Page 93 of Sweet Violence
My breathing became choppier, shorter. I scanned the room again, and a choked gasp tore up my throat. But I strangled the sound before it could fall off my tongue and give our position away.
Taj was on his knees in front of Eidolon, covered in so much blood he blended into the scenery. He wasn't in his big, crimson form anymore; he looked small and breakable in front of Eidolon's newly powerful demon form and Dev's mighty devil body.
"Oh, god," I mouthed, picturing how easily he could be killed.
I shot Arkan a pleading look—we had to do something, and fucking now!—but the calculating gleam in his pale blue eyes disagreed with me, and he shook his head.
"Wait," he whispered. "Make it count."
I hate this, I hate this, I hate every fucked up part of this…
"That's close enough," Eidolon told Dev edgily.
Taj yelped, like a dog in extreme pain, and my heart stopped.
"A net," X breathed in my ear. "Look."
I was too panicked to see clearly. But a glimmer caught around Taj's shoulders. That was why he knelt; not just compulsion or a toxin paralysing him. Dad had always been nothing if not thorough.
"Every time he tries to fight, it gets tighter," Joseph whispered. "It's barbaric."
"Now," Eidolon said, with cruel relish. "Kneel."
I struggled against Arkan's grip, rage pouring through me. Likehellwas Dev kneeling to this bastard.
Sorry, Ark,I thought, and grabbed hold of the deadly force building inside me, my magic rising hungrily at my call. I threw an elbow into Arkan's gut, knocking his grip free, and tore out of his shadows. Flinging my hand out in front of me, I sent fire racing across the painfully long room like a spear.
But it was too late.
Eidolon had Dev by the balls, using his love for Taj against him, and before my spear even reached them, the devil knelt and dipped his head.
Eidolon batted away my magic like a nuisance fly; my breath hitched when it jerked aside and set a dead guard ablaze. Panicking, I clenched my fist and extinguished the flames. I didn't know I could do that. I was so fucking glad I could do that.
"Now the crown," Eidolon purred, not even turning to look at me.
"Don't you dare," I growled, racing across the hall, my path slowed by the many dead bodies on the ground. How was I so fucking slow? I curled my hands into fists.
"I'm glad you're here to witness this, Aveline. It should be aspirational for you; if your own father can become the ruler of Hell, you can be anything you dream of."
I wanted to be his goddamn murderer. I gnashed my teeth, running breathlessly through the hall, leaping over bodies and skidding through pools of blood and gore.
"You're about to find out what I dream of," I snarled. "And everything I'm capable of."
Power thrashed inside me, waves overflowing my core thanks to the blood and bodies everywhere, and my head began to roar like it was full of static. I looked from Taj, kneeling and powerless, unable to defend himself, to the devil, massive and deadly but kneeling by choice, submitting to a goddamn psychopath.
Or maybe he had a plan. He was the devil—he had to have a plan, right? He couldn't just give Eidolon everything he wanted.
I veered right and caught Taj's eye, gesturing for him to change forms, mouthinggo big.I knew the circle was right behind me, only Arkan now hidden in his shadows, a secret weapon, but if Taj could shift and kill Eidolon before he even realised he should be afraid, it'd all be over.
"Don't!" I screamed instead when Dev reached up for his crown.
"Some things are more important than power, babygirl," Dev said, only briefly glancing at me before his eyes returned to Eidolon, seething with hatred.
Why was there still so much fucking ground to cover? I hated this enormous room; I needed to be with themnow, not in a fucking hour when I finally reached the throne. Where was Arkan? I needed him to fly me across the room. I glanced back—
And froze where I stood.
"I wondered when you'd notice," Eidolon said casually. "You're losing your edge, Avie."
