Page 88 of Cruel Revenge
I had one goal, and I was okay with dying for it. Had been since the first time I ever fought the battle years ago. Over five years of knowing this moment could come again. I’d take every bullet. I’d bleed.
But I wasn’t going to stop this time. This time, my body wouldn’t grow weak until it was over, and I had protected her the way I should have years ago.
Panting, I continued, knowing with every successful kill, I was one step closer to freeing her. Closer to seeing her again. Closer to holding her one more time. Being able to tell her how she meant the world to me, the daughter of my heart and soul.
It was the only thread of humanity I felt like I had left. I knew Heath wouldn’t be able to love me anymore when I was done here.
It was okay, though. He wouldn’t be able to love me, but he would have a chance to keep loving his daughter. They would have forever.
There were fewer sounds as I went. However, the scent of magic grew stronger. Not only magic.
I slammed through a pair of doors and was greeted with a powerful blast of magic that had my back hitting the wall in the hallway. Air left my lungs, but I quickly recovered, snarling as I saw the face of the man who caused all of this.
“Incredible,” the witch said softly, the doubled voice spiking my temper in its wrongness. “Beautiful.”
I lunged forward, roaring as my anger reached its peak and I found the source of all the pain that had been inflicted on my family. Magic hit me again, but this time, it was a wall.
“Now, now,” the witch said, wagging a finger. “We can’t have all of that. You’re angry. That’s reasonable, but killing me won’t do what you think it will.”
I snarled, slamming myself against the magic wall that rippled as I hit it. Aside from those ripples, it was practically invisible.
“Killing this body will only kill one of us. I will continue on, you see. I’ll come back. So why don’t we instead make a deal? If you’re capable of it.”
I slowed my assault on the magic barrier. The feminine voice had grown dominant in that statement. If I killed the body, only the man who it belonged to died. The witch who had once captured Hasan for her own means would somehow be okay. Important. That meant I would need to find a way to kill her.
“You for them,” the witch said, smiling as they realized they had my attention. “I take you, I give Carey and the werewolves back to your family. How does that sound?”
I narrowed my eyes on them. Then, slowly, I lowered myself to my knees. What I didn’t do was nod or voice any agreement.
She didn’t notice that my submission didn’t come with a real agreement.
“Good.” The barrier dropped right as the witch got to me. They reached out to touch me.
I smiled. I would kill this body and deal with the dead later.
I grabbed the arm with one hand, both standing up and pulling the witch closer at the same time. My free hand grabbed the throat, and my claws sank in.
“No,” I growled.
I pulled, letting the blood go everywhere. I let go of the body as someone started to laugh over the sound of the body's thud.
Standing where the body once was, an ancient woman stood. Washed out, but still in just enough color for me to see she was from the same area of the world as Hasan. And the smells of the room changed. Suddenly, it was like I stood in the desert, surrounded by scorching sands.
“Just like your damned father,” she said, shaking her head as she looked me over, then down. “Well, that body was beginning to fail, anyway. The others will be upset that I let him die on a whim. They need me more than I need them, though. So, I’ll have a new one soon enough.”
I lashed out with my claws, and they passed through her. She laughed more, stepping away from the body.
“Now, now. You can’t kill me. I’m already dead.” She looked around the room. “And I’m having fun.”
I lunged and went through her, snarling in frustration. I knew, but I still had to try. So long as she was around, she was a threat.
“You would be such a prize, though. I had to try to get you, and a deal would have made it so easy. Not only would you be such a great werecat, looking the way you do, but to get those…” She leaned in, her fingers hovering near my face. I couldn’t touch her, and she couldn’t touch me. Her fingers tried and went into my cheek.
“Those beautifully cursed eyes. I’ve always loved them.” She smiled. “He must hate you, having to see these all the time. The eyes of the monster that made him.”
Someone screamed in the distance, then I realized I wasn’t done yet. I decided to leave the witch, ignoring what she had just said. She didn’t follow, not that I looked back to check.
There was something more important than her, and that was Carey. I needed to finish what I was doing and get to her.
