“Aranare!” I shrieked, my voice breaking. “Stop!”
He turned, eyes connecting with mine. They remained wild, but softened as he gazed at me. His grip loosened, and Parker crumpled to the floor, gasping.
I rushed to Parker, kneeling beside him. His eyes widened as he noticed me, his face paling as if he’d seen a ghost.
“Wh-what the fuck is this?” he choked out, his eyes darting between us.
“It’s okay.” I reached for him on instinct, drawing his head into my lap.
Aranare let out a low growl; his entire frame vibrated as he paced to and fro.
“What are you even doing here?” I glared at Aranare, whose chest was heaving, his scales still rippling.
He didn’t answer. He just shook his head, a flicker of sadness in his eyes as he observed Parker cradled against my chest.
“I-I...” Parker rasped, a cruel smile curling on his lips as he looked between Aranare and me. “I knew you were a slut.”
I barely saw Aranare move, but something rushed past me, like a gust of wind. The next thing I knew, he was kneeling beside me, a knife from the kitchen gleaming silver as he held it against Parker’s throat.
“Stop,” I cried through a veil of tears, and Aranare froze, holding the blade in place.
“You can have her—she was a rubbish fuck anyway,” Parker spat.
Rage consumed me, and my Siren magic vibrated beneath my skin, a hot brilliance slithering through my veins and igniting my insides.
“You would be nothing without me.” Parker drew a shallow breath. “Just a piece of low-life trash. I made you.”
Aquamarine scales blossomed along my arms, and an animalisticsnarl escaped my lips as talons shot from my fingertips. My back arched as the skin behind my shoulders bubbled, then shredded, wings tearing free. They draped onto the floor behind me, feathers brushing against my back as they cloaked my kneeling form.
A sneer of disgust shadowed Parker’s face as he looked at me, eyes traveling from my claws to my wings. Warm power burned in response, and I snatched the knife into my own hands, slicing into the soft skin at his throat. Crimson blood spilled from the wound as I dragged the blade across. I pulled back, looking in shock at my bloodstained hands.
Bile rose in my throat as the weight of what I’d done sank into my stomach. “No,” I sobbed, pressing my fingers to the cut. My anger ebbed and my scales faded, but the blood was everywhere.
“I’m sorry, baby.” Parker choked, his head falling limp as blood trickled from his parted lips.
I stared at my crimson-splattered hands.
Parker was dead.
I had killed him.
Everything around me blurred, slipping in and out of clarity as my breath came in ragged gasps. Aranare... If he hadn’t come here, then this would never have happened.
“Wh-what did you make me do?” I rasped out, glaring at him through a blur of angry tears. I pulled Parker’s head tighter against my chest, refusing to look at the warm, sticky blood spreading over my thighs.
Aranare didn’t reply. He turned from the scene, raking both hands through his hair.
A hot slice of anger flared through me, and a guttural snarl tore from my throat as I shoved Parker’s lifeless body aside. Aranare barely had time to raise an arm before I barreled at him. Wings splayed, I clawed at his chest, scratching and crying like a beast. And I was a beast—a monster.
I dashed back to Parker’s body, grabbed the sticky knife, and threw myself at Aranare again. My strikes were wild, one landing, carving a gaping wound down his right shoulder.
He caught my wrists, holding me still. I glared at him, chest heaving and breath sharp. A flicker of pain crossed his face, and his eyes glistened as if he were fighting back tears.
“What were you even doing here?” I asked again, my lip trembling as more scales glittered along my arms. I wrestled with my magic, shoving my Siren form back. Heat flamed behind my shoulder blades as the wings retreated, skin fusing over. I would never let those repulsive feathers come out again. They made me do terrible things. They made me a monster.
“He hurt you.” Aranare’s gaze burned into mine, his eyes still gleaming gold.
“I don’t need your protection. If you hadn’t come here... hadn’t given me a knife...”
