I made my way to the door, ignoring the aches and pains before coming into view. I have no idea how this will go, and there’s a big chance that I could die, no matter how good a fighter I am.
My body is giving up.
“Ah, look at you, all grown up. The King will be very pleased to see you again.” He drawled, eyes sweeping over me with smug satisfaction.
I sneered, stepping down the cottage stairs, ignoring the leering looks from the rest of them, like I was something to devour.
“The king can shove it up his royal ass,” I said coldly. “You’d think he’d have learnt after the last lot of his soldiers he sent after me, including that sick bastard Magnus.”
I really hope he’s being torn apart in hell.
He threw his head back and laughed, the sound sharp and mocking.
“Oh, the King wasn’t thrilled to lose Magnus. But his brother? He is downright feral. Can’t wait to get his hands on you.”
A chill licked down my spine, but I held my ground. I couldn’t let them see any weakness.
I knew exactly what his brother would do—rip me apart slowly, from the inside out, savouring every moment. I know he wouldn’t kill me; He was obsessed with me.
I’m just a toy to him. Monsters like him never wanted their toys to break too soon.
I wouldn’t let him have the chance. I would kill myself before I let him ever touch me.
“We’re not here to play games. You can come quietly and keep your limbs intact… or I can shatter every single bone in your body, one by one, and drag you back while you scream prettily through a mouth missing its tongue.” He shrugged.
Charming.
Another roar of thunder cracked the sky as the lightning slashed through the dark clouds. I raised my dagger, ready to bleed every last one of them if they dared try dragging me back to that monster.
But then—like the shadows themselves teared open—someone appeared.
One blink and a vampire’s head hit the ground with a thud, body slumping beside it. Blood sprayed across the ground as the rain began to fall from the skies. And there he stood.
Malrik.
His crimson eyes burned darker than the blood around us, alive with something feral. Wet black strands of hair clung to his face, and every line of him radiated a brutal mix of rage and wicked, sadistic pleasure.
He looked like wrath incarnate.
“You have got five seconds to drop to your knees, beg my little witch for her forgiveness, and run. Or I’ll rip the skin off your bones and feed you your own heart.”
He didn’t even count.
The vampires shrieked as their eyes burst, blood splattering everywhere. Dark veins blackened beneath their skin. One crumpled to the floor, convulsing as blood gushed from his mouth and ears. The fool who dared threaten me didn’t even get a chance to plead. Malriks' hand clamped around his face, fingers digging into flesh, as he loomed over him like death incarnate.
“I warned you,” he growled, teeth bared, fingers sinking into the vampire's jaw. With a brutal twist, bone splintered and tore free, the sound sickeningly sweet in the quiet. He tossed the ruined body aside like it was nothing, eyes already hunting the next who dared breathe wrong in my direction.
Malrik was the devil in disguise, and he was out for blood.
Chapter 23
MALRIK
Within seconds, the vampires were dead. Nothing more than torn limbs scattered across the floor like confetti, their heads cracked open, eyeballs torn out, and their hearts. The fool who dared threaten my little witch lost his jaw for speaking to her like that. The floor was a canvas of red, rain washing over it like an artist adding highlights to a masterpiece only I could appreciate. Lightning cracked above violently, illuminating the chaos with cinematic perfection.
It wasn’t enough.
I wanted to resurrect them. Slowly. Painstakingly. Just so I could do it all over again, one scream at a time, one shattered bone at a time. Make them feel it. Make them understand, in every nerve and scream, exactly what happens when you dare threaten what’s mine.
