Page 27 of A Love of Wrath and Rapture

But nothing’s worse than the fate that awaits if Kraven captures me. I don’t have to imagine anything, I saw how he left his victims back in the settlement, and I do not wish to join them.

The slit opens back up into a patch of forest. The trees stand tall, thick snow enveloping the trunks and every branch.

Climbing is out of the question. I look behind me and see he is still trying to squeeze through the gap.

I take the chance to throw myself behind a tree. Holding my breath proves difficult as my lungs beg for air.

“Where are you?” he hisses. “Just wait until I get my hands on you, then you’ll be in for it, Evangeline.”

Fear creases my face with lines of horror as he begins his search, yelping as he checks every hiding spot.

“You think those other whores had it bad? You’ve seen nothing, do you hear me? Nothing!”

The snow blisters my hands with its bitter coldness as I pinch the powdery white substance. I don’t intend on doing it, my body just needs a release from the nerve-wracking tension.

Each crunch of snow beneath Kraven’s feet grows louder as he draws nearer to my hiding spot. I can’t run without alerting him to my presence, but surely he’ll find me sooner or later.

I need a miracle if I’m getting out of here alive and untouched.

But as I think, I feel the tickle of what feels like a million legs inching up my arm. I quietly, carefully pull up my sleeve, horrified at the sight of a prickly insect weaving between the faint hairs on my arm.

Immediately, I brush it off, regretting the whimper of fright that escapes my lips.

“I heard that,” Kraven says.

I’ve just screwed myself. Kraven pops his head around the corner of the trunk just in time for me to shove a handful of snow in his face.

I jump to my feet and run, but his stray hand reaches out and pulls me to the ground. In the blink of an eye, he’s on top of me, trying to rip off my clothing like a starved creature tearing into its meal.

Tears sting my eyes as I flail my arms and legs. I see his face, widened with a smile of pure malice. There’s nothing human left behind those eyes.

“Kraven, stop!” I yell, my voice breaking and reducing to a shrill whisper.

He dodges my poorly aimed fists, even absorbing the blows that land like they did nothing at all.

“It’s been far too long since I touched a woman,” he roars, saliva dripping from his mouth. “But you make the wait worth it.”

I grab his throat, but he is just far too strong. He grabs my head and slams it down to the ground, dizzying me into a blur. There’s no strength left in me. My vision is fuzzy and my hearing is nothing but a constant ringing.

But just as I’m about to be violated, a blur of a black shadow swoops in from seemingly nowhere and knocks Kraven off of me.

I rear my dizzied head up and see the black figure stalking Kraven. I shake my head and clear my vision to see my attacker recoiling in horror.

What the fuck is that?

I look at the newcomer, its back turned to me. Its already towering frame extends as the figure uncurls and stands to full height. My jaw drops as it tenses its body, standing now at least seven feet.

Whatever creature this is, it seems to be a male, for it growls in a deep, gravelly tone, the sound of which shakes the ground beneath me.

“Oh, gods!” Kraven cries as he mutters a prayer.

The monster’s jet-black skin is a far cry from the white snow that surrounds him, like ink spilling over parchment paper, darker than midnight. The brightness of the ground around him seems to fade into his figure as though he’s absorbing its color.

Snow crunches beneath his curved talons as he advances. I back up against a tree in fear as the creature spreads a magnificent wingspan, his wings cracking and flaring as though they haven’t been used in some time.

“What are you?” I mouth, gasping when the monster brandishes claws so sharp that I swear they cut me from simply looking at them.

Between the softness of his wings and the hardness of his claws, I become too shocked to move, frozen like I’ve been claimed victim by the cold.

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