Page 140 of Rescued By the Beast
"I came after you," he says to my partner, his voice heavy with resentment. "I waited, watching until you came back. But you never did."
Sandra shudders in my arms and whimpers softly.
My blood boils. The air around me seems to vibrate with my anger as I bare my teeth at him with a thunderous growl. Every fibre of my being screams to lunge forward, to tear this son of a bitch to pieces, but the warm, fragile weight in my arms anchors me. Sandra. I can't act on impulse.
I can't risk her.
Luther just clicks his tongue, impassive, as if my fury is irrelevant. His piercing gaze doesn't waver, assessing me with irritating superiority.
My mind works quickly, connecting the dots.
He showed up here, as if he knew I was weak, ready to attack me. The way he spoke to Sandra, with an obsession he didn't even hide. The connection to my company: two consecutive rejections of his application for the position. Finally, his connection to my competition, and how he easily defeated the wendigo, too quickly, too conveniently.
This can't all be just coincidence.
"Have you been allied with the witch all this time?" My voice comes out guttural.
The son of a bitch smiles slightly, but doesn't answer.
And that tells me everything I need to know.
"Is that true, Luther?" Sandra whispers, trembling in my lap, her nails digging into my skin as she clings to me even tighter.
He doesn't move from his spot, at a distance close enough to hit me with some magic without worrying that I'll get to him first.
"I didn't ally myself with her..." Luther tilts his head to one side, his eyes shining silver like sharp blades as he watches us. "But she was helpful."
I want to rip his head off with my teeth, but I restrain myself. I need to stay calm, alert to any move he might make. My body burns with rage, but my mind works quickly, calculating the options. Perhaps if I can create a protective shield around Sandra and throw her inside the cabin's barrier without hurting her...
The problem is that my essence is too weak, its remnants fading away. I feel its limit approaching, a void about to swallow me.
I don't know if I can do it.
"Luther, did you know about the curse the witch put on me?" Sandra murmurs with a hint of disbelief, as if she still clings to the hope that he would never do such a thing to her.
Ah, Sandra...
The cambion looks away from me to her, his lips curving into a scornful smile.
"Did I know?" Luther's voice is arrogant as he begins to pace back and forth, agitated. "I was the one who cast it on you. The witch was just a piece on my board, a distraction, a way to divert your attention away from me."
I feel the dark magic spreading through the air, dense and suffocating. The same magic that emanated from the grimoire. He absorbed so much of this energy that it became ingrained in his very essence.
"Why did you do that to her?" I hiss, tightening my arms around Sandra even more, trying to protect her from his words, from the pain his revelations are causing her.
The cambion stops walking abruptly.
"Because she has this damn resistance to my persuasion, damn it!" He explodes in frustration, his eyes flashing with rage. "I just wanted her to agree to stay with me! When nothing else worked, I took drastic measures. I was supposed to wait for her to come home from work, and I would find her trapped in her cat body, take her to my house and take care of her until she fell in love with me . But no, she had to go out on the street that damn night, and she found one of my experiments!
The monsters were your experiments?
He starts walking again, now faster, his fury overflowing with every step, every word.
I take advantage of his distraction to retreat, slow and silent steps towards the hut.
"I started creating the monsters to strengthen my mind control, to have my own minions. They were my guinea pigs," Luther mutters, more to himself than to us, as if justifying his actions. "The plan was to release them in the city, use the chaos to my advantage, and be the only one capable of stopping themwith ease. The unlikely hero..." He lets out a dry, humourless laugh.
His eyes dart to Sandra, and I stop moving.
