Diamond in the Rough - Vivienne Savage Page 0,47

in its four-fingered hand. Hot, sticky blood splattered the sand and cracked stone.

And then the rift tore open even further, as if fueled by the violence of the deed, and dozens more demons spilled into their world.

17

Secret Gateway

It went precisely as Xavier feared it would. Demons were not to be trusted, for they were demons after all, and not particularly well known for their honesty and loyalty.

The king’s personal bodyguard flew into action, though his sword proved incapable of even cleaving the demon’s hard exoskeleton. It grinned, toothy and wild, eyes gleaming bright.

“Your weapons are not made for us,” it hissed, batting the armored warrior aside.

“Don’t just stand there, Caius! Save him!”

The dark wizard laughed and stepped backwards. “And why would I want to do that when my friends have gone through the trouble of eliminating this royal pain for me? Never again will I bend to his threats and childish tantrums.”

In a grisly act of defiance, the demon raised the king’s heart to its gore-flecked maw and took a sloppy bite. Most of the guards holding Rosalia and Xavier released them to charge forward into the fray, but even more of the abyssal beings were crawling from the rift.

With the foul denizens of Gehenna came absolute chaos and screams of terror from hardened royal guards. Creatures of varying sizes emerged from the void, as if drawn by the call of fresh blood.

Xavier didn’t give the remaining royal guards a chance to regain their nerves. He jerked free from their loosened hold and released a pulse of magic that sent two men stumbling backward. As he did, Rosalia had dispatched one of her guards and grappled with a second. A dark shape dashed over and took the man down screaming, leaving a messy spray of blood across his love’s startled face.

“Rosalia, run!”

He grabbed her hand and pulled her aside before another demon could reach out and grab her. Rosalia shook off her stupor and steered them both toward the shelter of the nearest crumbling building, only to slide to a stop when a massive demon stepped into their path. It opened it massive maw wide, jagged teeth gleaming. A quick dodge to the left allowed them to avoid a glob of caustic acid, but it hit the royal guard behind them and immediately burned through his armor and his skin. He fell to the ground shrieking, and there was nothing, absolutely nothing Xavier could do for him.

He pulled Rosalia out of sight around a corner, chest heaving. It was now royal guards against demons, a wizard, and an assassin.

“We have to get to the mirror again. If I could just get my hands on it, I can reverse the magic and close the rift.”

“But how? It’s teeming with demons and that…that traitor is there.”

“Both traitors are there. I don’t know what we can do, but I have to try something before we’re overrun and we lose all hope.”

As he glanced back toward the rift, an idea slowly took root that he struggled to mature from its fetal stages.

Rosalia was going to hate it.

They didn’t have a choice if they wanted to survive—if he wanted her to survive. At that very moment, Xavier realized he didn’t care if he survived the confrontation as long as Rosalia did. If she walked away alive and whole, the reward far outweighed the risk.

Besides, his draconic hide was likely to be a hundred times more durable than his tender elvish skin. That was all the nudge he needed to transform, bursting from his clothing in a shower of shredded linen and torn leather.

Within a second of assuming his larger, more powerful form, a whistling sound pierced the night sky, followed by the thwick of a hundred arrows thudding into flesh. Several demons slumped to the ground, each of them now resembling a pincushion. Xavier felt the first stirrings of hope mingled with amazement. Whatever the Moritta used to make their arrowheads, it sliced easily through the demonic flesh in a way the royal guards’ swords had not.

“The Moritta,” Rosalia whispered, awestruck. “They’re finally here.”

“I don’t know how they realized where we’d be, but I’m grateful for their arrival all the same.”

Rosalia darted forward and snatched a fallen arrow from the ground, followed by another. Her intent became clear when a smaller demon rushed around the corner and she jabbed the squat, rotund creature with the barbed tips. The demon shrieked and deflated until nothing was left but a flabby pile of flesh.

The arrows and weapons