Page 11 of Demons In My Head: Exposing the Exiled
My blood boiled with rage as I watched the guards throw her to the ground like a discarded piece of trash. She whimpered in pain, tears streaming down her face.
"Orders are to take her to the pit," one of the guards barked at the others. As soon as the word pit left his mouth, it was as though a match had been lit and dropped into the driest of fields. We’d all done time in that fucking pit. It was barbaric and not something I’d wish on my worst enemy. "We’ve no place here for royal sympathizers. It’s too bad that the lunatic blood mage was removed from the pit earlier for execution. He would’ve killed you in seconds. Get her out of my sight."
I growled low in my throat and rolled my spine, ready to take action. "I'm going to kill that one first."
"Not yet, brother," Felix whispered, his own eyes glinting with bloodlust.
"Another thing to add to the list," Talon murmured. "Free the dragons and fill in that fucking pit..."
The guards lifted the girl like she weighed nothing and handled her as if her life meant less than that. Balor still hadn't returned.
"Quit fuckin' fighting, bitch!" a guard yelled, grabbing a handful of her hair and pulling hard enough to make her cry out in pain.
I blinked. My body vibrated with rage.
"Don't have anything to say now, do ya?" he laughed coldly.
I hoped she'd stay quiet. Tension in these high-stakes situations could cause people to do things without thinking. She could be dead in a second, and none of those guards would give it a second thought.
After a few moments of silence, I exhaled in relief. I looked down at Ashland, who was looking every bit as on edge as I was. "Thank fuck..."
The sound of an echoing slap bounced around my ears, along with the sharp intake of the girl's breath.
"That son of a bitch," Talon hissed.
"That's what I thought!" the guard bellowed in her face. I could already see the redness blooming from his abuse.
I pressed my forehead against the warm stone and willed myself to relax. Where the fuck was Balor?
"We'll get her from the pit as soon as we can," Felix growled.
Suddenly, a noise carried out on the wind. Loud and clear. Words that I didn't realize were known here.
"WITH THE FALLEN, I RISE!"
"By the stars," Talon said, awe in his tone and shock on his face.
"WITH THE BROKEN, I CRY!"
Misha's fist shot out, slamming into the boulder and cracking it down the middle.
"WITH THE LOST, I FIND MY OWN!"
Another guard punched her hard in the ribs. "SHUT. THE. FUCK. UP!"
"WITH THE O-OUTCASTS—"
She sucked in a painful breath.
Fuck this. Balor wasn't here. She was one of us.
"I FIND MY OWN!" I stepped out from behind the boulder and sprinted toward the gate, my brothers right on my heels in full support and synchronicity.
"WITH THE FORGOTTEN, I REMEMBER!" All five of us chanted.
I grinned wildly as the guards focused on us, and the fear in their eyes as they recognized us. The girl was dropped and forgotten, but she didn't stop chanting.
A sentry along the top of the wall reached for a horn to alert the rest of them that they were being invaded, but Talon scurried up the wall like a spider of death and ripped the horn from the guard's fingers. A spray of blood sailed through the air as Talon used the damn thing to smash his head in.
