Page 70 of The Hellkeeper

Bang.

Bang.

One by one, they drop.

Those who try to run, I shoot without hesitation. The others, too terrified to move, I push into the hell they created. I watch it all, unaffected by the blaze.

Smoke thickens the air, choking the sky, turning it into a blood-stained haze. I keep going. Keep hunting. Keep burning. Until there’s nothing left but ashes and corpses.

And I stand there, watching it all.

This is what they deserve.

The smoke begins to get to me.My eyes sting, and a rough cough tears out of my throat. I leave the village square after making sure there's no hope left for any of them.

But then I see the white truck, the one they came in, with Linda trying to escape it. Without hesitation, I pour the rest of the fuel over the hood, drenching it until gasoline runs down the sides and pools beneath the tires.

I strike another match. Flick it into the gas-soaked engine block.

The fire erupts instantly. The truck ignites, a blaze roaring beneath the metal. Glass windows shatter from the heat.

The glass explodes in my face. Shards slice into my cheek, but I feel no pain. Only satisfaction.

Linda looks at me with pleading eyes, silently begging, but I just watch her burn. That’s what she deserves for what she has done.

I leave before the fire spreads enough to trap me and make my way to the car, parked far enough to avoid the worst of it. Still, the heat licks at my back. The fire will spread, fast.

I slide into the driver’s seat, ready to get Amelia out of here.

But before I can start the engine, her bloodied hand rests on mine.

She doesn’t speak. She doesn’t need to.

I understand.

She wants to watch. Just a little longer.

So I let her.

She isn’t just mine, she is me. Cut her, and I bleed. Hurt her, and I become death itself. My love isn’t gentle. It’s all-consuming. If she cries, I will carve out the tongues that spoke against her. If she bleeds, I will drown the world in the blood of those who hurt her. There is no limit. No end. Only fire. Only ruin. Only the bodies I would stack at her feet just to keep her safe.

I would burn everything. Everyone. Until there is nothing left but her and me in the ashes.

Together, we witness the last embers of this wretched place die.

Together, we end it all.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Amelia

Damien pulls into a run-down motel on the drive back. It looks abandoned, falling apart even. I think he wants us to rest a little before the long drive home.

The receptionist freezes when she sees us approaching. Her eyes flick to me, noting that I look absolutely battered. I can see it in her face: she’s deciding whether or not to call the cops. Any sane person would. But before she can, Damien slaps a wad of cash onto the desk. Big, thick bills that make her swallow her conscience. She slides over a key without another word, her gaze pinned to the counter. I know what she’s thinking.

And she’d be right. I was kidnapped. Hurt. Tortured.

But not by the man standing beside me.

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