Page 89 of Happily Ever Bitten (Underworld Royals 2)

The horsemen, I realized. It was their influence in my soul, in my creation, that generated all the disoriented pieces. I could see them in the various slivers, their jagged edges lined with murderous intent toward the female attacking me now.

Something snapped within my soul, my world coming alive in a blast of color, consumed by black.

Napia.

Her hum of appreciation revolted me to my core.

Grigory’s sadness prickled my heart.

And the dead souls of the soldiers of this room awoke the protector within me.

No. Not the protector. The harbinger.

Energy rippled out of me as I grabbed Napia with my mind, my hooks digging deep to find the soul residing within her, my need to consume her overwhelming.

She shrieked, trying to jerk away from me, but her tongue lay frozen against my skin, acting as a conduit as I searched for her withering spirit.

It reminded me of soot, the ash-like pieces impossible for me to grab. They sifted through my fingers, similar to sand.

This wasn’t working.

I needed to try something else.

What was it Lucifer asked? Something about sucking out souls.

I focused on the grainy fibers of her being, stirring a current of energy within my mind. It was foreign, yet familiar, the rightness of my path singing through my veins as I began to inhale her essence.

She’d tried to consume my powers.

I repaid her by annihilating her soul.

Each grain that touched my aura shattered on impact.

Bit by bit, weakening her with each pull of spirit.

I felt her life slithering around me, her snakes attempting to defend their master, but she was no match for the power growing within me.

She was a threat to the realms.

She needed to die.

I felt the certainty of that conviction with every ounce of my being. Napia couldn’t be allowed to live.

Her screams rent the air, the piercing sound sending a shiver down my spine, but I refused to stop. This was necessary justice. She’d defied the balance, devouring countless energy signatures that weren’t her own, and commanded so many others.

I felt her ties to her army begin to snap.

I experienced the downfall of a dozen other enchantments she’d placed on various guards and maids throughout Noxia, all meant to fuel an uprising.

I heard Grigory’s sigh of relief as the paralyzing toxin left his system.

And I sensed the moment she realized it was over, the last remaining fragments of her soul dancing between us, leaving her body a husk of the former demon.

Electricity hummed around me as the final sliver touched my aura, exploding on impact, sending her shriveled form to

the ground.

A final breath escaped her, the snakes following suit, then silence reigned.

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