Free Blood Prize (Bloody Dance #1) by A Muse

all. “You to Zero. I love all of you.” I shook my head. I didn’t deserve his love. He was my friend, my brother. I should have been stronger. I should never have let him come here.
    “Shu . . .” I didn’t know what I could say to him. No amount of words could make this right. Shu coughed more blood spraying from his lips. How much time did he have left? Not a lot. His hazel eyes were already going dull.
    “You do it, Zero. Like with grandpa. Don’t let that asshole kill me. You do it.” I shook my head. I could feel the pain in my chest. It felt worse than the hits and kicks that I took earlier. This pain I haven’t felt in two hundred years when I watched my family die in front of me.
    “I can’t,” my voice was a whisper. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t kill him. He was supposed to live. He was supposed to come home with me.
    “Please, Zero. Drink me. Let me become a part of you. Let’s kill them together.” I closed my eyes. A tear leaking from the corner. I could feel it fall from my face and onto Shu. I didn’t speak. I only bent over him. I bit into Shu’s neck. His blood was warm, sweet like the sugar cookies Amy always bake on our first night home from a mission. It filled me with power and grief. It was hard to swallow, but I forced myself to drink every last drop.
    Laying him down so gently I ran my fingers over Shu’s eyes so they could close. This man, I met him when he was just a boy. I watched him grow. I watched him love and hate and love again. I watched him get married and have a child and I watched that child grow into a beautiful teenager. Now he was gone. Because of them.
    A black flame surrounded my body. My nails grew longer my fangs came down longer. Spikes grew along the cartilage of my wings. I could feel hot liquid running down my face. Reaching up I touched my cheek to see crimson tears.
    “Die,” I was in front of Kenji swinging and kicking at him. He blocked my attacks flipping back. I was behind him my foot going into his back. I came around the front of him and elbowed him in the face. Kicking at him again he caught my leg. Picking me up he slammed me down into the floor.
    Grabbing my hair, he slammed my head down into the floor a few time. I pressed my foot against his chest kicking him off of me. Moving quickly I was in front of him. He blocked kicking me in the gut. It sent me sailing across the room and into another wall.
    Kenji was on top of me again. I used my arms to block my face as he sent one powerful punch after another against them. I wondered how long it would be before the bone in my arms shattered. I growled the black flame raged around me again making the demon back off of me. I jumped up and Ban was behind me.
    Ban grabbed me by the hair and slammed my face into the floor. Turning me over I felt Ban bite into my neck. This was foreplay for him. I wasn’t in the mood. I pressed my hand against his chest sent a pure blast of my magic at him. He was pushed off of me. A hole burned in the expensive shirt he had on.
    Before I could get up, Kenji kicked me in the face. My head snapped to the side and I rolled over. I tried to shake it off, but Kenji was on top of me. He sent five rapid punches into my face. I could hear a bone break. I was pretty sure it was my nose. It would heal. I was a demon, I healed quickly.
    Kenji yanked me up off the floor kicking me across the room. I crashed into Ban’s foot before he sent me back towards the Blood Demon. They were playing kick the kid with me. I wasn’t sure how many times they kicked me as if I was just a ball or a rag doll. Ban grabbed me driving me down into the floor.
    My demon form faded away. I couldn’t keep the form in my weaken state. Of course, I was losing. I was against two S-Class demons. My eyes shifted to Aya. She was hiding under a table. ‘Run’ I mouth the word to her she was crying; she was scared. I didn’t blame her. I would have been scared too.
    “Cute, he reverted back to his human