, but it’s not fast enough to beat the poison.

“What’d I say?” Drax chuckles to his friends. “It can’t get easier than this.”

As they stride closer, I prepare myself to fight. Anger flows through me, but I can hardly lift my arms, and the sword slips from my grasp. “What have you done?” I slur as the three giants seem to multiply until there’s an army of them in front of me. My teeth begin to chatter, and a blow comes from my left driving me to my knees. For the first time in a long while, fear trickles through me. Fear for Shade. And for my mates.

Before the giant on the right can strike me again, a fist smashes through his ribcage from behind, and splotches of red coat Dante’s body. Dante wrenches his arm back out and the giant falls to the ground, but Drax’s ax slams into the demon’s chest. I don’t see what happens next through the spots of black clouding my vision, but I hear Dante’s body fall.

“No,” I breathe.

“Oh, don’t worry, your highness, you won’t need them where you’re goin’,” Drax mocks by my ear, and his stench of rotting flesh makes me gag. Focusing on the sound of his voice, I take a second to judge the distance before smashing my head into his. Pain shoots through my skull, stars bursting behind my eyes, but I smile when he lets out a stream of curses.

“Rostof will pay for this,” I tell him, smiling even though I can no longer see at all. “The giants won’t get Seral.” I knew negotiations between our realms weren’t going well, but I hadn’t expected them to resort to this.

There’s a moment of silence, and then Drax lets out a braying laugh. “What makes you think we’re doin’ this for the giants?”

My mind spins, and my heart stutters when I remember the horns hanging from their belts. “The witches,” I hiss. “Why would you side with them?”

“It was an easy deal to make,” he replies smugly. “They care about the power and energy they can take from you demons. They don’t care about ruling the kingdom and owning the land.”

“So they promised you Seral?” I say like he’s an idiot. “And you believed that?”

A fist slams into my jaw, and I spit out the blood pooling in my mouth.

---