Page 16 of Her Dark Promise

“Tell me your purpose here, boy.”

“Boy?”

“Don’t make me repeat myself.”

“I am hunting,” he uttered strongly.

“There’s nothing to hunt,” I countered. “You’re intruding on my land, just like your friends did.”

“Your land? My friends?” His face pinched together in confusion.

I was done. I threw the blade and saw his eyes widen at his weapon barrelling through the air back at him. He barely jumped out of the way as I shot out my hand, grabbed a hold of his neck and threw him against the cold metal gate.

I bared my teeth and demanded, “Tell me why you’re here.”

I could feel my power rising to the anger flowing through me, the shadows flew around us, balking at how close we were to the barrier.

I tried to calm down my powers, not wanting to kill him yet, but the anger wouldn’t subside. His eyes bulged out of his head as he was barely able to get a breath from the way I was squeezing his throat. He stared at me, as if he couldn’t understand what he was seeing.

I released him slightly, threw him harder against the metal, and repeated, “Say it, hunter.”

He took a moment before croaking out, “Why can’t I move? What the hell is this…” He cursed when he saw the shadows, “Witch!”

I narrowed my eyes, and eased up on my magic, not letting him go, but allowing him enough space to speak. “I’m waiting.”

His eyebrows knitted together, clearly confused about his current predicament. His eyes traveled from my face to the blood on my shoulder.

He remained silent, so I continued, “You have three seconds to say something of value to me, or I start removing body parts.” I looked down at his trousers and then looked back at him, smirked and said, “I know which part I would start with.”

I could feel his throat bob under my hand. My eyes never left his, waiting for him to seal his fate just as his friends did before him.

“I was hunting in the forest when I came upon this path and followed it. I’m hunting the beast.”

“Liar.”

“What?” He questioned.

“I can feel your heartbeat, boy. It beat faster the moment that lie left your lips.” I took a step closer, staring down at him despite our significant height difference. “How about I take a little guess? You and your friends came into the forest looking for weaker humans to steal from. You found an innocent woman in a little shack and thought she would be an easy target. Your friend told me how much pleasure she took in taking her life. Somehow, you got separated, and you followed them here. I have bad news for you, I killed them for what they did.”

The question was… Were there more of them?I could take them on, but I wasn’t sure Emilia and Callum would make it. I couldn’t guarantee that I could hold in my anger and not kill them in the process. I needed to know how many more were coming.

“Friends? I don’t—”

“Don’t worry, I won’t kill you, yet. Tell me what I need to know, and I will make your death swift.” I grabbed his chin between my fingers.

“I didn’t come with any friends,” he ground out, “but you should kill me, because the second you let me go, there will be no stopping me from gutting you just like your ancestors.”

Just like they did to me, Callie.I gasped at how loud her voice was, and my hand loosened around his throat.He reminds me of someone… Your father, perhaps?

Tears began to fill my eyes. I squeezed his throat until his face almost turned blue and then finally let go of him. He fell to the ground, coughing hard, trying to catch his breath. And as he looked up at me, the expression on his face was no longer that of worry, but of rage.

Good. That was something we had in common.

I used my shadows to infiltrate his mind and bend his will to believe that he didn’t wish to move. Little sparks of gold floated around him, my eyes glowing a bright violet. Always did when I used my magic.

It was my turn to smirk. Smirking at his stunned expression, I walked closer, nose to nose, and said in a low voice. “As I have said before, I am not afraid of the beast. Iamthe beast.” I waved my hand in front of him. “Somnum.” I blew powder that I kept in my pocket in case Emilia had one of her spells into his face.

His body immediately slumped to the ground as I had placed him under a sleeping spell. I walked over and stood directly above him. “You will answer my questions.”

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