Tasting Darkness

Read Taming Darkness By Jessica Hall Book 3 Chapter 12 - Darius POV As the words left his lips, he lunged atwith one arm held up like a boxer and the other he jabbed at my forehead. Instead of merely dodging, | stepped in and twisted beside the attack before bringing my leg up and kicking Terry straight in his jaw.

The impact was so strong his teeth clashed together, and | had no doubt he lost more than a few as a result.

I didn’t have to wonder for long, as the proof was right before my eyes the next moment. One of his green splintered teeth dropped to the ground, and he held up a hand to his lips to stop the blood from dripping. “Lucky.

Shot.” He sneered.

| barely held back the urge to roll my eyes at his statement and rage. Had he forgotten that | am a Wraith? That ndoesn't instill fear for no reason.

For all his bulk, Terry wasn’t very good at actual fighting. At best, he madefeel more like | was thrown into a ring with a child. Or a child who couldn’t swim and was chucked in the deep end of a pool for the flailing he did.

Terry got back to his senses and tried to strike atagain, this ta body blow with his other fist still protecting his face.

| stepped in quick, swaying to the side to avoid the blow, and struck two times in quick succession at his chest.

The grunts that left him each tremindedmore of pained cries from an animal than anything remotely close to human beings. No wonder | didn’t feel any pity for this shithead.

Besides, god-damn it, for all his talk, | half expected a challenge. | was growing bored already. Did this guy even suspect that | could predict every move he was about to take? Every next damn attempt to attack me? So much for takingapart, someone clearly was very bad at keeping his promises.

Terry made a strangled gurgle and stumbled backward, bringing his fists back up.

Using a technique Lycus taught me, | struck from above, driving my fist down on the bridge of Terry's nose. Blood spurted like a sprinkler, but | gave it no tbefore | took my other hand and repeated the action until Terry was squealing like a pig.

Blood poured down his face.” Cheater!” Terry growled. His face becso red that now he not only sounded like a pig, but also looked like one.

He thrust his fist at me, a shower of ice radiated from him, and it struckin the chest. My eyes traveled down my body as the ice spread across my body, traveling from my heart all the way to my toes.

It lasted for mere seconds as | summoned my flames. The flames from my hands were enough to melt the thin ice shell Terry managed to create.

Again, | had no idea where this guy found the insane confidence he had. He was shit at fist fights, even one he wanted himself, and the abilities were below average.

“Enough!” A loud voice boomed across the battlefield, stopping us all in our tracks.

Terry froze and took a step back, as if creating any distance might help his case, as my head snapped to the side and | spotted her. She was standing on a nearby roof.

First, obviously, I noticed her, but when my eyes traveled lower, | noticed that she had someone in front of her, forced to his knees.

Instead of fear, rage burned through me, fueling the insane anger and the need to get my hands on her. How dare that bitch think she could get away with something so brazen.

Kalen was at her feet with a heavy chain around his neck as if he was a pet. Holding the end of the chain was the Queen Bitch herself; Aleera’s mother.

“If you're smart, you will give up now,” she called out to me.

Was that all she could think of? Her grand, impressive plan? To capture one of my mates to stopand save herself from the clutches of death? I would be damned if | ever let her get away that easily. Unharmed, at that. No, she was getting everything that was coming her way, so | shook my head and stared straight into her eyes when | spoke. “That was my line, but giving up won't save your life. It will just mean how slow or how fast you die, bitch.” “Maybe you don’t see this mate of yours I've captured?” She tauntedas she grabbed a fistful of Kalen’s hair and pulled his head back. “Wouldn't you hate to bring this young man pain? Go ahead, tell him how close to nothing this man means to you.” As soon as we get out of this mess, | will kick Kalen’s ass for getting caught so easily.

Acting as if | didn’t care was hard, but I still waved my hand at her and grinned. “Go ahead, Ill slice through your little hunter army and cstraight for you. Then, | will pull that twisted heart out of your chest and crush it.” She clicked her tongue atand golden light sparkled in her hand.” Remember, this is on you, Darius,” she spat my name.

I grunted, and the light glow brighter. It danced up and down the chain. Kalen hissed as the first wave of pain flowed through him from the chain, but to his credit, he didn’t scream.

“Stop!” A new voice ripped through the air, and | turned to the side to see Tobias carving his way through a group of hunters.

There had to be twenty or so men, but they were no match for him. He grabbed one by the throat and bit them before tossing them out of the way like they were rubbish.

| had forgotten how powerful Tobias was. He dealt with the danger with ease, and even now that we had an entire army standing against us, he went through them like the hunters were paper he shredded.

| didn’t need all of them here. Why couldn't they listen tofor once and letfight my own battles without them? Sthings couldn't be fixed just because they were at my side. | could handle this on my own, they should have stayed with Aleera.

The queen bitch released another burst of energy straight into Kalen. We watched how our mate's body jerked back and forth, but no sounds emerged from him.

That little fact alone was pissing Aleera’s mother off. She wanted his screams, his cries and his agony. She wanted for him to put up a show for us. It was her last attempt to prove she was better than us, that she would always find a way to hurt us.

And because of her selfish, sick needs, more and more power flowed down the chains, but our mate somehow kept his cries internal. | could feel his agony, feel his need to scream, yet he held it. Kalen was determined to refuse that bitch the satisfaction of hearing his pain.