Lethal Blow: (Succubus Hitwoman Book 2) by Eliza Hendrix (best motivational books to read TXT) 📗

I breathe out hard through my nose and tug back. “I can’t.”

In any other situation, his strong grip would make me want to spread my legs apart and tell him to fuck me until the sun goes down. But this isn’t any other situation. I’m weak and vulnerable—both of which I despise more than anything.

If I were human, I’d likely attribute my lack of strength to the fact that my opponent is male. Biologically, men are bigger and stronger. Of course, there are always exceptions. But I’m not a woman, and Ace is no man. We’re both demons, and when it comes to demon strength, muscle size has no bearing on one’s strength.

Is he that much more powerful than me?

I’m not used to this, and if anything, it’s causing Red to want to come out.

My face must be swelling in anger. Gently, he lets me go and redirects his attention to his weapons box as if nothing happened.

“What’re you trying to prove?” I lash out.

Nonchalantly, he fastens two metallic plates around his wrists and snaps on a holster belt. “I want you to open your eyes, Rayne.”

“Would you stop talking in code and fucking spit it out already?”

He turns toward me again, this time, his eyes searching me. “You have no idea, do you?”

Full-blown attitude spreads across my face. If I open my mouth, I won’t be nice, so instead, I wait for him to talk.

“Do you know who your real birth parents are?”

How does my childhood have anything to do with what’s going on here? More importantly, how could he know that my parents abandoned me? He must see that I’m freaking out inside. Shaking his head, he reaches into the box again and extracts a slick black crossbow.

“It isn’t my place to explain your history to you.”

“Then whose is it?” I ask.

I’m not the kind of woman who likes to tiptoe around a subject. If something needs to be said, it should be said exactly how it’s meant. I hate reading between the lines or being told I’ll understand something at a later time. Why can’t I understand it now?

“Fucking spit it out.”

“I can sense you’re irritated,” he says.

“You think?”

I’m about to reconsider smashing my fist into his face when the roof over our heads cracks, splits in half, and crumbles to ashes. I cough, wave my hand in front of my face, and cough some more.

An explosive roar rains from the sky, and I reach for my ears.

Standing on the roof of Rachel and Drax’s room is the dragon we saw flying earlier. With its mouth agape, it blows out another fiery blast, sending hot flames straight toward Ace and me.

It’s one of those oh-shit moments in which you realize you don’t have the time to do anything. In a split second, Ace throws himself on top of me, his massive dragon-like wings forming a dome-shaped shield around us. We land next to the bed, the weight of his body holding me down.

Wincing, he breathes out hard, his warm breath making it even hotter in here. “Fuck!”

With wide eyes, I stare up at him from within the darkness. “You okay?”

He’s in too much pain to answer, likely due to his wings being scorched.

“I can’t fly like this,” he says urgently. He swallows hard, an audible gulp. “I’d teleport us out of here, but I might not have the strength to come back for your friends. You ready to fight?”

“What’s your plan?” I ask.

“I’ll distract it. You find a way to cut off its—”

“You’re wasting time,” I hiss. “Get the fuck off me and let’s do this.”

Despite his excruciating pain, a hint of a smile appears on his shadowed face.

Chapter 21

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The guy’s a fucking lunatic.

As I flap my wings, soaring from left to right around the dragon’s intimidating jaw, Ace stands in the parking lot, waving his arms above his head. He runs with a limp, and it’s clear he’s still in excruciating pain.

“Over here, you ugly beast!”

Is that all he has? Ugly beast? Ace is a gentleman, to say the least. If it were me down there, I’d be shouting all kinds of profanities.

Goddamn motherfucker.

Rotting piece of horseshit.

Fucking shit stain—

The dragon’s jaw snaps shut, its three-foot-long incisor teeth inches away from my thigh.

I blast my wings downward to propel myself higher over the clouds.

Fuck.

That was way too close.

Realizing I’m flying close by, the dragon rolls its head back as if it doesn’t have a spine and tries to catch me again. I fasten my grip around the sword Ace gave me and glare at the creature. It seems to do the same, its monstrous yellow eyes narrowing into slits the size of kayaks.

It seems like it’s about to jump off the rooftop and chase me through the sky when at once, it seals its eyes and lets out a throaty cry. It raises its arm, revealing a bloody puncture wound in the soft side of its belly.

In the parking lot, Ace loads another arrow into his crossbow and aims it at the dragon’s heart.

The elastic of his crossbow snaps and the sharp-tipped arrow comes whistling through the air.

But the moment it crashes into the dragon’s chest, it shatters in two as if the dragon’s scales are made of metal.

Shit. This isn’t good.

Ace loads another arrow, but it won’t do us any good. We’re running out of time. The dragon’s eyes turn on me. Widening its mouth again, it sends a fiery blast toward me. Although I fly away in time, the heat is so intense it burns my back.

We’re pissing it off, and it’s getting more and more aggressive.

If it doesn’t bite off my head, I’ll be fine, I tell myself.

With knees