Page 375 of Evil Hearts

I couldn’t find it within myself to launch myself back into movement, not when I’d struck the floor hard enough to leave my vision hazy. It was joined by the agonizing pain that now rippled from two different parts of my skull. If that wasn’t enough to render me still, then the horrible snap I’d felt somewhere in my ribcage was enough to finish that task.

God, the next breath I sucked into my lungs was so much harder than it had to be. I couldn’t wrap my head around it. Not when I’d gotten the air knocked out of me a few times during my childhood. This didn’t feel anything close to those terrifying moments.

It was certainly enough time for Ryan’s adrenaline to shred the shock that had kept him still. He released another feral snarl. One hand lashed out, catching me by the rim of my pants. He jerked me down toward him until he hovered over me.

“Maryssa!”Lisa’s shrill voice came from the other side of the front door.

I raised my head, barely able to process that I was staring at my best friend. It didn’t even dawn on me that the door had been triggered to lock behind me, which was now keeping us apart with a sturdy piece of wood that had withered far worse abuse than her weak fists.

Just… Just open the door…

My vision went hazy again. I blinked a few times, desperate to drive it away enough to pass that silent message along through my horrified expression. There was no telling if she processed what I was trying to tell her. Had I even spoken out loud?

Ryan grabbed a fistful of my jacket and whipped me around onto my back. Smacking the same spot on the back of my head three times in a row was enough to leave me limp on the floor.

“Oh my God! Someone help me! Please,help!” Lisa’s voice ventured away. She was probably racing away from the store with the feeble attempts to grab someone’s attention from down the sidewalk.

I could do nothing but stare up at him as he succumbed into that rage completely. My mind refused to process what was going on. It didn’t matter if he was straddling me or that the adrenaline allowed him to rip my jacket wide open. The fragile connection between my mind and body had simply severed.

Despite the fact that it was much darker down here with limited light filtering down the stairway, I couldn’t ignore the massive smoky cloud that seemed to drift down those same steps. The way it flowed along the cold air worked completely against the laws of natural order. It was moving with its own sense of will.

It was gunning straight for us and the air around it was heavy with rage.

My chest rose sharply with a strained breath seeping into my lungs. The weight resting on my chest only got heavier, although it wasn’t coming from Ryan’s abrupt movements. No, it seemed to gain strength from the fact that I could now see a pair of glowing eyes peeking through that darkness.

The shadows continued to part until more firm features broke past that haze. This strange, surreal being stood a head taller than Ryan, who already towered over my petite height with one that teased six feet. A Venetian Day of the Dead skull mask concealed whatever face they might’ve had, but it couldn’t obscure my view of a large body of firmly defined muscles. The fingers had already curled into balled fists by the time the shadows pulled apart completely.

There was no reason for me to take any comfort in a being that seemed to be made out of the darkness itself, especially when my mind knew that couldn’t be realistic. Yet the sight of this strange man leaning forward with a guttural growl leaking into the air flooded my body with a sense of peace that I hadn’t felt in months.

I feltrelievedto see that blood thirsty look swirling around in those stunning silver eyes.

Ryan fumbled down his leg toward his boot. “If I can’t have you…” His voice was strangled. He jerked slightly with the sound of metal rubbing against leather gracing my ears. As hestraightened up, the light from above reflected off the blade. “...thenno onecan have you.”

Seeing him raise that knife in between us should’ve been enough to send me right back into a panic that fueled the adrenaline. It quickly became clear that my body was done fighting. I had used up all that excess energy. My injuries now surpassed what I could physically handle. Every single muscle remained loose with no desire to prepare for a final surge of resistance.

The willingness to embrace that black abyss beyond this pure agony offered a numbness that I couldn’t decline had only grown stronger, especially when the being’s body was lit up with a strange, eerie silver glow.

Tattoos covered his entire upper body with the ink kissing all the way down to his finger tips. Images nestled underneath his jawline with edges teasing at more to discover over on his back. Every single neat line dipped down into his waistline. It was all a stunning canvas of black and silver ink.

This stranger dipped down with movements far more fluid than anyone could manage. The breeze was enough to leave Ryan paused with the knife pointed straight at my chest. He barely turned his head to see who had the balls to interrupt such a beautiful moment before the being reached around and seized the knife handle.

One jerk was all it took to redirect that blade straight into Ryan’s neck.

Blood spurted down on me, coating my shirt all the way up to my face. I couldn’t bring myself to do anything more than stare as the droplets evolved into a steady flow. The fact that I could feel the heat from his body wasn’t even enough to jolt me back to reality.

My terrifying knight in shining armor drew close, pressing his chest against Ryan’s back. The mask tilted slightly with themouthpiece brushing right up by his ear. “You cannot stake a claim on something that has already been marked. Her body…her essence…hersoulis not yours to take.”

Ryan thrashed in those thick arms with everything he had despite the blade deep in his throat. It didn’t even seem to dawn on him that the wild struggle was only causing the wound to be pulled open wider. The blood flow was pouring out on me at an alarming rate.

There couldn’t be that much left inside his body — not enough to keep him alive.

The mask nestled against the edge of Ryan’s face. “Because she’s alreadymine.” One more jerk was all it took for the being to slice through the front of his neck and rip the weapon free of flesh.

My world slowed down to a painful crawl as Ryan jerked above me with that final bit of fight struggling to keep every organ functioning properly. It seemed to take his body far longer than it should’ve just to slump sideways. When the man drew his right arm back, allowing him to sink over onto the floor beside me, it was a slow dance that teased at the possibility of taking eternity to weave.

I couldn’t hear any noises from outside the building now. If Lisa was still screaming on the sidewalk, her voice had become so muffled that it was lost to the sound of my own strained breathing. Not even the knife crashing down onto the ground emitted anything.

This is it…

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