Katie's Hope (Rhyn Trilogy, Book Two) by Lizzy Ford Read Free Book Online Page B

demons want revenge. We were both
inmates in his zoo in Hell long enough to know how charming he was.
He pissed off the wrong people.”
    “Not good enough,” Rhyn said and started
toward the injured demon. “I don’t give a shit about Sasha.”
    “And … AND,” Jared rushed on, holding up both
hands, “he stole something from the Dark One, something that makes
demons immune to Immortal powers. It has something to do with your
blood monkey. I’m too lowly a demon to know what, but I overheard
them talking about it when they came to free us from our cell
block.”
    “The Dark One unleashed all of Sasha’s
pets?” Rhyn asked, the feeling of doom making him jittery.
    “All of us.”
    “The demons and were-things and the Dark
One’s personal creations.”
    “Oh, my,” Jared said.
    “Then I’ve got a long list of creatures to
kill, starting with you.”
    “Now, wait, half-brother,” Jared said. “I’ll
admit you have the advantage here. I’m not interested in revenge
like the rest of my brethren. Those demons Sasha killed really
deserved it. I just wanted to eat your blood monkey because she
smelled so good, I figured she’d taste even better. That’s all I
wanted. But I don’t have to do that. I can just walk away. Or I can
help you. You’re going to need some allies to face what’s coming
your way.”
    Rhyn considered the words born of
desperation. There was truth in everything Jared said. He knew
Jared well enough after all their years in Hell together to
understand the creature was too narcissistic to care about
another’s issues. If anything, Jared wanted just what he said: a
good snack on his way to find more good snacks.
    Brute force usually won any battle he fought.
Recently, he’d begun thinking he’d need more if he were taking on
demons, Immortals, and anything else the Dark One would throw at
him. All he needed was to figure out how to win a game of strategy
he didn’t know how to play, before his time was up and he lost the
only thing that mattered.
    “Well?” Jared asked, the confidence in his
voice replaced by unease.
    “If you betray me, Sasha will seem like an
angel,” Rhyn said, straightening out of his fighting stance. “There
are demons in the forest surrounding the Immortals’ winter
stronghold. Have you any aversion to killing your own kind?”
    “None.”
    “I’ll take you there to hunt. You’ll go
nowhere near my blood monkey, and if any of our demon brethren
attack her, you’ll defend her. Remember, you’ll be the first I come
for if you betray me.”
    “Deal.”
    Rhyn studied the demon, aware he could never
trust such a creature fully. But, if he could get some use out of
him before it came time to kill him, he might have a better chance
of protecting Katie.
    “Follow me.”
    Rhyn opened the portal to the shadow world
and walked through the damp fog to the forest outside the castle.
Jared limped after him and appeared beside him on the cliff edge,
taking in the morning view of grey skies and green forest with a
look of distaste.
    “I smell two demons, and blood,” the demon
said, raising his head to the wind. “Angel? You have an angel here?
Their blood reeks!”
    Rhyn’s mind went to Toby, the baby angel he’d
amused by shredding pillows. Jared’s senses were more acute than
his, and he turned to face the direction of the castle. Something
had happened while he was gone.
    “Go and hunt,” he said. Fire slid through his
body as he contorted and changed shapes. Jared stepped back as Rhyn
launched himself into the air as a hellish bird reminiscent of a
pterodactyl. His long wings beat the air as he rose, and it took
him a short two minutes to soar over the castle.
    The stark red of blood against white snow
caught his attention, and he circled the park behind the castle.
There were two splashes of blood, one at the tree line and another
nearer the castle. He changed forms in midair and dropped the half
dozen feet to the ground, smelling Toby’s blood as