Page 152 of A Fate so Cruel

Rion threw the male and his head hit the floor with a sickening thud. He tore the marble from the floor, cracking it in all directions.

The maletsked. “No respect from the arts, I should have known a mongrel like you wouldn’t know how to cherish beautiful things.” Rion didn’t respond. “How did things turn out for your little girlfriend?”

“I killed her myself.”

Foley clicked his tongue and surveyed his nails. “Pity. She was such a pretty thing and was so confident in her plans. I hadhoped to play with her a bit myself. I don’t suppose you got the chance?” He raised a brow as if in question. Rion still didn’t respond. The male huffed. “Well, I’m afraid we don’t have all day. Some of us have important meetings to—”

Rion launched himself to the second level at dizzying speeds. Foley’s words caught in his throat as Rion dug his fingers into his windpipe.

The warriors stationed to guard him tried to reach their employer to no avail.

Rion’s fingers dug deeper. Particles of earth held Foley’s hands at bay, just to ensure no more plants ended up beneath his skin. Tears ran down the male’s red face. It shifted to purple, then Rion crushed his windpipe. Rion stared at him for a long minute then dropped his corpse. He severed the male’s head for good measure.

Chaos and screaming surrounded him as the warriors beat against the wall he’d created.

Rion spit on Foley’s twisted face. “I don’t have time, either.”

There would be times to savor kills later. Right now, he was here to make a statement. To tell the world that he was to be feared. If they didn’t want to love them, then they’d know his name another way. They’d cower at his presence. Whisper that The Demon had arrived. None would dare to even speak his name.

The warriors were nothing. They were mere gnats attacking a bear. He shook them off, killed most, and let the smart ones flee.

Rion walked over cooling bodies and headed straight for the ballroom. His gaze roamed over the vast space before settling on the door to the basement.

He ventured down, taking an oil lantern with him.

Fae jumped to their feet at his approach. One male wet himself.

Rion snapped all three of their necks.

A slave stood in the corner, their clothes torn and tears staining their face. Rion rummaged through the dead Fae’s pockets with his magic and threw a key at the slave’s feet.

“Free yourself. Search the rooms and free the others, then get out of the city.”

The slave nodded and ran, not even bothering to cover himself. Rion ventured toward the back rooms where he found three more slaves. Two male, one female. He snapped the chains and told them the same. Free the others, then flee.

Rion’s gaze wandered over the office. Over the papers and records that would likely prove useful to Saoirse and Alec.

Then he decided he didn’t care. He took an oil lamp from the corner and shattered it across the desk. Flames spread, papers curled up, turning from brown to black. The oil dripped onto the floor and after a few moments, the wooden desk caught as well.

Rion backed out of the room, leaving the door open, then did the same to the next room and the next.

When he emerged back upstairs, there were slaves running toward the doors, shrieking at the bodies scattered across the floor.

Rion listened carefully. He heard the crackling flame below. Heard the screams outside.

He searched for heartbeats and ventured into one room at a time. He found a pair of children cowering in a closet. Children of the nobles, if their clothes were anything to go by.

He didn’t smile at them, but he wouldn’t be like the rest of the people in this gods-forsaken land. He wouldn’t kill a child just because of how they’d been born.

Rion broke the window, grabbed the shrieking children with his magic and carefully deposited them on the ground below.

Once he’d cleared the rooms, Rion returned to the ballroom. His magic crawled beneath the mosaic tile of the floor. It cracked, splintering and stretching from one wall to another.

Portraits fell from the walls, the frames cracking when they hit the ground. Statues toppled over, shattering against the ground. Rion grabbed the pillars that held everything up and ripped them away one at a time. The massive structure shuddered, cracked, then collapsed in on itself.

Rion shielded himself from the crumbling roof and yanked another pillar from its place. Then another, until everything began folding in on itself.

Then Rion walked out, pulling at the already fallen structure as if he were wading through water. He emerged to find two dozen Fae standing outside, their weapons drawn and magic out.

---