Page 16 of Devoured

I stare at him blankly in turn. He leers closer, pressing his pale nose right against mine. I have half a mind to break it off, but I’m no longer allowed to fight Cora’s werewolves. Soon enough, for Evie’s and my deception to work, I’ll have to pretend to get along with them. The thought nauseates me as Jasper’s tight lips stretch into a grin. “If you’d stabbed me, you wouldn’t still be standing here. Amethyst let you off easy, Lavender.”

“Vanessa,” I breathe, glaring into his sunburst-yellow eyes. “My name is Vanessa.”

“That’s not what I hear.” He chuckles low, his accent thick as sludge. “I hear they call you pathetic.” And then he tilts his head, dragging that nose across my cheek. “I saw you,” he murmurs. “At the Ascension. I saw you standing there frozen, almost soiling yourself from fear. I saw you flinch every time we bit through one of your friends.” His tongue flicks out, tasting my skin as I stand there helpless. Angry. Shaking. I want to hurt him.

I have to remain calm.

“Cora thinks you’ll be a strong ally,” Jasper says, “but I see you for what you are, just as I saw you then: weakness incarnate. Your friends were delicious, by the way.”

Hatred locks my knees, blows through my ribs. At the rancid scent rolling off him and the words on his lips and those lips on my skin. He is disgusting, but… that doesn’t mean he’s not right about me. I didn’t save anyone. I couldn’t save anyone. The tempestuous storm in my chest swirls like a cyclone. I have to remove myself from this conversation before I do something we’ll both regret. “Leave me alone, Jasper.”

“Why? Think your pretty prince will come and save you?”

Emotions batter my chest. Cracking a bone. Threatening to break another. My body is begging to transform. I don’t know how much longer I can contain myself. “No, Jasper. I don’t.”

“Keep saying my name, Lavender. I’m starting to like it. Maybe one day, you’ll even scream it for me.” He cups my chin, his gaze blazing through mine. “The others didn’t get that chance. But I’ll take my time with you. I’ll make it slow.”

With that, I break.

My claws rip free, and my fangs lengthen. I press a claw to his throat, forcing him back against the wall. He only laughs.

I, however, snarl. “I’m saying your name, Jasper, because I’m trying to remind myself you’re a person. Otherwise, I’ll gut you, Jasper. I’ll slit your throat, Jasper, and I’ll leave your corpse to rot in this wing. Do not touch me again. Understood?” A pause as his blood begins to well around my claw. “I am not your plaything. I am no one’s plaything.”

“Do it.” He leans into my touch, laughing harder as my claw breaks through his skin. “Bleed me, then. I dare you.”

Shit.

I glance from his eyes to his throat to the wing before us. There are only two doors down here, but others will be on guard duty soon. Other werewolves who will wander nearby and catch a whiff of this fight. They’ll smell us, see us, and tattle. And I’ll be screwed.

Shit, shit, shit.

What am I doing? I glance back at my claw, at the scarlet dripping from the puckering cut. I can’t let my emotions control me anymore.

I swallow. I stare at Jasper. But I don’t remove my claw; I don’t free him. “C-Cora is my queen,” I say instead, slowly, trying to imagine what Evie would do if she were here instead. I shift closer and whisper against his ear. “She would choose me, Jasper. If you attack me again, she would encourage me to slaughter you. And I will. Stay the fuck away from me. Or it won’t be the pretty prince who saves me. It will be our queen.”

He freezes. His spine straightens, and his head falls back against the wall. Away from my claw. I release him, sliding backward until the gaping turret entrance separates us.

Candlelight flickers across his gaunt face, emphasizing the hollows under his eyes and cheeks as he says, “You really think that’s true? She bit me first. I was here before you were old enough to talk.”

He’s Cora’s favorite, I realize at once. I knew he seemed to be her second- or third-in-command from all the duties she constantly thrusts on him, but until this moment, I didn’t understand just how deep their connection truly runs.

And if he’s Cora’s favorite…

That means he’s someone to break. He’s an artery to slice.

What would Evie do?

With a mocking smile, I say, “You think she’ll keep you around longer than me? I’m going to be Cora’s daughter-in-law. I’m going to be her right hand, by her side every second of every day. I am inimitable, Jasper, but you”—I retract my claw and wipe any blood from my fingers onto my dress—“you’re replaceable.”

He growls for so long it could be the faint whisper of a howl. His hair rises along his arms, growing into short, wispy tufts of white fur. His whole body trembles with an impending transformation. I don’t stay to watch it happen. I simply pat him on the arm, force another sardonic grin, and strut down the hall until I reach two arched doorways on opposing sides of the wing.

“Which one is my room?” I ask sweetly.

Jasper’s fangs muffle his words, but I still make out clearly enough, “The left, you bitch.”

And I don’t even need to force my grin anymore as I wave my fingers at him, grab the handle, and open the door to my new room. To my new life.

I’m done being mocked, used, and hurt. I’m done spending my existence cowering in the corner, hoping someone bigger and stronger will come along to save me. Even though my legs quake beneath my delicate skirts, even though all I taste is bile and all I smell is death, I hold my head high. I don’t collapse when the door shuts behind me.