Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Michaela
My legs ached from the multi-orgasm session Morax insisted I receive before we trained. Who was I to disagree with his decision? The anxiety I felt earlier faded to the back of my mind after experiencing pleasure unlike I’d ever felt. My mate always seemed to know exactly what I needed.
I dropped into a crouch, facing him now, an icy ball of water forming in one hand and a short sword in the other.
Morax said we had to train with all kinds of weapons, not just our power.
Fighting in a battle against other daemons and lumens would not be like the wars of humans.
Daemons and lumens both fought dirty, using every ability they had to unseat their opponent.
Our power could maim and wound, but only stellatium could kill a creature like us.
The blade had to pierce the heart. The metal being poisonous to our kind and instantly turned our hearts to dust.
Morax circled me now, his golden eyes glowing with his power as he stalked me in the clearing near Vespertine Hall.
It was really fucking hot seeing him all monster-like.
He also said I had to get used to the forms of creatures.
Once we made it to Stella Terra, most daemons and lumens would be in their true forms. Some had horns and tails, some had wings, some had pointed ears and forked tongues.
The appearances varied based on their lineage and affinities.
Royal bloodlines all had wings. And daemons were generally more adept with earth or fire power, whereas lumens excelled with air and water.
The more powerful the lineage, the more power over the elements.
My cunning mate lashed at me with a vine, attempting to draw my attention to his left side as he feigned to the right with his blade. I whirled around, blocking his sword and slicing through his whip.
Morax chuckled, a sexy-as-hell smirk on his lips. “Very good, little lumen.” He was also shirtless, which was completely distracting. “Focus, mate. Don’t think I can’t feel the lust building inside you.”
I smiled sweetly then launched my ball of ice at his perfectly sculpted abs, knocking him to the ground. His eyes widened as I leapt at him, my blade poised over his heart. “I can multitask.”
Morax’s clawed hands squeezed my waist over my leggings. “I can see that.”
The sound of someone clapping had my head whipping up to see who had arrived. Morax seemed unphased, as if he knew Gremory was there all along.
“Very good, young Seer.” Gremory grinned, wiggling his eyebrows. “But can you do that when it truly counts? When you’re on the battlefield and those you care for are in mortal danger.”
A massive broadsword appeared in Gremory’s hands, and he dropped into a fighting stance. His eyes tracked Morax, and my mate subtly moved in front of me, readying for a fight.
The daemons circled each other, using minute amounts of power to test the other’s defenses.
Gremory lashed out first, and the sword fight began.
It gave me flashbacks to the first time I encountered Gremory, only then, Morax thought he was an enemy, and they fought to kill.
So much had changed since then, and now the Commander of the daemon army was here, fighting with us.
Although right now, he was trying to hurt my mate.
I watched intently as they fought, both daemons moving with a preternatural grace. Morax was a beast, lethal and strong, but Gremory was fast, too fast. He landed several small slices of his sword on my mate, and each cut sent power burning through me. Seeing his blood spilled was too much.
A vision flashed before my eyes of Gremory’s stellatium blade piercing Morax’s heart, and I gasped in shock.
Grem would never do that; he was one of us.
And yet I saw it happen. The combination of moves in my vision began in real time as I watched Gremory get the upper hand.
There was no time for me to intervene, no magic I could think to conjure up to stop this from happening.
And yet, power built within me, pulsing with life and feeling unlike anything I’d experienced before.
Just as the moment arrived and Gremory’s sword edged toward my mate’s heart, I screamed, throwing my hands in the air to unleash whatever was inside me.
Time slowed. Gremory and Morax were still facing off, but it was as if their movements were caught in molasses.
My own body remained free, so I ran at them like a damn bull, knocking Morax out of the way just as the power faded.
Gremory landed hard on the grass, his sword several inches into the earth instead of my mate’s heart. He grinned.
“What the hell is wrong with you?!” I shouted at him, rushing the daemon and intent on causing him pain.
Morax leapt up from the grass and was at my side in seconds, holding me close. “Not exactly the teaching tactic I had in mind, Grem.”
Gremory seemed unbothered, crossing his arms, long blond hair loose at his shoulders. “She needed real motivation to see what her new power could really do.”
My chest heaved with rage as I absorbed their words. The dangerous edge to my power began to fade. “I saw a vision of you killing him.”
The clever daemon smirked, his bright-blue eyes twinkling. “Well, it had to be believable. If I thought it was only a test, you’d know, and then you wouldn’t have been able to use your power to save him.”
Morax wrapped his arms around my waist from behind and brought his lips to my neck, nipping my skin. “You were incredible, little lumen.”
His words sent shivers down my body. “I don’t even know how I did it. All I knew was that I couldn’t let you die.”
My mate squeezed my middle, keeping me close as he nuzzled into my collarbone. “Often our emotions trigger bigger surges of power. Gremory was testing that theory. Perhaps not how I would have chosen to do it, but effective, considering we have little time to get to Stella Terra.”
“Now that you’ve tapped into that power, you should be able to do so again more easily,” Gremory added, pulling his sword from the earth and leaning casually on the hilt. “Remember the feel of it flowing through you and start there. You’ll be kicking all our asses soon enough.”
He walked off, joining the Princes practicing across the clearing.
I sighed, slumping against Morax and feeling for that strange pulse of magic that rushed through me. “Maybe if I’m stronger, I can stop time long enough for us to just snatch your evil brother and the Kings off the battlefield and end the whole damn thing before it begins.”
Morax chuckled. “A nice thought, but unlikely. My brother will not be on the field. He will send others to fight for him before he shows his face. And I imagine your cult leaders have a few tricks as well. But your abilities will certainly give us an edge.”
I nodded, agreeing. We couldn’t take any chances. My sister was locked away by those evil assholes, and I would do everything I could to get her back. “Let’s practice again.”