Frozen in the basement's pitch black, Ancelin huddled against the cold floor, paralyzed by Krevan's whispered order.Time crawled by each second an eternity of strained listening.The violent hammering in her chest seemed to echo through the space, while nausea coiled like a serpent beneath her ribs.
The silence filled the room like rising floodwater.Ancelin strained to hear anything—even Krevan's screams would be a mercy now, proof he still drew breath.Blood welled from her nails carving into her palms, while perspiration traced cold paths down her back.She staggered toward the door once, twice, her legs buckling beneath her each time.
Then—CRASH!—glass exploded somewhere above.Her scream died in her throat, strangled by her own hand.More glass.Closer.The kitchen.Heavy boots stomped overhead, voices barking commands."Krevan," she mouthed, tasting blood where she'd bitten through her lip."FIND THE WOMAN!"a voice bellowed."ANCELIN!"They knew her name.They were shouting it, taunting her with it.No stealth, no caution—as if Krevan was already— No.She burrowed under blankets in the corner, heart hammering so violently she feared they might hear it through the floor.The basement doorknob rattled.
"Did you dump the bitch's fucking jewelry collection and her shit in the office?Did you tear through everything?EVERYTHING?"A voice like broken glass sliced through the ceiling above."She wasn't with him when we—" The rest vanished in a mumble.Ancelin's blood turned into ice water.They had Krevan.They had done something to Krevan.Her heart hammered so violently she feared they might hear it through the floorboards."Check the barn again where we left that alien piece of shit bleeding out."THUD.The basement door shuddered.THUD.Wood splintered.CRACK.The door exploded inward, slamming against the wall with such force that concrete dust rained from the ceiling.Boot heels hammered down the stairs like gunshots.The light snapped on, blinding her.The blankets were ripped away, exposing her like a nerve.
"Found the cunt!"A hand like a vise clamped around her arm, wrenching it up behind her back until something popped.White-hot pain shot through her shoulder.
"KREVAN!"The name tore from her throat.
"SHUT HER UP!"A fist connected with her jaw.Teeth cut into her cheek.Blood filled her mouth, hot and metallic."Your alien boyfriend is DEAD, you stupid whore.Now WHERE'S THE CRYSTAL?"The man jammed a gun barrel against her temple, the metal burning cold against her skin."I'll splatter your brains across this basement just like I did to your family.Five seconds."
"Hey, no."The man's voice dropped to a growl that made her skin crawl."She'll talk.And after she talks..."His eyes raked over her body like physical blows."We take turns.All night if we want.Storm's not going anywhere."He grabbed a fistful of her hair, yanking her head back until tears sprang to her eyes."The Triaxen's corpse is still warm outside, and we've got all the time in the world now."His free hand seized her breast, fingers digging in until she gasped."Your mama made the same sound before she died."His breath hit her face—rotten meat and tobacco."The crystal.Where is it?"Four shadows loomed around her in the basement, their silence more terrifying than shouting would have been.Ancelin suddenly remembered—the crystal her father had entrusted to her, meant for her mother's necklace.Krevan had hidden it somewhere.Where?
"I don't—" The back of his hand cracked across her face before she could finish.More blood flooded her mouth, coppery and warm.The room spun sickeningly as her consciousness threatened to slip away."Upstairs," she managed, spitting blood onto the concrete floor."My jewelry supplies.I can show you."Her mind raced desperately for a plan, any plan.
The leader's mouth twisted into something that wasn't a smile."Move."A brutal shove sent her stumbling toward the stairs.Her ankle twisted as she fell, pain shooting up her leg.Rough hands dragged her upright by her hair."Which way?"he hissed, pressing something cold and metallic against her throat.
"If she can handle fucking that giant Triaxen freak, she can take all four of us," another man hissed, grabbing her chin and forcing her to look at him.His pupils were pinpoints, his breath hot against her face."You don't give us that crystal right now; we'll tear you apart from the inside out before we put a bullet in your skull.Understand?"
"You lying, fucking bitch.Want to die screaming like your whore mother?I put a bullet through her skull while she begged for mercy," the leader snarled, spittle flying into Ancelin's face.
"I swear it's true!"Ancelin's voice cracked as blood trickled from her split lip."The crystal—my father's gift—Krevan locked it away.Please, the safe box is in his office, hidden behind the books."
"Waste of time.Let's gut her now," one man growled, unsheathing a serrated blade that caught the light."We can find another bitch to fuck.”
