Unleashed (Guardians of Anubis - Book 1)

9 Chapter 7

Her eyes drifted to his. He stared at her with such mistrust, and a deep yearning that almost brought her to her knees.

Yes, don’t trust me, Zaya thought holding on to the emotion that easily wiped out the yearning he couldn’t deny from his eyes. She knew if he didn’t trust her he wouldn’t hunt her down and fulfil what his instinct was demanding him to do. For an intense moment they stared at each other.

And Zaya inexplicably knew it wasn’t over. He’ll come for her.     

The Rutete pushed through the roof that very moment interrupting them. Half the ceiling fell in. Zaya prevented herself from cringing.

The evil that wrapped them brought to mind the memories she would rather not relive in that moment. Fear bubbled in her stomach as she came face to face with the evil she had called forth from hell itself. Driven by instinct her mate moved forward to stand between her and the Rutete. Zaya took in his protective move. It has already happened. The claiming has started.

“Go,” he said not taking his eyes from the demon.

 Ignoring the panic that swirled in her stomach, Zaya quickly moved to the door. She turned towards him, and found him staring at her. His eyes took her in as though memorising everything about her. Zaya knew he’ll come for. And that knowledge intensified her panic. Zaya ran through the doors as though she had a thousand demons at her heels.

 Dage watched her leave. Even though he yearned for her to stay, he wanted her gone. Protected. And he couldn’t do that if she was there in the basement.

 He felt calmness spread within. He’ll find her soon. There was no doubt about that.   

Dage turned towards the creature. Its malicious scent infused the basement. Its spines rattled ready to eject. Dage watched it turn towards the door. It stuck its nose up scenting the air.

Scenting her?

Rage and possessiveness he couldn’t understand erupted within him, halting all thoughts. 

“Mine,” he snapped. The beast within, scratched and punched to the surface. He allowed it, beyond caring whether he came back from the beast’s grasp or not.

He lunged at the demon with everything he had. His sword moving in a swiping arc aimed at its throat. The Rutete teleported to the right side of the cell and ejected its spines from its left arm. At the last minute Dage leaped back and snatched the filthy mattress, shielding himself. The spines hit the mattress with a resounding thud. Dage threw the mattress at the demon to buy time.

 He stepped back to analytically assess its movements, the warrior in him coming to life. He’d fought this type of demon before, but never as himself. Mafka had always released the beast, pushing it past Dage’s resistance allowing it to take over. Being taken over had scared Dage to the point that he’d been semi-conscious in many of their fights.

Now, it was different.  There was a symbiosis between man and beast. They functioned as one. It was lending him its strength and cunning, not completely taking over, while he analysed and strategized every move of the fight.

Dage watched the demon carefully. It played the defensive role, waiting for its opponent to attack, and then teleporting at the last minute to eject its spines. The spines were thick and clustered at places, especially the arms and shoulders. Dage noticed the left arm was missing the ones it had ejected. On other parts of its body the spines rippled ready to strike. So they took time to grow back, Dage thought moving steadily in a circle. He lunged for its right arm, it teleported to his back as anticipated. Twisting in mid-air he grabbed its left arm, hitting it in the face with the hilt of his sword. Spines erupted scoring the walls. Dage twisted shielding himself with its body. Releasing an outraged snarl it clawed at his arm, slicing his flesh.

 “I finish this,” he growled twisting its arm back. He hooked the sharp bend of his sword beneath its chin and pulled. Bones popped as he severed its neck. Breathing heavily he let the body drop. He stepped back to survey the damage. As expected the wound on his arm was healing rapidly, leaving behind dried blood. His beast receded on its own. Dage watched as his skin turned back to its dark brown colour with calm. He and his beast were finally one.

 Did she do that to him? Dage didn’t know how he felt about that.

He turned to the dead body of the Rutete. A hissing sound started as the body disintegrated. Wisps of smoke drifted to the open roof. 

He walked towards the door. His intent very clear, he was going to find her.

Why did he feel the compelling need to find her? He asked himself. When he couldn’t come up with the answer, Dage forced himself to stop. Desire and possessiveness churned within him. He felt the slight urging of his beast to move forward, to find her. It wasn’t being forceful. It waited eagerly for him to decide.

 Dage sheathed his sword on his back, deliberately slowing his movements. He wiped at the dried blood on his arm and inspected his shredded clothes. He breathed in deeply, trying to calm the raging desire that had surfaced at the mere thought of her.

Her scent lingered in the air like an invisible string he could follow. It was still compelling and hard to ignore. It felt like he would follow her anywhere.

Without thinking Dage took a step to where her scent led.

Maybe he owed it to himself to find out what all this was about, Dage thought. Caged in the dungeons of Otome for so long he’d never felt anything like this before. His body has been numb before she’d touched him. Now he could feel the rushing stream of his blood in his veins, and the heat that threatened to overcome his senses.

Sniffing the air he easily followed her scent. His eyes shone bright seeing an invisible trail that glowed with a pink hue in the air.

A niggling thought started at the back of his mind: if he could easily follow her scent what about other demons. Fear and protectiveness filled him at the thought. He quickened his steps. His beast reached for the surface coating his skin. He could feel its unease. The demon he’d fought had been there for her, the way it had scented her before turning to him was obvious. He had to find her.