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“Why are you doing this? Please don’t kill me. Please!” he screamed through the pain. “Who are you?”
I took hold of his sweat- and blood-soaked hair. His sobbing wails turned to understanding when my face changed to resemble one he was more familiar with. He shook his head in disbelief.
“I am a worse threat than you’d imagined. This is your just reward for the unspeakable crimes you’ve committed.” I lifted his head and forced his eyes on the obedient hounds waiting for my signal. “And they are hungry.” His whole body quaked, but I held firm. “You forced your filth on my gift. I will baptize her in your blood as she comes on my tongue.”
I took the blade from my pocket and plunged it into his carotid artery. I pulled it out quickly then filled a small jar with the crimson liquid that pumped from his body until it slowed. His eyes rolled back. He was slipping away from consciousness.
With that, I let him fall to the ground, snapped my fingers, and watched as the beasts tore into his belly as he screamed the bloody murder he was being subjected to. His entrails covered the ground and soon, the last of his strained voice faded away to the grunts and crunch of razor-sharp teeth on wet bone.
* * *
Idebated cleaning myself before stepping back into the house in Malibu, but something in me needed to show Celeste that the deed was done. Her monster had been slain, and I bore the proof on my hands, bare chest, and face.
My bed was empty when I stepped through the void, but she hadn’t gone far.
She sat with her knees to her chest in the armchair, wrapped in the comforter. “You’re back?”
Her wide eyes took me in, but her face remained stony. It was one thing for humans to wish death on one another, but it was more sobering to see the remnants of it on my skin.
“I’m sorry I was gone when you woke. I intended to be back sooner.”
“Is he . . . ?”
“He will never be able to hurt anyone else ever again.”
The tension in her shoulders loosened slightly. Killing Duncan wouldn’t take away the pain he’d inflicted on her for far too long, but she was the shining knight who slayed the dragon. I was merely her sword.
She got to her feet and took a step closer to me, then two more until she was only inches away. My hands twitched around the jar I’d brought with me. I wanted to run my blood-stained thumb over her lips. The thin material of my T-shirt covering her body did nothing to hide her taut nipples.
“Thank you.” She didn’t shy away, and there was an edge of power in her tone.
“I would do anything for you, my gift.”
The blood on my body became her focus. The dark, rusty color of it made my skin ruddy and dry, but the tacky liquid trapped in my fists was still fresh. I hadn’t lied to Duncan when I said I wanted to wash his sins from Celeste’s soul with his blood.
Her eyes rolled up to mine. “What is that?”
I brought the vessel up. “Do you trust me?”
Chapter15
Celeste
Did I trust him?
He was joking, wasn’t he?
The question burned between us.
I should be scared staring into the eyes of Duncan’s killer, but the blood splattered on his sharp cheekbones only made him look more dangerously beautiful. The dark stains across his chest and the distinct marks that looked like Duncan had put up a fight and lost made my blood warm.
Maybe I was more ruthless than I’d ever thought. I needed to be competitive in my male-dominated field of study. If a colleague asked for help, I would point them in the right direction but would never get involved personally unless I was paired with them. Liam was my research partner, but when it came time for the fellowship to be announced, I would not clap and say that he deserved it more than I did.
But would I kill for the spot?
That was a question I should have asked myself when I wished for the fellowship in that basement.
Being the reason for Duncan’s death had nothing to do with school or our careers.
