Page 379 of Evil Hearts

The woman dragged her attention away from me. Those pale eyes shifted slightly to take in my shadows. “No, you won’t…” she whispered.

I snapped my teeth near her face, close enough to give her a good look at the demonic-like fangs. “If you want me to prove it to you, then I gladly will.” I tightened my grip on her heart slightly, squeezing a pained gasp from her lips.

She arched her back. Her eyebrows furrowed from the powerful, but strange sensation that washed through her body. She could feel the intense pressure I had on the vital organ. The squeeze had certainly sent a searing hot wave down her spine.

That same pain ripped through me with so much strength that my vision went hazy. It was enough to send panic clinging tome. We never felt the pain of another unless we were instructed to take down one of our own. Only then would we endure what our victims did. To have a mortal woman’s agony echo in my own soul…

If the gods were trying to send me a message with the thunderous roar of her vital importance, it finally sank in. There was a reason for this pull, for my sense of urgency to rescue her when humans shouldn’t be anything more than a blink on my radar.

Now wasn’t the time to figure it out. Not when the window where we’d share this moment was closing fast.

Her breathing grew ragged again. It took her a moment to recover from my threat. When her eyes fluttered open again, that fear was still nowhere to be seen. “No…” she repeated softly. “You won’t.”

I snarled at her in my native tongue, allowing more of that hot rage to pour through this strange bond. It was a moment of weakness where my control over it slipped. Still, I had hoped it would jolt some common sense loose in that head of hers. That wild blaze was completely extinguished when she simply tugged her hand away from my shadows and brushed those fingers along my lips instead.

That chaotic voice inside me was silenced. Every single frazzled and frustrated thought dissipated, leaving me with only the sensation of her gentle touch.

Exhaustion nipped at my heels, warning me that this was about to end. It was enough to trigger that panic into rearingits ugly head again. I shook my head, taking great care not to pull myself out of her reach. “You’re dancing with the devil, little doe… Be careful. We like to mark what we own.”

The edges of her lips twitched. Whether it was true amusement or deliria at its finest, I had no clue. “You told Ryan that you already owned me. My body, my essence…my soul.”

“My shadows will devour you if I mark you as mine,” I growled.

“Then let them…” Her fingers strayed down toward my chin. “I’m dying, anyway.”

Like hell.I curled my upper lip, revealing those sharp fangs again. “If I stake my claim on you, then there will be no afterlife for you. No heaven, no hell. No fucking woven limbo.You will be mine.”

My magic hummed within me with my shadows dancing all around me. Pieces of it ventured in between us to brush along her jawline. The woman didn’t hesitate to turn her head into it, leaving that delicate skin completely exposed. “Then I’m yours.”

My control snapped. The pull to solidify my claim was so intense that I couldn’t resist it any longer. I released a feral growl that echoed off the walls around us as I shrank down the distance and latched onto her neck. Her blood spurted into my mouth, coating my tongue with the same delicious scents that I had been inhaling.

But that essence…that gods damnedmortalessence. It held a taste like nothing I had ever consumed before. It only encouraged me to cup the back of her neck with my free hand with the other still buried in her chest. The electricity increased between us until it felt like every single part of us was alive in an entirely different way.

Conflict brewed within me. There was a part of me that didn’t want to pull away. I wanted to consume all of her essence until she was nothing more than a hollow shell. The rest of my soul refused to allow that threat to stand. I found myself enduring ashock that forced me to release her neck. My growl transitioned into a snarl as I straightened up.

Whatever it was that had driven me to actually lay a permanent claim on her had also sapped that little bit of energy she’d gained from me. Those eyes had fluttered shut with her body relaxing once again.

Fuck.Did I kill her?

Why do I care?

I wasn’t sure what to think until her back arched, timed perfectly with the first time I had squeezed that delicate little heart. Her eyebrows furrowed, however subtle that might be.

She was still alive.

Gods, I needed her. She had to live so that I could use this pure soul to find my way back from hell with my beloveds in tow. That innocence would be the beacon that could save us all. I didn’t want to stop with just claiming her essence. I yearned to have that delicate skin wear my mark — to wearallof our marks.

The world resumed and those little glitches that had surrounded us faded. It wouldn’t be much longer now until that thin veil divided us once more.

The fatigue hit me with so much force that I found myself slamming my hand in perfect harmony to that back arching. It was a different feeling entirely to feel a heart restarting in my palm rather than ceasing function altogether. I found the taste of that far more addicting.

Gods, how I wantedmoreof it.

I squeezed that delicate little heart again until those pale green eyes flew wide open. Only then did I release it from my iron grasp.

I didn’t understand what it was about this woman that called to me or how her cries had managed to slice through all that darkness. All that mattered was that I was awake for the firsttime in centuries and she would survive. My claim had been made.

Now it was time to pullhertomeso that this unique bond of ours could be completed.

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