Page 377 of Evil Hearts

A woman’s whimper broke through it all. There was something about that sound that left every single one of my senses heightened, almost like I was preparing to go on another hunt — only I didn’t yearn for her end. But rather, the end of the bastard that had caused that sound. Still, the feel of her fear brushing against me was enough to leave my mouth watering. I followed that intoxicating trail with glee.

After all, I hadn’t been allowed to feed on fear. I had been kept suppressed, starving and weak from the lack of subsistence. The fact that I was smelling it now was completely irrelevant when it smelled better than anything I had consumed in my entire existence. The delightful aromas promised a reward on an ethereal level.

One that only a god could offer.

When I pushed through that final boundary that kept me separated from the original layer of the simulation, I found myself standing in a dark room. The air was muggy, as if it had been closed up for an extended period of time. That didn’t stop the sweet smell of blood from brushing against me. My head snapped over toward a scene unfolding at my feet.

A thin male was hunched over a smaller female, his legs straddling her hips while he ripped her thick jacket apart. He was covered with enough blood to give me the impression that there was a dead body somewhere else in this building. Probably belonging to his first victim.

Ah…So that’s what this was. A twisted mind struggling to show his affection to a female that only wanted to run in horror. I’d seen it all before. These kinds of souls had a unique taste to them. Both bitter and sweet at the same time.

My gaze slid over toward the woman. Judging from the way her heart was beginning to slow and how much her lungs were straining to suck in air, it wouldn’t be much longer until there would be a second.

The idea of her succumbing to all these wounds left a rage breaking free from that prison deep inside of me. Red dots painted my vision. I could feel my upper lip curling as the Venetian Day of the Dead skull mask we all donned slipped into place. It didn’t matter how weak it was after dormancy, my magic was eager to answer that call when I beckoned to it.

There was no reason for me to lose my shit over a mortal woman dying. We slaughtered them all the time for a quick snack in between hunts. It didn’t matter. Itshouldn’tmatter.

Yet here I was, enraged by the idea of letting Death get his hold on his one when something in the depths of my soul felt a pull like I’d never endured before. I had to stop Death from taking her from me. My fingers curled and a low growl rumbled in my chest.

Whether she heard the sound or not, those pale green eyes flickered over toward me. She was far too weak to pay much attention to the knife her attacker had pried loose from his combat boot.

Her attacker was both stunned and furious by the way her gaze had strayed away from him. His own aura flooded with the foul odor of decaying flesh as he twisted around, struggling to get a glance on what had the audacity to steal this moment away from him. He froze when his hazel eyes fell on me.

Swell…They could both see me and that animalistic fury had succumbed against the powerful wave of delicious fear.

His lips parted with a merciful plea lurking on the tip of his tongue.

Uh uh…I tsked under my breath.

He hadn’t shown his victim any mercy. I was more than content with extending that same treatment onto him. Adrenaline raced through my veins, driving me to stoop forward and curve my body along his. I didn’t hesitate to grab the same hand that wielded that knife. One jerk was all it took to redirect the blade toward himself.

The woman sucked in a slow breath. Her mouth fell open. There was no telling what thoughts were running through her mind, not with her life force fading fast. That light was already beginning to die in her eyes.

I will not allow this.

A feral snarl escaped me as I yanked my left arm back toward myself, forcing the man’s arm to fold against his will. The blade sank deep in his throat. There was nothing more satisfying than hearing those panicked noises mixed with the sound of ripping flesh graced my ears. It was true we enjoyed the smell of blood as much as we did when our marks thrashed against us.

But the fear… That was what kept us full. We chased after that to satisfy that hunger again and again.

It poured out of him now in waves, almost as thick as the amount of blood that strayed down on his weak victim. He jerked against me with that desperation gaining strength fast. It didn’t matter that I had his own weapon lodged in his throat. He still fought my hold.

I brushed the mouth of my mask against the back of his ear, causing him to stiffen against me. “You cannot stake a claim on something that has already been marked,” I hissed into his ear. “Her body…her essence…hersoulis not yours to take.”

The man’s body began to sage against me. His life was fading just as fast as hers was. He wouldn’t survive the blood loss for much longer.

Had I meant to stake a claim on a dying woman’s soul? No. That didn’t mean that I had enough control over myself to stop and ponder on why I would feel so compelled topreventher death rather than allow it to pass. The damage was done. I had bound myself to her in a way that I had never allowed myself to do before.

“Because she’s alreadymine.” I pushed the blade forward, guiding it through all the flesh until it ripped free and sliced through the air itself. My right arm gave away, allowing the predator’s body to slump over toward the side and crash down onto the filthy floor beside her. The knife slipped free from my fingers, sinking into another wooden beam.

Time was threatening to break around us. I could already see bits of colorful static breach through all the carefully woven illusions. The woman was fading at my feet while the rest of the world moved on. I became vaguely aware of another woman screaming at the top of her lungs outside.

Her panicked pleas were joined by a few others. Soon, the silence within the building was pierced by high-pitched sirens. An ambulance skidded to a halt with EMTs piling out of the vehicle. They broke the door down without a problem and scurried over toward where the weakened female lay.

Those pale green eyes were already beginning to flutter shut. She was going to sink into that abyss before they had a chance to save her because the internal bleeding had progressed so much.

Human bodies were like that when a rib bone snapped and sliced into their lungs. Add in all the injuries her attacker had piled up prior to their fall… She was doomed for that cold embrace.

That didn’t mean that I was going to allow that final thread to be cut, not when I had the power to put a stop to it. It would use up the last of the energy that I had woken up with, but I found myself willing to pay that price.

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