Chapter 1 The Fool #2
Wrapping his arms around her, he spun and absorbed the impact of the ground. He wasn’t about to waste saving her from slavers by then flattening her in an infirmary.
Their bodies rolled, and despite her angry screams and desperate attempt to break free, Ozirax didn’t once let her body touch the ground until they had stopped moving. He twisted, pressing her down in the hopes that she’d stop squirming long enough for him to get her to quiet and listen.
That only seemed to infuriate her more.
With her legs pinned and his hands locked around her wrists—he hadn’t forgotten about the weapons still sheathed to his body—he had the upper hand.
Thought he had the upper hand.
With a vicious scream, she slammed her forehead into his nose.
“Fuck!” He lost grip of one of her arms, and moments later, her fist crashed into his jaw.
Oh, now he was angry.
There was only a small shred of restraint left in him to keep from going for his weapons, or his body’s defenses. He caught her fist again before it could connect with his cheek, fighting the urge to snap her bones like he might in a sparring match with another demon.
The human thrashed underneath him as he pinned her arm back to the ground, and his instincts took over despite the fight inside him.
“I’m trying to help you!”
She didn’t seem to care, still bucking wildly. His fangs elongated, and when she bared her teeth in response, he snarled right back.
A deep growl crawled up his throat, and it was natural for the spikes on his neck to stand against the threat.
It worked.
Her eyes widened, body falling limp like every other creature did when they realized who the real predator was.
In that moment of calm, with his heightened senses on alert, he could taste her fear. He could feel it on her skin, damp from exertion and expelling the sorcery in her system. He heard the spike of her heart rate beyond the thrill of a fight.
As a warrior, it was Ozirax’s duty to assess threats, but even as she cowered, he had to respect her fury.
Perhaps it was luck that had allowed her to get past Tonomoch, but she had a fire within her to attack two warriors in only an oversized infirmary smock and bare feet. A fire he’d be foolish not to respect.
She stared at him, finally silent, and he felt his rumbling growl stop without intending to.
He’d seen human eyes before—an odd mix of white, color, and black—and stared into them as he watched fear and death play out by his own hands.
But this human… this one was different in more than just her size.
Two colors stared back at him, unblinking. The left a deep green, the right a shining blue, both flicking across his features before lingering on his fangs.
“You,” she breathed.
Her smell shifted into rage, and it was the only warning he got before her leg twisted out from his and she jammed her knee into his gut.
“Oof,” he grunted, releasing her as he clutched at his stomach.
She scrambled away, crawling to her knees, but he was faster. Despite the discomfort, his hand snapped out and wrapped around her ankle, yanking her back to the ground.
Spicy coughed out a breath, barely holding her chin back from smacking the ground, but then she was kicking again and Ozirax was done with this shit.
He hopped to his feet, keeping his grip on her ankle.
And then he was dragging her.
“Hey! What the fuck?” the human screeched, kicking uselessly as he pulled her along the floor behind him.
Ozirax didn’t dignify that with a response. Nor was he surprised when her angry screaming turned into profanity that even some of the warriors would be scandalized by.
Garion knelt over Tonomoch—the gold demon groaning but still flat on his back—and watched with confusion as Ozirax passed them with a still squirming human in tow.
It was only as Ozirax reached down and swiped his sickle that the human’s curses hesitated, but the moment he sheathed his weapon she was screaming again.
“Kat! Kat! I’m coming! I’ll find you!”
Ozirax didn’t know what a cat was, but he was absolutely not going to be giving this woman another opportunity to escape after proving herself a danger to them all.
“Fucking demon! I’m going to kill you!” she screamed, and Ozirax had to admire her tenacity. For a human, she had some endurance. “Let go of me!”
He snorted a laugh, as if threatening to kill him and then requesting he let her go would actually work.
But he was at his destination, so let her go he did.
With that single hold on her ankle, he lifted her completely off the ground before dropping her on her infirmary bed.
She squeaked, bouncing once, and then righted herself, glaring up at him. “You fucking bast—”
“Stay,” he commanded, and it was only because he was prepared for her retaliation that he turned his back on the threat.
Ozirax was out the door before she managed to scramble out of bed. The last thing he saw as he smirked over his shoulder was rage as she sprinted for him.
He slammed the door in her face, the following thud and death threats only making his grin widen as he bolted the door shut. Then added a chair under the handle for good measure.
Gods help the fool tasked with her work sponsorship.