Page 103 of Her Blood Revenge

‘And last I saw you,General,’ Sathick sneers. ‘You had betrayed my queen and sided with human scum.’

‘In fact,’ I add. ‘The last time you saw him was when he scooped out your left eye with that rusted old fork he found in a pile of horse shit. Bet that hurt like a bitch. It can’t have healed too well, either. Bet you got a nasty infection. You know. From the rust.’ I grimace. ‘And the horse shit. Horse shit in the bloodstream has to sting. Has to burn. I bet you can still smell it, too, huh? The horse shit.’

Sathick growls deeply.

‘Archie. Go to the coven.’

Shaw looks between us as I linger by the window. I don’t look away from Sathick. For such a spindly and giant beast, he’s quick, so doing so would be a dangerous mistake.

I don’t care about the coven. I really don’t give a single fuck. Let them all burn. Let them die.

‘Go!’ he orders. ‘I’ve got this bastard. That’s where she will go. Protect her.’

‘Don’t die,’ I warn him.

As I jump through the window, Shaw stands tall and faces the most lethal of Neve’s followers.

Sathick. The devourer of babies.

Chapter seventeen

The Dream Walker

Ihave many regrets in my life. Too many to count or recall. But not stopping Sathick sooner is one of my greatest. Neve had such a hold on me. Her blood and all it offered.

The peace and the power.

The euphoria and strength.

If there were any sign of weakness or disobedience, she would take away her blood. She would make me suffer more than any child Sathick would devour. I hid a child from him once. Placed it in a carriage and sent it to a village far from where we were.

Neve starved me for six months and held me captive in a cell with a curse placed on me. A curse that broke every one of my bones, one by one. They would heal, and when the sun rose, they would break again. Over and over.

Snap. Snap. Snap.

Then she opened the door. She fed me. She fucked me harder than she had ever fucked me before.

And all was forgiven.

All would be well if I didn’t betray her again.

When I stood in the light for the first time after my imprisonment, she made me watch as Sathick consumed the verychild I had saved. She had kept him all those months just so he would die in front of me.

‘My queen wants her daughter back. And she wants your head. There are no requirements for it to be attached to the rest of you, but she has expressed a deep interest in keeping you alive long enough to watch her destroy your little friends. Just as you made her watch her sisters perish.’

‘Then she’ll have to come out of hiding and face me herself.’

‘Who says she is hiding?’ he grins.

Well. That doesn’t bode well.

Sathick’s grin widens, those teeth already dripping with saliva.

I attack before he can, swiping my sword three times, aiming for the most vulnerable parts of him.

Throat. Gut. Face.

But he’s quick and dodges each blow. His long arm sweeps out. I duck, feeling the air pass me as it soars overhead. I shove my sword into his foot, burying the tip into the floors. As he screams and tries to pull it free, I take my chance and blow a cloud of sleep dust into his face. His eyes roll into the back of his head, and I catch him before he goes down.

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