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Too bad it was farther into the woods rather than to freedom. Watching him trip over himself and crawl backward was pure entertainment. My blade raised, I peeked at the metal and smiled at the scarlet coat covering the serrated edges.
For several minutes, I watched the sniffling mess of a man reduced to sobs and pleas before needing the sounds to stop. I finally let my demons take charge, my knife slicing through flesh until the creature before me barely resembled a man, his skin fileted open and his blood painted along the earth floor. I knelt by his body, running a finger along his intestines before disemboweling him by removing his lungs and kidneys with precision—two of Aeron’s favorite parts.
Despite occasionally having to do this exact same thing as a surgeon, just knowing that these would end up in Aeron’s stomach made me want to retch. I hoped he knew how much I fucking loved him to be doing this shit.
Wiping off the blade on David’s tattered clothes, I turned up my nose as I realized I was making a bigger mess of my prized possession rather than cleaning it off. I deposited my blade back into my pocket. I could rinse his worthlessness off later.
I shot a text to Samael for cleanup before slipping out two large Ziploc freezer bags and stuffing the organs into them for the walk back to the house.
I was a little less lost as I traveled through the shadows, wondering how I could have ever thought of giving up on Killian. We’d get through this shit together, but it would be one step at a time.
AERON
I stared at the two Ziploc bags that Slash had dropped off on the kitchen table, grinning like an idiot, dripping blood through my kitchen. No doubt he had left a trail of crimson from the basement to here but I merely grabbed my present and placed them on the island so that I could study them a little closer.
Too lost in my head, I made no attempt to rail him for dirtying up my rented home. Instead, I just stared at what should have been an impromptu dinner. I just couldn’t figure out how to devour the gift my beloved serial killer had brought for me.
Freeze it? Leave it alone? Eat it? Glaze it with that new sauce I had been experimenting with? Fry it?
None of those sounded right. I shook my head, trying to clear my mind but it wasn’t working. My appetite had all but disappeared since finding Killian in his room and knowing that he was safely tucked into Samael’s bed did nothing to quiet the chaos in my head. I swallowed carefully, letting out a big sigh as I ran my finger down the seam of the bag.
Blood pooled in the corner, beads of crimson seeping through and onto my counter. A tight smile spread across my lips as I continued my assault on the bag, applying different pressures as more liquid gathered on the surface. Unable to help myself, I bent down and ran my tongue through it, relishing the coppery taste that exploded in my mouth. My fingers curled into fists at my sides as I let the demons in my head take over, lapping up what felt like dessert.
A rough hand ripped me away from my delicacy and pulled me into a hard but warm chest. “Jesus Christ, Aeron. The fuck is wrong with you?” I didn’t answer immediately, fingers digging into the back of my neck demanding my submission. I melted into Samael’s chest, his thick musk pulling me out of the trance I had just been in. “Slash, shower.”
I frowned and twisted around to truly look at one of the men I had fallen in love with, my hands falling to Samael’s waist as I held onto him. He had been so quiet after dropping off his spoils on my kitchen table that I hadn’t even known he was still here. Slash wasn’t just covered in blood. No, he reminded me of the few times we had first been trying to cater to our desires. The wild smile and chaotic unrest swirling around in his eyes terrified me. We had all had moments when we were lost, needing an escape into the darkness but Slash unhinged was beyond dangerous.
A little taste of violence and he was finding every poor sap to do away with. He always thought bringing me my favorite parts of the human would make it all better. And it had. When we were teenagers. Now?
My gaze traveled the full length of his body stuffed in a tailored suit, his chest heaving as he stared at me for acceptance. I pushed away from Samael and stepped up to Slash, searching his expression for any inkling of warmth. The moment I angled my chin upwards, he devoured my lips in a rough kiss, both of us stumbling back into my kitchen island.
A wanton moan slipped from my lips as I tasted his kill, Slash holding my head firm between his bloodied hands. He supped from me like a man starved and I clung to him, trying to take what I needed when our fourth was suffering.
“I don’t know what he needs,” I whispered. Slash hummed a response as his hands slid down my torso and then beneath my shirt, playing with the waistline of my pants until someone cleared their throat. We froze and turned to stare at Samael, a dark, unforgiving expression on his face.
“Slash, shower. I will not repeat myself, again. Aeron, you’re with me.” Samael stalked toward the both of us, his lip curling up in a snarl when I opened my mouth to fight him. He ripped me away from Slash and angrily pointed down the hall, waiting for the man to disappear before ushering me to the bathroom in the basement. The rage wafting off of Samael only marginally hid the worry. He was always taking care of us and sometimes I forgot that he was younger than us. He didn’t speak again until after we were in the bathroom, his back pressed up against the door. “Strip.”
There was no room for argument and I wasn’t entirely in my right mind to play. Doing as he asked took a little more effort than I had, the slight tremble rippling through my body becoming more evident the longer I tried to unbutton my shirt. The adrenaline of Slash’s arrival was beginning to fall away, leaving the realization that I had nearly stuffed raw meat down my throat. After the third try, Samael was there, gently undoing the buttons.
“Why aren’t you upstairs with Slash?” I asked, tilting my head to the side as Samael pushed my shirt off my body. The blood from Slash’s kill had seeped into my clothes and was now covering my skin. Gently, I placed a hand on Samael’s chest. “Samael?”
“Because he already expelled his demons for the night. You on the other hand have chosen not to deal with them.”
“That’s not true.”
Samael wrangled me in front of my mirror, stepping up against my back as he reached around my front and roughly grabbed my chin so that I was staring at myself. My eyes widened at the scarlet mess slathered along my chin and torso. “You haven’t succumbed to your urges for a very long time, Aeron. Fifteen years ago, you didn’t know how to cook. I get that. I haven’t seen you eat it raw since…” Samael trailed off but we both knew what he was referring to.
My first real boyfriend in high school was more of a secret admirer. I had never met him and never found out his name. However, the little gifts he left me along with the notes brought a certain warmth to my soul that I craved. It was one of the last few things that was keeping me in check.
When the notes suddenly stopped, it was like my self-confidence dwindled with it. As stupid as it was, I found solace in my demons rather than the men who had stayed beside me every step of the way. Samael found me stuffing my face with one of my many uncooked snacks crammed in a small bag in the fridge. It had taken a while for me to come back to reality and I avoided food for several days after that, appalled at my behavior.
And now, today, I had done it again.
“Killian will be fine.”
“How can you say that?” My voice ended on a whine as I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to hide. “You saw that broken look on his face. He didn’t even know what was going on.” Not even when Dark had surfaced during the moments I had in my bed had he ever looked so lost. When Daemon came into play, Killian had broken down but he bounced right back.
In truth, maybe he was slowly falling apart and we were here to witness it.
