Chapter 209 Chapter 209
His arrogance induced disgust within Valerie. “So we’re a problem to you?” she yelled and glared at him. “We never did anything to you! And neither did Seth and Delilah. Why did you kill them?”
Mason’s body heated the air in the room. Flames licked over his black clothes, ignited his eyes. “Delilah made a mistake,” he muttered. “It’s her fault she died. She could have led a happy life, but she decided to betray me.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Maxwell asked. His patience was waning—all he cared about was his insatiable thirst for revenge.
“You knew her?” Valerie said. That made the entire thing even worse—if he hadn’t just killed her and Seth randomly but known exactly who they were, then he must have targeted them, maybe even hunted them down.
“Of course, I knew her,” Mason scoffed, playing with a blue flame that danced in his hand. “I met her while I visited New York. She was a beautiful woman, and on top of that, she knew about the supernatural since she was a witch. I immediately decided that I wanted to keep her, so I planned to get bonded to her. However, she ran away from me… and she ended up with Seth.” The malice in his voice left no doubts as to the intensity of his hate.
“I’m not surprised she ran away,” Valerie taunted. “Who would want to share a bond with someone like you? She must have been terrified.”
“Shut up, human,” he snarled and took a step closer. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Who cares about your history with that woman?” Maxwell cut in. “Stop talking, I want to get this over with.” His light magic formed the slim silver weapon that she had already seen him use before—a fencing saber. He held it confidently and didn’t show any concern, only glared at Mason with icy eyes.
The two demons couldn’t have been any more different at that moment. Mason was literally burning with loathing, while Maxwell desired cold revenge. Their dangerous magic layered the atmosphere around her, feeling like prickling needles on her skin.
Valerie would be lying if she said she wasn’t worried. Her gaze flitted to the closed door that led to the hallway—she knew that the others were close, but by the sounds of it, they were still fending off the numerous demons outside. She heard their angry screams and snarls, sometimes even felt the building tremble when Benjamin used his powerful earth magic. None of them was in a position to help, which meant she and Maxwell were on their own. At least for now.
Maxwell had long since realized that Mason would never stop terrorizing them, not as long as he lived. He would continue to torment couples like them, and once he was through with him and Valerie, he would likely go on with Vaughn and Esther. One more reason to stop him today. Maxwell only used his saber for special occasions. And today was such an occasion.
Mason’s green eyes slowly faded to red as the flames licking over his arms burned brighter. A blast of heat shot towards Valerie and Maxwell, prompting her to shield her face. The two low-class demons that circled Mason growled excitedly, already setting their eyes on her.
That was the last straw for Maxwell. His restraint snapped.
He lunged at Mason, thrusting his sharp blade towards him. Maxwell was fast, and his lithe movements allowed him to get dangerously close to Mason before he evaded the blade. He used his fire to keep Maxwell away and forced him to go on the defensive to stop the flames from burning him.
Maxwell growled in anger, narrowing his eyes at Mason. The fire demon wasn’t stupid—he didn’t plan on getting close to Maxwell as long as he was using that weapon, and so Mason only used his magic to attack from far away, rendering the weapon worthless. Maxwell soon realized that his saber wouldn’t get him anywhere as long as Mason kept distance between them. He’d need to come up with a different strategy if he wanted to stop Mason.
Maxwell’s deep red eyes continuously flitted from Mason to Valerie—he wasn’t as concentrated on his opponent as he should have been, but he couldn’t help it. In this current situation, she was in severe danger, and if he didn’t pay attention, maybe she would end up like Juliana… that couldn’t happen.
His inattentiveness ended up becoming his biggest weakness. Mason smirked victoriously upon noticing the glances he kept throwing her. Seeing an opportunity, he ordered the two panther-like fire demons to attack her. They jumped towards her, all too eager to sink their teeth into her.
Maxwell’s eyes widened in horror. “Valerie,” he yelled and shot a beam of light towards them, but he missed, and he was too far away to get in between her and the demons.
Due to this distraction, he completely forgot about Mason, who had gotten dangerously close. The demon’s fist erupted in flames. They turned blue—and he struck Maxwell right in his chest. It hurt like hell, and the impact sent him to the ground. With a scream, he went down. The front of his shirt was completely singed.
“Fuck,” he coughed as he tried to recover from the pain. His eyes watered, but then he gasped, and his gaze snapped to Valerie, fearing the worst. She was grimacing from the terrible pain she felt from him, but she had successfully fended off the two panthers. They snarled aggressively at her, not liking the shining light magic she had used to throw them back.
Valerie worriedly looked at Maxwell, noting that Mason was about to attack him once more. “Get up,” she shouted frantically. “Don’t worry about me, just focus on him.”
“But…”
“Trust me,” she said and looked at him with the most confident gaze she could muster. “Do what you have to do.”
“Fine,” he said lowly, curling his lips in distaste. He never liked it when she had to dirty her hands—he preferred taking care of things like that himself.
“Don’t bother, human,” Mason smirked. “You won’t survive this anyway. It would be easier to accept it.”
“You shouldn’t underestimate us,” Maxwell spat and didn’t hesitate to hurl a gleaming orb of light at him to shut him up.
While the high-class demons fought viciously, turning the bedroom into a battlefield, Valerie was faced with a different threat that she needed to overcome. She was scared of the strange panthers—but she trusted in her abilities, and she knew that she stood a good chance of winning if she got her hands on the hunting knife that Travis had gifted her. She had left it on the nightstand next to the bed, but to reach it, she would have to bypass the two fire demons that had set their sights on her. The monsters snarled at her, baring their teeth.