Asher tenderly kissed the more prominent scars on her face. “You’re beautiful.”
She closed her eyes and rested her cheek against his chest as she savored the beat of his heart and the security of his arms as she continued.
“When I left home, I traveled to the farm next to ours with the hope of finding some clothes. I also needed more blood, and they had cattle. At the time, I could only handle an easy hunt, and cows sounded perfect; they were easy to catch and had lots of blood.
“After I reached there, I gathered clothes from the now empty bedroom of the girl who recently left to marry a man in another town. I cleaned myself the best I could with water from the well, put on her dress, and went out to the pasture to feed on some of the cattle.
“When I finished, I went into the barn with the hope of finding a horse to get me far away from there. It was there I discovered the boy I once considered my best friend.”
“Shit,” Asher hissed through his teeth. “What washedoing there?”
“It was his home, and he managed to escape the village’s destruction. When he saw me, he screamed as he tore at his face. He shredded the skin from himself while begging me not to kill him. It took a while, but I sat and waited for him to exhaust himself before he finally calmed enough to reveal what happened to the village.
“It was as I feared. My father had gone there to exact his revenge, but it was worse than I’d imagined, as he confirmed my brother was with him. They destroyed everyone… except the children.
“They still had enough reason to keep them from destroying those innocents, but they slaughtered everyone else there. I’m sure more children were hiding in other barns and in the woods, but I never went to look for them.
“They would have reacted exactly like he did, and I couldn’t take seeing another face torn apart because ofme. Their parents had destroyed my family, and I’ve never been sorry they’re dead. Their children cheered them on while they dragged me through town, but they didn’t deserve to witness the brutality my father and brother unleashed.”
She studied the brook and contemplated the family she’d loved so dearly before they were cruelly ripped away. She could still hear her mother’s laughter, smell her father’s woodsy scent and hear his booming voice. She recalled how her brother would tug on her braid and tease her before poking her nose.
They’d beensogood, kind, and caring, and they were all gone. Fragments of memories played in her head as the water trickled over the rocks. She’d seen so many things in her lifetime, and countless deaths, but she’dneverseen that day coming.
For years, she cursed and loathed her ability because of the way it failed her and her family. Her premonitions hounded and tormented her when it wanted her to do something, but it gave her nothing when she needed it to protect her family.
“My father couldn’t have survived without my mother, at least not the father I knew. When she fell, I knew he would die too, but I never would have believed him capable of such violence. He’d always been so gentle and loving,” she said.
Looking at her, Asher completely understood the rage that compelled her father to destroy all those who killed his family. He’d been born to protect innocents, but the people who killed her mother and brutalized her in such a way weren’t innocents. They were as cruel as any Savage and deserved what they got… even if it broke her family further.
“My brother, Gabriel, I’m sure fueled by rage and sorrow, helped him do it, but he’d always been so kind and caring. I remember him nursing wounded animals back to health. He once found a baby mouse, no more than a day old, and somehow managed to keep it alive. It stayed with him for five years before it died. He loved that mouse. And those villagers, they… they…ruinedmy kind, loving brother,” she whispered.
Brie took a deep breath as she struggled not to become lost to the memories and the anguish. She’d long ago accepted there were some things in life she couldn’t change, but when she contemplated it too much, resentment became a festering thing that could drive her to a life of lonely bitterness if she wasn’t careful.
“So, on that day, I lost my mother and the rest of my family. And the villagers, thinking they were taking care of the problem with me, inadvertently created the death they sought to avoid by destroying me.”
Asher had endured many losses in his lifetime; given what he was and what he did, he’d suffer more of them, but he couldn’t imagine what she’d gone through. This was far more than anything he’d ever known.
The betrayal, loss, and utter devastation of discovering those she’d trusted had turned against them and left her alone in the world must have shattered her.
CHAPTERFIFTY-THREE
“How canyou still tolerate being around humans? Why are you trying to help them by finding these stones?” he asked.
“At first, I couldn’t stand to be around them. Ihatedthem all. I wanted to kill and maim and destroy too, but I was too weak in the beginning. As time passed, I realized it wasn’tallhumans who had done this, and I would be a worse monster than those villagers if I started randomly killing in the name of revenge.
“The ones who destroyed my life were already dead; the others weren’t to blame. And then, as I healed physically and emotionally, some of my hate ebbed. It took centuries before it went away completely, but it wasn’t strong enough to turn me into a Savage.
“Now, I realize that there is good and bad in their species, just like us, but Itrulybelieve there is far more good. Most humans would fight for another rather than throwing them on the fire.
“Times were also different back then; superstitions ruled many people’s lives. It’s not an excuse, and it took hundreds of years for that to change, but it has, and most humansaregood, even if some are horrible.”
She was a better person than him; he wouldn’t be so forgiving if someone took her or their child from him.
“Did you try to find your father and brother afterward?” he asked.
“No. There was nothing left for me with them. They’d gone too far and become the creatures my parents cautioned me about. I couldn’t save them. They would only drag me down with them, and though I had no idea what to do, where to go, or how I was going to survive, I couldn’t become a killer.”
“Do you know what happened to them?”
