Demon Day Penelope Fletcher (which ebook reader TXT) 📖

Around his neck hung the key – myamulets.

Following the hum of power I ignoredthose who rolled around me, crashed down in front of me. IgnoringBreandan’s yell I leapt up onto the barricade, jumped past all thehands reaching for me to land in front of him, snarling.

I ripped the key from around his neck.“This belongs to me.”

I was positively ready to tear himapart. I was not bloodthirsty, it was not in my nature, but somepeople had it coming.

I jumped on him.

He rolled with me and kicked me off. Itook the blow to my stomach and slammed against a wall. It stung,but I barely registered how odd that was, for a wall to sting. Iwas focused, my eyes never leaving the Cleric.

Twisting so I was on my stomach, Isurged up onto my feet and fisted my hands. I hissed at him,watching as he stood slowly, smiling. I narrowed my eyes. Not thereaction I was expecting. I retied the amulets around my neck,happy at how they sighed and readjusted their ripples of power tocover me. Yet, the ripples felt unstable, and they faltered,leaving me wide open. I had no time to dwell on this worrisomeoddity for Cleric Tu kept his steady walk. I shifted from side toside, ready for him. When I had been stuck in the forsaken whiteroom, I had dreamed of this moment, a time when I would be free tobeat him into submission. No. I did not want to kill him; I wasbeyond that, superior to such crude thinking. I wanted him to kneeland look up at me with terror and reverence. For him to see that Iwas his better and to hear him acknowledge he was wrong about mykind. He took a final step then stopped.

Smirking, he pressed his hand to apane of glass and stepped into the cage as the door slid down andlocked us in.

I straightened fully, my heartcrashing in my chest. I was in a box. A small box cut off fromeverything and everyone.

No, no, no!

I needed to get out. I wantedout.

I spun and launched myself at the wallI had been thrown into. I beat at it, ignoring the blood thatsmeared the glass as I did. The edges of my palms bled andsizzled.

Wordless with rage, my scream was awail. I pummeled the glass. I needed to get out, free of thisplace. It was a box and I needed to be free. The air was suckedaway. My throat was tight and sweat popped out on my brow totrickle down my neck. Chest heaving I sank to my knees andscrambled to scratch out a hole at the bottom. The solid woodcrumbled under my talons, but the deeper I dug the more glass Isaw.

Panicked I kept up this franticburrowing until Breandan slammed into the other side of the cage.He splayed his hand on the glass and spoke. I could not hear him;it was quiet apart from the deep breaths of the monster behindme.

Calm.

The feeling was an instruction. Hellno. Hell. No. I would not – could not – be calm in here. Tearsstreamed down my face, blurring everything as Iblubbered.

He punched the glass, catching me offguard. He tilted his head, his expression fierce and resolute. Hespeared me with his eyes, lifted his chin. I knew what he wassaying; crying would not help. Writhing on the floor keening andbegging to be set free would not help. I needed to pick myself upand fight.

Hiccupping, I sucked it up. My bottomlip trembled but I controlled the fear, repressed it until it was abubble of pain low in my chest. I could become a hysterical messafter, when I was safe and out of sight.

Breandan’s eyes darted over myshoulder and his face went white.

I stiffened and turnedslowly.

Cleric Tu stood legs apart and facetwisted in disgust. His crimson blazer was spattered in blood andsinged at the edges. One of the black tails was missing and anentire sleeve had been ripped off, revealing a slashedarm.

I twisted round to press my back tothe wall, taking slow measured breaths.

The instinct to hurl myself at him andbite and scratch warred with the debilitating fear that this manhad locked me in a hole and cut me over and over again …intravenously jacked me up so he could torture and tormentme.

Everything was blocked out by theoverriding urge to run away. I was good at running. But there wasnowhere to run to, I was trapped in this box and this brought meback to the fact I couldn’t get out and that I was going to dietrapped like a wounded animal.

I was back down there, in the dark …all alone.

The bang on the glass behind me had myeyes snapping open. I was not alone. Breandan was behind me; he wasthere. I needed to get up, stand, and fight. I tried to make myexpression hard and unafraid. The effect was probably ruined sine Iwas cowering.

Cleric Tu’s hand briefly slippedbehind his back then rested by his side. “I thought you’d gottenaway from me,” he said quietly, knuckles white where he clutched agun. He raised the barrel so it pointed at my face. “Oh, how mad Iwas. This time I’m not making the mistake of keeping youalive.”

His finger squeezed the trigger, but Ihauled ass, using a burst of speed to latch myself onto his backand bury my teeth into his neck. Vampires liked doing this? Cravedthe vile salty blood swilling in their mouth? It was thick, sticky,and bloody disgusting. I clamped my jaw down, going for maximumpain, and flexed my talons, resisting the urge to grin as they sankdeeper into the flesh of his abdomen. Cleric Tu was not going downeasy. He thumped me hard on the side. I grunted but held on, hisblows not landing with enough force to hurt. He switched tacticsand wound his hands into my hair, and yanked with all hismight.

I shrieked, my teeth coming out of hisneck and ripping his flesh as I did. He tossed me off him and Ilanded hard on my back, spitting out a wad of blood as I did so, mystomach churning. Oh gods, now