All eyes were on me. And all I saw was red.
Distantly, I heard Qian call my name, but I was already vaulting over the box and rushing into the arena. No one could stop me. My pulse beat in my vision, thumping rhythmically, focusing in on Heng and Lucas.
Heng’s eyes widened when he saw me coming.
“Do not hurt him!” I snarled, but it didn’t sound like me. It sounded feral and high, like nails on a chalkboard. Heng turned his blade toward me, and something inside me snapped.
Searing hot pain ripped through me. My hands turned into claws, my teeth elongated, and my lips split at the corners. Agony, everything, everywhere. I could see Heng’s pulse in the air like ripples on water, felt it quicken, heard it pounding, smelled his terror.
Flay him. Shred his skin. Kill him.
Fury roared through me like a forest fire, burning away every part of me that would have tried to stop. I didn’t want to stop. I was hungry. I was starving. I wanted blood.
“What—” Heng gasped, his eyes the size of moons.
Lucas stared at me, agape, but sat frozen in the dirt. The human part of me would have been ashamed, but the monster inside was stronger.
Wings burst from my back, and I rose into the air, leaving my lower half behind.
I was a manananggal.
The crystals captured everything. My transformation, broadcast for everyone to see.
I shrieked and dove for Heng, claws out.
Then the screaming began.
23
I pouncedonHeng and dug my claws into his shoulders. He hit the dirt with a scream.
Guards yelled. Spectators fled. It was pandemonium, but I didn’t care about any of that.
I bit into Heng’s neck, sinking my teeth in. My mind rushed with euphoria when I tasted his blood, drinking it, sucking the life out of him. He scrambled to push me off, but he was too weak. In seconds, his hands dropped limply to the dirt.
I lifted my face off his neck, tipping my head back, savoring the taste of his blood. It filled the pit inside me. But the pit wasn’t getting any smaller. In fact, it was growing. I needed more. I wanted more.
With my claws still in Heng’s shoulders, I pumped my wings and took to the sky, carrying Heng with me. It was so freeing to fly. I soared through the air, my golden dress trailing behind me like a tail.
I was hideous. I was horrible. I was free.
Guards rushed into the arena as spectators ran for their lives. I could smell their fear. I wanted to taste it.
The guards who had once sworn to protect me were moving below, swarming like ants, shouting orders, and readying their magic. I wouldn’t let them stop me.
A nearby guard took aim at me with fire cupped in his hands, and I dropped Heng to the ground just before I pounced. The guard threw the fire at me, but I passed right through it like smoke and tore into his arms with my claws. He screamed, and I licked the blood off my fingers.
There were so many people here, so many beating hearts, it would be foolish to linger on only one.
A woman screamed when I landed on her back and scratched her skin open with my claws, and then I jumped on another man who tried to run away. Their blood was delicious, and I wanted more. With each drop, my vision turned even redder, like my eyes were coated in it.
I took to the sky again, stretching my wings and throwing my arms out to soak up the life that was pulsing around me, when something hot and sharp pierced through my side. Blood spilled over my claws.
An arrow. I’d been shot.
Qian, flanked by guards, had a bow in his hand, his face tight with rage. He took aim at me again with a new silver-tipped arrow.
I opened my mouth wide, baring my teeth, claws out, and soared toward him.
