Page 43 of Oracle
Whose voice is that? Am I talking to myself?
It’s Lux. That crazy bitch who loves you like a sister and hijacked a ride in your body somehow.
All the confusion for the voice in my head faded away as my master began his story. “Lilly, the love of my life was a delicate flower that was too soft for Hell. I knew she would be squashed if she wasn’t protected the moment I laid eyes on her. I shouldn’t have found myself falling for someone that others would consider weak in our society, but I did. She was mine, and I gave anything within my power to make her smile.”
Wow, my master loved her greatly. I wanted him to love me like that. To speak of me with such reverence.
He paced the short length of this room, back and forth, glancing at the ground as he continued. “Our first date, I wanted to impress her, so I opened a portal to Earth. To show her I wasn’t confined to Hell and could offer her the same power.”
Earth? That sounded so familiar.
On a deep sigh, he stopped walking and turned on his heel to face me. “She fell in love with the colors of their world. The trees, the flowers, the mountains. All of it. She flourished like a flower under the light of their sun, so I often gave in to her requests to go there. Even when I was unable to accompany her, I’d open the portal and send two of my guards with her.”
But why would she want to go anywhere other than her master’s side?
His face tightened and I yearned to smooth the line between his furrowed brows. “One day, she didn’t come back, nor did my guards. So, I tracked the ruby necklace I had gifted her that she always wore upon my request. I found her,” he admitted before pausing a beat, “but it was too late. She was dead.”
I gasped in horror at the tale he told. It was tragic and heartbreaking. “Why was she killed?”
His eyes appraised me as if surprised I gave a shit. “When I arrived, there were wolf shifters gathered around, beginning to dig a burial for her. Some were in human form, surrounding a young man who they claimed shifted for the first time and came upon her in the haze of bloodlust. They said he couldn’t control himself and that their lands were supposed to be private.
“The one who killed her sobbed, claiming how sorry he was and that she didn’t even try to fight him off. That she stood there, not raising an arm to harm him in defense.”
My heart shattered for his lost love and the brutal killing.
“She was too kind to even allow herself to harm an animal that was coming to attack her,” he admitted, inhaling deeply before letting it out and continuing. “They kept repeating how he couldn’t control himself and that I had to understand. But you know what I told them?”
His eyes flared with power, pulsating red, ensnaring me in their depths as I breathlessly asked, “What?”
“I told them that they couldn’t expect me to control myself either. I slaughtered them all.”
He said it with no remorse, his words cold and detached as his chest rose and fell heavily, his breathing belaying his anger. “And so began the war against shifters for the revenge of Lilly. The woman who didn’t even fight back, because she wouldn’t harm a creature.”
I understood. A tear fell down my cheek as I offered, “They deserved it.”
Shock flitted across his face before he schooled his hard mask back into place as he approached me. “She was the only gift I’ve ever been given in this long expanse of my life.”
His finger trailed against my cheek and I found myself leaning into his touch, needing it, before they trailed down to wrap around my neck.
“You will not fulfill your prophecy, pet,” he whispered as he tightened his grip, making me gasp for breath, “but you will all pay for her death and her soul will finally be at peace knowing I avenged her.”
His grip continued to tighten until black spots danced in my view. I didn’t fight him. I couldn’t fight my master. If this was what he wanted, then it was okay. I finally drifted into unconsciousness, and the voice returned just as I lost the final thread.
We all believe in you. Myself, Morgan, Caleb, Wes, Luca, Tian, Seth, Jameson, and Milo. All of the wolves that unanimously agreed you would lead the council. Everyone who believes in the Goddess’s chosen. You will not fail us.
Who are those people?
CHAPTEREIGHTEEN
KIRA
Precious blood.
It was all I craved, all I thought about in the time between receiving it.
Those around me whispered how lucky I was to be fed it every day, and that many were only allowed one drop. I felt sorry for them, that they didn’t get to experience the euphoric rush that I got.
It was the highlight of my days, seeing my master and drinking his precious blood.
