Page 225 of Knight’s Retribution

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Ronan’s power was…not something Kyler could have imagined in her wildest dreams.

It was like the alley and out into the street were inside a…well, a force field. Luna had described it as tearing a pocket in space and time. Anyone moving through the city would have no idea they were there.

Ronan stood on the street, his eyes bright, and seemingly putting no real effort into maintaining this…alternate reality he’d created.

He also had two wicked-looking knives.

Demi lined the walls of the alley, members of Grace’s crew, bows in hand. Luna was up there with Eve, Meredith, Mia, and the demi who weren’t there to fight in the physical sense. They were demi who could do harm with their minds. Luna’s objective was to keep them covered at all times. They couldn’t be a target if no one knew they were there. She’d learned last time that if Diemos felt her power, he’d take it out. So keeping it the hell away from him was a priority.

The hounds had shown up a short time ago, and right now they were stripping off, preparing to shift.

Marcus, Mia’s father, was there with his son-in-law, Brent. Willow stood beside them. James was there as well, sticking close to Grace since he was her second-in-command, and he used his telepathy to communicate Grace’s orders to their people.

Chaos strode into the alley. He was pacing back and forth, aggression rolling off him, and his brothers and Silas moved to stand in front of him. Kyler moved up, taking her place beside Rocco, and he gripped her hand tightly in his.

“We’re here for one reason and one reason only,” Chaos yelled. “To destroy our enemy.” His body seemed to grow, his demon moving under his skin. “You are fighting for your lives, for the lives of everyone you love. This is it. We can’t back down, we won’t back down.”

A flash of light exploded from the brick wall behind him. The portal was about to open.

Chaos stopped his pacing. “No one gets past us tonight! Are you with me?”

The big males all growled. Shouts of agreement echoing all around them.

Snarls and more growls erupted as the hounds shifted, turning into massive Hell beasts with rough shaggy black fur and glowing red eyes.

The light kept flashing, growing more intense.

Chaos turned and drew his sword.

With one final blinding flash, the portal opened.

The alleyway seemed to hold its breath, waiting—

A screech blasted them, a horrific sound from the bowels of Hell itself, a moment before a clawed hand gripped the edge of the portal—

It rushed out, followed by more demons than Kyler could count. Arrows instantly began whistling through the air.

Rocco swung Ky over his back and drew his sword, hacking at the demon coming for them, then she spun back and buried her blade in another demon’s eye. The dance began, she and Rocco swinging, flipping, fighting as one entity, cutting through the demons easily.

This time the demons’ goal was not to escape, it was to take out the knights, or as many of their people as they could before Diemos made his entrance.

Several demons dropped, screaming and clutching their heads, as Luna and the demi used their powers, making it easy for the rest of them to take off their heads. But the demons kept coming, more and more of them spilling from the portal.

A terrible shriek hit them, and Kyler looked up as four enormous creatures burst through. They were catlike, each with three massive heads and jaws big enough to cut a person in half.

With bloodcurdling roars, the hellhounds exploded forward, latching on to the creatures, sinking their teeth into them, or trying to. They snapped and snarled at the hounds, tearing at them.

Rocco growled and hacked another demon back as Kyler swung between his legs and spun back, yanking the demon’s head back and hacking it off with her blade.

One of the three-headed creatures broke away and ran at the alley wall, sinking its claws onto the brick like butter and raced up, exploding over the edge and heading right for the demi up there.

Oh fuck!

“Chaos!” Grace called and sprinted toward her mate as she drew three bolts. Chaos threw out a hand, and Grace leaped onto it, then without missing a beat, her mate propelled her into the air.

“Hey!” she called to the beast as she loaded her bow. The creature spun around as she let them fly. All three arrows hit their mark, imbedding themselves in its eyes, one in each head. Chaos caught her as Grace came down and spun her away.