Chapter 95
Chapter 95
Ace POV
Emily thrashed in my arms but went still the moment she saw her dad drop to the ground. A strangled whimper left her little lips, which were blue from the cold bite of the wind.
“Daddy?” she whispered, and my heart twisted painfully for her when I saw Reika dart off into the forest after her kids. That must have been hard to witness. No matter how much I hated that vile man, he was still the girl’s father.
“Shh, shh, it’s okay,” I told her, hoisting her higher and propping her on my hip when I saw Tyson smashed and knocked out by a flying tree branch. I tried to run over to him when the wind suddenly picked up, and it sounded like we were smack-dab in the middle of a tornado.
The wind pushed me down to the ground, and I tried to shield the girl’s body with mine. Glancing around, I saw everything destroyed. Nothing was left standing as the wind ripped the area apart, resembling a war zone. I noticed Aamon on the ground, and I hoped he wasn’t dead, but I couldn’t be sure. Beryl screamed, frustrated, throwing her magic around blindly, trying to take out Avery. Avery suddenly collapsed on her hands and knees, and plumes of smoke and colored light flew and zapped around everywhere. Beryl walked toward her, laughing maniacally when the ground started vibrating, and she stopped. I screamed out to Tyson, but he remained unconscious.
“All these years, all these years, I have waited for this,” Beryl laughed, and she was only around twenty meters from Avery, who was clutching her stomach. Blood covered her face when the ground started vibrating, rumbling and splitting open, lava spewing out of the crack when I heard a furious bellow.
The sound echoed through the sky, and the lightning cracked loudly. Beryl staggered back when I saw a black blur fly up out of the cracked earth into the sky, making me crane my neck to look up.
“Asmodeus,” I heard Beryl hiss before turning on her heel and running in my direction. He fell back to the earth, hitting the ground hard and creating a crater where he landed before raising his arms. Lava hounds started spewing out of the molten lava that filled the crack he’d made in the ground. They chased after Beryl, and she screamed, throwing magic blindly, trying to fight them off.
I watched in horror as one pounced on her, landing on her back and tearing into her, her clothes catching fire, and she screamed as it started dragging her toward the crack in the ground. The ground beneath me was hot, too hot, and I rolled, pulling Emily off the hot ground and placing her on my back.
“Hold on!” I screamed over the deafening wind, and she gripped my neck tightly, and I started running toward Tyson. The lava hounds attacked Beryl, who was fighting a losing battle as they continued to drag her toward the crack. Beryl clawed at the ground, screaming. The noises leaving her made my blood run cold when I skidded to a stop coming across another gap where the earth had been divided. I teetered on the edge when a hand grabbed my arm, yanking me back.
Glancing over my shoulder, I saw it was, Aamon. He looked over at Tyson, and I sensed the strong scent of burned almonds flood my nostrils and the ripple of his power. I was suddenly beside Tyson’s limp body, and Aamon disappeared.
“You dare touch my daughter, my granddaughter?! I have waited decades for you to return to where you belong. A lifetime of pain awaits you there,” Asmodeus’s voice boomed as the hounds dragged Beryl to his feet. She looked up at him, and the lava hounds escaped back into the lava.
“Asmodeus!” Beryl gasped.
“Your new captor,” he said before kicking her, and she tumbled into the lava-filled crevice. The ground swallowed her, and I could hear her screams. Asmodeus suddenly clapped his hands, and the earth started moving again and closing. Then everything fell still, the winds stopped, and the storm cleared like it never existed.
Tyson groaned beside me, and I gripped his shoulder, rolling him on his back. He blinked up at me, and I heard Aamon wail loudly, making my head snap back in his direction to find him clutching a limp Avery in his arms. Asmodeus stopped beside him and gripped his shoulder.
Aamon looked up at him, and the dark-haired figure that seemed like the devil incarnate reached down, picking up his daughter in his arms and taking her from Aamon.
“I’ll bring her back to you, son,” he said, and Aamon hung his head.
“Whatever it takes, she will return. This life has taken enough from me, from her. I won’t allow it to take no more,” Asmodeus says before he suddenly vanishes into thin air.
“Ace, Tyson!” someone screamed. I looked around frantically for her voice and felt her getting closer. Tyson sat up just in time for her to tackle him, knocking him backward again, his hands clutching her. He hugged Lucy close, and I moved toward her to see Reika holding Ryden, Rayan, and Melana stepping out of the trees. Tyson clutched Lucy’s face looking at her red eyes.
“How are you alive?” I heard him whisper.
“I don’t know. I don’t know,” Lucy sobbed, hugging him tightly, and I brushed her hair behind her ear.
“Lucille?” I asked, and she looked over at me and smiled sadly before shaking her head. So my suspicions had to be correct; Lucy was no longer a hybrid but a vampire, her wolf now gone.
“Is he alright?” Lucy asked, looking over at Aamon behind us. I glanced over my shoulder at him before looking back at Lucy.
“He should be,” I told her, hoping that was true.
“You said you had a car?” I heard Reika ask, looking at Melana, who nodded, and I growled.
“It was Lucy’s idea, I swear. I only scratched it a little,” Melana said.
“There better not be a scratch on it,” I growled at her.
“Depends what you consider a scratch.”
I growled, and Lucy laughed, the sound making my heart swell, and I reached for her just as Melana removed Emily, who was still clinging to my back.
“I know, sweety, I know. But I know where your mother is. I will take you home to her,” Melana told her as I pulled Lucy in my lap, inhaling her new scent and enjoying the feel of her safe in my arms.