Page 37 of The Magic of Eternity
As he rolled, I decided to give him a little bit of a boost and so I kicked him in the face, forcing his body into a rotation that landed him on his back. He snarled at me. Where were this guy’s fucking manners? You think you’re helping somebody, the next thing you know they’re growling at you like a beast. Life was too short to be rude to people.
“I was just trying to give you a boost, man. There’s no need to look at me like that.”
“Oh, fuck you.”
I slapped a hand over my heart. “You are just completely uncouth. You know, the last man I fought who showed me disrespect—and refused tolearnhow to be respectful—got his head kicked off. Literally. Did you know that was possible? I had no idea. But you know,” I said, circling around him as he got himself into a sitting position, “it’s really boring down here. And by my count, I think you’re number fifty. I got bored of traditional killing by number five, I think. So I’ve learned a lot while I’ve been here. You can kick a man’s head off if you have enough power. I can break their arms off and beat them to death with them, and if I stomp hard enough, I could completely rupture your nut sack. Isn’t that crazy? You see, that’s not what killed that last guy though. No, what killed him was when I popped his eyes out and poked my thumbs into his brain.”
I paused, taking a moment to recall that particular death. It had been fucking disgusting. I shook my hands, remembering the way they’d been coated with… stuff.
After I’d inspected my hands carefully, accepting that they were still clean, I ran them through my hair and stretched backward, getting an awesome crack from my spine. Number Fifty was just staring at me.He’s probably jealous. I’d be jealous too, if I was staring at me. His gaze had a hint of judgy to it that I really didn’t appreciate, and I narrowed my eyes, suspecting he wasn’t taking my killing skills seriously. I guess he had a point—butonlywith the eyeball thing because yes, anyone could do that. However, the head kicking was next-level murder city, and I refused to believe otherwise.
“Okay, Number Fifty.” I sighed, pinching my nose. “You’re right. That last one really wasn’t too special since anyone could pull that off.”
His mouth opened and closed like a fish. A big, grumpy, demon fish. Not cute in the slightest, like some fish were. I gave him a couple of minutes to respond. Okay, maybe more like half a minute. After what was actually probably only four seconds, I started talking again. Number Fishty had his shot and he was too slow.
“So I’m kind of thinking that with you being lucky Number Fishty, perhaps this will break my curse of imprisonment. You could be the key to my freedom. How do you want to die, big man? I’ll let you pick—dealer’s choice. Well, I guess I’m the dealer. So that doesn’t really make sense? But yeah, you can pick. Just try to make it interesting.”
The demon sneered at me. “Did you say Fishty?” I frowned, opening my mouth to respond that yes, of course I did, but he threw his hands in the air. “You’re fucking crazy. You’re never getting out of here—that’s the whole point of the pit. You never leave. The only escape is death.”
I found myself rolling my eyes. “Of course that’s what theywantyou to think. But I’m smarter than that.” I tapped my index finger against my forehead. “My brain is much smarter than yours is, clearly.” The man stared at me like he didn’t believe my words, and that kind of pissed me off because I wasn’t a liar either. I decided I would let him stand up because I felt bad for him—not because I was going to kill him, but because the man was clearly an idiot. He couldn’t take me down if he tried, and he had tried. He’d been trying for four hours.
“I heard you were one of the queen’s mates,” he snarled, as I let him get to his feet. “Well, not the real queen. But that’s what everyone is saying. How the hell did you end up in her harem?”
“The fuck did you just say to me?” My body froze; I was as still as a statue. Hell, I don’t even think my lungs were working at that moment.
“You know, the queen? The prophesied one. I heard she’s curvy and has a big juicy ass.”
I glanced around me, because seriously, was this really happening right now? Was this male, who was already marked for death, honestly standing here and saying nice things about my fucking woman? Because yeah, she does have a big juicy ass! I didn’t like him talking about it though. I was about to let him know that, but he let out a mocking laugh, which pissed me off even more.
“That’s probably why she needs six men. If her ass is that big, I can only imagine how fat her cunt must be. Question is, the fuck does she need you for? You’re stuck here with me, with the other degenerates. This is all you’ll ever be—a killing machine.”
