Page 18 of Forever Frenzy
No one was safe.
Seth eased closer. “After I alter the craving, okay?”
Tage nodded, every too-long hair brushing his neck. The fronds of the palms in the grove beyond shuddered.
My knees knocked as Seth drew near, but he didn’t touch me. Lowering his head, he muttered words I couldn’t understand and didn’t want to. He let the power under his skin bubble to the surface and spill over, out of his hands and mouth and eyes. When his hand touched me, I suddenly had purpose.
Hunger.
Fire.
Sekhmet.
Death.
Protector.
When my son offered his hand, I bit down so slightly that he didn’t realize I’d drank from him at all. The taste of his blood was revolting, but I felt the bond form.
I would protect him.
I would find her.
Looking to the ground, to Saul, a wail tore from my throat.
Seth backed away, wiping his widened eyes. “Let me out,” I told him.
He looked to Tage, who nodded and said, “Unbind me so I can help.”
With a whisper from Seth, Tage lit up from within. He flexed his muscles, bending his neck left and then right. He smiled.
“Open the door.” I smiled, my fangs grazing my bottom lip, longer than they’d been... before.
When he finally listened, I was gone before he could evenstep into the world. Before either of them could. And in my wake, my son told Tage, “She’s terrifying.”
Tage could only answer, “I know.”
Beating on the invisible doorway, I screamed, “Let me out!”
A slash of light blinded me for a few seconds, and then a burst of cold air hit my thighs. It was glorious, quenching the fire beneath my skin. I ran into the clearing, tearing my own path of destruction through the woods, blurring through tree and brush until I heard the water from the falls. Closer. Closer. I ran across the bridge and into town, keeping to the backyards and paths that fell behind houses. Mercedes was home. She and Roman were arguing. The kids were fine.
It would be Father she went after, then.
Sekhmet came here with vengeance on her mind.
I’d teach her the meaning of the word.
Keeping to the wall, I ran to Father’s house, where I heard him snoring inside. Nothing else stirred.
Where was she?
I walked through town, waving at the few people who were outside and bothered to wave first. Worried about leaving to check back on Seth and Tage, I caught her scent on the wind. Running to the center of town, I saw her standing in the pavilion.
She didn’t look surprised to see me. Boredom weighed her features down.
“I figured you’d want your neighbors to watch me kill you,” she boasted. “It serves another purpose, of course. They need to know who the new power is in this place, in this world. And it isn’t humans.”
“No,” I growled, bearing my fangs. “It isn’t.”
