My stomach churns, and I swallow down the bile.
“You need to eat,” he says, speeding up once again.
“Not hungry,” I say honestly.
“Not talking about food.” His answer is swift, and my stomach churns for a new reason. “You’re weak.”
“It’s been a while,” I say quietly.
“Their lives never matter more than yours,” he says, a grave contradiction to his words about Roslyn.
“And if it was our people I needed to drain to survive?” I ask him as he drives even faster.
“Then you’d pick the ones who only hurt the community, just as you do now.”
He draws a long breath as we ride in silence for a while. A prison’s sign is on the corner of the road, and he cuts down it, changing his direction.
“After I’m done, I’m going to make a request, and you’re going to say yes. Whatever we stumbled upon earlier... we now know we can’t handle this alone.”
He grows silent, but I know he knows I’m right. An army of demons who can wield the power of a witch while in a night stalker’s body? We definitely need help.
The prison comes into view, and my thoughts shift to what lies ahead.
I always dread this, until I look into their eyes and see the sins of their pasts, the stains of the darkness around them. The heinous acts they have committed darken their souls to the point of charred ash, and the darker the soul, the better the feeding.
I don’t say a word as he continues to drive by the prison. Taking a deep breath, I dematerialize, and when my molecules reassemble, I’m inside a small hallway with four very shocked men staring at me through their bars.
All four... dark as night. The pain of seeing what they’ve done almost makes me nauseous. Children, women... men... They’ve hurt so many.
Just like that, the first wave of calm washes over me, and I feel the demon’s smile on my lips, the part of me that only comes out when I’m hungry.
“Hello, boys,” I say quietly, watching as the camera explodes. Slade will take care of all proof that I was ever even here.
“Hello,” one says, a wicked lilt to his tone.
In the next breath, he’s screaming as I rip his soul from his body, taking it into mine, and feeling the power grow inside me. As the last of the soul’s dark aura disappears, I moan, feeling blessedly stronger. When his lifeless body collapses to the ground, his eyes stare vacantly at the ceiling above.
I lick my lips and turn to the other three who scream in horror and beg for someone to save them.
To save them from the devil.
To save them from me.
Chapter 11
CHAZ
Gage’s eyes are on me, but he hasn’t asked any questions in front of Kimber, who wasn’t there when I blatantly used power I’m still unsure of.
I lost it back there, giving into the instincts and primal urges of the beast. It was all I could do to try and be a man when I told Kya to stop me.
What’d she say? Well, it wasn’t the right words, because I fully prepared to take her. And I’m not sure what that would have meant. Because for some reason, I think the beast wants more than just his dick waxed.
“What’s on your mind?” Thad asks me, peering over at me curiously.
“Crude and crass thoughts that aren’t helpful to figuring out how the hell that many demons managed to escape and take over night stalkers. It also doesn’t help us figure out what the hell the ‘Master’ has planned either.”
I blow out a frustrated breath, wondering why my beast seems so tame inside of me now. Power hums around inside me like a fresh breath of air. Something has changed. I just don’t know what, and I’m almost scared to question it.