AllFreeNovel
Share Us
His words made me a little more nervous than I already was, and I decided I’d be safer if I took his advice.
“Help me!”
I looked out to sea at the sound of a woman’s voice. There, just a few feet out in the water, I saw someone struggling to stay afloat. Instinct kicked in. I had to save her. Shrugging out of my hoody, I ran into the sea and swam towards her.
“Donna, what’s happening?”
“A woman’s drowning. I’m going to rescue her.”
“It might be a trap. You’re no longer within the safety of the wards. Demons and their familiars will be able to smell your scent. They will realise you’re still unmated.”
At that moment, the woman’s head disappeared. I cut communication with Antoine. This person was drowning. How could it be a trap? I swam a little further out. She’d completely disappeared. I dove under the water, frantically searching for her. Something caught hold of my legs and began to pull me down deeper. I kicked and struggled, managing to wriggle free from whatever it was. There was pain in my legs, but all I could think of was swimming to the safety of the shore. Maybe Antoine had been right and this was a trap.
When I reached shallow water, I saw the woman who’d been shouting for help standing above me. Although she was human, her eyes were red-rimmed, and her hands were claw-like. It was then I felt a burning pain in my legs. Glancing down, I saw there were deep gouges in my flesh.
“That’s the least of your problems, bitch. Gustav sent me to finish you off.”
When I studied her face, her eyes were glazed, and she had fangs instead of teeth. These weren’t like Antoine’s shiny white ones. Hers were yellow and coated with.
“Antoine, I need help. I think there’s a demon out here!”
“I’m already on my way.”
The demon, woman, or whatever it was, lunged at me, trying desperately to claw my skin. Anger rose inside me. I didn’t know if it was because of everything I’d experienced in my life or just rage at thisthingfor trying to kill me. I launched myself at her, throwing her backwards onto the sand. She growled and hissed. I felt my fingernails turn into razor-sharp nails and fangs burst through my gums. There was no time for me to be shocked about my transition. I was fighting for my very existence.
It was like I was on the outside, watching this all play out. We rolled together in the sand, tearing and clawing at each other. She tried to rip at my neck with her talons, but I was too quick. I flipped her onto her back and attacked her, clawing at her, trying to go for her jugular.
I heard the flapping of wings. Antoine pulled me from her while I kicked and screamed, wanting my revenge on this evil creature. He threw powder—I think it was salt—over her and began to chant as she screamed and writhed in agony. Her skin came away from her bones and she started to dissolve in front of me. All that was left was a pile of soggy dust. Antoine produced a bottle and poured some liquid over the remains, whilst reciting what sounded like a prayer.
It was all over in a matter of seconds. I flopped down in the sand and checked over my injuries. They were already healing. I felt my fangs recede back inside my gums. I studied my hands; the long fingernails had also disappeared.
“What the hell just happened?”
Antoine sat next to me and held me against him. He was shivering, but I could sense it was from fear and not the cold.
“That was a demon’s familiar. They’re also called thralls.”
“What does that mean?”
“Demons use humans. They control them like a puppet master. They steal a human’s soul and use their body to do whatever they want.”
“Oh, God. That’s horrible.” I shuddered. “Does that mean she’ll end up in hell now?” I closed my eyes, hoping that wasn’t the case.
“No. I threw salt over her and recited the release incantation to reunite her with her soul and…”
“Wait, you did what now? Jesus.” I shook my head. “Just as I was trying to get a handle on this Hybrid-demon thing, you make it sound even more like a horror movie.”
I stood up and studied the sea.
Antoine followed and faced me. “It’s all true, Donna, and you know it. My last act was to pour holy water on her remains. This will prevent demons from trying to reanimate her from any traces of ash left from her body. She’s now moved on to the afterlife and will be at peace.”
“I… I felt my fangs and fingernails grow. I’ve never been a violent person, Antoine, but I wanted her dead. There was rage. So much rage. I could’ve torn her limb from limb.” I let out a sob. “Does this mean I’m a monster like Gustav now?”
“Listen to me.” Antoine gripped the tops of my arms. “Because you have a small amount of my venom inside you, you sensed she was evil and your survival instincts kicked in. If not, you’d be dead by now. There’s nothing evil about your reactions.”
I shrugged out of his grasp. “But it was terrifying.”
“I’m sure it was. You’re new to this world.”
