I seized him and flung him across the room. He bounced like a rag doll, hitting the far wall with a thud that rattled the windowpanes.
“You! Stay the fuck there,” I hissed. Then I vanished again—and materialized inches from Costa’s face.
“And you…” I grabbed him by the throat, revealing just a whisper of my rotting form—blackened skin, writhing maggots beneath the surface, veins pulsing with darkness. “You lie to me again, and I swear to every god that has ever existed—I will make your son bleed first.”
“No!” Costa gasped, stumbling back. “Please—he’s my only child! Spare him!”
“Then speak.” My voice dropped to a deadly whisper. “Tell me the fucking truth. Why did she come here? What did she say?”
Costa’s skin was bone-white, slick with sweat. His hands trembled as he spoke.
“She—she said you were monsters. You and Malik. She said she couldn’t take it anymore. That she was afraid.”
He swallowed. “I saw it in her eyes. She was terrified.”
I stared at him, unmoving. The stench of my fury filled the room like poison gas.
Then his voice dropped, barely more than a breath.
“She said she wanted to destroy you. She said… she was done.”
His eyes flicked up to mine, hollow and pleading. “She begged me to give her something. So, I relented.” He gave a slight shrug, like it meant nothing.
My jaw locked. “You Timehunters never do anything out of kindness. What did she give in return?”
Costa’s gaze darted away, right, then left.
“I was willing to do it for free,” he muttered.
“Liar.” My hand flew to his throat, fingers clamping down like a steel vice. “What. Did. You. Take.”
Costa sputtered under the pressure. Then, his fear warped into a grin—cold, cruel, and smug.
“She begged,” he hissed. “Begged me for mercy. Then she saw what power I had over her. And she offered herself to me.”
My pulse thundered, my blood turned to fire.
His grin widened, teeth flashing.
“She threw herself into my bed. Begged me to fuck her. Said she’d do anything for a vial of poison. And let me tell you…” He leaned in, whispering like a devil.
“She was the best whore I’ve ever had. Loud. Desperate.Filthy.”
He grabbed his crotch. “I can still feel her.”
Something inside me snapped.
I hurled Costa across the room with a roar that ripped through the house like thunder. His body slammed into the wall with a sickening snap.
Behind me, Alfonso whimpered.
I turned, every movement a promise of carnage. The boy cowered like prey. I stalked over and yanked him up by the collar—his body limp, teeth clacking from the sheer violence of it.
Holding the terrified boy aloft like a broken trophy, I sneered, “It’s because ofyou, Costa—because of your twisted, fucking Timehunter legacy—that I became this monster.Youdestroyed me.Youmade me into this.”
A jagged pain split through my face. My cheek tore open with a wet pop, and a writhing maggot slithered out, flopping to the floor in a squirming heap.
Alfonso let out a choked, animalistic sob. A sound not meant for human ears.
