Claimed by the Demon Knight: Book One Read Online Free PDF Page B

sharp uppercut uprooting Elsi and sending her reeling thirty feet into the air. The woman didn't make a sound any louder than a grunt at the pain. There was no way she was going to give Tenuxhal any more satisfaction than she already had by letting him hear her suffering.
    Elsi dragged her fingers through the air in an attempt to slow herself, but knew it was futile. She had to get her Wisp on again, or she was done. But Tenuxhal was there again. He was just everywhere. And Elsi was slowing down. The knight grabbed the young woman by the arm and heaved on it, twisting it around behind her back and wrenching her shoulder into an unnatural position in the socket, enjoying the exquisite pain he was causing her. Elsi did scream then.
    Elsi's cry of agony fell on deaf ears. There was no mercy here. The knight only increased the pressure on her arm and Elsi began to see black spots as the pain overwhelmed her.
    "Well, come on, witch," Tenuxhal purred into her ear. "You're not even fighting back. Don't be so pathetic. Don't you want to tear me apart anymore?"
    He used his leverage to force Elsi around to face him, then released her and shoved her back. Then without even a twitch to telegraph his next move, he spun around and caught the woman across the midsection with a savage kick.
    There was a sickening crunch and an anguished cry as Tenuxhal's foot pressed into the college student's ribcage, bending bones and cracking them easily with the sheer strength and speed of his attack. Elsi’s breath exploded from her lungs in a sharp wheezing burst of wet air and blood, and a searing bolt of pain shot through her as felt her ribs shatter. The blow sent her rocketing through the air towards one of the darkened buildings below as the last traces of light finally vanished, swallowed up by the gaping maw of night.
    The knight dropped any pretence of defense that he might have had, and he threw his head back towards the sky in a shameless bray of laughter, arms stretched out and muscles flexing as an intoxicating rush of adrenaline surged through him, leaving him feeling pleasantly giddy. God, how he had missed this. The smell of Elsi Rhoads blood, the battle, the heat, the pain, and the release of power. It was all so fucking arousing.

Four
    H e had aimed to send his prey through the window. But she went through the side of the building instead, missing the window altogether. Tenuxhal barred razor sharp teeth in a feral grin and laughed cruelly. Even better. Sometimes it was the little things that he appreciated the most.
    Elsi crashed through the wall, hit the open floor and rolled several times until she was able to plant her feet and free hand, to slow her momentum, the floor squeaking under her as she skidded to a jerking stop. Coughing on the dust in the air, she grunted and shook her head as she took stock of her injuries. Crashing through concrete didn't actually hurt as much as one thought it would. It was the goddamn re-bar underneath, the reinforced steel beams that were a bitch.
    Oh God, she was hurting. If she were a normal human, she’d be long dead. Thankfully being a witch came with perks, and being able to withstand getting the shit beat out of her was one of them. She could feel several of her badly fractured ribs threatening to break right through, blood was seeping into her clothes from several deep and stinging cuts, and her weakened muscles burned in places that would soon be turning ugly shades of blue and black. Or they would if she survived.
    Resolve was everything to Elsi. It was key to her victories. Almost every violent encounter she'd had in her early witch days had ended in her favour only because she had hardened her resolve in the face of defeat. But at this moment, she barely even had a chance to form a cohesive thought, let alone muster up the resolve to overcome this supposed-to-be-demon-food knight. After eight months of trying to be a relatively normal human college student, and dispatching the