Act of a Demon: The Dark Bloods - Book II ✓

Chapter 32 - Relinquish

32.

Relinquish

Reyna felt the ground under her feet again before her eyes opened. As soon as she saw the usual demon world sight of green and black she was blinded by a skittering ray of lightning that exploded across the sky. Several screams were heard. Reyna turned around to find she wasn’t alone. Everyone that had been in that white room with her had returned as well.

Little Anna had her head tucked to her chest and was hugging Diorela’s leg. The teen girl herself had a firm hold of Michael’s arm. Across from them, Lina was hugging Cerus’ chest and the big demon had a hand on her waist and a flush across his cheeks. Reyna grinned. Well now she knew who had screamed.

“They’re back to how they were,” Dante said.

She turned to see him standing next to her and noticed his sword was across his back again. “Your sword.” She pointed.

“Yeah.” He grinned. “I guess things are back to normal?”

Lightning flashed across the sky and more shrieks were heard.

“As normal as things can get I guess,” he said. “But I meant the Spirits. Look.”

Reyna did and saw Lina’s silver locks and usual red attire on her. He saw Flow shaking his fur by Cerus’ feet, and Ayame was standing by Verden in her pink kimono. Ayame looked at him and an odd look came across her make up face. Verden seemed to find it strange too because his eyebrows shot up only to come back down in a frown.  

There were two others Spirits standing around, but Reyna didn’t recognize them. One was entirely blue with a long braid wrapped around her torso. Reyna recognized the coat on her shoulders as Mundus’. She must have been the one they were calling Azul. She also figured she was Erian’s Sprit since she was standing closer to him than anyone else.

The other estranged Spirit looked like a poorly wrapped mummy. A mummy that stood seven feet tall with elongated arms and talon–like fingers. Its wrappings were black and appeared as if they could crumble at any time. Peeking between them where its skin should be were tiny flames. They would occasionally grow and curl into the air in ways that reminded Reyna of solar flares.

“Jvala,” said the she–demon with flame colored hair. She tapped the sword hanging by her hips.

The wrapping around the mummy Spirit’s head split open and rows of dark red fangs sprouted between them. Reyna realized it was smiling at the female demon. A roar of flames consumed the Spirit, reducing it to smoke that billowed and traveled into the blade by the demon’s side.

Of course the weird fire Spirit would belong to the demon with fire hair.

Gahn, who was standing next to the female demon, walked over to Reyna and Dante. His usual grin spread across his lips. “Good to feel the flow of Magika again, huh?”

She smiled. Reyna couldn’t have agreed more. She remembered the vulnerability she felt when she had faced Ram and his crazy gibberish.

No, not Ram. Aleric. He wanted me to remember.

The sight of him crying took hold of her mind and she felt her stomach tighten. He had hugged her. Reyna had hugged back, but it had been forced and awkward. She sighed. He had talked about their parents. They had forgiven him, it seemed. Maybe she should have hugged back with more sincerity.

“So. I saw ya guys holding hands back there,” Gahn interrupted her thoughts.

Reyna rolled her eyes. “And I saw you lost your hair.”