The Protect Her Box Set: Parts 7-9 by Ivy Sinclair Page A

ourselves a goddess to pick a fight with?”
    I realized I had never considered any other alternative. The course of our actions was taking us into larger, uncharted territory. “I think we’re the only ones who can.”
    “Yes,” Riley said. He reached out and twirled a piece of my hair through his fingers. “Once this is all over, I’m never letting the people I care about out of my sight again.”
    I smiled at him. “Once this is all over, I’m going to need a new job and place to live. I hope you’re hiring.”
    Riley’s face grew serious. “Your place is with me. Don’t ever doubt that.”
    My heart fluttered at his words. I didn’t know how he did it. We were in the middle of a crazy mess, and somehow he had managed to make me feel like everything was going to turn out all right.
    “I’m in if you are,” I said softly.
    He leaned forward and kissed my forehead. We stood like that for a long moment. I never wanted it to end, but I knew it had to eventually.
    Riley leaned back and glared at the darkness behind us.
    “You hear that? We’re going to go do what you and your prick brothers should have been trying to do all along. Oh, that’s right. You can’t. Let the mere mortals save the world from a demon invasion then.”
    “Stop. He’s not worth it, Riley,” I said. I had shut off every emotion I had about Benjamin. I would deal with it later. I reluctantly pulled away from him. We nodded to each other, and then I followed him as he started down the tunnel. Two steps later, I smelled the pungent odor of sulfur.
    “We’ve got company,” Riley said. I saw his knife flash in the flashlight’s beam, and then I heard the squeal of what sounded like a million bats fill the air. I felt a rush of heat and then my body flew backward. My heart leapt into my chest even as I struggled under the crushing weight of the thing that was suddenly on top of me.
    “Paige!”
    I tried to answer, but then I felt the strong grip of hands around my throat. I swung the hand with the gun up to connect broadside with the general area of where the head should be of the thing on top of me. I heard a grunt but nothing else that indicated my action had any other impact because its grip only increased. I started to choke as I felt the pathway to my lungs closing. I could hear the sounds of a struggle close by, and I knew that Riley was overwhelmed.
    “The relic.” His voice traveled to my ears, and I dropped the gun and twisted my body as hard as I could so that I could access my pocket. I yanked the relic back out. Immediately, I felt a surge of power drive into my body, and I gasped even as the thing’s grip loosened on my throat. I pulled in a deep breath of air, and I shoved against its body as hard as I could. As soon as I felt the weight release on my body, I pushed backward on my heels to back pedal away from it.
    My flashlight, which had flown out of my other hand when I hit the ground, illuminating a view ahead of me that rocked me to my core. From a few feet away extending as far as I could see down the tunnel was a wall of demons. Demons that looked like humans, and demons that looked like creatures out of my worst nightmares. Then I saw the one writhing at my feet, and I brought the back of my hand to my mouth to calm the retching sensation building in the back of my throat.
    At first glance, it looked like a gigantic centipede, but it had the arms and hands of a human. Small tendrils of putrid smoke wafted from its body as I watched multiple pairs of feet across its belly jerking in the air. I stepped backward again as the ooze started to build on the ground around it. I couldn’t be sure, but I thought that it was melting in front of my eyes.
    I didn’t want to look at it, but I didn’t want to look at the waiting crowd of demons either.
    “I don’t think they are supposed to attack unless they think that we are going to try to go forward.” Riley’s hoarse voice against my ear pulled me out of my