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He has no idea.
Just another score . . .
It’s hard to stop myself from taking him in the street. I race ahead to his home. Silent as smoke, I drift through the darkened streets, unseen by the few night wanderers still awake at this hour. He keeps no guard dogs or protective wards, overconfident in his safety amidst the very people he lies to. His hubris shall be his undoing.
At his locked door, I extend a single talon, drawing a precise sigil of opening upon the wood. The magical lock clicks obediently, the enchantment designed to repel human intruders but feeble against demonic power.
Inside, I glide from room to room, selecting the ideal location to conduct my work. The study, with its vials and bundles of dangerous concoctions, shall make for an exquisite backdrop when the body is found.
Settling into a shadowed corner, I wait, breathing slowly and steadily despite the eagerness singing in my veins. Soon my prey shall arrive, never expecting the predator that has crept unbidden into his lair this night. I lick my fangs in anticipation . . . Justice shall be rich tonight.
At last, I hear the shuffling footsteps and muttered curses that herald the alchemist's return. The door creaks open and he enters, not even glancing toward my darkened corner. He is too self-absorbed in tallying the day's profits to notice the silent predator already lying in wait.
I let him shuffle halfway across the room before stepping from the shadows. "Long day peddling false hope?"
He whirls, eyes bulging, and stumbles back. "Who's there?" His gaze darts wildly about before finally settling on my imposing form. I grin, baring my fangs.
"What . . . what are you?" he gasps. Beads of sweat stand out on his brow, but he is transfixed by fear rather than fleeing.
I stalk closer, claws clicking on the wooden floorboards. "I am your reckoning, mortal charlatan. I have witnessed your sins against the innocent, and tonight you will pay."
He shakes his head frantically, still backing away. "No, I've done nothing wrong! I provide helpful folk remedies, that's all! Please, don't hurt me . . ."
His pathetic sniveling both disgusts and amuses me. Does he truly think he can evade justice with such feeble lies? I flex my claws, ready to get to work. "Oh, this will hurt a great deal . . ."
The hunger inside me grows ravenous, primal, demanding to be sated. This wretched human's soul calls to my demonic palate, the flavors of greed and malice irresistible.
His pleas turn to shrieks of agony as I fall upon him, pinning his flailing body beneath my greater strength. My claws tear through cloth and flesh with savage precision, opening up lethal wounds that stain the floor crimson.
I relish his terror, the darkness within me feasting as life rapidly flows out in hot spurts. With my jaws, I rip his lying tongue out by the roots, silencing him forever.
As the final beats of his heart arrive, I extend my senses to their full demonic reach. There, beneath the cringing mortal shell is the dark, contorted soul I truly crave. I open my maw impossibly wide and suck forth his wretched essence, devouring his corrupting malice and deceit.
The last light fades from his eyes as I consume the final drop of his spirit. It sears deliciously down my throat. His crimes were many, but now his punishment is complete. Justice served.
I retract my blood-soaked claws and study my gruesome handiwork. None who discover it will mourn. This cadaver is merely the hollow reminder of a soul already sentenced and executed tonight. Balance is restored.
7
ANNETTE
“Okay, okay… You can do this,” I whisper to myself.
In front of me, the city gates burn with midnight flame. But the guards still haven’t left. At night, the village should be warded, so that the guards can find sleep. Clearly, that’s not the case tonight.
Mellara must be on high alert.
“This is unreasonable,” one of the guards says to himself. His eyes are forced open through misguided determination, body staggering.
“It’s the job, Gray,” the other guard, posted across from him, says. “If you want me to tell the council you’re not up to the task, maybe we can have you moved…”
I sidle closer, concealing myself behind a bushel near the town entrance.
“Please don’t,” Gray says.
The other guard sighs. “When the killings stop, maybe they’ll ease up.”
I try to remember why, on the cusp of my exile, I now find myself at the gates of a village that could have put me to death. I still feel like I haven’t found anything for a solid case.
