Chapter 25
Twenty-Five
KELLAN
I t was the screams that alerted him first.
The sheer agony echoed, erupting from the dark cavern ahead. If it had been anyone else, they wouldn’t have heard her. But with his heightened senses it felt as if he was standing right there. Even from far below the ground, he heard her. Atlas visibly tensed beneath him, like he could hear them too. Knowing exactly who they’d come from. Sensing her fear as she endured gods knew what.
The air stunk like them. Rotting. Burning. Demons had telltale signs if you knew what you were looking at. Smell was one of the biggest ones.
Kellan urged the horse faster, Atlas obeyed before he’d even touched him. Exploding toward the entrance where he slid to a stop. Kellan was running the moment his feet hit the ground, blade drawn. Poised. Ready for battle. Waiting for the bloodshed that he knew lay ahead.
“Where are you going?” Eire shouted angrily, but she was on his heels anyway. They all were at the scent. The sounds . Kellan didn’t answer her. “Let them finish the job that you couldn’t!”
He should have listened to her and should have let them have her nearly two weeks ago, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Then she’d tried to save him, a being sent to kill her, and she’d still shown him kindness. Humanity. Then the rooftop. Hearing the story of her parents. The hardships she’d faced?—
His questions that still needed answers .
Kellan couldn’t let the girl die.
He didn’t know how to feel about his decision. If he hated himself for letting things get so out of hand.
His feet propelled him forward. Faster as he raced into the darkness. Black all around him, the only sounds the pounding of their footsteps as they ran, one after the other. And her screaming. That was the loudest as they ran down the tunnel on agile steps.
They emerged into the fire-lit room as one. Shock. Disgust. Worry. A range of emotions took hold. Beside him, even Eire’s breath hitched at the horrific sight before them. Her body, screaming and limp against the rock. The blood. Fuck .
His fingers clenched around the pommel of his blade, so tight he knew his knuckles were white as everything ignited within.
Eire’s arrow hit her mark before he even managed another step. With his sword swinging, Kellan charged, the edge of his blade ricocheting from demon to demon as he made his way toward Demetria.