Runes of Truth (A Demon's Fall #1)(20)

“Evie is helping you, relax,” Trex soothes him in a firm tone. Nix calms down a little before looking up at me with a grin.

“Sucking already? We haven’t even gone on a date yet, love,” he flirts even when he must be in a lot of pain. I pull my mouth away, spitting out the last of the poison.

“You’ll have to return the favour sometime,” I say, winking at him. Connor quickly hands me the bottle of vodka, and I drink some, washing my mouth out and spitting out the last of the poison. I quickly pour some on the cut, making Nix hiss but he doesn’t stop me.

“Consider it a promise,” Nix replies, his voice tired. Connor hands me a bandage, and I quickly wrap Nix’s arm, pushing him down when he tries to sit up.

“Rest, we have about six hours until the morning, and we can’t leave at night,” I explain to them, grabbing the bottle of vodka of the floor. Nix holds his good arm out for the bottle, and I hand it to him, watching him drink some before he hands it back to me. I drink some more before putting the lid back on.

“Azi is getting wood for a fire, and we will have to take turns on watch. That army of souls is not normal, they don’t travel together. I have a feeling whoever took your princesses has told the souls to kill us, and offered them something,” I state, and none of them say anything, but the way they exchange quick glances lets me know they are thinking the same thing. “Let’s hope it’s only souls they have after us. There are much worse things in hell to send to kill someone.” I walk to edge of the cave before they can reply to me, sliding a dagger out, and sitting, watching for Azi to come back, or anything dangerous in the snow. Whoever has the princesses, doesn’t want them found.





Nix


“Hey,” I say, handing Evie a protein bar and sitting down next to her. She looks at the bar in her hand, and shrugs, opening it up.

“You should be resting,” she says, not looking at me but still keeping an eye out. Azi came back an hour ago and set the fire up with our help. We have three tents set up in the cave around the fire. Azi offered to swap with Evie, but she didn’t want to and told him to sleep in case they need another portal. It’s clear something bad happened between them, and they clearly still have feelings for each other. Or, at least, Azi does. I’m not sure about Evie. She turns to look at me, her bright-blue eyes reflecting the light from the fire in the cave, and it makes her look so very innocent and stunning. She may be stunning, but we all know innocent isn’t a word I would use to describe her. She has let her hair down, and it frames her face. The dark blue is stunning, so natural and like it was always meant to be that colour.

“I needed some fresh air,” I tell her, pulling out my own protein bar from my coat and opening it. I bite down on the chewy crap, hating the fake plastic taste.

“These are crap,” Evie voices my thoughts on the bar, scrunching her face up and putting the bar down after she chews a bit.

“Crap is a nice word,” I say.

“How does your arm feel?” she asks, not exactly concerned but more curious.

“Better. I’m alive, and I owe you for it,” I say, keeping my eyes locked on hers. I will pay her back for the debt one day. I will never forget what she did.

“Can I sit?” Connor asks from behind me, his question is clearly for Evie more than it was for me from the way he stares at her.

“I don’t own hell, you can sit wherever you like, Connor,” she replies, and he chuckles, going to her other side and sitting down.

“You both should be sleeping,” she comments.

“If you keep telling me to go to bed, love, I might start getting excited that you’re going to join me,” I tease her, watching how she turns to look at me with a small grin.

“You’re a flirt, Nix,” she says with a low chuckle, and looks back into the cave.

“Is Azi really your ex?” Connor blurts out, looking at where she is looking. Her whole face tightens with her fists as she looks back at the entrance.

“Yes,” she replies dryly.

“You really dated a demon? A demon overlord?” Connor asks in shock. Evie laughs, shaking her head.

“Demons aren’t that different from humans and Protectors,” she tells us. I’ve lost count of how many demons I have killed, how many I’ve sent back to hell on missions. Demons aren’t all roses and sunshine, that’s for sure. I’m certain Azi has done his fair share of evil things.

“You know he is an overlord? Do Protectors even know much about overlords?” she asks us.

“We know there are ten overlords, all brothers. All very powerful and that our old king killed one over three hundred years ago,” I tell her, and she nods her head.

“Azi said his brother deserved to die, that his sin was controlling him, making him evil. I still wouldn’t bring up his brother again,” she suggests.

“Sin?” I ask.

“Each brother has a sin that makes them an overlord. Think the seven deadly sins, and you get a rough idea,” she shrugs.

“What is Azi’s?” I ask.

“Not my secret to tell,” she replies quickly, with a little smirk on her soft, pretty, heart-shaped lips.

“You protect him, even though he clearly hurt you. What happened?” I ask.

“Why should I tell you?” she replies quickly.