Page 94 of Sweet Violence
I knew that. I also knew I was stronger than I'd ever been because of the circle.
I should have realised Dad never went anywhere without a band of groupies. These were demons, big, scaly, and mean-looking, probably scouted from the training hall. They pinned Joseph and X to the wall, holding them in place with massive hands. They were like regular demons on steroids, and the resemblance to Eidolon was a little too close to comfort.
He hadn't … cloned himself, right?
"Joseph?" I asked, watching his eyes flutter shut, and terror froze me in place when X met my eyes before his slid shut, too. "X?"
Oh god, if they were anything like Eidolon, the enzyme he'd used to paralyse Taj … it must have been something similar because my mates went limp.
Arkan—where wasArkan?He was our only hope now, although I didn't know what my wraith could do on his own.
No, not on his own. He had me. But I wasn't confident the two of us could overthrow Eidolon when evenDevsurrendered.
Not that shitty odds would stop me. I ground my teeth, forcing myself to turn away from Joseph and X. They were just paralysed or unconscious. Not dead. But Dev and Taj would be.
"Thank you," Eidolon said pleasantly when the devil tossed the crown at his feet, the hammered metal instantly shrinking to fit Eidolon’s brow as he bent and picked it up. "With the power in this crown, I strip you of your title—"
"You son of a bitch!" I screamed, and ran faster, my heart pumping, fury sitting alongside my dread and helplessness.
The further I ran, the further Dev, Taj, and Eidolon seemed to get, until I knew there had to be some trick or illusion at play unless … unless hecompelledme? What if he'd compelled me to stay where I was, and to only believe I was moving forward?
"Hell will never accept you," Dev said, kneeling with his head bowed—but he spat at Eidolon's feet, and my heart lifted at the defiance. "Not without the infernal relics."
Dad tossed the crown in his hand, light bouncing off its sharp edges. I knew he was smiling from the tone of his voice when he replied, "And you just gave me one. The orb appears to be genuinely missing; I'd know if you were playing a trick on me. But the sceptre … you know where it is."
Cold shot through me, aggravating the thrashing magic in my core. Could I burn through the compulsion? I wasn't paralysed by a toxin like Dev, Joseph, and X. This was demon magic, plain and true.
And I wasfullof demon magic.
"Tell me where to find it," Eidolon commanded mildly. I hated that voice—it preceded my most painful training sessions, the ones where I'd break and beg for mercy.
"No," the devil replied.
My heart stopped; my eyes snapped automatically to Taj's uncommonly wan face, like the blood already drained out of his face before Eidolon crooked his finger. Taj fell onto his side with a scream that would haunt me until I died.
Panic, pain, and blazing rage filled the space behind my chest, and my heart resumed its frantic beating. I couldfeelTaj's fire and wrath. His pain was endless and unbearable, but his rage was a relief. He hadn't given up if he still had the strength to be angry.
And if Taj was fighting through his agony, raging despite the fact his life hung very much in the balance, I could fight too.
Fuck this compulsion.
I crooked a single finger at my power and it whooshed through me like petrol thrown on a bonfire.
Magic erupted through every pore, my teeth gritted against the discomfort, and my burning eyes streamed tears.
All the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.
The compulsion should have blasted apart like sparks of electricity, but I crushed it like a bug under the force of my power, no dramatic effects needed, and took a real, true step forward.
"Like the devil said," I seethed, finally doing something that warranted my father turning to look at me. "No."
"Avie," Eidolon sighed, his voice eerily familiar despite the dark green scales covering his face, the slimy sheen on the rest of his body. He looked like a lizard person, only with fangs and claws, and I swallowed hard. "Stay out of this; I don't want to hurt you."
I rolled my eyes. "I stopped believing that when you scarred me at thirteen to 'make me stronger.'"
When he pressed his scaly lips into a thin line—the expression heart-stoppingly familiar—I gestured at Taj togo bigagain. Clarity lit his eyes. He couldn't nod, but resolve joined his fury and fear.
I sensed Arkan through a muffled film as I exploded into a run; calculating and clever and scared to death, but the others were too quiet, too still. Dev, especially, his emotions hidden from me.
