Thinking of her sent a shaft of pain through his heart he didn’t understand, nor did he have time to dwell on. Like he had done too many times to count, Xian shoved the memory of the dark-haired angel into the farthest recess of his mind. She was gone. Taken from them shortly after they’d come to The Mist.
Xian let his breath out slowly, twisted his head toward the beings below him, counting heartbeats. He paid close attention to the movements of them. Liv hadn’t said whether they were male or female, but with their rangy build and lack of femininity, he would guess they were male. Of course, the females of his crew would smack him upside his head if he said it out loud, since they liked to remind him that females didn’t have to look all girlie and shit.
As if his scrutiny had made the demons uneasy, they began to stir, their long spindly necks swiveling like snakes on their torsos. Creepy fuckers. The beast inside him wanted to be released, wanted to exact revenge for the loss of their...Egypt. Xian shoved the crazy beast back, holding onto his skin by a thread.
They’d only been on the strange realm for hours when Liv had left to scout for food and water. He had followed, not trusting the female at first. When they’d returned with provisions, they’d found the crew asleep, and Egypt gone. He’d gone to his best friends Jaxon and Jagger, his heart racing in fear until he found their hearts beating normally along with the others. Yet Liv nor he found any trace of Egypt or an intruder. His wolf had raked at him from inside his body, tearing at his organs like they’d lost their very heart and soul. The memory had a growl bubbling up. Xian swallowed down the sound before it could escape. Liv and he had been the only ones who’d been aware, yet he was the crazed child who she’d had to tackle to the ground. The searing pain was unlike anything he’d felt and hoped like hell he never experienced again. To this day, he channeled what he’d gone through, using it during battles.
He shoved the past memories back into the small, blackened box in his mind, chaining it closed before turning away from it. Never again will he allow himself to be in a position where he can be harmed like he’d been all those years ago. Pain and love went hand and hand, and he would never love anyone, save for his crew.
A shadow demon moved from the perch he’d been sitting on. The male reached toward the pit in front of him, lifting something from the center. Xian didn’t watch what happened next, didn’t care what the beings were doing, only knew he and his friends needed to kill all the shadows in order to get back home.
“Please, I beg you. Let me go. I’ll give you anything,” a weak male voice begged. He hated weak males.
It took him a hot second to recognize the language that had come from the dead man. Xian’s ears twitched when the male pleaded for mercy again. He tipped his head a little to the side so that his right ear was facing toward the males. Silence greeted him for long moments. It didn’t matter who the male was. He was a dead man if he was here, but the language was from Earth.
They’d jumped from one realm to the next with the help of Liv, for years and years, battling beings and surviving and just...living day-by-day, year after year. They grew up and grew stronger as a crew knowing the language wherever they went because Liv gave them the ability. With Liv as their appointed leader, she shared her knowledge with them, funneling information through their mind-bond she’d created. They’d learned she was the daughter of Satan and another being. She didn’t divulge the heritage of her mother, and that was cool with them. Although the females of their crew wanted to know the who, what, and why of everything, they respected Liv’s privacy. With each jump to a new realm, Liv guided them on what to do and how to blend. She was also their protector until they could protect themselves, ensuring they had the training and knowledge to fight, should they need to.
They’d been virtual toddlers until they’d entered Fey, except for Romie and Rebel who’d been teenagers. And then bam, they were toddlers in grownup bodies, their minds like sponges soaking up knowledge too fast just as their bodies began aging at an accelerated rate. Once they’d left the realm with Liv, she’d linked her mind with theirs, filtering languages and fighting skills into their minds. Luckily for them, they were able to accept what she showed them, or taught them, without exploding. However, she kept a wall between her past and details of herself and them. Xian and the other males didn’t mind. Hell, he’d gotten a glimpse of her life, inadvertently, and never wanted to go through that ever again. They formed a bond with Liv, their minds connecting on a winding path that wasn’t easily followed by anyone she didn’t invite. Xian and the others kept a tight leash on their control, just as they’d been taught, following Liv’s lead.
Despite the overwhelming curiosity to learn more about the male below, Xian kept his focus on the thick shadows creeping along the ground, watching the way they slithered in and out. The creatures that inhabited the land were not the friendly sort. They were the carnivorous kind that would lure the unwitting prey into their web.
‘I will kill them all,’ his beast growled within him. Xian didn’t bother to argue with his inner wolf. Yes, the demon wolf would love to leap down from where he perched and ravage all within his claws, damn all who happen to be in his path. However, they needed to assess the situation before going in teeth and claw first. They’d agreed that Liv would go first since she had dealt with the Shadow Demons before. Of course, they’d be right there to attack should she need it.
“Hello, fine demons. Mind if I join you?” Liv asked.
Xian’s claws inched back from the craggy rocks they’d been embedded in for what felt like forever, ready to launch downward in a blink.
“Traitorous bitch,” a being hissed, making the word sound as if he had a rattler attached to his tongue.
“Now, is that any way to talk to an old friend. Um, were we friends?” Liv asked, resting one hand on her hip while tapping her pointer finger of the other hand against her lips, making a show of thinking.
“Why have you returned? The Lord will feel your presence and come to investigate. If he does, we all will suffer, you know thisss.” The question came from another who stood near the back.
Xian focused his energy along the darkness where he wasn’t able to see with his eyes. His senses test could detect the different frequencies that all beings worked off of, even those that were not his kind thanks to Liv and the bond she shared with them all.
Power held a color pattern that Xian could see, regardless of whether the being was trying to hide themselves and what they were. What he saw in the darkness was a pulsating redness with shades of murky brown and oily black mixed together. An ugly, grotesque sort of evil waiting to strike. He sent a small pulse of feeling out to Liv, showing her what he saw and the way he felt while staring at the images. If the being realized Xian was onto him, so be it.
“Hmm, and who is this Lord Blablabla?” Liv asked with a little taunting tone that always grated on other beings prides.
“Female, you are either stupid, or you’re powerful. I don’t sense much power within you, yet you have these fools quivering. Tell me, who you are?” A being stepped from the inky shadows, his towering height dwarfing the other demons.
Liv tilted her head to the right side, then the other. Xian had a bad feeling his friend was going to say or do something that was going to cause them to go to war. Which was actually totally fine by him. He’d been itching to rip something apart with his bare hands and claws for a very long time. The idiots below him would be perfect.