Page 85 of Hollyhocks

Both men are stunned, sadness hueing their violent eyes as they stare at her.

“She was kind,” Holly says. “She was so sweet complimenting me, but I had just crawled out of a fucking grave and all I had was my mate’s scent pulling me here. I had to get to him, and she got in my way. I killed her. I took your money. And I don’t plan on giving it back. How did you find me, anyway?”

“GPS tracker on the van, you stupid bitch.”

I clamp my teeth together when I yank the piece of glass out of my arm. Blood flows freely, dripping onto the grass. I have to support my wrist with my uninjured arm as I lift the gun, aiming it at one of the men.

I pull the trigger, a loud crack echoing for miles. Jake will be called soon. There’s no mistaking what that was. The bullet slams into his chest, right where his heart is, and while it doesn’t kill him, it surprises him.

“No one calls her a stupid bitch.” I struggle to stand, lifting the gun again.

Holly’s voice changes, a soothing tone that must be her siren voice. It doesn’t work on me but the two men relax, staring at her as if they are in a trance. She changes into her normal form, and I like it so much more than her disguise.

I knew there was something special about her when I met her.

“What are you doing?” I question with a bit of impatience. “Kill them.”

“I need answers only they can give. I’m sorry for not telling you about this.” Regret is etched into her face as her brows tense before she looks away from me to our company. “I notice you’re DNA experiments. Where did you come from? I was sure I was the only one?”

“Another creature killed everyone and set the prisoners free.”

“He’s talking about Creed,” I inform her. “That’s what Creed did.”

“So you didn’t come from the facility I did? Did you travel to that campsite in the woods?”

The two new DNA experiments nod.

It dawns on me that there wasn’t one testing facility but two.

“What did your scientists look like?”

“One had glasses, another had one eye, the other—”

Holly lifts her hand to silence them, and they listen.

“That’s not possible. I had the same scientists. They couldn’t have been in two places at once,” she talks to herself more than she talks to me.

“Unless the scientists rotated, Wildflower. It’s possible.”

“I think I was the only one from where they kept me. I never heard anyone else. What if I’m wrong and they are still trapped? What if there are more like me?”

“Then we will go check.” I cover the wound on my arm with my hand to stop the bleeding. “But we need to deal with them.” I point to the two men who are very subservient to her siren voice. “And your van. We need a new license plate. I didn’t realize you were a criminal,” I smirk. “Kind of hot.”

She smirks at me before pulling her wings back until they are nearly flat, then flaps them to create wind. Holly aims her head down, horns straight, and she jets through the air, stabbing herhorns through one threat. She flies higher, ripping the body from her horns and detaching his head from his body.

Blood rains from the sky before she drops the carcass and swoops down, snagging the other by her talons. He screams from her tight hold on his shoulders and as he is screaming, she twists his head off too. His cries for help become lifeless gurgles as she finally rips his head from his shoulders.

Holly lands, dropping the head next to his body, and wipes her hands on my shirt she’s wearing. Her feathers are covered in blood.

“No one threatens my mate.” She kicks their dead bodies and then walks towards me.

I should be terrified.

I’m not. I’m ready to fuck her on top of their bodies if she wants.

When she’s close enough, I snag her by the back of the neck and haul her in for a kiss.

“Oh, you have got to be kidding me.”

---