AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He pauses his stride, turning to face me. “If I were in their shoes,which I was, I’d take the risk. Death is better than being locked inside a torture chamber of your own creation.”
I puff out my chest, crossing my arms beneath my breasts. “It isn’t their fault. They’re sick. You know that.”
He shrugs, already continuing with his current task of whittling wood into interlocking pieces. His fingers are like magic, shaping the lumber so easily it appears to move like jelly.
I ignore him after that, instead focusing my vision on the future of this site. The awnings over each connected storefront will be the perfect place for a trade station. As our community grows, we could give people jobs. Let themchoosetheir profession. This can be a bustling center of activity, a market like the one Ren remembers working in with his family.
And we can split each store into multiple homes, with brick walls separating each unit. Can I learn to lay brick? I’ve listened to the prayers of many block masons in my time, and I imagine myself in their shoes. Perhaps I can get lost in the repetitive action. It would probably be therapeutic, in a way.
I can see it now; a warm hearth glowing in every building, the scent of lemon-cleaner in the air, children laughing in the background.
A home.
I let the thought settle in my gut.
“Do you prefer a lifted or grounded bed, my light?” Ren asks, gazing at me from over his newly crafted slanted roof.
“Um,” my brows pull together. “Lifted?”
He nods, bending to collect another spare plank.
Before his fingertips touch the wood, the quiet of our surroundings shatters. An ear-splitting, high-pitched screech reverberates behind me, its volume so loud I instinctually cover my ears.
Ren’s spine straightens, his fangs bared.
Is she ready for this?
His thoughts echo my own fears. My pulse increases as I turn, facing the oncoming maddened.
She’s positioned higher than I expected, and I have to crane my head to see her as she leaps from the rooftops of a building across the street. Despite the distances, her speed brings her closer with each second.
I don’t have long to ready myself.
Warmth heats my back as Ren joins me, standing so close his chest brushes my right shoulder. I take a deep breath, basking in both the glow of my power and the comradery of my mate.
We can do this.I’m unsure of whether the thought is his or mine.
As the girl approaches, my fear of failing rises.She’s young.Still very much a child, perhaps just hitting puberty. Her black hair flows around her like a cape, wrapping around her neck with the force of her gait. She wears a simple knee-length, black dress, but there are cuts stretching around it like claw marks.
The fury of her gaze aims at me.
My power takes over, flooding from my pores until I’m shining like the sun. The girl’s pace doesn’t slow until my light hits her chest, immobilizing her in place.
Be her savior, Ren.
Dark jets of cloudy smoke pour from her eyes and mouth, streaming between us like a ripple of the void. One second passes, and then two. The blackness of her soiled soul crashes into my skin, down my throat, filling my body until-
Ren’s mouth crashes onto mine, his fang biting into my lip until I taste blood. My ears are ringing, my head aching, but…
But my power has quietened.
He breaks the kiss softly, licking my bloodied lip as he falls away.You did so good,his mind whispers.
Had I?
I search his eyes, hoping he can give me a clue of the outcome before I see it for myself. There’s nothing but love in his stare. Whether that be a love for my effort or my success, I’m not sure.
I step aside, my gaze dropping to the spot where the girl had been frozen.
