Page 100 of Vengeance Becomes Her

Silence told herhe was waiting.

“I’m glad you brought me here. You saved me the time and effort of finding you. I should be thanking you.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. I’ve been dreaming of the day I’d finally get to pay you back for what you’ve done to me. I was prepared to wait a few more days, but this is so much better. Just the two of us. Much more efficient.”

“She has claws now.” He laughed.

She turned her head, looking him in the face for the first time, ready to show him just how sharp she’d become. But the words died on her tongue as she took in the sight of him. The decomposition had worsened. The flesh had completely fallen away on the right side of his face, leaving only the sinewy bright redtissue beneath.

He stared back at her, grinning to reveal long, animalistic teeth that were so big and sharp they should only belong to the most fearsome predator. But instead, they were on this once-beautiful man.

It was startling to see the stark contrast of his complexion close up. The left side was mostly still left untouched, but itwas spreading.

“What happened to you? You look so much worse.” She didn’t hide the disgust in her voice.

His jaw worked before he pushed himself back and away from her, returning to the shadows.

His voice drifted over to her, louder than it should have given the distance. “You” he growled. “You happened tome, Rhiannon.”

She couldn’t help the laugh that escaped her. It was one of pure glee. Satisfaction rolled through her, warming her from the inside out.

His fist was in the back of her hair, yanking her head back before she even felt the air shift. “I promise you won’t think this is funny when you know why.” He huffed a humorless laugh. “No, when you find out what awaits you, you will be begging me to kill you this time around.” He unclenched his fist, shoving her head forward.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“I look like this because my power is leaving me. My master is abandoning me because it has set its sights on you.”

The shadows that clung to him trembled, flickering wildly with his growing anger.

“I didn’t fail to kill you. It let you live. And that wasn’t the gift you thought it was. It seeks you as a vessel. To take my place. But I’ve tried to tell it that you can never offer what I can.” He leaned close to her face, squeezing her cheeks between his long, clawed fingers. “You would never be able to stomach what it asks.”

“You have no idea who I am anymore. You don’t know what I’m capable of. But you are right about one thing. I’m nothing like you.”

“Oh Rhia,” he purred. “We are one in the same.”

“That’s not true.”

“Isn’t it? You hunted me down tokillme. And in the meantime, you’ve cut down countless people who got in your way. Or at least that’s how you justify it. Do you truly think you would be satisfied after ridding the world of me?”

The last few months whirled through her mind, and he crouched in front of her, forcing her to make eye contact.

“Your silence tells me you wouldn’t—especially not if you had access to thiskind of power.”

He almost looked sorry for her, but the cruelty in his features told her he was enjoying this, painting a picture of her that made her just as much amonster as him.

“It’s not the same.”

“What, you think because you kill men that you believe are bad that makes you different? A life is a life, and you gladly pick up that blade and run it through them without hesitation. Face it, Rhia, you’re a murderer, same as I. The sooner you accept that, the sooner you’ll be able to embrace your true power.”

“I did what I needed to do to protect myself. To protect other women. But you…you target those who are weaker than you. You take their life for your own greed. Simply because you can. And for what, for this pathetic existence you call a life.”

“This power is anything but pathetic.” His snakes wound around her waist until blackness swam across her vision and air ceased to flow through her lungs. “And I won’t let you be the reason I lose it.”

“You’ll have to kill me if you intend to live, because I’m going to do everything in my power to end this once and for all.”

“You know nothing of power.”

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