I glance over my shoulder, surprised by the fact we’re not too far away, and I can’t fight back the smile that spreads across my face.
“FUCK!” a guy yells from somewhere close by.
I jolt in Thad’s arms, startled, and a girl screams as something loud crashes inside a house. Oh shit. That sound is coming from my house.
Thad quickly puts me down, cursing under his breath as he sprints toward my house with unnatural speed. My heart thuds in my ears as I run as fast as I can, trying to catch up.
Just as Thad jerks open the door, a guy goes sailing outside, looking as though he was just catapulted out of the house. Thad narrowly dodges him, and his eyes light up, seeming to glow yellow as he stares inside.
My eyes flick to the guy who is lying haphazardly on the ground, and my stomach roils when I see his body. His veins are black, and there’s a knife in his back. What’s worse is that I recognize him.
That beast of a man left with Alex and Jenny.
***
THAD
Jenny is sobbing in the corner, curled in a ball amongst the wreckage as Wendy the bitch smirks at me. Her unkempt red hair is disheveled and even wilder. Blood stains her hands, her necklace is glowing, and she looks like she’s hungry for more blood.
The motherfucking anointed. I just found the slayer. Fuck me.
I really, really did not see this shit coming.
“Here, boy,” she says, whistling and acting like she’s talking to a dog. “Been waiting for you.”
Fucking bitc—
“Thad!” Roslyn’s voice has me whipping my head to the right, and my eyes widen as she races toward me.
“No!” I yell, but something suddenly slices through my stomach.
I jerk out the knife and toss it away just in time to dodge the hand flying at my face. Thank fuck she wasn’t holding the knife. I’d be suffering the effects of poison if she had stabbed me with it instead of throwing it at me.
This bitch took out an ogre, sent him flying from the room, so I’m not surprised when the fist I dodged smashes through the wall. Speed and strength like an immortal.
Fuck.
I don’t usually hit women, but…
I swing, but she’s fast, and she kicks me in the stomach. My breath leaves in a rush as a sense of weightlessness catches me off guard. It takes a second to realize I’m soaring through the air until I crash against the far wall, feeling it moan and buckle against the impact.
Oh yeah. I’m gonna kill a bitch.
All I see is a flash of red hair, and my eyes widen too late, seeing the knife come down. Just as I prepare to shift into something else, another flash of hair catches my eyes. Only it’s not red hair. It’s almost-black hair.
A garbled cry resounds through the living room, and I roar as I leap up, standing behind Roslyn. Wendy stumbles backwards, her eyes wide in horror as Roslyn’s back stays to me.
“You should… No… Why aren’t you…” Wendy’s words trail off, but I zero in on her, taking advantage of her distraction.
Something inside me snaps, and in less than a blink, my hands are on Wendy’s neck. She gasps, struggling to breathe, and I hiss when she stabs my hand with a knife I never saw coming.
The blood spills, and red taints my vision. Pain sears through me, and I start losing feeling in my right hand as my veins slowly start to feel the bite of the poison in her touch. I’m forced to drop that hand, which causes it to rip when she keeps hold of the knife still attached to it.
Biting back the burning pain, I use my other hand to twist her neck, snapping it with barely any effort. I growl as the life fades from her eyes, and I immediately regret ending her life too soon.
I’d love nothing more than find out how many more out there are like her. Jenny is her fucking cousin, so I need to be worried about that.
I glance down at my hand, watching in relief as the black veins slowly disappear, and the piercing pain dulls. At least the poison dies without the touch.