Demon Day Penelope Fletcher (which ebook reader TXT) 📖

blocking the painful rasp of my ownbreath – did instinct scream at me to pull myselftogether.

I hauled myself into a crouch, taillashing from side to side causing the air to whistle. My wingslifted, sprung out, and I straightened raising my fists. Somethingakin to pride flickered in his expression, but I shook off thefeeling that I had missed something. It did no good to hope when itwas clear Breandan had made his choice and given up onme.

Before my fairy could lay his hands onme again Tomas appeared, a phantom shrouded in a cloud of smoke. Hegrabbed my arm, spun, dismissing my body weight as if it were afeather, and threw me across the space out of harm’sway.

Wings catching the wind I landed on myfeet, skidded across the rain-slicked floor, pivoted, and careenedto a stop.

Tomas snarled menacingly, fangs baredand eyes pitch black. “I am here, fairy. Do your worst.” Hecrouched low to the floor, compact body lithely pacing to the sideso he was not boxed in.

Breandan tilted his head almostimperceptivity, as if to say ‘about time’. He had what he wanted,forcing Tomas to fight, to defend me.

Ancient vampire and youthful fairycircled each other. The heavens rumbled again and lightningstreaked across the night in fiery rods of blue and purple. Whywhen death approached, did the world hold its breath? Wariness.Mother Nature herself perceived the danger these demonic forcesembodied, as the air became still, and after a final crash ofthunder, it was quiet.

It came to me in a sickening bout ofclarity. This was it. This fight determined my future. The crucialmoment in time that would send me down one road or the other. I hadthought that moment had already come and gone as I faced my ownpersonal demon – a human who had come to represent everythinghateful and wrong in the world. How wrong I was. Love, not hate,would define me, and there were none more dear than the demonsbefore me.

Breandan moved first – lashing out tocurve a hook at Tomas’ cheek. The vampire dodged and slipped aroundhis back to snap for the nape of his neck.

With a deep breath in, hands fisted, Itook three long strides and dove in with a roundhouse kick thatBreandan took to the side of the head. My leg snapped back to slammy heel into the soft flesh at Tomas’ throat. It was hard tocontrol my body since everything was wet, and there was littlegrip, but still I managed to execute my moves with enough speed andforce to do damage.

I skipped back, swaying on the spot,ready to end this. I threw myself into the fight, parried, andkicked, knowing I had no choice but to keep up. Both boys pushed meback, flung me away, and slid me behind them as they landed strikeafter strike on the other. Always did I slip back into the melee,doing my best to make them stop, make them see it did not have toend like this.

It should not have been possible. Ishould have been pummeled, but I was there, and in a flurry ofstances, I forced them to acknowledge I was an equal contender inthis clash. They had to fight me back and that complicated things.They had to be mindful of hurting me whilst trying to inflict fataldamage on each other.

My sense of self-preservation wasobliterated by feral anger. I wanted to tear them both apart. Smashtheir heads into the wall and beat them senseless to have my way. Iwas done watching these to fools snip at each other, and I was overthis jealousy foolishness in a big way.

Even as I thumped him in the stomach,Breandan jabbed right around me then swung left – raining blowsdown on Tomas.

The vampire changed his tactics. Hekept low. His punches alternated between uppercuts and loose-handedswipes. But then he sprung up, entire body lengthening, and broughtdown an overhead swing that landed square in Breandan’s forehead.Stunned, he stumbled. Tomas followed the move through by going forhis neck – fangs glinting, fists flying.

Grabbing Tomas’ wrist as it sailedpast my torso, I dealt my vampire a blow that had him shuntingsideways; his arm bent too far the wrong way and snapped. He fellto his knees with a scream of pain.

I spun round to Breandan, unsteady onhis feet, and launched myself at him with a shriek of rage. Myankles locked behind his neck and I threw myself backward. My handshit the ground, and with all my might, I pulled my knees into mystomach. His weight smoothly shifted from my calves to my thigh andstomach muscles then released completely as gravity took over. Heflipped over and slammed onto his back. My body bowed, elbowsjarring as I landed hard on my chest, my butt sticking up in theair. I unlocked my ankles and slid my feet apart to keep mybalance.

It had taken me an entire month ofDisciple training to learn that move and never did I think I wouldfind use of it.

I frog leaped backward and straddledhim, but he twisted his hips to unseat me. He pushed forward so Ifell back and smacked the back of my head on the concrete, softenedby nothing but rainwater. We rolled in an indistinguishable haze sofast was our movement. Mid tumble he gained the advantage, hiscombating dexterity superior to mine, which was nothing more thanfrenzied instinct. He grabbed my wrist and yanked my arm high up myback. I howled in pain and jerked my head. There was a loud crunchand my wrist was released. The back of my head throbbed, but as Iscrambled up, I saw his hurt was worse than mine. His nose wascrooked and bloodied. It jerked oddly and healed as he swiped hisforearm over his lips to clean away the blood. Not giving him amoment’s breather I boxed his ears, kneed him in the gut, andbrought my foot down hard on the back of his knee, feeling thejoint shudder under the strain.

All this was accomplished at inhumanspeed I had thought only warriors the like of Conallpossessed.

Gasping for air, I backed a step away,and opened my mouth to speak.

Breandan darted past me and collidedwith the vampire, whose broken arm