Page 42 of Obsession

“Almost there,” I whispered. Raven’s Vale seemed to hold its breath, and so did I.

I could feel the tension rolling off Riot in waves, a tangible force that made my blood sing. Our dance was silent, deadly -- a duet choreographed by the devil himself. It was wrong, all of it, but resisting had never been an option. Not when the thrill seeped deep into my bones, not when Riot’s presence wound around me like a vise.

But then, I pressed a hand to my belly once more, a stark reminder of the life within, innocent and oblivious. My heart hammered, loud enough I worried Riot could hear it. What kind of mother was I, skulking in the shadows, craving the very darkness I should shield them from?

“Focus,” Riot said beside me, the word a lash that snapped my attention back to the here and now. “Don’t lose yourself.”

I nodded, but his admonition echoed inside like a warning. Could I reconcile the monster I’d become with the mother I needed to be? Doubt crept in, cold and insidious, but I shoved it down. Now wasn’t the time for weakness.

“Ready?” he asked, a smirk curving his lips, the moonlight glinting off the madness in his eyes.

“Always,” I lied, the word a shard of ice on my tongue. We were predators closing in for the kill. And yet, with each step, the battle raged within -- desire versus duty, the need to protect battling the urge to destroy.

We were upon our prey now. My pulse pounded in my ears, a drumbeat of primal longing and dread. Tonight, at least one person would bleed and feed Riot’s need, but at what cost?

* * *

Riot

The weapon felt alive in my grasp, its heft an extension of my own twisted soul. My fingers coiled around the handle. The night air hung heavy with bloodlust, a cloak that draped over us, suffocating and warm.

“I can’t wait to feel it,” I whispered, more to myself than to Hollis. My breath was a hot streak across the chill that had nothing to do with the weather. “The sweet give of skin, the rush of warmth…”

Having Hollis by my side made it even sweeter. I’d always thrilled in the hunt, and it never bothered me to be alone. But having her beside me, watching her kill, brought a smile to my face. It made me wonder if Crash and Kane were right and I was going a bit soft. At least, where Hollis was concerned.

I couldn’t deny she made me feel things. Perhaps, this was as close to love as my depraved soul could ever get. I hoped it was enough for her because I had nothing else to give. I’d never offer her sweet words or warm embraces. It wasn’t something I was capable of, something I couldn’t understand.

All the men in town who bought their women flowers, showered them with jewelry, I’d always seen as weak. If I gave Hollis something, it would be an item she needed. Although soon, we’d need things for a baby.

The thought of my child growing in her womb made me pause. Just for a second. I had no way of knowing if our son or daughter would take after me or their mother. I’d agreed to let Hollis shield them as much as she could, but it might all be a moot point. If the darkness in my soul passed on to the life inside her, they would be every bit as bloodthirsty as me.

I wondered if Hollis could handle something like that. Knowing her own child was incapable of truly loving anyone, even their mother. I’d watch and wait, see how things played out. Until then, I’d do whatever I could to make her stronger. It was the only way she’d survive.

* * *

Hollis

My throat tightened at his words, my body tensely wired as I watched him. The way he had us hunting prey was vile and vital all at once. The contradiction of it clawed at my insides, even as my own darkness salivated for the climax.

Until Riot, I’d never thought myself capable of taking a life. All my years in Raven’s Vale, not once had I ever hurt anyone. It still stung that I’d been chosen as a sacrifice. Maybe I’d been too nice. Not anymore.

“Let’s do this,” I muttered.

“Patience,” he said, his whole frame coiled like a spring. “Wait another second. Almost…”

The person stepped farther from the shelter of the building, and that was apparently all Riot had been waiting for. “Now!”

It happened in a blink. Riot lunged, a beast uncaged, every muscle strung taut with lethal intent. His movement was a blur, a shadow unleashed from hell itself, barreling toward the lone figure ahead. His aggression poured forth, untamed and raw, a tempest of fury that knew no bounds.

I couldn’t tear my eyes away, caught in the spectacle, the sheer force of his brutality. This was Riot in his element, a demon of destruction, reveling in the terror he invoked. And as his form collided with our prey, the world reduced to nothing but the savage symphony of his violence.

Blood sprayed in arcs as Riot’s weapon found its mark again and again. I stood, frozen yet mesmerized, watching the man I couldn’t help but be drawn to become the monster he was famed to be. His laughter, dark and twisted, cut through the night -- a soundtrack to the carnage he wrought with such sickening glee.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” Riot asked, his voice a perverse caress as he turned his gaze toward me for just an instant, his eyes alight with a madness that both repulsed and captivated me.

“Riot…” was all I could muster, my words drowned out by another sickening crack, the unmistakable sound of bone shattering under his relentless assault. The victim’s screams pierced the air, raw and terror-stricken. The noise was a living thing that clawed at my ears, demanding recognition, demanding empathy. But there was no room for mercy here, not in Raven’s Vale, and certainly not at the side of a man like Riot.

“Sing for me,” Riot commanded of the whimpering figure beneath him, his boot coming down with a crunch that snuffed out another cry before it could fully form. The violence grew to a crescendo, a brutal symphony with Riot as the conductor, wielding his weapon like a maestro’s baton.

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