"Not until I've had my fill of this one," the other man hissed, grabbing her hair and yanking her head back until her neck strained."Going to split you open like ripe fruit, Triaxen's whore."His tongue dragged across her cheek, leaving a trail of saliva."Sweet as honey.Bet you'll scream sweeter."
"MOVE!"The leader's command cracked like a whip.The man clutching her hair shoved her forward, sending her crashing into the doorframe.Blood sprayed from her nose as they dragged her to the office.Books rained down as the others ransacked shelves, pages fluttering like dying birds."Fucking waste," the leader spat.They slammed her into a chair, the wood splintering beneath her."Twitch one muscle and Joeshon will have to fuck your still-warm corpse."Ancelin froze, tears streaming silently.Her guard's knife sliced through her top in one violent motion, the cold air hitting her exposed flesh as he leered at her nakedness.
The crude man's pupils dilated as he seized her breasts, his fingernails leaving indentations in her flesh."I'm gonna tear you apart, little bitch," he hissed, his hot breath stinging her ear."Power crystal be damned."A shadow flickered in the doorway.Ancelin blinked—hallucination?No.There stood Krevan, blood-streaked and risen from the dead.His skin had the waxy pallor of a corpse, but his eyes burned with such unholy rage they seemed to glow in the shadows.Every muscle in his massive frame was coiled tight, his jaw clenched so hard a vein pulsed at his temple.He moved with the lethal silence of a predator stalking prey, the men oblivious to the death that had entered the room.Ancelin's heart slammed against her ribs as she dropped her gaze to the floor, tasting copper as she bit through her own lip to keep from screaming his name.
The office exploded into chaos—a blur of limbs and blood-curdling screams that sliced through the air.Krevan materialized like a demon summoned from hell itself, fangs bared and dripping.Two men dropped instantly, their bodies convulsing violently against the floorboards, foam bubbling from their contorted mouths as Krevan's venom liquefied their insides.Their screams strangled into wet gurgles before silence claimed them.The remaining men dangled from Krevan's grip like broken puppets, feet kicking uselessly at empty air.With a sickening crunch of teeth through flesh, he tore into the third man's throat.Blood sprayed across the bookshelves in a crimson arc as Krevan hurled him across the desk.The man's spine shattered against the wall with a sound like branches snapping in a storm.The final intruder's bladder released as Krevan's face transformed—skin pulled taut over sharpened cheekbones, eyes blazing with an ancient, inhuman hunger."Will more come?"The words rumbled from deep within Krevan's chest, each syllable dripping with promised agony.The man's eyes rolled white with terror.Krevan's grip tightened until bones creaked."I can inject you with enough venom to keep you conscious longer so you can feel more pain as your organs dissolve," he snarled, fangs elongating further, glistening with toxic promise."I want you to feel every second of what I'll do to you for touching what's mine.Now tell me—will more come?"Ancelin watched, frozen, as her gentle Krevan vanished completely behind this primal creature of vengeance and fury.
"The crystal," the man gasped, blood vessels bursting in his eyes."Worth any price.Trever could've saved them all—just hand it over.Stupid fucking hero."His voice broke into a wet rasp.
Krevan's fingers sank deeper into the man's throat."Who.Hired.You."Each word punctuated by a tightening grip.
The man's gaze darted to Ancelin, terror making his pupils pinpricks."Someone—knew her father—"
"Earth-Axis?"Krevan's fangs elongated, venom dripping onto the man's cheek, sizzling against flesh.
"N-no—someone—Eismulen—" Desperate now, words tumbling out between strangled breaths."I swear to God—"
"Your orders?"Blood trickled from the man's nose as vessels ruptured under Krevan's crushing grip.
"Crystal.Girl.Dead."Each word a desperate gasp.
Something primordial erupted from Krevan's chest—not a roar, but the sound of something ancient breaking free."YOU TOUCHED MY MATE!"The walls seemed to vibrate with his fury.
"You promised—" the man sobbed, urine streaming down his leg.
Krevan's face contorted, skin stretching taut over bone."MINE!"His eyes blazed with an unholy light that cast shadows across the room."I'd resurrect you all just to kill you again for touching her."His jaws unhinged like a serpent's, impossibly wide, and he struck—tearing through cartilage, muscle, and bone in one savage motion.The man's scream became a gurgling fountain that sprayed crimson across the ceiling before abruptly silencing.Krevan hurled the corpse with such force that bone fragments embedded in the wall where it hit.
Blood-soaked and heaving, Krevan stood trembling with rage.Ancelin lunged from her chair, colliding with his blood-slick body.He howled in agony at her touch, but his arms still encircled her, claws retracting as they found her skin.
"What happened?"Ancelin's voice trembled.
