Page 19 of Crown of Chaos

“I am weakened, same as you,” she countered offhandedly, in a somewhat annoyed manner. “It arises when I don’t feed often enough or eat enough men. And for the record, I loathe fruit.”

“Does that mean you’ll skip the pineapple before you ride Lennox?”I chuckled as she inclined her head, contemplating it for a moment. “It won’t help, but it’ll make him crave to ravage your—”Something crashed against the door, causing Ember to push up from her feast.“That could be Garrett.”The shiver that pushed through us came from me, but Ember merely grinned and dragged her tongue over the blood coating her lips.

“Let’s hope it is, and just in case, good night, Aria. Heal, so that we may carry the babes successfully.” She’d no sooner said the words when everything went dark around me. It felt as if she’d encased me in a tomb and hysteria burst through me.

A soft whisper of purring wrapped around me and cleared away the apprehension saturating my mind. Ember had languished silently inside me most of my life, and it left me wondering if she’d experienced this emptiness during that span of time. I could discern things, but I couldn’t see them. Had she been trapped within me, incapable of emerging from this nothingness during that time? I felt us running before crashing into something. Wet slurping noises reached my ears, alerting me she’d made a kill. Angling my head to the side, I stared into the darkness, not seeing or feeling anything. If I actually moved while roaming the abyss, I couldn’t tell because there was nothing but a deep, infinite void stretching out around me.

I could hear our organs functioning, but there was little else to help me identify what happened outside of the desolate nothingness. I was truly locked within myself, incapable of watching through our shared sight.

Letting out a puff of air, I calmed and decided to trust her not to do anything foolish. Okay, so I attempted to do that but wound up praying to any god listening that she’d be smart and not embarrass the hell out of me. After all, I knew Ember, and she reveled in generating pandemonium and chaos as she roamed through the Nine Realms.

Chapter Eleven

Ember

Blood covered my dress, whichhad become nothing more than shredded rags dangling loosely from my curves.

Aria had a thing about people looking at us naked, but that wasn’t something that troubled me. I’d left the panties on her skinny ass but had promptly discarded the torture contraption she’d placed on our breasts. Why females wore those things was beyond me.

Men were running about, squealing in shrill voices that made me crave to shred their throats to end the unrelenting noise. Jumping down from the top of the building where I’d perched to revel in the chaos, I stretched and scanned the area for another snack.

I’d given Aria time to awaken from her slumber within me, providing her with the chance to see that her trust in me wasn’t misplaced. She had to regain her strength, which had drained because of her need to help the others, letting their demands come before ours. Knox had taken a lot, but she had yet to recognize just how much he’d stolen.

He’d tapped into her magic, which was something so conveniently accomplished through the vows she’d made, but she’d strengthened it through the mating bond she wasn’t aware had formed. I had known Lennox was mine the moment he marked her slender throat, even if he was stuck within that tenacious, broken male. But she’d mated with Knox, and that wasn’t my choice. But I hadn’t resisted it, either.

She was braver than I assumed she’d be. I’d known she was fierce, but she was heroic at the most random of times, which left me bumbling to judge if or when to intervene in order to shield her mind from misery.

Knox had threatened to murder us repeatedly, and it had wounded Aria more than she’d willingly admit. Her emotions ran deeper than she thought, but even without the bond, she wouldn’t have been capable of hurting him as he hurt her. Now me, I’d thump his ass and remind him I wasn’t some bitch he could play hot and cold with anymore. I was the mate to his monster, and he was merely its host.

A man rushed toward us in full battle mode, and I smiled before slamming my nails into his throat. His useless head rolled to the ground, the body following soon after. People were so delicate, but Aria wanted to save them. I didn’t understand why. They were stupid, and who were we to stand in their way and the natural order of things?

Another creature rushed me, and I side-stepped a second before we would have collided. Then, slowly turning, I watched as he smashed headfirst into the building, knocking himself out. Did Aria really think to save them all? Were they even worth the trouble? I doubted it. They were crunchy and tasted good, but they were too ignorant to survive.

“You’re a monster!” a woman snarled, running toward me with a sword drawn. I lifted a delicate brow and yawned at her antics.

“Duh.” I snorted, easily dodging each swing of her blade. “And you’re weak and slow and stupid. I think I prefer to be what I am.” I chuckled, grabbing the sword before swinging it toward her. Her body slid apart, and I riffled through her organs until I found what I wanted. Then, holding her heart, I skipped barefooted toward where more thundering heartbeats sounded like a welcoming dinner bell.

The house before me was more prominent than the shacks around it, and the stench coming from within was of refuse and bodily waste. The fear that filled the air told me whoever was inside wasn’t there willingly. After ripping the door from the hinges, I tossed it aside, looked into the dark interior, and frowned.

“In the words of the games Aria liked to play with her sisters—come out, come out, wherever you are,” I called, hearing soft whimpers. “Well shit, you’re just little ones. I’ll leave the door open, and you can do whatever you want. Everyone is dead . . . mostly,” I chirped happily as I bat my eyelashes. Only no one came forward. “You’re welcome! Ungrateful things, aren’t you?” I snorted, backing away as a small human moved closer.

Turning up my nose at the creature, I studied it as it padded on bare feet toward the light. My sense of smell was offended, and a quick glance at the shattered door revealed I couldn’t simply lock it back in place. I rattled in warning to the critter.

The thing was tiny and stunk like it had rolled in shit. I curled my lip as small fingers touched me. “Eww, stop that. Do not touch me! You reek.” I took a step backward, and it followed as if it wanted something from me. “Why are you trailing me? I am not your mother. My children won’t stink.”

The little human-ish thing was soiled and covered in strange, dark markings. Kneeling to its level, I pulled back my lips, baring my fangs at it to hiss again. I could scare it back into the house and run away, right? Aria would approve that I hadn’t eaten the stinky monstrosity. But it pushed its fingers against my serrated teeth, and I deflated, trying not to gag.

“This is where you run screaming in the opposite direction, little human,” I explained, wondering if it needed to be written out for him. Did these things come with instructions? I’d read a magazine once through Aria’s eyes while she’d stared at it, pretending to ignore everyone in the room. It had said children required structure. It needed chores! “Go clean something. Obviously, you shouldn’t keep cleaning the toilet, though.”

The child glanced up at me, wide, blue eyes swimming with unshed tears. “Oh, don’t do that. Aria will hear you! Stop that this minute! She’s touchy-feely, and you’re too stinky to touch.”

Recoiling from the urchin, I winced as it let loose a deep, anguished scream. Shuddering, I snatched it up by the arm, and the noise assaulting my ears ceased.Victory!

Something whizzed through the air behind me, and my lips curled. I turned, tossing the silent child way above me before I dodged the blade and shot my hand out, slicing through my attacker’s throat. His head went bouncing across the courtyard, and I smirked at my next meal.

I heard squealing above me, and I looked to where the dirty creature was coming back down toward me. Reaching out, I grabbed its ankle before it landed. It stared at me with wide, owl-like eyes before it opened its mouth to unleash a blood-curdling scream.

“No, no, no,” I pleaded in a singsong tone, trying to recall lyrics to any song Aria hummed inside her head. “I like big—uh, no. Hmm, you a fine mother—” I paused. “Back that—nope. Choke me like you—” The thing was still screaming. “Here I come. I’m petty as—fudge.” I grimaced. “You know, singing isn’t my thing, critter. Just don’t make that sound again, okay? I’d hate to explain why you ended up in my stomach.”

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