Inferno of Darkness (Divisa Huntress #2) - J.L. Weil Page 0,106
narrowed eyes.
Ashor halted at the base of the dais, sensing something was happening with me. He whirled just as his mother cast her web of evil in my direction. Instinct had me lifting my hand to ward off the attack, summoning my magic in defense, but I wasn’t fast enough. Not this time.
“No,” Ashor muttered. The word had been said in a low voice, yet carried across the room to me as if he had screamed it, blasting down our bond.
Mist and shadow slammed into me, and I braced myself for the pain. When the torture never came, I blinked, tearing my eyes from Ashor to glare at his mother.
Kali smiled.
What had she done to me? Why wasn’t I writhing on the floor in agony? She hadn’t even stifled my magic. I could still feel it reeling in my veins, poised and ready to be set free.
Your mate, a voice purred in my ear, and I flipped my head toward Ashor at the bottom of the gleaming white dais.
Verena didn’t waste her advantage. I screamed as a bolt of light rammed into a distracted Ashor, too late to issue a warning. He stayed on his feet, despite his power flickering, and I heaved a great sigh. Blood slid from his nostril, bright and red.
I felt my face pale, a wave of dizziness swimming through my head. Something hot and wet dripped onto my lip. I lifted my hand, wiping it away, and caught a flash of blood smeared over the back of my hand.
He hurt. I hurt.
This had to be some new form of Hell—a nightmare I couldn’t wake up from.
Ashor managed to refortify the darkness he had coiled around Colin, but it was another decision that cost him, leaving the prince open for another attack.
Are you going to let her go unpunished? She attacked your mate. Attacked you. A sultry voice raked like claws over my mind, spurring me into action.
Fuck no, I wasn’t.
The demon inside roared to the surface, ready and eager to kill. “How dare you touch him,” I seethed, my feet carrying me across the room as I flung both of my hands out in front of me. The flames around my fingers grew to encircle my entire hands, and I unleashed my inferno of darkness on the Queen of Envy.
The second the flames left my fingers, I realized the depth of my actions. What was I thinking, taking on the queen? I was terrified of the smoky magic rippling inside me, of the demon inside me dying to burst free. I was so angry for what Verena had done not just to my mate, but to Colin—to me. For what Ashor’s mother had put him through. Anger like I’d never felt burned my blood. It festered inside me as tendrils of darkness wrapped around my arms like ribbons. I promised myself justice, revenge, retribution—whatever name you wanted to give it.
“Lexi, no!” screamed a deep, hoarse voice as my power soared like ribbons of fire in the air, encircling the Queen of Envy. Cayden. But I ignored him as well as the snarling, the thrashing of metal, the tearing of flesh, and the cries of war. All that mattered was my wrath.
Verena had corrupted Colin’s soul, manipulated me. Unforgivable. Perhaps Ashor’s plan of plotting her death wasn’t such a bad idea after all. She deserves to die, that voice crooned. Kill her. Kill her.
A part of me understood it was my inner demon coaxing me into murdering the Queen of Envy, but once the seed was planted, I couldn’t remember why it was a bad plan. She deserved it. Other than Kali, I couldn’t think of another demon who deserved it more. The little kernel grew within me, until killing Verena was all I could think about. Each step I took closer to her intensified the desire for her blood. I wanted it to stain her pretty white floors black.
“You must resist,” a tiny voice in my head whispered. A different voice. This one was no less cold than the other, but there was something distinct and familiar about the silky tone. Almost like a caress.
I stumbled, his words splintering a tiny crack in my wall of wrath. “Ashor?”
“Yes, luv. Who else would rescue you from the dark recesses of your mind?”
This wasn’t the time to joke.
I resumed stalking toward Verena, who was staring at the ring of flames around her feet like she didn’t trust it, as if my magic was something new.