Page 23 of Stolen By the Reaper

“...displeased with our failure,” Alain’s voice rang out. “We must redouble our efforts to?—”

Rage boiled in me. My body—in this realm—had barely cooled, and they were already planning to do the unthinkable to someone else?

Centuries of this.Centuriesof eagerly spilling blood for their demon master.

I clenched my fists, nails biting into my palms. They’d pay for this. All of them.

I reached out, grasping one of the inky tendrils. It writhed in my grip, and Ipulled.

A dull thud echoed from behind the door. More threads, more thuds, followed by the sound of surprised cries.

“What the hell is that?”

“Who’s there?”

My heart raced as I ripped another thread. Then another. With each cut, warmth spread through my fingertips. Power. The energy of the worshipers.

Someone jerked the door open, and a pair of hooded figures stumbled out into the hallway.

I moved without thinking. I held up a hand, and they stopped. My ears buzzed as I reached deep within myself, drawing on my newfound power. “See,” I told them.

They clutched their heads and doubled over with bellows of terror.

I slipped past and left them to visions of their greatest fears.

Chaos erupted in the room beyond. Some rushed at me, but I stopped them with the same whispered command.

Screams about snakes and spiders, cries of names, and pleas for forgiveness filled the room. I reveled in their panic and drank in their terror. The lives they’d taken—the lives they’d destroyed—returned to them tenfold.

I ignored the screams and pleas, just as they had for all those they’d strung up on an altar. I snatched up the threads and snipped, over and over, my fingers flying as fast as my pulse. Bodies dropped. Minds broke.

I would see the demon defeated once and for all.

And then, there he was. Alain. My almost-husband. He stood frozen, staring at me with a mix of shock and fury. Gone was the charming facade. This was the real Alain—cold, calculating, cruel.

“You,” he snarled, taking a step forward.

I smiled, and it wasn’t a pleasant smile. “Miss me, darling?”

The others faded to the back of my mind as I stalked toward him. My anger burned hotter with every step. He had orchestrated all of this. He had manipulated and lied and used me.

I snatched up the thread flowing around Alain and snapped it.

But I wasn’t done. I grabbed the severed end, the one still connected to him. It writhed in my grip like a living thing. With a cruel smile, I wound it around my wrist, forming a makeshift leash.

“What... what are you doing?” Alain whimpered, his bravado gone.

I gave the leash a vicious tug, and Alain’s knees hit the floor. His face twisted with pain and rage.

“Heel, boy,” I growled. More and more power rushed into me. I was drunk with it. My skin hummed, my nerves tingled,my blood sang. “Let’s go tell your master what a naughty doggie you’ve been.”

This was what I’d been destined for. Not to be sacrificed to some demon. Not to be a victim.

I was retribution.

I snapped my fingers and dragged a kicking and screaming Alain through the shadows and into the realm of the dead.

Azrael would be so pissed he missed the carnage.

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