Page 89 of Tricky Magic
Scowling at him from the ground, she got up quickly and swiped at the leaves now stuck to her damp leggings. A crunch sounded, and her eyes snapped to Ros. His eyes calmed her,it’s okay,andhe pressed his finger against his lips.
Crunch, crunch.It sounded about fifty feet away. Ros moved closer to her on silent feet. She had no clue how he did that with how massive he was. The sound of crunching footsteps staggered with their uneven steps.
“Are you ready?” he asked her quietly, and she nodded her head.
Ros clapped his hands loudly, and the sounds stopped. Then the steps became erratic and fast as they headed right for them. Ellea steadied her breath and remembered everything they’d practiced. If she could make things, she could unmake them or alter them.
The demon came through a line of trees, and Ellea froze. All the practice could not prepare her for what was before her. It didn’t look human at all, besides the fact that it had arms and legs. The skin was jet black and oily. It had no eyes, and its mouth seemed to extend to its ears—or where ears should be.
“Ellea,” Ros warned.
She readied her magic. As the demon got closer, she unleashed it, but nothing happened. She tried again…nothing. It was so simple on objects and things she had conjured, but unmaking something that hadn’t been formed by her powers felt impossible.
“Fuck,” she groaned. The demon was so close that she could smell its foul scent. She tried again and nothing happened.
Well, use what I know.
As the demon lunged for her, she swiped at its feet and knocked it on its back. Its arms windmilled and sliced at her arm with its jagged nails.
“Bastard.” Anger radiated through her as pain shot through her shoulder. She rallied her magic again, but instead of going for the demon, she created a sword out of thin air. Its hilt grasped tightly in her good hand, she swiped it over her head once. As the demon sat up, she swiped clean through its chest, slicing it in half. Blood sprayed her and the surrounding trees as the demon thudded to the ground, no longer moving. Ros walked up behind her and looked down at the demon that was now split in two.
“Nice swordsmanship,” he said. “But I was hoping for more of a magical touch than brute force.”
“Well.” She winced in pain. “I worked with what I had.” She poked the sword into the very dead demon and looked over at her shoulder. “Fucking thing…I didn’t even realize it had claws.”
“You’ll learn to pick up on it,” he said, examining her arm. He peeled her sweater off of her and took a better look at her arm. “You’ll also learn the different types.”
“Why do you think this one was here?” she asked up at him. He seemed satisfied with her wound, but his nostrils flared once.
“I’m not sure,” he said, looking around. His eyes bounced around them, looking for something. “Sometimes they slip out, and sometimes someone lets them slip out.”
“Hey,” she said, grabbing his arm and forcing him to look at her. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m not sure,” he said, searching her face. “Are you okay?”
She rolled her eyes at him. “Yes, I am fine.”
“You just killed something.” He grasped her face, forcing her to keep her eyes on him. “Have you ever killed anything before?”
“No,” she said. Now she wondered if she shouldn’t be okay. But no remorse or worry crept in. “It did attack me.”
He smirked down at her.
“We’ll keep working on it.” He kissed her once. “Let me know if you start not feeling okay, okay?”
And he kissed her again, deeper this time, and moaned against her lips.
“Are you getting a chub because I killed something?” she asked as he kept kissing her. She dropped the sword and wrapped her arms around his neck. She loved how freaking tall he was.
“Yes.” It was a groan against her lips, and he lifted her off the ground. Her legs instinctively wrapped around his hips. “I get a raging boner any time I think about you punching me.”
“You’re demented,” she said as he assaulted her neck.
“And now I have a vision in my head of you with a sword in your hand,” he moaned into her ear, and shivers crept down her spine.
“It was a small sword,” she said breathlessly as he ground his hips into her.
“It was still sharp, and you sliced that thing in two like it was nothing.” His hand moved down the small of her back, sliding under her pants to grab her ass. “What do you want, princess?”
