Grave Mistakes (Hellgate Guardians #1)(62)

Oh, fuck no!

I’m running down the hill in a blink. I have no fucking clue what I’m going to do, but what I’m not going to do is just sit here and hide while good demons get hurt. I zero in on him, willing my feet to go faster, which, in hindsight, is a big mistake. I trip over something and fall forward, my momentum too fast to stop. My body flips, tumbling down the hill like I’m fucking Jack and Jill, while Newton’s First Law of Motion makes me its bitch. I keep going, ass over front like some cartwheeling freak, every rotation feeling like I’m getting pummeled by the earth and sky simultaneously, plus everything else in between.

Grunts and groans come out to the tune of my fall as I flip over and over again, and just when I think I’m getting close to the bottom, the scythe—that’s somehow still in my hand—acts like a pole vault by sinking just right in the dirt and sending me flying.

I scream as I shoot like a rock from a slingshot into the fray. Just as I’m about to crash into a crowd of hyena laughing demons, the scythe that I’m pretty sure has fused itself to my palm seems to come alive, and a massive curved blade slides out of one end and a dagger shoots straight out of the bottom of the other.

Well, great. I’m sling shooting myself right onto the blade of my own weapon.

With a girl-scream for the record books, I manage to tip the scythe forward as I go crashing into a group of goat-headed demons. They go down like they’re pins, and I’m the graceless bowling ball that just got really fucking lucky.

Surprisingly, I don’t break anything on my body, although I don’t think I can say the same for the goat demon I landed on. Panicked, I try to get back on my feet, because I just catapulted my stupid ass into this fight, and now I’m actually going to have to keep myself alive.

Luckily for me, I’ve got decent bat skills, so that’s exactly how I swing at the first demon who runs at me. What surprises the fuck out of me though, is that the blade on my scythe barely nicks him, but he goes poof! Just like that. The fucker turns to a cloud of ash that falls lazily to the trampled grassy ground.

Holy shit!

Shocked, I barely have time to register what I did before I’m instinctually batting at another demon that’s charging me. The evil hyena cackle pours out of its maw as it leaps, and I swing, this time managing to slice the thing’s leg. In another ashy puff, it’s instantly gone too.

I shove the surprise of what I just did—twice—away and start swinging willy nilly, hitting anything and everything around me. I can’t help the Xena scream that bursts out of me as three more demons turn to ash, and in a flash of swinging scythe and lalalalalas, I’m soon surrounded by a cloud of demon dust as I go to town on the Cousin It motherfuckers.

I have no idea what’s happening to me in this moment. I can only describe it as an out of body experience as I ash one group of demons and then go hunting for more. I’m ruthless. I’m fast. I’m fucking badass as I vent every murderous, inky black rage I’ve ever had in my twenty-eight years of life, and let me tell you, that’s a lot of pent up shit.

I take down another group, chest heaving, and turn around just as something stalks toward me out of the shadows. I tense and ready myself, raising the scythe, and move to swing it, only to screech to a stop when Echo screams, “Whoa, whoa, it’s just me!” He puts his hands up like he’s surrendering, and I step back as a whoosh of breath leaves me.

“What were you thinking? You don’t just walk toward me when I’m in Xena mode!” I chastise. “You gotta call out to me and tell me who you are. What kind of idiot walks straight toward a swinging scythe?” I admonish, but the beaming smile he gives me dampens my irritation.

“Holy Rings of Hell, you were a force, Delta,” he tells me excitedly as he pulls me toward him. “That was the fucking sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.”

I stretch my arm out to keep the scythe as far away from him as possible, but he doesn’t seem bothered as he wraps his strong arms around my waist until my chest is pressed tightly against his. He presses his hips into me, letting me feel the evidence to bolster his words that he does, in fact, think I’m sexy when I scythe-stab demons.

I look up at him, and he’s already staring down at me with need bleeding out of his pure black eyes. “Knew you could fucking do it,” he murmurs with pride, and the sound of his voice makes my nipples get hard as waves of desire flash through me, telling my vagina to set thrusters at full speed.

Echo licks his lips like he’s readying them for me, and I suddenly feel like if he doesn’t kiss me in the next five seconds, I’m going to implode. I lick my lips too, like I’m flashing a green light, but my tongue comes back gritty.

Ew. I must be covered in ash.

And that’s when reality hits me...I’m covered in ash.

“Oh fuck! Ew! Ew ew ew ew ew ew ew,” I shout as I push away from Echo. He looks hurt and confused, and that makes me feel horrible, but the most pressing issue right now is that I have dead demon in my mouth and all over my clothes, and skin, and hair. Fuck. I start spitting and trying to wipe my face, but every inch of me is covered in it. It’s like trying to wipe off lipstick from your face only for it to smear all over.

I drop my scythe to the ground, where it immediately turns back into the non-bladed stick, and I rip my shirt off. I flip it inside out before trying to use the few ash free spots to wipe my mouth.