Some fought back and some managed to phase away, but so many more faces I knew one minute were dead and gone the next. The desire to jump in and fight erupted in my chest. A deep growl reverberated from my throat and I struggled against Naamah’s hold. He held tight, his arms wrapped around my shoulders and across my chest, his every essence fighting to keeping me from phasing. “Let go,” I shouted through the screams of my peers. “Maria, stop! Think of the consequences.” “To hell with the consequences.” Dying in battle was an honor. Watching my friends being slaughtered in an ambush was cowardly. Rage built fast inside me and I did not want to control it. How could Naamah hold me back? How could he stand to watch this massacre? A woman shrieked. The scent of her pain and fear was almost a physical blow to my senses, forcing my attention to the source of the sound. Apollyon stood in the center of the chaos, hunched over someone. I couldn’t see who as too many bodies flittered in and out of my vision. I trained my hearing on the Master’s voice and tuned out the rest of the crowd. “Where is my ring?” he shouted. The woman’s voice was a throaty gurgle. “I don’t have it.” My eyes widened with recognition. Helldora. He has Helldora! I wriggled against the weight of my husband. “I know my boy gave it to you,” said Apollyon. “I…don’t…have…it.” “Then where is it?” “I’ll never…tell…you.” A deep growl was followed by Helldora’s screams. I couldn’t take it anymore. I writhed around and bit Naamah’s neck, holding nothing back as I clamped down on his jugular. His breath hitched and his muscles stiffened as he tried to keep his hold. My lover’s blood flowed freely over my mouth and I sucked it in, taking full advantage of the effect it would have on him. He grunted and I moaned as a tingly heat raced to my womanhood. My fingers dug into his biceps as our pulses began to shift, mine slowing and his speeding up. He growled in attempt to fight it, but the climax quickly passed through him and his concentration faltered, causing his
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