Chapter 55
The Hunt has Begun
"Put me down," I snapped for the fifth time, gripping the demon's too big bicep tightly. Panting, absolutely refusing to look down because I knew that I would empty out my stomach if I did.
"Are you always this hostile to the people who save you?" Diavelo asked, feigning hurt. His arms only tightened around me. The heavy rain turned into a light drizzle and a chill began to slowly settle into my bones.
"I did not need your saving," I denied stubbornly. He had saved me, but clinging to the belief that the prince wouldn’t have hurt me was the only thing keeping me sane.
"You know... where I'm from, we usually say thank you for being saved from a big ball of fire," he thoughtfully replied, ignoring my statement. The chill in my bones gave way to the heat of irritation burning in my core.
"I didn’t know hell occupied people with manners.
" I deadpanned, still struggling in his grip.
Gods... what were his arms made of? I needed to get back to Apollo, and the fact he was heading South meant we were leaving the kingdom.
The salty scent of the sea tickled my nose, and my anxiety twisted in response.
I did the only thing that I could have thought of in the moment.
I was swift, going straight for his throat.
Sinking my teeth in, tasting blood that was all too similar to sweet divine nectar.
Diavelo snarled in shock, the sound shaking the air, as if the world itself might shatter.
The wind whooshed past me as I fell from incredibly extreme heights.
My arms acted on instinct, trying to grapple onto anything in the vicinity, even reaching above me.
The force of falling pushed air out of my lungs and silver droplets followed me.
It was mere seconds and I felt the scrape of branches.
I was so close to the ground, so close to meeting death.
I was going to die...
Those would have been my final thoughts if not for the tattooed, starry arm that caught mine.
Lifting me up to him once again, this time I held onto him tighter.
Shock paralysing my system whole. I glanced at his gnawed neck and realized the silver droplets I'd seen before were his blood.
"You shouldn't have done that." He growled viciously, Diavelo’s face was devoid of emotion and yet I could feel the anger that seeped from him in fields of energy.
It left me feeling powerless, realizing how reckless I'd been.
My emotions were a storm, and my broken heart sank deeper.
I focused on his wings instead, which I could have sworn were bonded by stars.
Diavelo took a sudden dive, forcing me to turn my face against the rushing air.
My scream vanished into the wind. Then, everything stilled, the breeze a subtle kiss.
We were finally on stable ground, and I gazed upon towering, magnificent boulders ahead.
We were in the borders of Petrem. This had been Ezra's homeland once.
I turned to face Diavelo, taking a shaky step back, scanning the forest. Eyes darting on every opening, wondering if I could try to outrun a demon.
I doubted it... yet I would sure as hell die trying.
Diavelo stared at me, as if realising my thoughts.
He touched the bite mark on his neck that still seeped silver blood.
I licked my lips, tasting him in my mouth.
Diavelo's eyes darkened at the action. "You should have listened to me at the ball.
I warned you," he lowly spoke. I burst out laughing, unable to stop as tears rolled down my cheek.
My laugh was in pure disbelief and pain.
"Warned me? You barely told me anything. Why would I go anywhere with you?" I wiped away the tears sliding down my cheek and turned, searching for a trail to lose him on. I needed to get back to Apollo. If the others were still alive... I could still save them.
I had to... they’re all I have.
"Escaping me will not be possible, Saiya." My back stiffened and I slowly turned.
"That is not my name, and you know that very well.
" Without warning, the ground shook, and a harsh breeze swept past me.
I felt something land behind me on the boulder.
When I looked up, there they all were—wings glowing with a similar luminescence, though not quite like Diavelo's stars.
They were clad in dark, beautiful leathers, deadly yet alluring.
"Well, Morana is not your name either, you can’t be using your grandmother’s name now, can you?" Lorian said from atop the boulder, deciding to get comfortable by sitting down on it.
"Backstabber." I bit out, holding back a painful sob. Lorian's face softened and he suddenly sniffed the air. His focus darting to Diavelo's neck wound. Lorian opened his mouth to speak, but Diavelo cut him off. "We will talk about it later, I'm fine."
The demon beside Lorian, with the globes that seemed to be permanently around his ears, just bobbed his head to some unheard tune.
"You keep me here, and I will be doing more than trying to rip your leader’s throat out. This is where we part ways. I need to find the rest of my family." My threat was moot, because I had no weapons, or my violin of that matter.
"Wow Velo, you never told us how feisty she was." The she-demon, swift and silent in her movements, appeared behind me, twirling the familiar green gem in front of me, a sudden wave of anger took over. My shadows beginning to rumble.
"Thief," I spat.
"It would be wise for you to stand down." The she-demon sing-songed, I was beginning to burn up, even though the chill radiating from the demons enveloped me.
How dare they...?
"I will not become someone’s tool, nor will I submit to a new captor." My words were firm and final. If I died trying to make it out alive, it might as well be a mercy to my already broken soul. Diavelo simply stared me down, his striking eyes having a war with my own.
"I think you might want to reconsider." She smirked then nodded her head towards someone that growled at me. When I turned, I was met with the hulking figure of the wolf, holding up Red, who was bound and struggling. Panic had settled in his hazel eyes. My heart froze, stunned into a sudden stupor.
It all clicked, this had been the reason I hadn't seen Red at all. He had been captured by these dark demons. And it was all my fault. Everything. Because I was the one who had unleashed them upon the world years ago.
“So you see. You will come with us, or else your little boy here, gets seriously hurt or rather.
.. eaten." She was close to my ear, and I didn’t have to look at her to know she was smiling in victory.
I looked at Red who shook his head, indicating I run.
And just then, I saw the same vision of Fala shaking her head at me the same way she had before she was killed.
I bowed my head down in shame and defeat.
Diavelo spoke darkly, ending his silence, "Now that this is settled... Let the hunt begin."