Kade raced over in an instant, too quick for Salazar to defend himself. He literally snatched the demon away by his hair and somehow managed to throw him against the wall. I scrambled off the bed and quickly slipped on my change of clothes before things went haywire.
"How many times am I going to have to tell you to keep your hands off of her?!" Kade yelled as he wrapped his hand around Salazar's throat. The other one smashed into his face but Salazar barely flinched. In fact, he just smiled.
"Sorry... I couldn't help myself. She just looked so easy. You know what I mean? Her skin is so warm, her body is so frail, her lips are so soft... but I'm sure you know that already, don't you?" He started laughing when Kade punched him again. "Man, I was so close to getting into her panties. That's all you wanna do, right? All you care about is getting her in bed and wrecking her until she can't even think."
I cringed, already feeling the putrid effects of Kade's madness. I could tell Salazar was just trying to get him angry. That way his madness would leak and cause the sickness to grow stronger and work faster.
Kade went wild and pounded into the demon until his face was coated in blood. "I swear to God, I'm tired of you barging in and putting your hands on my girl. And if you ever think about touching her again, Hell's gonna have to find you some replacement parts," he threatened. His voice was becoming deeper, affecting me even further. I fell to my knees and started coughing, while my vision became blurred and a headache caused me to groan in agony. Nausea hit me like a truck but I stomached what little food I had in me. I tried to call out to Kade but my throat was as dry as sand, aching as I wheezed air.
"Look at her, Kayden. Look at what you're doing to your precious lady," Salazar said, nodding his head towards me. Kade glanced over, momentarily locking his black eyes with mine. His scowling and furious expression softened as he took in my weakened state. "Every time you let your madness go, you slowly kill Bella. Each time drains her life, sometimes by a lot and sometimes just barely. It depends on how angry you get and how much you let yourself go. Soon enough, she'll reach her limit... and there'll be nothing you can do to save her. A goddess isn't meant to withstand the madness of a demon, even if it's just half. I'm surprised she isn't dead already." Salazar talked seriously but his bloodied face displayed a smile.
His plan was working out just great. If Kade lets his madness go, it not only kills me due to my inability to withstand it, but it also strengthens the growing sickness inside of him, gradually eating away his insides as we speak. The bullet, to make matters worse, not only spawned the sickness but increased the intensity of Kade's madness. The stronger the madness, the stronger the sickness, and the more I die each time Kade unleashes it.
He turned back to Salazar and held his fist high, preparing to punch him again. Each time he did it, though, I could feel myself weaken and fall beneath the madness. Kade was so angry, angrier than when he got shot. If he didn't stop now, I was going to die.
I inhaled a raspy breath and began to tremble. My head hurt so bad, my bones stiff and aching with it. I was so nauseated, I couldn't even sit on my knees and collapsed to the floor. Why couldn't a supernatural like me withstand just half of a demon's madness? Kade wasn't even a full demon!
A loud ringing struck my ear but I was able to hear heavy footsteps coming upstairs. They were urgent and I could almost feel the worry radiating from the people they came from.
Maeve came barging through the door, followed by Odis and some lady with dark red hair and dull blue eyes. She was a bit aged, maybe in her late thirties or early forties. I could only assume she was Maeve's aunt, Vivian.
Maeve rushed over to me but I motioned her away. "H... help Kade," I whispered. "Calm... him." We both eyed the fight, which I now realized had escalated dramatically. Salazar was fighting back and had Kade pinned to the floor by his throat. Kade scratched at his arm, teeth gritted and eyes still black. His anger was rising too fast for me and I could just feel what little life I had left slipping away. My body was in so much pain, mentally and physically, that I could barely even twitch my fingers without moaning in agony.
"Before you try anything stupid, I want you to take a good look at your friend. He's too out of it to hear all of you. His only focus is defeating me, but by the time that happens, Bella should be dead. Good luck breaking his trance!" Salazar exclaimed in personal delight. Kade retaliated, as if on cue, and shoved him back into the wall, throwing a punch and missing when Salazar dodged. He ended up putting a hole in the wall and stood there breathing heavily for awhile. For some reason, his opponent waited patiently, a crooked smile set on his bloody face.
Apparently, he'd forgotten about the rest of the people in the room, especially Odis. He jumped on the demon and tackled him to the floor with impressive strength, pounding into him until he was interrupted by Kade. Shockingly, Kade shoved him away and left the man staring with disbelief.
"Odis! Shift and take care of this!" Maeve yelled to him.
"I can't shift here! There's not enough room!" he yelled back. There was the sudden shout of a chant, coming from the other woman in the room whose face was twisted with anger. She snapped her fingers afterward and the room fell silent, even Kade who'd been grunting every time he threw a punch. I barely focused on the fact that he and Salazar were frozen, but still aware of their surroundings and the situation they were in. Kade's arm was pulled back, a fist raised and covered in blood. He twitched slightly and tried to throw it forward, only to realize that he couldn't. Salazar twitched too, looking around with wild eyes and trying to figure out why he couldn't move.
