Page 97 of Galen
“Yeah, that won’t work.” Phoenix came a little closer. “The power is already moving inside him. Attaching itself. And a mortal body is much too weak to hold it for long. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but your little human is going to wither away, piece by piece, as the power consumes him like a blazing fire tearing through a field of wheat.”
“No.” I shook my head and tried harder to pry the cursed ring off. “He won’t die. I won’t let him.”
“Galen,”Alastair said through our link.“Where are you?”
“In your study.”
“It’s bad. We couldn’t stop them.”
“Oh yeah,” Phoenix said. “I forgot to tell you that all of your brothers are kind of restrained at the moment. Some are hurt too. Badly. So if it’s okay with you, I’ll be taking the human and going on my way.”
“Like hell you’re taking him.” I held Simon closer. My chest ached when he whimpered and pushed his face against me.
“Galen?” he croaked, opening his eyes. The lenses of his glasses were cracked.
“I’m here,” I said.
Other demons materialized in the room. Upper-level ones that were a lot stronger than the shades I’d been killing. They had human appearances, with the exception of the horns on their heads and their glowing eyes. All of them held daggers.
I brushed my lips against Simon’s forehead before gently setting him aside and pushing to my feet. If they wanted him, they’d have to go through me first. I’d fight until I couldn’t anymore.
“Damn this weak body,” a scratchy and deep voice said.
I flipped around to see Simon sitting up, his eyes glowing red. He rose to his feet and stepped toward me, a smile stretching his lips. But it wasn’t my Simon. It was whatever dark power had hold of him. The shock of it made me hesitate, and the surrounding demons took advantage of that fact.
A sharp pain pierced my side, sending me to my knees. The demon who’d stabbed me then held the blade to my throat while the others grabbed each of my arms to hold me in place.
“Don’t kill him,” Simon said in a bored tone. His voice was all wrong; so was the dead look in his eyes. He took off his glasses and frowned at them before throwing them to the floor and stepping on them. “The human is screaming inside my head, and I want him to shut the fuck up. Plus, I think it’s more fun for the Nephilim to live with the pain we’ll cause by taking his sweet little mate away. Now take me to my true body. I hate this frail one.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Phoenix said, bowing his head.
Your Majesty?
Phoenix approached Simon and offered his hand, which Simon took. The two of them disappeared.
“Simon!” I yelled after them. Panic took root inside my chest.
“I wish I could slit your throat,” the demon holding me growled in my ear. “But orders are orders.” He pushed me away as the rest of them faded from sight.
I stood on shaky legs, applying pressure to the wound on my side. The injury would heal in time. They hadn’t used a celestial blade. But even if I’d been sliced open from ear to ear and stabbed a thousand times, nothing would’ve hurt more than the pain I felt as I stared at Simon’s broken glasses on the floor.
“I love you too,” I said, my vision blurring.
I never got to tell him.
The words had been right there on my lips, but fear had held me back. I’d thought by telling him, I’d be jinxing myself. That I’d only end up losing him.
And now I’ve lost him anyway.
The demons had gotten exactly what they’d wanted, and I’d been powerless to stop it. In the process, I had lost Simon too.
Marcus appeared in my mind. He smiled at me with so much love in his brown eyes. His dark skin glistened from sweat after a long day of tending to the land and working in the garden he’d loved so much. Because after years of killing and bloodshed in the arena, all he’d wanted was a beautiful place to watch life flourish. Then I remembered the blade sliding across his throat, a red line trailing behind it. I could still remember the shock in his eyes as he fell, dead before he even hit the grass.
Simon had been taken from me too. I recalled the fear in his voice right before the ring possessed him.
“Your little human is going to wither away, piece by piece, as the power consumes him.”
It happened then, the beginning signs of the rage I’d experienced once before, one that had completely consumed me. The sensation spread through my body, turning my blood to liquid fire. My heartache fueled that fire, made the flames rage higher. Being angry was easier than letting myself feel the pain of not being able to save him.
