Page 27 of Our Monstrous Hearts

My eyes drag up and down his restrained body. “A bit hard to do that when you’re bound.”

Dalton’s face mottles with shades of red.

I shrug lazily. “Too bad you’re going to die.”

Slowly, I rise from my throne. Each step down is slow. I want Dalton to see the inevitability of his doom. The fear will make his blood ripe. My tongue flicks out like a serpent. I can already taste how mouthwatering he will be.

As I stand before Dalton, I forcefully grip his cheeks together and he whimpers embarrassingly.

“Not so strong now,” I murmur. “You really are pathetic.”

My talons plunge into Dalton’s skin. His screams and cries for help are a delightful cacophony, and the smell of his pungent piss dripping to the floor causes me to laugh. Look how weak he is. It’s beautifully symbolic to inflict justice upon someone who thought themselves invincible.

My claws sink further into his flesh. Baring my fangs at him, I push deeper. Blood spurts everywhere, the smell delicious, sweet like honeysuckles and berries. My mouth salivates. There’s a loud crack, followed by a piercing wail of horror and distress as I snap through his chest cavity. My eyes brighten with delight, watching the fear swim around in his own. His scream splinters, and I grip his body with my free hand, forcing him to stay upright as he flickers in and out of consciousness. My hands dig in, snapping ribs like twigs until I feel his heart racing beneath my palm.

His blood sings to me—heady, overwhelming as it bursts across my senses like a war drum. I’m high on the scent, consumed by a violent elation.

I look to Izcacus, finding that he’s wrapped his hands around his mammoth cock and is pumping rhythmically as he watches me with a dark gaze. My face splits into a deranged grin. I think I could like this.

With a furious grip, I rip out Dalton’s heart, watching it pump in my hand as his body crumples to the floor. It’s a mesmerizing sight. Blood drips through my fingers, the sound reverberating against the floor.

The organ squelches in my palm as I bring it to my lips. Izcacus groans in release while I savor the smell. I sink in my teeth, biting into the flesh, chewing through sinew. Warm blood spills down my chin as the chambers collapse while the arteries require more force to snap through the elasticity.

I don’t stop eating until I’ve devoured the heart of a man.

If I had been unsure of who I have become or what my purpose is in the world, I now know with sharp clarity.

I have become a devourer of men, the queen of monsters. This is my destiny.

Chapter XIX

Cassandra

Emotion chokes my throat as I slip on the thin nightgown, the same one I wore the night Izcacus took me. Dark crimson blood stains the once pure-white fabric, and the hem is unraveling. Yet it will still serve as my armor, a symbol of my resilience, and a tribute to the girl I once was.

My eyes turn down to study my hands, tracing the burn marks, the tip of a finger that Clayton had sliced off.

Before, I hated every part of myself, because hate was the only thing that I knew. For so long I believed that I wasn’t built to exist in this world, that there was no place for someone as weak and broken as me. Everything in my life seemed to steer me towards misery.

But pain is temporary, and like the seasons changing, I will learn to bloom and grow. I know I will discover that there are good things out there for me.

As autumn gives way to winter, I will become more skilled at simply existing, until I can stand in the moonlight and be glad that I’m still here.

Although I had to fight for it, I discovered a place for myself. I now feel that I deserve to be here. To exist.

A single tear drops down onto my hands.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper to myself.

I’m sorry that I was so hard on myself when that girl I was had gotten me through my hardest days. She is the reason I survived and can now know peace.

But first I need to get my revenge, both for the girl and the monster I am. The townspeople, the men, will fear me, and I will be the master of my own life, bending to no one.

It’s then that I will truly succeed in becoming monstrous.

They’re coming.

After Dalton’s appearance, I sent Izcacus out to scout. I knew the others wouldn’t be far behind. According to his report, there are two men making their way through Deadwood Forest.