Page 87 of Cruel Revenge
I listened to their heartbeats, their breath, the shuffle of their shoes. What they were saying didn’t matter.
What mattered was that they were alive and smelled of magic.
I knew they were witches or worked with them.
That was all I needed to know.
I was suddenly behind one, my claws sinking into the weak flesh of a neck. My claws went through everything easily, the red of the blood seeming more vibrant than anything I had ever witnessed. But the kill did nothing to ease me. It didn’t snap me back to rationality.
It gave me more push to continue.
Before the body finished its fall to the ground, I was on the second. It was easy to knock them to their back, my bloody hand on their face as I sat on their chest.
I pushed down.
It felt like popping a grape, except for the crunch of bone.
I only kept moving, not looking at the mess I left behind. To dwell on it was to potentially lose time and surprise. Like any efficient predator, keeping the advantage of surprise was something I couldn’t afford to lose.
I’m here, Carey. I’m coming for you.
I went in through the closet door, following how the scent of magic and various witches grew thicker. I saw one in the hallway and jumped, dropping down on them as my claws grabbed their neck and I tore out everything once again, this time the blood spraying toward me.
Someone screamed, blood curdling and horrified.
I snarled and lunged for the sound, low and dangerous, hitting them in the soft part of their abdomen.
They didn’t stand a chance.
If they had wanted to survive the day, they should never have been in this building. Never had been part of those who took my daughter.
I got up, hearing a drip of liquid, and kept moving, the drip marking the beat of my steps. My heart wasn’t racing. I wasn’t breathing hard.
With that terrible clarity of a monster on the war path, I kept moving, listening to my instincts, letting them tell me where to step and what turns to take. Steps were running toward me, and I stood boldly in the space.
The moment a witch opened a door, I was there, grabbing them and throwing them across the hall. Drywall broke.
I killed two others before they realized their third was gone. I went back to the one I threw and made sure to finish the kill.
Not a single witch was leaving this building alive. They were never getting second chances. Not for touching Carey. Not for scaring her. Not for hurting her.
If it was the last thing I ever did, I was going to make sure to drag all of them with me to hell. And from the depths of hell with them, I was going to smile and know that Carey was going to be okay.
I reached a pair of bay doors and tried to open them, but was met with a strong smell of magic. With a snarl, I knew the best way to break a spell was to kill the witch who was maintaining it. I turned away and continued hunting.
There were plenty of places for the witches to hide.
But not from me.
I heard footsteps and tracked them. Running. Running toward me and away. I listened to those coming closer, wondering if they knew what waited for them. When I heard a few clicks, I was moving toward them, ready to be on top of the fool who thought they could shoot me.
Around a corner, the witch revealed herself, firearm raised. I slipped to the side and grabbed the gun, slamming it back into the face of the witch. Then I grabbed her head and sent it into the wall. A gun went off, but the thud of impact hit the body in front of me. I pulled the head back out of the wall and threw the whole body at those further away. The force of the throw sent people down, and once they were on the ground, they were easy to deal with, unable to recover faster than I could kill them.
I was in a maze as I got up and kept moving, not really knowing where in the building I was. It didn’t matter that much. It didn’t bother me. I was tracking sound and smell, looking for those still alive, those who would dare hurt my daughter and take her from me.
I am her oath-sworn protector, and I will not fail her again. Never again.
I found witches hiding in rooms, trying to defend themselves when I entered. Guns were going off, and I was knocked around by magic a couple of times. I wasn’t totally perfect, but painwasn’t registering. I could smell my own blood as I continued my hunting.
