Page 124 of Cruelest Kiss and Fairest Blood
“If you start pulling power from that deep within you, you’ll risk losing your youth. I’m telling you now, your demon will not leave this encounter alive. If you use up your energy in this fight, your beauty will fade for good. The mirror won’t be here to replenish you. That bracelet may keep you alive, but it won’t restore your youth. You’ll live forever as an old hag.” There’s a flicker of fear in her now-yellow, bloodshot eyes. “You’ve already expended too much energy. The signs of aging have begun to show.”
That makes her flinch. I need Catreena to stay young and beautiful. It’s imperative that she’s still desirable and full of dark magic when this ends.
She looks to her monster and back. The slight action has Lenore’s words ringing in my ears.It’s tasted my blood.I only had an hour before it was going to come looking.That could explain why it’s standing so statuesque. It’s counting down the minutes before the hunt begins.
So much has happened since I left Lenore. How much time is left? I don’t know how long she was on the run before she jumped from the window. I hid her wrist wound, but if anything has happened to her since then or if the creature has another way to track its victims, she’s still in danger. My worry for Lenore surges when I realize Cassius is not present, nor has he come to his sister’s aid.
Catreena’s lip quivers. I’ve awakened her fear. She scowls like a petulant child. “I don’t need to kill you myself.”
Her words are the key that releases the dead from their stasis. They spring forth, bodies loose and fast. The Beast and I meet them head-on. My shadows slice through limbs and faces. The humans barely slow. They don’t feel pain anymore. The Beast rips the first few to shreds. Even I have to admit, he’s pretty fucking ferocious like this.
I’m so busy fighting off body after body that I don’t realize the mirror monster has started moving until it’s almost to the door.
Catreena gives it away. “Hurry!” The shrillness of her voice draws my attention. Her glance flicks to the door and back as she shifts on her feet. The mirror monster is leaving. In the middle of a battle.It’s going for Lenore.
I try to shadow toward it, but before I can disappear, a young mutilated woman latches on to my leg. The next time I try to shadow, I remain in place. The dead things are interfering withmy powers. My dawning realization must show. Catreena smiles. A tiny victory for her.
Another grasps my shoulder. “Beast, get these off me.”
The severed lower half of someone who was once quite large slams into the girl attached to my legs. She’s knocked backward. The upper half of that same person hits the one on my shoulder, dislodging them as well.
Damn. The Beast just ripped someone in half and tossed them like two pieces of a battering ram. I glance back to find him smiling. His grin is pure savage. A severed leg juts from his jaw.
He’s like a fucking shark on land.
Finally able to shadow again, I blink across the room and land directly in front of the mirror demon.
There’s a chill in the air surrounding the monster.
Dark magic saturates its aura, making me queasy. The monster sidesteps me. I block it. The creature tries again. This time I strike, lashing out at it with shadows. If I can detain it long enough to come up with a better plan to kill it…
My ears ring as every human trapped on its body screams. The wailing is so loud and mournful it splinters my skull. They continue screaming, the sound hitting me like a shockwave and dropping me to my knees.This has to stop.
Diving into the deepest part of my monster, I push away thoughts of who the people were before and focus on what they’re doing now. My claws bury into the throat of the first human, ripping his vocal cords free. The second is a particularly loud woman. With a sharp tug, I rid her of the ability to scream. They’ve already suffered so much. But I have no choice. Claws, throats, screaming, and finally, silence.
“That’s enough of that.” My hand latches on to the monster’s bony face and suddenly I’m in a world of mist.
Looking around, I can see nothing but veils of thick white fog. Where the hell am I? The soft sounds of sobbing reach me.
A woman steps into view. She’s beautiful. Young, with softly curled red hair and bloodshot green eyes. She wears a dress of deep purple, with a matching crown of flowers atop her head. Tears continue to run down her cheeks.
“You let it get me.” Her voice sends chills up my arms. “I was a good person. I was supposed to be safe.”
Her sobbing intensifies. More people step out from the fog. Young and old, beautiful and average. Hundreds of them. All crying.
I shake my head. “I don’t understand.”
The girl holds up a silver flower. My insides tighten.She’s from my gardens.The change starts with the thin shimmery petals. They wither, crumbling to the ground. Next are her eyes. The green is lost, overtaken by pitch black. Her skin darkens, spreading outward until it consumes her petite form. When she opens her mouth to speak again, black tar oozes from between her lips.
“You were supposed to protect me. But you let it get us. All of us.”
Every person present changes, falling into ruin as their skin fades and darkness consumes them.
It hits me. They’re cursed. I’m being confronted by everyone I ever failed. All of these people had their peace in the Underworld stolen when a cursed spirit invaded their garden. Guilt funnels down my throat, stealing my ability to breathe.
I failed them.Feet shuffle closer, pressing in around me.I failed them.They reach out to me, hands dripping with goo.I failed them.
“Wake up!” The demand is followed by a growl that shakes my skeleton. My eyes snap open. The Beast’s glowing gaze peers down at me. “Wake the fuck up. That thing is eating you.” He vanishes, returning to the fray.
