Page 101 of Fated to Monsters

Fire, quick and hot, licks at my flesh, my hound rising to the surface.

“About damn time,” I mutter.

I could say the same to you,he growls in my mind.

I narrow my gaze across the way at the woman who is responsible for this bloodbath.

She takes a step back, stumbling over the corpse of one of her soldiers. Her arms go wide to catch herself but the phoenix is there, gripping her shoulders and holding her in place.

“You’re not going anywhere,” he tells her.

“For ages, Prania has been plagued," I say loud enough for anyone near to hear. "We were told that it was a feud with demons and hunters, but…" I glance to my left, then to my right. “In reality, we have one common enemy.” I point a fiery finger toward Parla. “Her.”

The few remaining demons follow behind me, while some of the hunters march in my wake, too.

“This stops today.” I continue forward until I’m only a few feet from where Dash has Parla hostage. “Someone else hold her.” I make eye contact with the wendigo and he immediately walks over to take Dash’s place.

“You won’t get away with this,” she blurts out, desperate to say anything to attempt to threaten me. “I’m not the only one. If you kill me, you’ll never find out who’s next.”

I laugh. “I’ve had enough of your fear tactics.”

The mob of people stands in wait, no longer attacking each other but coming together to witness the end of an era.

I step toward her, my hand creeping closer, the fire burning a bit brighter.

Parla wiggles in the wendigo’s grasp but is no match for his strength.

Wrapping my hand around her throat, I unleash some of my power. “How does it feel?”

Her skin melts under my grasp. Her scream pierces my ears. And I wish there was a way to bottle up this agony so I could gift it to Wren in the afterlife. To show her that in the end, Parla suffered.

She doesn’t deserve a quick death, yet a long and antagonizing one. If I had it my way, I would imprison her in Rockbridge and expose her to the same torment she did to us, only dragging it out over decades until she withered away to nothing. I would peel every inch of flesh from her body but make sure she lived through every tortured moment just to experience that same pain over and over. I would have a witch take away her free will and force her to hurt herself and then sit back and watch her anguish and attempt to withstand the control. I would revel in the bliss of certainty that she would never hurt another person, hunter or demon, ever again.

But if I had it my way, the barrier trapping the citizens of Prania within its confines would never cease to exist. The only way to free them is to kill Parla once and for all.

I release her from my fiery grip and bask in the tears streaming down her cheeks and the sticky flesh that remains on my hand. I shake it to my side, ridding myself of her skin, and turn toward the horde that's formed behind me.

“Your entire life is a lie. You have been under the influence of this pathetic excuse of a woman right here. She convinced us that we were enemies so we would kill each other without question.” I press my hand to my chest. “I have been to Arthlia. I have seen the coexistence of creatures. We do not have to hate one another. We can live in peace.”

Parla spits blood onto the ground near me and chuckles. “You know nothing of peace.”

I spin on my heel and face her. “You used my mate. You convinced her that I was the enemy, and you made her kill for you.”

A chilling smile creeps across her face. “That’s not all I made her do.”

Stepping forward, I peer down at her. “You think I don’t know?” I shake my head. “You should be ashamed of yourself.”

Dash comes closer and I move to give him space. “Remember me?”

Parla glares up at him. “How could I forget?”

“You killed me. Over and over again. And when you were done with me, you beat me until I had no memory of who I was.”

“My only regret,” she says. “Was not finding a way to kill you for good.”

Dash’s jaw tenses and I expect him to snap at her, to follow through with his innate desire to end her life that I don’t doubt is coursing through him right now. But he doesn’t. No, he remains planted in place in front of her, his form fixed to the ground.

"I thought I wanted to kill you," he tells her. "But that would be too easy. Too kind for you." Dash glances over his shoulder. "So instead, I'm going to watch as they rip you apart.YouParla, are the evil that must be purged from this world.”

---