Page 53 of The Blood Widow

The roundness of my face, hips, and breast lessened. My muscles became more defined, and my stomach flattened. As my cheekbones rose, my yellow eyes appeared. Just like I needed, they were piercing and deadly. There was no kindness in them. These were the eyes of my demon. I forced my emotions deep inside of me.

I flipped myself off and slammed my fist onto the counter, cracking it. When the pounding got louder, I took a deep breath until the vein on my forehead stopped visibly pulsing.

“Novem, if you don’t open this door, I’m breaking it down,” Cole called out.

I gave one more sigh and turned to open the door. “What?” I snapped out.

“Are you okay? I—” His shock at the coldness on my face made him step back.

“I’m fine, Cole. Why don’t you go home? Check on those kids you take care of.” My tone was bitter. I hated it. I hated myself.

He dropped his eyes and rubbed the door frame. “Don’t do this. Not again.”

I ignored him. I couldn’t even look at him. My eyes drifted to the bed where we just made things more complicated.

“We’ve been working together so well. Let’s just focus on the task. That’s what matters.” I whispered the last part, but I was sure he heard it.

He stepped closer. “Look at me,” he demanded.

I did, but it wasn’t with my eyes. My demon was in control. She took over the moment he got too close. My lips were pursed as I gave him her dead eyes. I was an evil cunt and deserved all the misery for doing this.

He snarled and hit the wall. “Don’t push me out again. Let me in. I felt it, Novem. Didn’t you?”

Yes. That was why I needed my demon. I didn’t have the strength to say no. Not anymore.

“You can’t keep fucking doing this. I love you so much. My fucking soul is tethered to you. Can’t you see that? Nothing, not even death would take that away from me. Stop running scared.”

I didn’t react. My face stayed frozen. I refused to see the only family I’ve ever had be killed because of our stupidity.I need you to live, Cole. I need you all to live, I thought.I didn’t say that out loud, though. What came out my mouth was. “Please just go.”

Then, I closed the bathroom door. I had a shower to cry in.

Chapter

Twenty-Seven

Ihad to do something. My restlessness stemmed from all of the overwhelming emotions I’d been experiencing lately. The feeling of utter loathing I had for myself when I saw my reflection, awoke a part of me I tried to bury, but it always crept its deprived head out from the shadows eventually. Just like my blood lust, I would need to quench its thirst to get rid of the constant pull for destruction.

Cole and the guys were gone when I got out of the shower and so was Beaut. She left me a note saying she’d be gone for a few days. It was probably for the best. This side of me wasn’t fun to be around.

So, I walked the streets in the middle of the night looking for trouble. It wasn’t the smartest plan, but my body was too restless to just sit around. I could handle myself, though. Besides, the television wouldn’t satisfy the urge to move and protect. It was like a tingle in the back of my throat that wouldn’t go away without a shot of antibiotics, but this wasn’t a physical infection, this was a need for righteous violence.

That was how I ended up at the Devil’s Corner.

Trash lined the streets and the homeless lived in holes in the walls. Each night, they lay bricks with magic binding tokeep the other riffraff from bothering them. The line at the homeless shelter was still long even at this hour, giving away the material they’d need for the night. Only women and children were allowed to stay at the secured shelter. The streets were dangerous during the day, but at night the real monsters roamed the streets. The demons and vampires came out to play.

The sun didn’t hurt any of the supernaturals, but they were more powerful at night. They might look human in most ways, but supernaturals weren’t human. There weren’t many non-supernaturals left in comparison to magical folks, most people had some type of magical being inside of them. But if you were human in the bad neighborhood, you were prey.

I turned the corner, kicking a crushed beer can out of my way. Silence didn’t matter right now. I wasn’t trying to be stealthy.

Desperation was thick in the air. A sweaty mix of self-loathing and desire closely followed. As I turned the next corner, I knew why. Drug-dealing gangsters and prostitutes manned the corner. The same ones as the last time I was here. How they stayed in control of this Underground haven was beyond me. The douches had people telling them their payment secrets out loud. All I had to do was follow them and I would know their secret as well.

“This has to be backed by the Sinisters. There’s no way one of the other players hasn’t snatched this corner up,” I whispered to myself as I climbed the brick on the outside of the building that was across the street from where most of the prostitutes stood. The brick had been here for so long without repairs that it might as well be a rock-climbing wall.

I didn’t know how long I would have to wait, but it was usually worth it. The hookers always got the juiciest secrets. Men loved to talk.

As my feet landed on the roof, a large black SUV pulled up. “Knew it. Fucking Sinisters.” The group was run by demons, but they all had power-hungry monsters in them. The best secrets went through them. To get anywhere in the city, you had to be in bed with them.

Marcus fucking Wind, one of the higher ups, stepped out of the vehicle. People quickly walked away like they knew something bad was about to happen and didn’t want to get tangled in the crossfire. Smart thinking. Marcus’s feet shook the cement with each step he took, cracking it slightly. The demon was the size of a small house when he shifted. He was a literal heavyweight.

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