Page 45 of Tricky Princess
Her heart raced as her power became alive. Electric currents ran across her skin, through her soul, and down the sword she still held. She swung a vicious slash at the demon’s right side, and when she blocked it, Ellea let her power flow through her sword and up Florence’s arm. The pained look on her face was so rewarding.
Azzy asked again, “What are you doing here?”
“I want to be here.” She did. She couldn’t think of anywhere else she wanted to be; the only thing missing was Ros and their friends.
“You don’t belong here,” Florence goaded, and Ellea kicked her square in the chest.
“I belong here!” Ellea slashed a mighty blow, and Florence barely dodged it. It left her open, and Ellea punched her in the jaw. “I have done nothing my whole life.” She pivoted, sweeping Florence off her feet. “I have done nothing good or right, but this—what I’m doing—it’s a start.”
Florence smiled up at her, but when her eyes glanced over her shoulder, Ellea moved, swiping her blade and blocking an attack from the king. The power from his attack was deadly in a way she had never felt before, and it awoke something in her powers.
Finally, something we can fight, her magic hissed. Ellea’s eyes widened, but she didn’t balk, didn’t shy away; she unleashed herself. Azzy’s answering smile was wild.
“Are you strong enough to go against me? Against all of Hel?”
She didn’t answer as he blocked her attack, but she was ready, slashing at him with a clawed hand.
No longer did her body ache; no longer did she feel weak or tired. She felt alive, and her magic danced through her body to the tip of the sword. She threw every move at him, and when her sword would fail, she would pelt him with furniture, books, anything in her reach. Her powers became a second entity, doing their own work as she used the sword. Asmodeus was strong and graceful for a man his size. Not once did he lose his smile; he seemed giddy to have a fair opponent…until she turned his sword into a snake. He shrieked, throwing the poor thing against the wall and rubbing his hands aggressively against his sweat-soaked shirt.
“I will be strong enough,” she said, resting her sword on her shoulder. “We’ll make sure of it.”
If only Ros could be here to see this, see her. Would he want her to be here, in his home? She shook the thought and focused on what was next.
17
Rosier
TWELVE DAYS WITHOUT ELLEA
Ros didn’t bother taking in his home. It was exactly as he remembered; the only thing that was different was the group of Beelzebub’s guards trying to cut him down as he moved through the castle. He’d known there would be a fight, but he had thought it would be them trying to take him in. These guards were out for blood, and he would have questions once they got to Ellea and his father.
“Where would she be?” Sam asked, slicing through armor with his half-shifted claws.
The five of them moved in perfect unison. Where Ros would blind with his shadows, Billy would be there with claws and teeth, ripping at muscle and bone. On and on it went until they made it up another floor. Kill, move, and kill again. There wouldn’t be a demon left if he let his magic free.
“We need to get to my—” Ros couldn’t answer as the hair lifted on the back of his neck. He turned quickly and released a dagger. It landed directly in the forehead of a guard who was ready to cut down Garm. “—my father. She would be near him, maybe with him?”
“You haven’t been here in forever,” Billy said, choking a guard.
It didn’t matter how long he’d been away; he knew this castle, had run through its halls as a child, fighting with wooden swords with his cousin Duhne.
Duhne!
Where was the bastard? Maybe this place hadn’t ruined him and he could help. Maybe he had been protecting Ellea. He shook his head and thrust his sword behind him, cutting a guard who was trying to sneak around the corner. All he knew was that getting to his father was the answer. His heart thudded with each step, each parry; he was here and he would get to Ellea. He would kill everyone in the process if it meant reaching her.
As Ros rounded the corner of the next floor, an axe was hurled down the wide hallway. His shadows swallowed up the glint of steel, and as it disappeared, he opened another portal. The weapon careened through it and embedded itself in the back of its owner. Blood sprayed, and they moved, climbed, and killed.
Ros and his friends blocked an onslaught of attacks. He tried to ignore the memories. That portrait of beasts and flowers had been picked out by his mother. She’d demanded it be hung in these exact halls. No one could tell her no. A vase, now covered in blood, had been broken over a dozen times from him and his cousins running through the halls. He shoved the memories down, down, down. He had to focus.
The guards continued to be reckless, throwing move after move that left them open to be cut down easily. One managed to get a little too close for comfort, almost slitting Garm’s throat, but Billy was there. Her feral snarl had the guard shaking when he went to defend himself. She caught his arm as he lunged with a dagger. She whispered something so vile in his ear that he wet himself before she tore through his bicep with her claws, severing an artery and letting him bleed out on the floor. They made it to another level, and Sam screamed.
“Devon!”
A guard who looked as though he’d crawled out of the pits of Hel was about to gut Devon with claws that would make even Billy jealous. But Sam’s large wolven body forced Devon away, pushing him across the floor. He hit the wall with a loud crack. Sam was fast to snap at the guard, but the demon was relentless and slashed with his vicious claws.
“Sam, no!” Ros was too late. His friend snapped at the demon’s throat, but before he made his mark, before he could kill it, the creature dug his claws into his face.
With Sam’s first whimper of pain, Devon broke. Blue and white flames raged around them, burning their attackers alive. Devon didn’t even acknowledge the power he had let loose, only ran to Sam, cradling his big head in his lap. Sam panted, swiping at his face as something electric green seeped into his skin.
