Page 80 of Demons In My Head: Exposing the Exiled
The spirits surged forward eagerly, their forms becoming more defined as they approached the passage. Some looked almost completely living again in those final moments, their faces peaceful as they stepped through.
I swayed on my feet, and Talon wrapped his free arm around my waist to steady me. "We've got you," he growled, his voice distant and strange. And they did have me. As a group, we all collapsed to the ground, each one of us connected.
"Thank you," I breathed, leaning into their support as spirit after spirit passed through my gateway. "Thank you for being my anchors."
My eyes met Rhodes', and for the first time, he didn't look away. Something passed between us—understanding, recognition, acceptance.
My strength gave out suddenly, and I slumped forward, my entire body trembling from the massive expenditure of power.The veil shimmered one final time as the last spirit passed through before dissolving like mist in the morning sun. The sudden silence was deafening after the cacophony of souls we'd just witnessed.
"Mom? Dad?" My voice was barely a whisper as I tried to lift my head. I was so weak I could barely move, but panic gave me strength.
"We're right here, sweetheart." My mother's ethereal form drifted closer, radiating a warmth that felt like home. "I'm so proud of you."
I struggled to sit up straighter in Rhodes' arms, panic flaring through me. "Please don't go through! I just found you, I can't—"
"Shhh," my father soothed, his spirit brightening. "We're not going anywhere right now. That's not our path."
"Promise?" My voice cracked with emotion and exhaustion.
My mother's spirit reached out, and though she couldn't physically touch my face, the gesture carried all the love of a real caress. "We promise, baby. But right now, you need to rest. What you just did... it took more power than most beings possess in their entire lifetime."
I felt my body growing heavier as exhaustion overtook me. My magic, which had been a raging inferno moments ago, was now barely a flicker.
"Listen to them," Rhodes growled softly, adjusting his hold to better support my weight and to make space for Misha, who also needed to feel me safely in his arms.
"You're safe. We've got you," Misha assured me.
My eyes were so heavy, but they saw me. Really saw me.
"Don't let them disappear while I sleep," I mumbled to nobody in particular. "Please."
"We won't," someone promised, and I believed them. "Just rest now."
I fought it for a few more seconds, my body literally shaking with the effort to stay awake. But eventually, biology won out over stubbornness. Darkness swept over me, and I surrendered to it, knowing I was safe in the arms of these demons who had somehow become my family.
Chapter seventeen
Scorpio
The demon I’d captured last year ended up coming in useful. He’d refused initially, but resistance was futile. All I had to do was uncap the little vial of gas that was made from my blood, and he had the portal to Besmet opened up in the blink of an eye. I grinned as I stepped through the swirling portal, the air around me crackling with energy. The sensation was disorienting—like being pulled apart and reassembled molecule by molecule. My stomach lurched as I was deposited onto unfamiliar ground, but I maintained my composure. Weakness wasn't an option.
Besmet. The demon realm.
The sky above me was a violent swirl of crimson and black, like blood mixing with ink. The air tasted metallic, charged with something primal that made my skin tingle. Power. Raw, unfiltered power pulsed through this place, and I could feel it calling to me, seeping into my veins like a drug.
"Fuck," I whispered, unable to contain my awe as I took in the landscape. Jagged mountains pierced the horizon, their peaks disappearing into roiling clouds. The ground beneath my feetwas obsidian, gleaming like polished glass. Everything here felt ancient and dangerous.
I adjusted the new mask on my face—a sleek silver one covering only my eyes and the bridge of my nose, different from my usual leather face covering. The Exiled couldn't know I was here. Not yet.
A shadow passed overhead, and I looked up to see a massive creature soaring through the blood-red sky. A dragon—its scales glittering like black diamonds, wings spanning wider than any aircraft I'd ever seen. My breath caught in my throat.
"Now that," I murmured, watching the magnificent beast circle overhead, "is exactly what I need."
My mind raced with possibilities. Dragons. Creatures of immense power and intelligence. If I could harness that power, control them as I controlled humans... the thought sent a shiver of pleasure down my spine. I could build an army unlike anything either realm had ever seen.
Another dragon joined the first, then another. They were gathering, circling like vultures. Something was happening.
In the distance, a massive structure loomed against the horizon—a castle of black stone and twisted spires that seemed to have grown organically from the mountainside. It pulsed with an energy I could feel even from there, a beacon of power calling to me.
