Page 4 of Shadow Scorching

I said nothing, just leaped forward and jammed the stun gun against his crotch, turning it on full force. He screamed, dropping to his knees. The moment he was on the ground, I kicked him in the side, hard.

“You fucking prick, does this hurt? Huh? Does it?” I kicked him again, as a red haze began to fill my mind and vision. My heart was racing, beating so hard and fast I couldn’t keep up with it. And my thoughts had faded to the back of my mind. I wanted to hurt him, to hurt himbad.

“What are you—?” He tried to roll out of the way.

The woman strapped to the bed moaned, staring at me with hope and dread in her eyes.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got you,” I said to her as I turned back to Jace. “How many?”

The look in his eyes went from belligerent to afraid as he stared up at me. “How many what?”

“You know. How many, over the years?” I raised my boot to kick him again, holding it near his side.

He groaned and reached for his pocket. I stomped on his hand and he rolled away, grunting.

“Hands away from your pockets—raise them.” I counted to three, then yelled, “Now!”

He thrust his hands into the air and I grabbed a piece of rope, wrapping it tightly around his wrists and then bound it to the leg of the bed so they were stretched over his head. He couldn’t move them.

“Now, answer me. How many women have you killed? How many kids?” I knelt near him, staring down into his face. “Do you know who I am?” My vision was clouded with red, and I narrowed in, totally focused on Jace.

He stared at me, suspicious. “No, I don’t.”

“Remember a waitress you took out on adate, seven years ago? The one who had the half-demon kid?” I narrowed my eyes, leaning closer.

“Oh shit,” he whispered, his eyes widening. “Erin…”

“That’s right. Erin Sarasan. You showed her arealgood time, didn’t you? So good that I had to bury her in a closed casket because she was so mutilated.” The bilge in my throat began to rise as I cocked my head, watching him like a vulture watching a carcass.

“Don’t—” He stopped, his voice dropping away.

I turned to the woman on the bed and walked over to her side. As I did, the nails on my fingers began to grow and my face began to distort. She stared up at me, pleading. I reached out and, with my razor-sharp nails, swiped through the ropesholding her down. She yanked the gag out of her mouth and sat up, wincing.

“Go. Go to the hospital. You need help,” I said, my voice raspy.

“No,” she said. “I won’t leave you alone with him. Whoever you are, he’s more dangerous than you think?—”

I gave her a look and she flinched.

“I’mmore dangerous than you think. Can you make it down the ladder by yourself?”

“Yes,” she whispered. “Thank you.” She gathered her clothes and scurried out of the room.

I turned back to Jace. “Well, well, it’s just us, now. Let’s sit and have a little talk.”

“What do you want? You want to kill me? Get it over with,” he said, glaring.

“Oh no, that’s too quick. Tooeasy. If I don’t make this last, you won’t pay the price for what you’ve done. Like you, I want to enjoy myself. Only instead of for fun, it’s for vengeance.” My emotions solidified into a wall of ice. Rage turned to a frozen numbness. I was so angry that any guilt vanished.

“So, it’s an eye for an eye?” he asked.

“No…It’s pain for pain. One life can’t make up for so many. But I want names.” I picked up a notebook. “Give me their names. The names of your victims.” I needed closure, not simply for me, but for the other families that this monster had destroyed.

“Why bother?”

Another wave of anger broke through and I leaned over him, his collar in my hands. I pressed the tip of one of my talons against his throat, just enough so he could feel the razor edge. “One drop at a time. I could sit here for days bleeding you out, one drop at a time.”

As he gazed into my face, the cockiness slipped away, slowly replaced by fear. “You really are a demon.”

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