Queen of the Underworld | Book 3

• fifty-seven •

//song: mr.sandman - syml

I stepped forward, putting all of my weight on the heel of my foot as I stepped on the toes of the man that held me.

I crouched slightly and with all of my weight, slammed my shoulder against his chest, making him lose his balance and fall backward. I looked towards Julian who also fought against the captors over him.

Three were thrown across the room and onto the stone walls behind him. An arrow flew towards his back and before I could scream his name, he turned and caught it. He turned it over in his fingers then used his brute power and strength to throw it back at the man that thew it at him.

The man cried out, gripping his chest where the arrow hit and fell on his knees.

Our eyes met and when we reached for each other, we were pulled apart.

My breath left me suddenly from the force. Am invisible rope pulled me by my middle to the other side of the room helplessly, as if I were nothing more than a rag doll.

I flew back through the air, my legs flailing helplessly as I tried to specter to the ground before I fell onto the ground. I failed to specter but fell into someone's arms.

The man that caught me turned me roughly to face him. He reeked of pungent alcohol when he spoke, his words slurred. "Stop fighting us, you stupid bitch." He slapped me across the face so hard it felt like it was on fire.

My face turned with the force and before I could form another thought, I was pushed against the wall behind me with so much force, I heard my head crack audibly.

The world was spinning around me. My head was too heavy to hold and I stumbled to keep my balance. I closed my eyes tightly, fighting the waves of nausea that threatened to rise from my throat.

I fell to my knees, trying to gather my composure as Julian screamed my name.

My name?

Emylin?

White-hot, intense pain shot through my neck and stomach, distracting me from the pain in my head. I gasped in pain, I could feel its intensity straight through my bones. I gripped the stone floor in front of me as the pain brought me back to my senses.

My sight narrowed and focused on the puddle of blood in front of me. It poured and flowed through the crevices between the stones, inching closer to me.

The ruby dark liquid poured freely from the drunk man's neck as his frozen, dead eyes watched me in silent horror from where he lay on the floor.

My eyes didn't leave his as I was picked up off the floor by my arms.

"If anyone else touches her," the familiar voice next to me said. "I will gut you just like I gutted your friend here."

I looked the dead man over and saw the wounds he was talking about. He wasn't just bleeding from his neck, he was bleeding from his stomach with more damage than anyone -man or faerie- would be able to survive from.

I looked from where his wounds were to the same place on my own body.

I felt his wounds as if they were my own. It was enough to shock me back from the pain I felt in my head.

Was it because they were mortal wounds? Had I felt his death?

I tore my eyes from the man when Julian called out to me again.

In the small amount of time I was on the floor, he'd been stopped, pushed to his knees and given a bloody lip. He had two men holding each of his arms back behind him and one more keeping a tight grip on his neck.

I struggled against the grip that held me but stopped when I saw that they punched Julian in the stomach when I moved.

The man's grip tightened on me and when I looked to see who it was, Asmo looked to be hiding a smile.

"Take him away," Asmo said as he looked up at the men with Julian. "And find Damien, find the cat, they won't be far off. Bring them back alive."

"They're not here, Asmodeus," Julian said to the man beside me.

Asmo scoffed. "He's lying. Get through the wall again, use whatever magic you can."

One of the men that weren't holding Julian spoke. "We don't have enough to go through these barriers again. We need to find the entrances."

Asmo turned to the man sharply, making me flinch when he tightened his grip on my arm with it. "Then keep searching or take the stones down one by one until you get through." When none moved, he barked. "Get out!"

My arm stung with so much more than just the strength of his grip, there was something else there. It burned through me and held me in place with something darker than magic and for a moment, I felt weaker.

I remembered when he'd stopped me from spectering before, how when I tried, all he had to do was grab me to stop me. He didn't hold me then as he did now.

Before he was afraid to hurt me but now it seemed he didn't care at all. He pulled me to him, this time grabbing both of my arms in his steel grip. His dark eyes burned as he looked at me with more disdain than I'd seen him ever direct at me.

He shook me harshly. "Where are the others?"

I didn't move my eyes from his. "They're not here just like Julian said," I lied.

I tried to pull on my power but failed and he noticed right away.

He smiled but I could see a bit of disappointment behind it. Whether it was disappointment in me for not noticing or because of our situation, I wasn't sure. "I'm using demon power now, Emylin," He whispered. "You won't be able to fight it."

My lip curled. "You betrayed us, Asmo."

"I gave you the opportunity to run, I gave you the change to save your life--"

"By leaving the others to fight on their own," I whispered back. "Did you really think I would leave them?"

He scoffed. "I would think the survival of your species would be of more importance to you."

"Doing what is right is what's important to me," I spat back. "What's your excuse? You didn't get what you wanted so you run off with the enemy?"

His dark eyes flashed golden for a heart-stopping moment. When I realized what he was looking at, I recoiled. His eyes lingered on my lips for far longer than I would ever find necessary.

His fingers grazed my lip and when I looked at his fingers, I realized that there was blood on them where there wasn't before. He looked back at my eyes. "How's your head?" He reached back, his fingers kneading through my hair to the base of my skull where I felt the most pain before.

I flinched back, fighting to get out of his arms.

He chuckled softly. "One day you will thank me for what I'm doing for you. I am saving your life, Emylin."

"You're betraying your fellow fae and the Underworld because you are not getting your way."

He chuckled. "Then we will all know who exactly to blame then, won't we?"

I swallowed. I didn't want to be right. I guessed. He was a monster, an absolute monster.

He turned, pulling me forward with him and through the doors of the room we were in. "Come on, now. We don't want to keep the girl waiting."