Dark Descent: The Arondight Codex - Book One by R Nicole (best books to read all time TXT) 📗

The Infernal laughed, and then lunged, tearing towards me with unearthly speed. A scream tore from my throat as we collided, the force sending us rolling past Jackson across the footpath. I cried out as I smashed into a red mailbox, pain burning through my side.

“Let her go!” Jackson shouted, fisting his hands into the demon’s jacket.

It wailed, throwing my best friend aside like he was nothing but a rag doll. Jackson hit the ground with an oomph and blinked, dazed by the force of the blow.

Forcing myself to my feet, I launched myself at the creature with a desperate cry. Grasping its face, I roared, a rush of power exploding into life inside me. A surge of electricity flowed through my arms and into my hands. The demon wailed, the space around my fingers glowed purple with little bursts of lightning crackling in the surrounding air. It let me go, tearing away from my grasp, and fell. It crawled across the footpath with its skin steaming, handprints glowing purple on each cheek.

“Where do you think you’re going?” I exclaimed, a surge of confidence forcing me into action. I strode after it, intending to wrench its smoky Infernal arse out of the body it was currently inhabiting. I had no idea how I was going to do it, but I was determined to try.

The demon leapt to its feet and screeched at me before it bounded off into the darkness. Its limbs flailed as it skittered away, moving at an unnatural speed. My muscles coiled and I made to chase after it with a heady sense of power flowing through my body, but Jackson grasped my arm, stopping me from being a reckless hero.

“Holy shit, Scarlett!” he exclaimed. “You shot purple lightning bolts out of your hands!”

I’d scared it off, but for how long? I stared at my hands and the world tilted a little to the left.

“I don’t think I was supposed to do that.” I stumbled, slapping my palm against the mailbox to steady myself.

“Are you okay?” Jackson grasped me around the waist and pressed his palm against my forehead. “You’re burning up.”

“I…”

“We have to get you some help,” he said, his eyes darting up and down the street.

“I don’t know…”

Jackson frowned. His glasses were askew and the left lens was cracked. “The Sanctum,” he said after a moment. “We need to get you to the Sanctum.”

I froze, confusion blending with the nausea that was bubbling inside me. How did he know about the Sanctum? The Naturals wiped his memories.

Blood whooshed in my ears and my vision began to cloud. “Jackson… I think I’m going to pass out.”

His grip tightened around my waist, then…

Nothing.

12

I was falling into darkness.

My limbs were lead and invisible quicksand coiled around my ankles, sucking me down into a bottomless chasm. I cried out, clawing at the nothingness, searching desperately for something to hold on to.

Out of the gloom, a hand reached out and grasped me around the wrist. Instinctively, I locked my fingers around my unknown saviour’s forearm. I was pulled upward, farther and farther until a face came into focus. Warm eyes and dark flowing hair materialised before me.

“Mummy?” I whispered.

“We’ll always find you, Scarlett.” Her mouth opened, revealing rows upon rows of sharp teeth.

My eyes flew open.

It took me a moment to realise I was in a soft bed, my body practically fused to the mattress.

Above, the skylight was back-lit, the image of the woman in a flowing robe became more and more familiar each time I saw it. She was clutching a sword with an elaborate hilt, the point resting by her feet. Arondight.

Turning my head, I was surprised to see Wilder sitting beside the bed. He was leaning forward, his elbows resting on his knees while he tossed his fancy little knife over and over in his hand. It went tip over end, his fingers catching it around the hilt before flipping it again. He didn’t miss… not even once.

“You said I didn’t have any chops,” I rasped, declaring my return to consciousness. “Well, I chopped that demon into oblivion, so ha!”

“You used your Light and almost lost yourself,” Wilder shot back, catching the knife without even looking. “It was reckless, not heroic.”

His gaze met mine. I stared at him, not understanding. He spoke like I’d broken some sacred taboo without knowing, but that’s what they got when they tossed me back unprepared.

“Light shouldn’t be used without proper training,” he went on, scowling at me. “It doesn’t make you immortal.”

“Duh,” I said, rolling my eyes. The movement made my head ache and I winced. No, ‘hello, how are you’ from Wilder, just straight into the chastising.

“It’s attached to your life force. That’s why you feel like you’ve got a brutal hangover.” He leaned back in his chair with a sigh. “Ramona boosted your vitality and brought you back. You’ve been out for a few days, most of them spent in the infirmary.”

“How did I get here?”

“I carried you.”

“Gross, I meant the Sanctum.”

“Your nerdy boyfriend brought you here. And a nurse wheeled you here on a gurney. I wouldn’t carry anyone anywhere.”

“You carried Jackson.”

“Your boyfriend was different. The Codex demanded it.”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” I drawled. “And all I wanted to do was go home.”

Wilder’s eyes narrowed and he declared, “You were attacked by an Infernal, you used your Light to mark it, you passed out because you drained too much of your life force, and here you are. The other option was an irreversible coma in a hospital. The end.”

That didn’t sound like fun, but verbally sparring with Wilder wasn’t much better.

“Did Jackson tell you that? What happened with the Infernal?” I wondered what Wilder meant that I ‘marked it.’ Marked wasn’t kill and I was a little disappointed, though I hoped the guy whose body it stole was okay.

“We’ve been watching you since you left,” Wilder replied with a shrug. “We know a lot.”

“You were perving on me?” I tried to sit up but was forced back