Every logical thought slipped away. Every reason I had for hating him vanished in one scary moment. There was only him. Only this. Us.
Thirty
Screech
Iwas lost in the heat of the Commander’s touch. “Please,” I begged against his lips, reaching between us to unbutton his pants?—
A high-pitched shriek pierced the night air, shattering the glass in the window frame. It exploded, showering the floor in glittering shards.
The Commander tore away from me, eyes snapping towards the sound. The unholy screech came again, a sound too sharp, too wrong. Gooseflesh rippled over my skin.A monster. “Fuck,” he muttered, closing his eyes and taking a deep, steadying breath. He turned back to me, thumb grazing my cheekbone tenderly. “Stay here.”
My legs were shaking and my head spun. All I could do was hold myself up against the wall and watch the Commander disappear into the shadows.
I pressed a hand to my chest; I could still feel him. Against my body. Against my lips. The heat of him felt burned into me.
Gods, what is wrong with me?
He was my enemy. A monster to my people. The Commander of Death.
And yet… the moment his mouth claimed mine, I had melted. Ihad wanted it. Craved it. I bit down on a trembling lip, disgusted by the ache that still lingered low in my stomach.
A broken laugh escaped me, a small, bitter sound. My plan had failed, but it had also worked. He hadn’t used the blood bargain when he asked me to stay. He hadtrustedme to stay.
Just like every other stupid male who thinks with their cock.
Another screech ripped through the night below, jarring me into action. I pulled on my dirty clothes and shoved the door open, taking the stairs two at a time.
The inn was eerily quiet. The people who had been smiling and laughing were now huddled under tables, wide-eyed with fear. I stood frozen at the bottom of the stairs. The server, Blue, looked at me from under a table, tears glistening against her cheeks. She pressed a single finger to her lips, urging me to be quiet.
I rushed towards the door, ignoring the Fae gesturing for me to get down. As I pulled the heavy door open, a hand clasped around my wrist. Blue pulled at me, desperately trying to pull me away from the door.
“Let go?—”
Her hand clamped down on my mouth, cutting off my words. I tugged my hand free, turning and running into the dimly lit street. The smell of rot lingered in the air, overpowering the floral scent of the town.
Blue’s footsteps chased me through the dark, too close, too loud. But with every step I took, hers faded further away.
I skidded around a corner and kept running, heart hammering, waiting for her hand to close around my wrist. But she was too far away.
Relief hit first. Then something bitter rose underneath it, twisting in my gut. I swallowed it down hard. I couldn’t afford to care about the Commander. About betraying him. About the way his voice had sounded when he told me to stay, or the way his lips felt.
I didn’t question how I was still ahead, how a Mortal girl was outrunning a Fae. I slowed just long enough to glance back. The street was empty. Nothing but lantern light and strings of glassy bulbs swaying over the cobblestone.
I rounded a corner and screamed?—
The Commander burst out of the shadows. Covered in blue gore, his jaw clenched, and for a moment, it looked like he was in pain.
A screech cut through the night, unearthly and high-pitched. I covered my ears, but they still throbbed. The Commander looked unaffected, grabbing my forearm with a bruising grip and pulling me into his shadows. My very being tore apart, dissolving into nothing. We burst back into existence in front of the inn, nausea swirling in my stomach. But it was the sight before me that made the blood drain from my skin. Blue’s head lolled to the side, her scream curdled and weak. The thing over the top of her stood taller than a horse with hunched posture. Its skin was wet and translucent, stretched too tightly over sinew and bone. The sound of wet tearing made my stomach churn as it tore through Blue’s stomach with grotesquely long claws. Red pooled against the cobblestone.
The Commander whistled and its head whipped towards the noise. It had no eyes, only slick, translucentflesh stretched where they should’ve been. Its mouth opened like a wound, circular and lined with teeth meant for tearing.
The Commander swung his sword, but the thing ignored him.
Its attention snapped to me, opening its mouth and screeching. Its muscles coiled before it lunged. I stumbled back, trying to pull my power to the surface. I didn’t want to die, not anymore.
The Commander burst from the shadows in front of me, slicing his sword through the monster’s skull. The horrible screech cut off. Its body twitched once before slumping to the ground. The Commander pulled his sword free with a wet squelch, boots stomping through blue gore towards me. His eyes were black pits filled with rage as dark veins pulsed through his skin. “You fucking distracted me and now they are dead!”
It wasn’t just Blue. A dozen bodies littered the ground. Crimson oozed from the dead, entrails scattering the ground around them. “I could not protect them becauseyouran!”
