Page 16 of The Shadow Bride

His brows snap together as he considers the possibility, and my stomach plunges to the floor. “Shit,” he breathes.

“Wait a moment.” Beau steps forward, and his entire demeanor shifts as he looks between us. His gaze darkens. His jaw hardens. He points a finger at the dark street behind Michal, and all traces of the frightened young man vanish, leaving someone else entirely in their wake. “Are you sayingrevenantscould be crawling through Belterra right now?” When Michal nods again, Beau walks straight forward until he stands beside us. “What exactly doesterrorize the livinglook like? Are these creatures—are they hurting people? Why haven’t we seen one?”

No one wants to answer that, so I answer it instead. “Because you’ve been trapped inside this house with me.”

Beau looks instantly contrite. “Célie—”

Something shuffles overhead before he can console me, however, and a split second later—too fast for even the vampires to react—a shadow drops from the roof, plunging a skeletal hand into Michal’s back.

Chapter Six

Revenant

Michal arches forward at the impact—his eyes widening, his skin hissing—and I move without hesitation, withoutthinking, throwing myself at the shadowy creature and tackling it into the street. We land hard, rolling once, twice, before it snarls and pins me against the cobblestones with unusual strength. Withunnaturalstrength.

Oh God.

My body thrashes helplessly against its grip, and I choke and gasp as the overwhelming stench of decay washes over me. When lightning flashes overhead, however, true fear grips my heart—because I recognize this creature. I recognize its tattered choral robes and the twin crosses embroidered on its chest. Though no flesh remains except half of its putrefied face, I recognize the steely eye still decomposing there too. It—along with the rest of this body—once caught Reid and me together in the confessional at Saint-Cécile. He humiliated me there. He reprimanded Reid, his would-be son and favorite of all the huntsmen.

Now he gnashes his teeth, wild with hunger, and tries to sink them into my cheek.

The Archbishop.

With a shriek, I thrust my knees upward to force him away, but they overextend, meeting only the hard bone of his spine. And his skeletal fingers—three silver rings still gleam upon them as theyscrabble at my throat, my jaw, my shoulders, blistering my skin and shredding my clothing.He’s too strong.Though I wrench my hands free of his robes, I cannot push him away, cannot move him at all, yet I still seize his skull, determined to hold him off somehow.He will not eat me.He willnot—but his teeth graze my collar anyway, tearing into my flesh as if it’s paper.

I clamp my mouth shut, refusing to scream again. Refusing to make any sound at all that might goad my friends into—

Too late.

Someone wrenches the revenant away from me, and my fingers clutch at empty air as the creature soars backward, landing several feet away with the sickening crunch of bones. Eyes shining with cold fury, Michal kneels and lifts me to my feet. “Are you all right?” he asks, and I nod mutely, staring at his back as he turns to face the revenant. Blood still gleams on the black leather of his surcoat. Wet blood. Hot blood. My throat constricts at the scent of it, and my entire body shudders, tightens, as my mouth begins to water.

Freshblood.

Vaguely, I realize the Archbishop’s silver rings have prevented Michal’s ability to heal.He’s... hurt.That doesn’t stop my hand from reaching to touch him, however. It doesn’t stop my fingers from trembling with need. Indeed, the rest of the world—the street, the houses, even the snarling revenant—seem to fall away at the sight of Michal’s blood. Inexplicably and startlingly possessive, I cannot stop myself from having it, fromtastingit, from fantasizing about how it would feel on my tongue; even Lou’s and Coco’s magic pales in comparison to the rich, languorous scent that is Michal. As a human, I couldn’t smell him properly. I thought he had no scent at all, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. Eyeswide, I now watch in a surreal sense of slow motion as my fingertips brush his back.

As they come away scarlet.

His head jerks toward me at the slight touch, and the instant our eyes meet, something twists low in my belly. His gaze darkens in response. His mouth parts.

The revenant lunges.

“Look out!” At Lou’s scream, the moment shatters in a blur of limbs as Michal whirls, catching the Archbishop by the spinal column and snapping it in two. Footsteps thunder behind us as the others race into the street. The hair on Reid’s forearms lifts as he stares down at his forefather’s broken body, horror-stricken, while Lou blinks rapidly, her breathing louder than usual. Panicked.Of course.

Reid might’ve called the Archbishop his father, but to Lou, the creature before us actuallywasher father—and her abuser. To my knowledge, she didn’t shed any tears when Reid killed him last year. She regards him now with a pained look, like she’s struggling not to be sick.

“A revenant,” Odessa says simply.

Michal glares first at Lou, then at Reid. “By your expressions, I assume you know him.”

“Yes.” Lou nods—the smallest dip of her chin—before touching Reid’s arm. He seems unable to speak. “We, er—killed him last Modraniht. It’s entirely possible that he came here seeking vengeance.”

“Vengeance,” Michal repeats flatly. Shaking his head in exasperation, he drops the two halves of the Archbishop’s body to the ground. “I suppose we should be grateful for the confirmation. Wenow know Célie’s bloodhasreached the shores of Belterra—”

He stops short, however, as the bones at our feet begin to twitch. Frowning, he nudges the Archbishop’s hand, and in the next second, it seizes his boot, swiftly digging its fingers through the leather and impaling his foot.

Cursing viciously, he tries to kick it away, but it holds tighter still, levering itself upright and snapping at Michal’s thigh. Though Reid and I both spring forward, it isn’t necessary—Michal parts the revenant’s skull from its neck, hurling its head aside, before crushing its fingers into dust. The rest of its body keeps coming, however, except now—somehow—it seems to have recognized Lou and Reid.

It snarls and gurgles unintelligibly because it does not have a tongue.

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