“Get off me!” they snapped.
I lunged to the side to avoid the next lethal arc of the blade. I could release a ball of fire at her, but I was nowhere near as good at controlling it as Kobal was and I didn’t want to take the chance of setting someone else on fire. Plus, I really would prefer not to torch a human, even if it washer.
I wasn’t supposed to let anyone know about my ability to draw on life, and after what it had done to the earth the other day, it might be more dangerous than my fire. My only choice was to stay back from her, until I had a chance to take her down.
Eileen grunted as she swung violently back and forth in a desperate attempt to make my intestines visible for everyone to see. Finally realizing what was going on, the crowd fell away from us to avoid the lethal arc of the blade. I jumped back, tripping over a young man who wasn’t fast enough to get out of the way.
With a scream of frustration, Eileen lunged at me again. I wasn’t fast enough to get completely out of the way this time and the blade sliced across my arm. Twisting to the side, I brought my other arm down on hers and knocked the blade free. I grabbed the back of her head and drove it down at the same time I lifted my knee and slammed it into her nose.
She howled and clutched at her broken nose as blood burst free. I smiled in satisfaction when I realized I’d pancaked it, much like I’d pictured doing days ago in the cafeteria. Swinging my hand out, I backhanded her across the face, knocking her to the side and causing her to sprawl on the ground.
Inhaling rapidly to calm my racing heart and the rush of adrenaline coursing through my body, I took a few steps away. My body pulsed with the need to do more, to go at her again. I longed to make her pay for every snide comment and for ever having known what it felt like to be with Kobal.
I’d never felt this out of control and so close to brutal violence before. It rattled me almost as much as her attack had.
Not like Lucifer, I willnotbe like him. If I went back after her, it would be the first step to going over the edge, to becoming more like him. He would have walked over to Eileen and finished her off without a second’s hesitation; I couldn’t.
The crowd had formed a circle around us, but I could see them being shoved apart as Kobal thrust his way through the group. The thunderous expression on his face caused my knees to go weak.
Almost at the small circle Eileen and I stood in, he shoved aside a young man so remorselessly, he sent him sprawling to the ground. His eyes burned with amber fire when they latched onto the blood spilling from my arm and then the slice in my shirt. People scrambled away from him when a snarl tore from him.
The earth shook beneath my feet as he stalked toward me. If I hadn’t known him better, I would have scrambled to get out of his way too as fury emanated from him in waves I could feel pulsating against my skin.
Despite the color of his eyes and his lethal air, his hands were tender when he took hold of my wrist and elbow. He inspected my arm before releasing my elbow. His fingers fondled the slice through my shirt as his eyes latched onto my belly. Beads of blood had formed along the scratch there; one slid down my flesh.
His eyes burned so hot I thought they might set my clothes on fire. Lifting his head, his gaze slid past me toward where I’d last seen Eileen. I couldn’t bring myself to look at her again yet; I needed a few minutes to regain control of my rocketing emotions over what had occurred. I was afraid I might kill her if I didn’t.
“Why would you do this?” Kobal demanded of her.
“Kobal,” I whispered, “don’t.”
I clutched his arm when he took a step toward her. Bracing myself, I turned to find Eileen back on her feet and two men holding her arms. One of them was the man who had been defending me to her. Mac stood to the side, turning the knife over in his hand as he studied the blade.
“Attacking another soldier is absolutely not permitted,” Mac said. “Take her to the cells where she will be held until we can try her for her crime.”
“She is to be put to death,” Kobal grated.
“If that is what a judge decides,” Mac replied before handing the knife over to another soldier.
“Iam deciding,” Kobal declared.
The color drained from Eileen’s face so fast her knees gave out on her. The two men had to brace their legs in order to keep her up. “Let them take her,” I said quietly.
His gaze barely flickered toward me before he pulled his arm from my grasp and closed the five feet separating her from us. No one had a chance to react before he grabbed hold of her head and twisted it harshly to the side.
The crack of bone caused everyone around me to wince, some cried out as they fell back from him. Kobal didn’t stop with the breaking of her neck but kept twisting until the rending of cartilage, muscle, and flesh could be heard in a sickening wet, crunching sound that caused my stomach to lurch.
The two men holding Eileen’s arms dropped them as if they’d caught on fire and stepped briskly to the side as Kobal tore the head from her body. My hand flew to my mouth as a spurt of blood shot out, spraying over the men who had been holding her and Kobal. Some of the hot wash hit me in the face, staggering me back a step as the beads of it slid down my cheeks to drip off my chin.
Turning to the crowd, Kobal raised Eileen’s head in the air as her body collapsed onto the ground. Bile surged into my mouth, and by sheer strength of will, I managed to swallow it back before I could spew it onto the ground. Others weren’t so lucky as they retched onto the grass surrounding us.
In Kobal’s grasp, Eileen’s mouth hung ajar and her eyes were open in unseeing, endless horror. The last thing she’d seen was the man she’d been so obsessed with ripping her head from her body. That realization made me almost vomit again.
Blood dripped from Kobal’s hair, slid down his face, and splattered his clothes, but he didn’t appear to notice any of it as he continued to hold Eileen’s head high in the air. Part of her spine and muscles dangled from the bottom of her head. Some of those around me swayed unsteadily.
“Anyone who dares to attack her again will have their arms and legs ripped from their bodies before I tear their heads from them!” Kobal declared.
Mac stood beside him, his face abnormally pale, but he didn’t say a word as Kobal thrust the head at Corson. The demon started when the head hit his stomach, but he took hold of Eileen’s hair.