Red bled into my vision. Dark crimson. Oh yes, this male would die. He would die by my hands and he would regret ever speaking such filth against my mate. My beautiful, gorgeous, pregnant mate.
“You’re wrong,” I whispered. “She has the tightest cunt in all the land. I want to live there. It’s where I belong. My face between her thighs, my cock in her cunt, her ass in my face, all of the possible sexuals you can think of—that’s what I live for with that woman. You couldn’t handle a woman like her if you tried. And now, Number Fishty, I’m officially bored, and also like seven point eight percent pissed off. I offered you a choice and you chose to talk shit, so it’s my decision now.”
I swear to the gods, I blinked once and as my surroundings came back into focus, there was only a leg. A hairy, beefy-looking leg.Where the hell’s the rest of Number Fishty?
I spun in a circle, only to discover that he was scattered throughout the arena. An arm here, a head over there. Oh look, that looked like a small, deflated water balloon. I must have stomped his nut sack. I’d told him it looked like a sad, empty balloon, and here was the proof! I was many things, but never a liar. A surge of pride burst through my veins at the sight.
Yes. Number Fishty was a good omen. I wasn’t sure how I knew, but I was getting the fuck out of here. Soon. I backed up against the arena wall and slowly slid down, my legs stretched out in front of me. In the meantime, I supposed I could just sit here and either wait for the next man I was supposed to kill, or I could use my time wisely and focus on all the ways I was going to absolutely devour Firefly’s body the moment I got my hands on her again.
We moved through the air, an army of dragons.
The only way in and out of the dragon realm was through the lake. Vaeryn said that long ago there had been other avenues, but when the dragons started disappearing they locked their world down, to protect themselves. It had been less than two hours since we’d decided on this course of action, and we sped toward Naryian, racing for the castle. There wasn’t much time left before sunrise. Vaeryn had told us about a small town on the outskirts of the capital. That was where we would land and where the dragons would shift forms.
Rage was still the driving emotion in my heart. Magic simmered, as though my whole body was being held at a low heat. The blood within me bubbled both with anger and the desire to harm any who would dare come at me and mine. I had no idea what this day would bring. In the end, all I could hope for was that I would be reunited withmyfamily,mymen andmyfather.
My thoughts strayed to Khol. I wondered how bad his injury was. I’d seen it happen—the long blade had pierced his skin through his stomach and shot out of his back. I’d thought for certain he was dead. As furious as I was, there was also an undercurrent of fear rippling through me. Fear of loss, fear of abandonment—in the end, they were kind of the same thing.
Even as a woman who’d been abandoned by her mother at a young age, I was still able to love, and I had found the greatest love imaginable. I held it so tightly, because I knew what it felt like not to have it. I knew what it felt like to be separated from a mate by death. I couldn’t lose any of them.
I thought about Gran. I was curious how she was, knowing she was probably driving herself insane wondering the same thing about me. If there’d been a way to reach her, I would have already done so. But I didn’t want to risk that she would convince Rick to come. They’d also been through enough, and they deserved their happy ending together.
When I was a little girl, Gran and I used to spend nearly all of our days out in the garden where she taught me all of the plant names and their properties. Things that they were good for. It had become our special time, together in the garden sanctuary when I was there with only her. I never thought about Laurie. Why she didn’t want me, why she was often short-tempered and cruel. Not just to me, but also to Gran.
Even as a young girl, I’d found solace in the earth. Each time my fingers and my hands disappeared into the nutrient-rich soil of my property, I knew peace. I desperately tried to cling to that notion now. Gran had always told me that anger was never the way. Anger caused people to do stupid things, things that they would normally not have done. But today, like this? This was a day that was anything but normal. I felt on some level that I needed to becomesomething else. The air swirled around me as I clung onto Sloane’s massive claws. I’d braided my hair before we left, and I was thankful for that now.
We began our descent near the small town. There was a large forest close by that would make excellent coverage. My heart began pounding like a war drum as I watched the rapidly approaching ground. As we closed in, I opened up my mind and forced my presence through the mental link.