"Better think of a plan fast, Maeve. This spell won't last long," the woman, undoubtedly Vivian, said. Maeve seemed startled by the words, like she wasn't expecting to be the leader of this all. I tried to think quickly for her, only managing to scramble up a weak attempt in my aching head.
"Bring... Kade over here. K-keep him from... Salazar," I wheezed. Maeve looked to her aunt questioningly.
"I can break him from the spell, but I can't keep him away from Salazar," she said apologetically.
"Leave that to me," Odis insisted. He positioned himself behind Kade and locked elbows with him, obviously preparing to pull his arms back when Vivian released him. By the snap of her fingers, she did, and Kade immediately tried to swing at Salazar. Odis's part came into play as he snatched him back and surprisingly managed to drag him away. It was difficult of course, Kade squirmed, yelled, and struggled aimlessly with intense desperation. He was pulled next to me, though, not even noticing my shrunken form lying next to him.
"H-help me... up," I mumbled to Maeve. Kade groaned as he continued to tug away from his restrainer. It pained me to see so much anger coming from such a nice guy. He had no clue what he was doing to me. According to Salazar, he was too out of it to notice.
Maeve followed my request and carefully helped me sit up. She then positioned my arms around Kade's neck, a dangerous thing to do most likely, but I had to try. I weakly clanged to him and strained my eyes to keep them from closing.
He still didn't take notice to me, only focused on his target across the room. Salazar still had his crooked grin, almost like he knew my plan would be a fail. I had that feeling too, but I was desperate for another easy breath.
"Ka...de. Kade!" I whispered. As expected, I didn't get his attention. I started to get angry and used my remaining adrenaline to slap him. My hand stayed fixated on his cheek while I regained my strength to speak. "Look at me, dammit!" This time, he looked down in surprise and froze when we locked eyes. His black ones widened with realization as his body tensed with what felt like fear.
"Look at what you're doing, idiot!" I wheezed. "S-stop... please. Do you really... want to kill me? Snap o-out of it!"
"Aw... how sweet," Salazar said sarcastically, his body twitching as he laughed. "Love doesn't save people, Bella. It's what gets them killed. People are always willing to sacrifice themselves for the ones they love but it gets them nowhere. The only place they end up is six feet under the ground!"
He was wrong. Love does save people, in ways that a demon like him could never understand. I may be young, but I never realized how great life could be when you find someone who makes your heart flutter every time you looked at them or heard their name. Kade was that someone... and I was going to make sure he lived to know that.
"Bella...," Kade whispered, still gazing down at me and not even blinking. "Bella... Bella... Bella."
"Yes! N-now snapped out of... it," I said. He blinked a couple of times and slowly touched his forehead to mine. After closing his eyes for what felt like hours, he opened them and they were crystal blue again. I cracked a smile and collapsed into his arms as my weak state instantly drained. The sudden strength that passed through me was so intense, I gasped. Kade kissed my temple and hugged me tightly when Odis released him, whispering "I'm sorry" in my ear multiple times. I wanted to say something back but I wasn't fully recovered yet.
"Uh... guys," Vivian whispered over to us. We all followed her eyes to find Salazar standing stiffly in the corner of the room, smiling as he stared mischievously at me. The spell must've worn off in order for him to do that. Otherwise, he'd still be frozen and one of us would do the honor of killing him.
"Don't worry... I'm not gonna pull anything," he said in defense. Still staring at me, he added a wink and smirked. "Till next time, darling... if there is one." Then, as quick as light, he disappeared in a puff of black smoke.
I took the time to relax into Kade's embrace again, not without the demon's words still haunting my head, though. Kade's insides were probably being eaten right now and I had no way of telling him. If Salazar was true to his word, he'd kill him instantly if I mentioned our little talk. Maeve and Odis weren't safe either so I was basically trapped.
Why me? Why did I have to be stuck in this predicament?
"Bella... I'm so sorry I let that happen again. I can't control it," Kade whispered in my ear. "I don't know how to stop when it happens."
"You only got mad for my defense. I don't want to hear your apology," I whispered back. I truly didn't. This has happened twice now, three times if you include the castle incident, and I was fully aware Kade couldn't control his temper, not completely at least. I wasn't so sure I'd be able to hear his apology next time.
"Alrighty kiddos, let's get settled down for a bit. Mr. Kade," Vivian said and pointed a finger at him, "We've gotta tend to those wounds of yours. Then... we can fix that hole you put in my wall." She pointed at it next and immediately Kade's face twisted with guilt.
"Right... sorry about that," he mumbled.
I was the next one to be pointed at, but it was for something I didn't realize I was craving for.
"Miss Bella, you need to fill up on breakfast," Vivian said with a smile. I smiled back and inhaled a deep breath.
Breakfast sounded hella nice.