Page 13 of Imbalance
I also think I’d hit my metaphorical wall of bullshit when it came to being pushed around. We’d been through enough in the past few days, and now thisUmbrawas trying to kill us. I was absolutely over it, and despite being terrifying, I stepped forward, summoning my scythe.
“Ama, no.” Nico’s arm wrapped around my stomach, but I pushed his hand away, trying to stride forward to meet the creature. I let out a surprised sound when Colt was suddenly in front of me, his massive wings opening up to completely cover us as he faced the Umbra.
“Let go,” I hissed, but Nico seemed to just hold on tighter. Stubborn bastard.
I couldn’t be mad for long, though, because suddenly, I was distracted. My eyes widened as the others took action against the creature as a unit, the energy filling the space crackling against my skin like electricity. I inhaled sharply as Damien shifted into his savage Hellhound, which was immediately baring its teeth towards the monster, trying to edge closer. He let out a vicious growl that echoed through the space, the Umbra meeting it with an equally terrifying sound.
This was not good at all.
“Let me go,” I turned to Nico as he met my gaze.
“Ama, I am not losing anyone fucking else,” he snarled quietly, and it shut me up, causing me to look back to where Adrien was hedging closer to the beast from the side. His shadows were seeping through the space, and the monster seemed to not know whether to focus on Damien or Adrien, completely not seeing Finias, who was balancing in the tree right above its head.
I fought the urge to tell him to be careful as I watched Drayven take a more direct approach, walking towards the Umbra with weapon in hand. This was a horrible idea. The Umbra surged forward immediately, snapping its teeth at Drayven and Damien, as both darted out of the way of its poisonous maw and the acidic substance leaking from it onto the ground.
Drayven raised his scythe as it lit up with neon green magic...but the light quickly went off as the creature disappeared. It reappeared in a second flat, nearly on top of Drayven, using its massive paw to swipe him to the side. I let out a cry as the Reaper’s body was thrown onto the rough ground, tumbling precariously close to the edge.
Bringing my elbow back, I heard Nico grunt in surprise as I escaped and appeared next to Drayven, the sound of Damien keeping the creature away from us causing me panic. This thing was insanely strong, and I hadn’t any idea how to beat it. I could hear Adrien and Damien taking turns pushing it back until the creature was under the spot where Finias balanced in wait. All I could focus on, though, was the scent of blood dripping from Drayven’s nose. When he tried to stand up, I used a hand to keep him down.
He could be mad at me about that later.
When a vicious snarl echoed, I realized that Finias had jumped from the tree and landed on top of the Umbra, his runes lit up and glowing as he wedged two weapons into the creature's back, both sparking with his violet-colored magic. I cried out Fin’s name as the creature whipped him around, dislodging my assassin and flinging him off. He landed gracefully a few feet away, but I could tell he was shaken.
Colt soared up into the air, and I could practically see the rage on his face as he went right off the edge of the cliff, holding himself there as he called out to the beast. The Umbra had been moving towards Damien, who was snarling at him and kept trying to move around to attack. Despite his reputation for being a killer, it was clear Damien’s Hellhound understood strategy really damned well. When my Hellhound backed up towards the cliff, I saw Colt’s plan. But instead of the monster charging towards them and off the right side of the cliff, its head snapped towards Drayven and me. Nico moved in front of us, attempting to distract him, but it was useless.
“Ama move. Get out of the way! If it charges—” I put my hand over Drayven’s mouth, knowing he was going to tell me to leave him there. I think we both knew I couldn’t do that.
I could feel the others joining us as I tried to focus on getting us the hell out of there...
"We are going to die," I mumbled. Especially if we didn’t figure out how to fix this shit.
When a crack of lightning hit the space around the creature, fire lit up the surrounding trees, causing it to panic.
A far more savage growl sounded from behind the Umbra, making me realize that something worse had just shown up. Something more dangerous than the predator in front of us.
"Ah, shit," Finias mumbled.
"What?" I snapped my head over for a moment, but not before the wet splatter of hot blood hit my face.Holy shit.I stared wide-eyed at Finias, who was covered in black blood now as the sound of the Umbra suddenly ceased.
Slowly turning my head towards the massacre, I found the bloody carnage of the shadow monster on the ground with a creature standing on top of it that seemed to fit the mold of “shadow monster” ten times more.
Seriously, it was easily the size of a Hellhound. So, while it was large, it shouldn't have been able to take down the beast, but it had.
It had done more than that. It had ripped the Umbra’s throat out, and now the savage hound was growling at us, its dark eyes locked on me.
Unlike a normal Hellhound, which was sleek black with vicious teeth and red eyes...this one was a bit different. First, its form almost seemed less solid, with wisps of shadows coming off it. Its eyes were dark and lacked any sort of emotion. A savage, silver scar crossed its muzzle, and its fur was dark with streaks of blood-red throughout. It was both gorgeous and terrifying. My heart was beating fast, and everything inside of me was tightening in anticipation.
For what? I wasn't sure.
"It's a hybrid," Damien muttered. "It's a Hellhound hybrid."
"Hellhound and Wraith," Adrien confirmed.
Before I knew it, the hybrid in question was transforming in a cloud of shadows that revealed...holy hell.A choked sound came from my throat as I snapped my eyes down, the very distinct vision of the tall, muscular man with broad shoulders and perfectly cut abs, standing naked over the carnage of a beast he had just slain to protect us, filling all of my head space.
I would not think about his dick, either. I just wouldn't.
I. Would. Not. Think. About...I was thinking about it. Damn, it had been like...really big and hard. Why was he hard? Did killing turn him on? Oh man, I didn’t know what to make of this.
