Page 54 of Hellish Witch

Killian had sliced off his hand.

But he didn’t stop there.

The psycho speared his weapon into the grass and launched himself at the squealing male, slashing chunks of flesh off withhis bare claws. An unhinged laugh spilled from Killian’s lips, soaked in darkness.

He kicked the orc’s knee out, sending him screaming to the floor, and pounced.

I couldn’t breathe. Killian straddled the giant male and punched his hand through the orc’s heaving chest, reaching in and scrambling organs until the thick scent of gore perfumed the air.

The unicorn beside them whinnied in excitement, stomping his pointy hooves like he wanted the orc beneath them.

Killian bared his fangs at his victim. “You’re not fit to be in her presence, let alone speak about her.”

Violence danced in his glowing eyes. He removed his dripping hands from the chest cavity he’d cracked open like a crab shell. He pried open the orc’s mouth, reaching his fist in and yanking at something.

I gagged the second Killian ripped the forked tongue free, cackling like a madman. “Now you can never address her again. She’s above you. My fucking princess.”

The light dimmed from the orc’s eyes, their yellow glow dying to a putrid pus colour.

Silence blanketed the forest.

None of the orc’s comrades dared move. Not a leaf dared rustle, nor an insect dared chirp.

“Ohhhhkaayyyy…” I drew out the word, struggling to process the brutality I’d just witnessed.

I mean, I knew Killian was a little unhinged. He was a lead enforcer for a brutal kingdom constantly under threat. The things he did to protect us involved bloody fangs and stringy flesh under his claws.

But this was a whole new level of crazy.

Killian had the gall to look up at me, raise the slippery grey tongue in offering, andsmirk. “A gift, sweetness.”

My birthday wasn’t until tomorrow, but I doubted he knew that.

He’d just dismembered a demon and cackled while doing it. And then was trying to give me a piece of his victim.

Like a complete psychopath.

I couldn’t help the snort of disbelief that escaped me. “No wonder people avoid our kingdom.”

He grinned manically. “It’s called a show of excessive force.”

I coughed. “Isn’t it just.”

One slaver at the back of the group gagged, a fine leather-gloved hand coming up to cover his tusks, and the shocked stupor holding the others broke.

“Throw them in with the rest!” A wrinkled orc beside the carts stamped a crooked staff with a booming thud.

The orcs moved as one, a surge of violence bristling towards us.

Killian leaped to his feet and threw his black wings wide, intimidating enough to make a few hesitate. The rest plunged towards us.

I wouldn’t be caged. Not ever again.

My magic surged. A desperate dark thing. It clasped me by the throat and tore from its cage.

Everyone flinched, and time stilled.

Bones snapped, and screams answered. Cuts and bruises ruptured through the crowd.

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