Page 77 of Bound By Blood
He had no ideawhy; he certainly wasn’t a man who inspired such loyalty andbravery, and they definitely hadn’t had the best of relationships,but here she stood beside him. Something inside him shifted andchanged; a caring, a…somethinghe couldn’t explain startedto take form.
He couldn’t quiteput his finger on it and certainly didn’t have time to do so now,but she was changing him. He didn’t know if it was for the betteror worse.
A flash ofmovement stirred the shadows before the demon launched out of thedarkness. It twisted to the side to avoid the blade as its bloodleft a trail across the concrete.
It should haveretreated to heal, but her blow had incensed it, and reasonablethought was not its friend, which was a good thing for them.
The withered beastwas fast, but it wasn’t fast enough to evade him. Caro cried outwhen the demon crashed into her, propelling her into the wall. Likea giant leech, the thing wrapped its arms and legs around her as itprepared to feast.
Saber wouldn’t letthat happen. Using its weight, the demon tried to twist her around,so her body was between them, but it wasn’t fast enough. Liftingthe blade in both hands, Saber brought it down across thecreature’s back, slicing its spine and nearly cutting it inhalf.
The demon’s backbowed as it released an ear-piercing, hissing shriek that echoedall around them. That scream pounded through his soul until itshook his bones and rattled his cells.
Fire erupted fromthe demon as that awful sound continued to issue from it. Flameserupted from its eyes, licked over its head, and leapt inside thegaping maw of its throat.
Its hood fell backbut didn’t reveal much before fire encased its skull. And then itwas crumpling to the floor as nothing more than a pile of ash withflames still sputtering over what remained of its cloak.
Caro’s wide,terrified eyes met his as her nostrils flared with eachinhalation.
“Run,” Saber said.“More of them will come.”
CHAPTER 59
Elena’s veinsburst into flames as a fiery tumult of something she couldn’texplain tore through her body. The raging inferno shredded herveins, twisted her stomach, and became a hammer smashing againsther skull.
At first, theextreme pain made it impossible to react in any way while it heldher in its crushing grip. Thousands of unseen fists pummeled hermuscles until they quivered from the blows. An invisible hand heldmultiple blowtorches to her skin while her bones fractured butsomehow remained whole enough to keep her standing.
A ringing, likedozens of church bells going off at once, erupted in her head. Hereardrums throbbed and pressure built in them until they ruptured.Warm liquid trickled from her ears and down the side of herface.
Frozen in place,she couldn’t wipe whatever it was away, but the black drops hittingthe floor shimmered in the overhead light. Her mind tried toprocess what it was seeing, but the agony and shock didn’t allowmuch room for coherent thought… until a new wave hit her.
This one was sointense the fracturing bones in her legs gave out. She crumpled tothe ground like a puppet with cut strings. Curling into a ball, shelowered her forehead to the ground as her intestines twisted untilthey tore apart.
A scream rose inher throat, but something else followed it. That something burnedher esophagus, silenced her shrieks, and made it impossible tobreathe as she swore it seared a hole into her windpipe.
Whatever it wasfinally erupted from her body, and she got her head up in time tospew black bile across the floor. Gagging on the liquid that tastedlike tar, sulfur, and dead things, she couldn’t stop more fromerupting from her like she was Mount Vesuvius and this cage was theunsuspecting village of Pompeii.
It spewed acrossthe ground and splattered the walls. She hadn’t known it waspossible to have so much stuff come out of her body, but it showedno sign of easing as each heave sent further suffering throughher.
Tears streameddown her face, and when they hit the ground, the black beadsglistened on the floor. All the while, more of the substance, whichtasted like asphalt and stomach acid, flowed from her.
***
Logan leapt to hisfeet when Elena hit the ground. He had no idea what happened, butthe grunting, muffled, animalistic noises she emitted caused thehair on his nape to rise. His heart battered his ribs as she openedher mouth and black bile erupted from her.
The disgustingliquid coated the floor, splattered the walls, and ran down theglass as it trickled from her ears and streaked her face. He gawkedas he tried to process what was happening, but he’d never seenanything like this.
And then she bentover and hugged her stomach as her features contorted. He had noidea what was happening, but it had tostop!
“Elena!” hebellowed as he ran toward her cage door.
But as he ran, heknew it was pointless. Ronan and Nathan were the only ones withkeys to the cages, and breaking out was impossible. The injectedhad repeatedly tried to hammer their way out of these cages to noavail.
As he beat at theglass, he learned it was as difficult to break in from the outside,but he wouldn’t give up. He had no idea what was happening to her,but as more of that awful shit poured out, he became convinced shewas dying.
Though he didn’tsee any blood, the stuff flowing from her now coated the bottom ofthe cage. He couldn’t help thinking it would continue to eruptuntil nothing remained.
And then what?Would she start throwing up blood and other parts of her? And whatwasthat stuff?
