My mind and vision clearing, I sat up and blinked at the scene.
With three demons holding his arms and neck, Micah thrashed like a caged lion while Morgan advanced to him, an evil smile on his lips and the Crimson Dagger in his hand.
Oh, God. Ignoring the sharp pain in my side, I closed my hand around the hilt of my sword and pushed to my feet as Morgan pulled his arm back, ready to pierce Micah’s heart. Without really thinking about it, I flew to Morgan.
He saw me coming, though, and sidestepped. I was prepared. I whirled past his opening, ducking when he swatted his arm at me, and hit the back of his head with the hilt of my sword.
Unconscious, he fell face-first.
Not wasting time, I picked up Micah’s sword from the ground, and turned to him and the demons holding him. One of them let go of Micah to come at me. Seeing his arm free, I didn’t think twice. I threw his sword at him. He caught it as I dodged a claw swipe. Then I focused on my fight. The demon advanced, swatting his heavy arm at me. I slashed its arm, then jumped to the side and kicked him. Another demon came from behind and swiped its claws on my shoulder. I cried, whirling to it and cutting its arm off. It roared and jumped at me. Knowing they weren’t bright creatures, I stepped back and out of the way, letting the two monsters bump headfirst. I almost laughed, but instead I slashed one's throat and stabbed the other’s heart.
When I turned to Micah, he was pulling his sword from a fourth demon. God, they were multiplying!
He spun on his feet and stared at me.
“Thank the Everlast, you’re all right,” he whispered, running to me. He threw his arms around me, holding me tight. Surprised, it took me a brief moment to return the gesture. I buried my face in his chest, relieved he was all right too. He splayed his hands on my back, and I winced as he hit the spot where Morgan had stabbed me. “You’re hurt,” he said, sounding as if he had forgotten.
“I barely feel it now.”
“It’s because of the adrenaline.” He twisted my shoulder to get a better look at it. “It’s not too bad. It doesn’t seem deep.” He ripped the end of his shirt and tied it around my waist, making sure it secured the wound. “There. That should do the trick for now.”
He smiled at me. I smiled back.
From the corner of my eyes, I saw movement behind him. I pushed him to the side and raised my sword. With his dagger trained to where Micah’s heart had been a second ago, Morgan ran into my blade.
As if it had burned me, I dropped my sword and my hands flew to my mouth.
Morgan fell back, my sword buried in his chest. “You will burn in the fires of the underworld,” Morgan wheezed.
A sob lodged in my throat, and I fell to my knees. Micah’s heavy hand squeezed my shoulder.
Morgan gasped, blinked, and then went still.
Oh, God, I killed Morgan. I had killed Morgan. Me. Killing a person. And not just any person. Morgan.
Killing demons in self-defense was one thing. Killing humans—and a friend—was another.
A wave of nausea rolled in my stomach, and I pressed a hand to my mouth.
Footsteps and voices echoed inside my head, sounding distant.
With bruises and some ripped clothing, Ceris, Victor, Keisha, and Zelen stepped out of the back doorway and froze.
On the other side of the room, Omi seemed to have a renewed energy as he was finally able to hit a bolt to Izaera’s chest and send her flying to the farthest wall.
Immediately, Ceris cast a shield in front of them. Omi sent a red bolt toward them at the same time.
The bolt exploded on contact, breaking the shield.
“Go!” Ceris pushed Victor and the others to the side and stepped toward Omi.
“Ah, the brave, loving Ceris,” Omi said. “Good to see you again, sister.”
Without acknowledging him, Ceris threw a pink bolt at him. Their fight commenced.
Victor, Keisha, and Zelen stopped short between Morgan’s body and Micah and me.
Holding his shiny scepter, Victor knelt before me. “What happened?”
I shook my head, unsure I could think of what happened, much less speak about it.
Micah’s hand left my shoulder. “Keisha, stay with her. Levi, come with me.”
Keisha appeared before me. “Are you okay?”
I shook my head and tears sprung to my eyes. Oh, God, I killed Morgan. I would never get over it. Nausea swirled in my belly again, and I clamped my mouth, breathing deeply through my nose.
Morgan didn’t think the dagger had any more power, but it did. The dagger had intoxicated him, robbed him of his thoughts and life. Omi had robbed him of his thoughts and life. Because of Omi and his object of allegiance, Morgan had turned into a crazed man. I had killed him, yes, but he was too far gone to be saved. At least, that was what I wanted to believe, since now there was no choice. Besides if the real, old Morgan could have seen what the new Morgan had been up to, he would have wanted to die. That was how dedicated he was to the creed.
All right. Where was determined warrior Nadine? I needed her right now. Not the weak, stand back, hide wherever she can Nadine. I needed the one who could store all the bad stuff into an airtight container and lose that container in the back of her mind, while focusing on revenge, on retribution.
I could do this.
I shoved the container with my sentiments to the back of my mind where it would get lost, at least until we got past this situation. I took a deep breath and stood.
“What do I have to do?” Victor asked.
I pointed to the hole on the opposite side of the altar from Micah. “Place your scepter here.”
He narrowed his eyes. “And?”
I opened my mouth to answer, but a different word came out. “Demons!” I yelled.
More demons emerged in the cave from the entrance. They rushed past the spot where Ceris and Izaera both fought against Omi—who seemed to be holding well on his own against two goddesses—and came toward us.
With their scepters in hand, Micah and Victor stepped down from the altar and came to stand beside Zelen, Keisha, and me.
We fought. I barely saw a thing. My mind was numb; all I knew was that I had to dodge, parry, duck, stab, slash, and repeat.
Keisha saved my neck more than once when I seemed too focused on one demon and didn’t notice another approaching. I should have said thank you, but I was too caught up, too wound up, too not myself.
However, I did notice when the numbers of coming demons reduced.
“Victor, Micah,” I yelled through the clanks of metal and the growls and grunts. “Go do your thing. We’ll cover for you.”
After they killed their current opponents, they jumped onto the altar. I nudged Keisha to help watch the sides, while Zelen took the back.
“Just place the scepters in the holes, right?” Victor asked.
I dodged a claw. “Yes, but I don’t know which one, other than they should be opposites.”
“But there are ten holes,” Victor said.