Page 23 of Hell's Storm

Anger swirls in my chest, and my skin blazes hot. “You killed my family, didn’t you?”

Shechuckles under the mask. “Yeah, that was me.”

I launch myself at her, throwing punches.

The masked female dodges each attack by simply pushing my fist away. “Aw. Someone is angry!”

“Fuck you!” I grit my teeth. “You killed my family!”

She grabs my wrist and flings me towards the statues. I hit one, breaking through it and slamming it into the ground.

“Give up. You’ll never be able to control the Flame,human.”

My eyes snap up to her.How does she know? Who told her? My men… they would never… Would they?

“I tried to get a video of your father confessing that you were human, but the fucker didn’t want that.” She moves to me, grabs a fistful of my hair, and pulls me towards the chasm. I try to fight back, calling to my powers, but she is so much stronger. “Forfeit the power. Give it to someone worthy.”

“Only the heirs”—she pulls at my hair—“can take over the Flame.”

She hovers over me and pulls on my shirt, so she’s face to face with me. “Not with the flamma remotionem ceremonia.”

Flame… removal?My eyes widen, and she reels back and punches me in the jaw. My head bounces against the end of the cliff, making the world spin. The heat below us is caressing my skin and feels so close.

“You have to agree to it.”

A smile creeps on my face. “Suck my dick,bitch.” I kick her backward, away from me. She scrambles to get back to me, pulling out a dagger. Anger rushes through me.It’s the dagger that killed my family.

“You fight with so much anger,” she says with a chuckle. “Are you… mad at me? Did I takepreciousFenric—”

I lunge at her, tackling her to the ground. We struggle just as the rain begins to beat against the leaves. Almost everything in Hell can withstand the acid rain, besides the people. She glances at the rain and tries to gain control.

While she’s distracted, I reach up to pull off her mask. She tries to move her face away from me, but I finally get a grip and rip off the mask.

A familiar face stares back at me, brown, wide eyes staring up at me.

Where do I know her?

In my daze, she elbows me in the jaw and pushes me off her. She grabs my throat and slams my face into the ground. My head spins when it cracks against a rock. “Remember this, Asura. That Flame will be mine, even if I must cut it out of you.” I feel the heat of her blade pressing on my spine, and the mixture of the toxic rain makes me cry.

Someone appears right before us, but I can’t look up. The pain is too overwhelming and paralyzing. I feel the wind shift as someone kicks and hits the girl square in the chest. She stumbles backward, scrambling to her feet. “K-King Ryker.”

King?

I pick up my head to see my pink-haired fae, Ryker. Ryker doesn’t seem strong, especially not with the tactical gear he has to wear, but his body shows it. He bends, scooping me into his arms.

“You… You traitor? You are on her side?”I ask, but he ignores me.

“One more step to the queen; you will be killed where you stand,” Ryker said to the fae.

“You would really choose some… demon over me? What we had… did that mean nothing to you?”

Ryker stiffens before relaxing. “One more step, Eve. You will be killed.”

The girl growls something in fae before disappearing.

“No!” I try to push away to find her.

“It’s okay. I’m going to protect you,” Ryker says, magic swirling around us as he begins transporting us. The spell makes my head spin, and the anger inside me feels more toxic than the rain pelting our skin. I don’t have time to speak before my concussion takes over and blackness surrounds me.

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