Beyond His Evil

FIFTY-TWO.

I apologise for the late update.

Kira's POV

The chains bit into my wrists. Every struggle only made them tighter. Pain lanced through my body like molten fire, and I screamed until my throat felt raw and torn.

“You might want to calm down, Kira,” Rya said lazily, leaning back in her chair. “Before you kill yourself trying.”

I spat at her. Her smile didn’t falter. She wiped the saliva from her cheek, slow, deliberate, and utterly unshaken.

“I. Will. Kill. You,” I ground out, teeth clenched. “Rya. I will kill you.”

She laughed softly, a sound that crawled under my skin. Then her hand struck my face. Pain exploded, and my head snapped to the side.

“Kira!” Kate’s voice screamed in the background, but it was muffled, like it belonged to another world.

“Spit in my face again, and I’ll cut your fucking tongue out,” Rya warned, her gaze sharp and dangerous. Then, as if nothing had happened, she crossed her legs and leaned back, the picture of casual cruelty.

“Now,” she purred, “what was your first question again? Ah yes! I remember. You asked why I’m helping you.”

I barely managed to lift my gaze, fury burning in my chest.

She smiled, almost gently. “Because I’m broken. And only you can fix me. Devon told me that if I helped you escape, you’d be able to help me. That’s why I wanted to help.”

The word wanted hung in the air.

“And that’s why I was trying to help you gain your powers.” Her hand flicked through the air, summoning a glass filled with a dark red liquid. She drank without hesitation. The glass vanished.

“And what am I?” she continued, eyes darkening toward Kate. “I am many things. But not as bad as everyone thinks.”

Kate’s eyes widened as Rya’s gaze fell upon her. The chains around Kate pulsed faintly, tiny red gems glowing ominously.

“Don’t even try, Kate. The more you try to use your powers, the more the gems absorb them,” Rya warned. “The weaker you get, the faster you'll die.”

I studied the chains, my chest tightening. Red gems embedded in iron. What were those?

“I am the first of my kind,” Rya said suddenly. “A hunter, with demon blood.”

Confusion churned in my mind.

“My mother was a demon. My father… a hunter. They defied all reason, all caution, and had me through a human surrogate. She died for it." Just like Evelyn. Her eyes softened for the briefest moment. “My mother was drunk on my powers and tried to make me more. She injected me with vampire venom. It was supposed to create something unstoppable… but I killed my father instead.”

A cold wave ran down my spine.

“The seer took me in when I was twelve. She’s my aunt… my father’s sister,” Rya continued, her voice steady, controlled. “I survived. I endured. And now… you’re going to help me fix my family. Cure my mother. Bring my father back. Remove the venom that burns me from the inside.”

Kate whispered, finally, her voice trembling, “Why remove the venom?”

“Because it’s killing me,” Rya replied flatly. “It was never meant to exist within me. Every day I live with it is pain.”

“And Zethar?” I asked, narrowing my eyes. “Why take me to him?”

“Because you’re not strong enough yet,” she said simply.

Kate’s eyes darted to me. “What does Zethar want with her?”

Rya smiled, terrifyingly calm. “She’s the key to Zalas’s redemption. He needs the most powerful being on Earth to escape Hell. When he rises… heaven and earth will fall. My family and I? We’ll have a place in the new era.”

Insanity dripped from her words, but she delivered them with such clarity that the horror was almost believable.

“They’re using you,” I spat, shaking despite the chains. “When they’re done with me, they’ll kill you.”

She leaned forward, fingers digging into my cheeks. “You know nothing.”

“You’re wrong,” I said, straining against the chains. “I know you’re selfish, cruel, and insane. And even if they don’t kill you, I will.”

Her hand struck me again. Pain, rage, and anguish hit me at once.

Footsteps echoed, and I counted ten men...No, Demons. My heart slammed against my ribs.

Rya waved a hand. Kate’s chains fell away.

Hungry growls filled the air. My chest tightened in terror.

Fear slammed into me.

“No!” I screamed, fighting the chains again until agony forced me still.

“That must be her,” a voice said.
Another demon who wasn't part of the ten I counted stepped forward.

“The one and only healer,” Rya replied.

Kate tried to stand and collapsed.

“KATE!” I cried.

“Oh, she’ll die,” Rya said mockingly. “Painfully.”

Tears streamed down my face. “Please,” I begged. “Let her go.”

The chains fell from me, but weakness held me to the ground.

The demon crouched before me, lifting my chin. “She's a pretty one. I see why Devon likes you.”

My skin crawled.

“What did you do to him?” I whispered.

He laughed, with a wicked gleam in his crimson eyes. “You’ll see.”

“Enough Nicholas,” Rya snapped. “She belongs to Zethar.”

Nicholas stood. “What about the other girl?”

Rya shrugged. “Let the boys have her.”

Kate looked at me. Her eyes begged me.
“Don’t let them win,” she whispered.

She conjured a long stake.

“No!!!” I screamed, knowing what she planned.

It plunged into her chest.

My world shattered.
Kate fell limp. Blood pooled around her.

Silence.

Then laughter.

Rya stood and walked away. Another demon dragged me along.

I held her Rya's gaze with tears. “You will die, painfully!”

She rolled her eyes. “Put her to sleep already.”

Something clamped over my nose, and darkness took me.

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