Page 122 of Body and Soul

Azreal's dark eyes glittered and his lips twisted into a cruel smirk. “You already know. You’re just too afraid to say it.”

I swallowed hard. “I know Shepherd is a vigilante. That he kills people. I know that Keres helps. That’s not news to me.”

Azreal let out a dark chuckle, the sound devoid of any real humor. “You have no idea, do you? Killing is only the beginning. Have you ever wondered what Keres does with the bodies afterwards?”

A sick feeling twisted in my gut. I swallowed hard, my mouth suddenly dry. “I assumed he disposed of them. Buried them or…or something.”

“Buried them,” Azreal repeated, amusement lacing his tone. “Come on now. Keres is far more…resourceful than that. The Children of the Light taught him well.”

My breath caught in my throat, horror dawning as the implication of his words sank in. “You can't mean...”

“Oh, but I do.” Azreal's voice was a low purr, almost seductive in its cruelty. “Keres still hungers for flesh. Human flesh. He savors it, craves it like a man starved. And when he's done, there's nothing left but gnawed bones and scraps of bloody meat.”

Bile rose in my throat and I swallowed hard, fighting the urge to be sick. It couldn't be true. The Shepherd I knew, the man I loved, he couldn't be capable of something so monstrous. “You're lying. Shepherd wouldn't let him.”

“Shepherd doesn't have as much control as you think,” Azreal cut in, his tone almost pitying. “Especially not over Keres. None of us do. He's the oldest, the strongest. The hungriest. And once he has a taste for something—or someone—he doesn't stop until he's had his fill.”

Bile rose in my throat. It was one thing to eat people when he was being forced to do it in the cult, but to continue doing it afterwards?

My mind reeled, trying to process the horrifying revelation. Keres was a cannibal. He killed people and... and ate them. And Shepherd knew. He let it happen.

I wanted to run, to scream, to scrub my brain clean of the sickening images assaulting my mind's eye. But I couldn't move. I was frozen, pinned in place by Azreal's piercing gaze and the weight of the truth crushing down on me.

“Now you see,” Azreal murmured. “Now you understand the monster lurking beneath the man you claim to care about. So go ahead, Eli. Run. Run away and don't look back. It's what's best for everyone.”

Tears burned my eyes, but I blinked them back furiously. No. No, I wouldn't run. I couldn't. Not now, not ever. Because as horrifying as the truth was, it didn't change the way I felt. I still loved Shepherd, all of him, even the darkest, most broken parts.

Azreal marched over to a drawer, taking out pen and paper. He scribbled down an address and shoved it at me. “If you don't believe me, go see for yourself.”

My hands trembled as I scanned the address scrawled there in Azreal's sharp handwriting. Part of me didn't want to believe him, couldn't fathom that the man I loved was capable of such depravity. But another part, the part that had sensed the darkness lurking beneath Keres' surface from the beginning, knew that Azreal was telling the truth.

I crumpled the paper in my fist, my mind racing. What was I supposed to do with this information? Confront Shepherd? Go to the police? The thought made my stomach churn. I couldn't betray him like that, no matter what horrors Keres had committed.

“What is it you want me to do?” I whispered. “You want me to leave? Won’t Keres hunt me down if I do?”

Azreal tilted his head, considering me with those cold, calculating eyes. “You have a chance if you leave now. Disappear without a trace. He can't hunt what he can't find.”

I shook my head, a mirthless laugh escaping my lips. “You think it's that simple? That I can walk away from all of this, from him, and pretend like none of it ever happened?”

“It's the only way.” Azreal's voice softened a fraction, almost sounding sympathetic. Almost. “If you stay, Keres will consume you, one way or another. And Shepherd... he'll destroy himself by trying to protect you from a threat he can't control.”

I hated that Azreal's words made a twisted sort of sense. Hated even more that a part of me was considering leaving Shepherd behind, for his own good as much as mine.

But the larger part of me, the part that loved him with every fractured piece of my soul, knew I could never walk away. Not like this. Not without a fight.

I squared my shoulders, meeting Azreal's gaze head on. “No. I'm not running. I'm not abandoning him.”

Azreal sighed. “Go to the factory. See for yourself what a monster we are. Then make your choice. Just make sure it’s one you can live with.”

I stumbled out ofShepherd's apartment, my vision blurred by unshed tears. The crumpled piece of paper with the factory address was a terrible weight in my pocket.

I didn't have a car, so I had to hail a cab. My hands shook as I opened the door and climbed inside, giving the driver the cross-streets near the factory. I couldn't risk him knowing my true destination.

As the cab wove through the city streets, I leaned my forehead against the cool glass of the window, watching the blur of lights and buildings pass by. My mind raced, replaying every moment with Shepherd, every tender touch and whispered promise. Had it all been a lie? A twisted game to lure me in, to fatten me up like a lamb for slaughter?

What if he was no different from Father Ezekiel and the rest of the cult? What if he was just using me?

I didn’t know if I’d survive that.

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