Page 24 of Inheritance
My Hellhound was uncharacteristically quiet for a second before I felt him shove me forcefully back so he could completely take over.
I felt metaphysical pain sear through me, and it was enough of a distraction that, when I heard the clattering of armor and roar of battle, I realized we were surging forward to meet the Dark Elves.Shit.
Instead of fighting my Hellhound, I completely gave in to the Dark Elves as we met them head-on, their magic filling the space in the form of elemental power. I would give the fuckers that—it felt like we were going against far more than the numbers they physically had. They were able to break the ground open easily, toppling people to the side, then sweeping them off their feet with hurricane-force winds. I felt a fireball hit the ground near me, the chaos around me echoing in a bloodlust-filled haze.
When I felt the first direct attack towards me, my Hellhound absolutely lost it.
I couldn’t tell you if I’d killed before, but I was almost positive I hadn’t...though I had a feeling that would change today. These elves weren’t playing to live or surrender. One of them, covered in a vast number of runes, came right for me, blasting me with fire. I immediately tried to dodge it, the inferno singeing my fur as I let out a vicious growl. I darted forward after dodging another fireball and closed my teeth around the attacker’s leg, causing a blood-curdling scream to erupt from their throat. I wish I could tell you I felt bad about the chunk of leg I spit out, but I absolutely did not.
“Damien!” Colt shouted. “To your left.”
I moved just in time for some idiot to barrel past me, and my gaze darted to Colt, who was dodging and weaving in the sky and darting down into the sea of people to attack. I went after the elf who had come after me and jumped on them from behind, knocking them out cold on the ground and leaving their body there, not able to justify killing them while unconscious. Although my Hellhound tried to fight me on it, our attention was suddenly being drawn to where I saw Jace surrounded by four Dark Elves.
Letting out a savage sound, I attacked the one who had managed to edge in behind Jace, his cry telling me I’d snapped something as the other elf tried to converge on Jace. A minute later, all of them were injured and on the battlefield, bleeding out, the Hellhound-Wraith prince nudging me to draw my attention to where the other princes were being overwhelmed by numbers—something that spurred both of us into action.
I’d never fought or trained with these men, except for the singular challenge in Impurus, but the ease and fluidity with which we worked together would have anyone thinking differently. It seemed for a long period of time that the group of us were working in sync with one another, and I could only feel a slight lapse in that as we started to lose energy. My Hellhound kept pushing, though, because it felt like the Dark Elf army was only increasing in size, which left me with a defeated sensation when they just kept coming at us.
I had no idea how long we would be able to keep this up, and the person I was most concerned about? Finias.
I had wondered if breaking down those barriers would drain him, and I could see it had in the way he held himself while fighting. The constant use of his magic was making him look almost ashen, and there was no way for me to tell him in this form to take a step back. He needed to retreat—I could see him getting sloppy. For that to happen, I knew he had to be suffering a massive power drain.
I watched as he slit someone’s throat, their body going limp and then falling out of his arms just as a Dark Elf threw their body weight into him. I darted across the way and grabbed the assailant by the back of the neck, feeling a tear on the muscle there before a crack that was most likely their spine. I tossed them off of Finias and leaned down to urge him to wrap his arms around me, the dazed and ashen expression on his face making me think he was one spell away from passing the fuck out.
I turned once his arms were around me and managed to angle my body so he could lean into me for support. When Nico shouted something to us, I snapped my head up, my eyes widening.Fuck.
There was an arrow barreling straight towards us.
I tried to turn us, but Finias let out a grunt and shifted us so fast I stumbled, taking the direct brunt of the hint and letting out a savage growl. The arrow buried itself right in his chest, near his heart, and he somehow let out a pained sound without crying out. I knew that must have hurt like a motherfucker, and I had absolutely no idea how he was keeping it together.
The smile from the archer in the distance was victorious, and it caused my Hellhound to absolutely snap. No one fucked with our family.
I was sprinting across the field faster than I knew possible as my Hellhound sought vengeance for our pack member being harmed. Finias had become part of our family, and this archer bastard had hurt him. I was on the fucker before he had a chance to move, and I took pleasure in feeling my Hellhound rip out his throat, the taste of blood saturating my tongue as I gazed down at the lifeless body with disgust.
I thought I would feel some level of regret in killing for the first time, but I didn’t.
Instead, I turned back to find Finias leaning into Jace and looking worse than before—this was bad. This was really bad. We needed help.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Ama
Ihad been working on trying to access my powers for hours now. Sweat soaked through my shirt and dripped down my forehead, and my hair was drenched at the scalp from the strain it took. I had to figure this out. Accepting defeat and being stuck here was not an option I was willing to roll over and accept.
No. I'd continue to work on breaking through whatever lock Luce had put on my powers—no matter how long it took.
Taking a deep breath and closing my eyes, I reached within myself once more and felt the multiple walls blocking me. It was as if my powers had been compressed into a ball that had a hundred layers surrounding it, confining it and preventing me from accessing it.
Setting to work, I mentally tore the walls away, one by one, pushing myself to get just one more layer down this time. It got easier with each attempt, as if I was training my mind and body to combat this and endure more with each attempt.
My face twisted as I got to the seventy-fifth wall and felt like fire exploded behind my eyes. I cried out as pain flooded my head. "Fuck!". Dropping my head into my hands, I cradled it and took deep breaths, keeping my eyes closed as the nausea I had known was coming—as it did after every attempt—ran its course.
You can do this.
Do not give up.
You are not a quitter.
As the pain and nausea finally subsided, I groaned and lifted my head, rolling it around to ease the tension I felt in my muscles. Devildamn, that—Wait, no, damn the devil was a lot more appropriate now that I knew exactly who he was and the position he had put me in.
