Page 25 of Crimson Promises
I sagged against the hedge, tiny sprigs poked my back. I dug the heel of my palms into my eyes.Why is this bothering me? Something about her loneliness beckoned to my soul. She was an adult, free to make her own choices—I was not a viable choice, not even as a friend.
A guardian. A protector. The goal was too important to get distracted by her.
Jos. Jos. Jos. He deserved more than me getting sidetracked. The only entanglements I was capable of having were solely physical. Whatever emotions she tended to illicit from me, I needed to shove them way down, locking them in a lead box with every other emotion except for the unyielding rage that has kept me going all this time.
An acrid scent overwhelmed my nostrils.
It seemed I wasn’t the only one spying on Aurora and Angelfucker. Inhaling deeper, something about the smell pulled at my memory. Like when a piece completes the puzzle, it clicked. Thethingthat had attacked Aurora, that’s what it smelled like.
Jumping to my feet, I reached for my favorite dagger. Like Aurora’s necklace, it had been given to me by my mother.
With the weapon in hand, I weaved through the maze of surrounding hedges. There were no signs of anyone except that putrid smell lodged in every molecule of clean air. It seemed to only affect me since Aurora and Riley were still making out in the gazebo. Each sweep of the maze pulled me further from her, causing the bond to go rigid. I ignored it, keeping my focus on the threat that may present itself.
A rough, low, pitched voice materialized from behind me. “Vos.”You.
Dread crawled up my spine. It spoke in another tongue I hadn’t heard for years.
I spun around. Similar to the creature that came before it, this one had the same black ligaments and muscle composition. However, this creature’s body was covered in a translucent layer. Unlike the previous one, this beast could speak. It unsettled me to my very core.What were these things?
It drank in the air. “Ut olfacies eam.”You smell like her.
“Who is ‘her’?”
“Ille petit.”The one he seeks. Aurora.
So, it understood English; it just couldn’t speak it.
“Sorry to break it to you, cling wrap, but you can’t have her.” Channeling Connor, I mustered all the bravado I had. “Unfortunately for you, I don’t feel like sharing. You’ll have to find other plans for the evening. May I suggest a charming coffee shop called Perk & Pour on the other side of town? They serve a mean macchiato.”
“Da eam nobis vel.”Give her to us or else.
“You realize you’re speaking in the third person? There is only one of you. You should be saying, ‘Give her to me’ instead. I’d offer you a grammar lesson, but honestly, I don’t have the fucking time. Now, I’ll give you the opportunity I didn’t give to your friend: Leave now or die. Those are your choices.”
The creature released a high-pitched howl that resembled a war cry. It scraped its taloned feet against the ground and charged at me full force.
At the last second, I pulled the same maneuver that worked last time, stepping to the side. It didn’t give me long to reset before it charged me again, grabbing me by the throat and lifting me off the ground. My dagger clattered to the floor.
“What are you?” The question had been swirling in my mind. Every time I got close, the answer was ripped away by tryingnotto die. Though these days, that didn’t sound like such a bad alternative.
The thing sneered. “Propinqui sumus te et ego.”We are kin, you and I.
Now, it was my turn to laugh. “Not a chance we are related in any sort of sick or twisted way.”
The creature pointed to my wrist.
Before I had the chance to register any meaning, I was dropped on my tailbone. I didn’t have time to register the pain.
I scurried to grab my dagger. Aurora was still close by—and all those people at the party. I didn’t have time to magically summon a soundproof bubble to keep the wretched sound this creature was making muffled. Who even knows if that would contain this creature?
I was left with no other option; I waved the blade in front of its face. “Let’s see if you are as slow as your dead friend,” I taunted.
Pouring every bit of angelic power I had, I ran through the hedges and out of the maze. In the split millisecond I had, I hung a hard left down a trampled grass path towards the forest’s tree line, the same woods that the frat house had backed onto. I sprinted forward without looking back. Its high-pitched growl buzzed from behind. My body urged me to curl into a fetal position to cover my ears like a siren’s song this beckoned me to succumb. Pictures of Jos and Aurora flashed through my mind. Iwouldnot relinquish.
The noticeably cooler temperature in the forest was a welcome relief to my flushed cheeks. It smelled damp, and the ground was soft. The path bent into a sharp right curve. I ran towards the inside of the turn, hoping to gain a few seconds. Next thing I knew, I was face down in a pile of moist mud—hot breath against my exposed limbs.
It grabbed my legs and dragged me closer to it before flipping me around. One of its talons traced the outline of my face, scraping lightly to scratch and tear the skin.
“Volupe est meum devorare carnes tuas et epulari animae tuae.”It will be my pleasure to devour your flesh and feast on your soul.
