Page 91 of Clash of Kingdoms

Then it stopped—and a high-pitched scream came from every direction.

“What the fuck?” I pushed myself to my feet and looked toward the gate. As far as I could see, a line of demons was rushing to the fortress to kill us all. There had to be hundreds, all traveling over the same bridges to reach us.

I looked back at the crystal, knowing I needed to get these explosives higher if I was going to destroy it completely. Beast, I need your help.

I’m busssy. She issued an angry hiss and then slammed her body into the bridge that connected to the fortress, breaking it clean in two to stop the demons from crossing.

I need to get these explosives higher— Something hard collided with my back, and I hit the ground, the wind knocked out of me. It all happened so quickly, I could only operate on instinct, rolling out of the way even though my body screamed in pain. It was a good thing I did—because a golden blade slammed down beside me.

Vine looked down at me, dressed in full armor, unlike the other demons, wearing the most savage expression I’d ever seen. His face was tinted red like a ripe tomato, and tremors rocked through his body because his rage couldn’t be contained. “Foolish. Fucking foolish.” He came down on me again.

I rolled out of the way over and over, dodging his blade on the ground without having the opportunity to rise to my feet. All I did was evade, my wrist aching along with the rest of my body. I finally had the chance to kick him in the shin and interrupt him momentarily to get to my feet.

But his blade sliced across my chest, cutting right through the golden serpent. Now I had a crack where his sword had been, his golden blade having the ability to slice right through my armor.

I dodged another swipe of his sword as I pulled out my blade.

“Your armor will fail you.” He launched at me, releasing a flurry of hits I could barely keep up with. One after another, all with the same strength and intensity, all the while he looked at me like he couldn’t wait to stab that sword through my throat. I knew that was how he wanted to kill me, to silence my voice so I would never speak again as I lay there dying. But anticipating his attacks wasn’t enough for me to win—not when he was this fast.

He released a scream then kicked me in the chest, making me fly back across the ground to the edge. He moved quickly to finish the job, to shove me hard with his shoulder and make me catapult off into the ground below.

I ducked at the last minute and shoved myself toward him, making him trip over me and roll toward the edge.

I kicked him as hard as I could, threw my entire body into it, knowing I had to kill him before he killed me. Harlow’s face came into my mind, and I knew if I died, she would die next. A surge of strength flooded through me, and I overpowered him, making him fly several floors down to the gold-plated floor below.

His body hit the floor with a loud thud, and then he lay still.

I stared at him for a moment to make sure he was dead before I faced the crystal once more, out of breath, my wrist throbbing.

The screams erupted again, and then I felt the heat from the flames. I looked down, seeing massive fireballs unleash and fly across the floor and to the chasm below. Then I saw a vampire get struck by a lightning shard, hit so hard he was flung over the edge. Bumps formed on my arms as my stomach dropped. Beast, help me.

Hold on.

I ran to the remaining explosives and pulled them out of the bag.

“Did you really think it would be that easy?”

I turned and saw the fist as it flew at my face.

The hit was so hard, I crashed down to the ground, and the world went black. But then I jerked awake again when I felt it, the blade piercing straight through my armor, my dead heart, and impaling the stone below me.

I screamed in pain, the golden element making me burn from the inside out.

Vine stood over me, an angry gloat on his face.

I tried to move, but I was stuck in place, the blade too strong for me to pry free. I couldn’t reach the hilt, so I grabbed it by the blade and tried to pull it out, cutting my hands through my gloves in the process.

Vine watched, fascinated. “Foolish.” He came around, taking his time, his boots heavy against the stone.

I saw what he intended to do, to stomp his foot hard on my face over and over until my skull shattered and it was just a pile of blood, guts, and brains left over. Beast, he’s going to kill me.

Vine stood over me, looked up at the explosives glued to the crystals, and then looked down at me again. Screams sounded from below, vampires being outmatched by the Demon Lords below. My brothers could be some of them. My job was to destroy the crystal, but I’d failed.

I’d failed Harlow.

He raised his boot over my face and prepared to stomp. “What a handsome face to waste.”

I grabbed his boot and tried to tip him over, but he stomped down on my hand and made my wrist ache even more. He kicked me in the side of the head, and both my nose and mouth started to bleed. I couldn’t outmatch him, not when I was pinned in place, bleeding out everywhere.