Chapter 20
Eden
22%
I don’t think Elvira and I are going to live for very long. I might be able to feel my wolf, but I can’t shape–shift. Neither can she. I mean, she is working on it, but that isn’t the point. The point is that we’re getting chased!
“Where do we run?!” Elvira shouts at me.
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Since I don`t have an answer and can’t really think, I grab her hand and race for the bedroom door. I have to think of a solution, but nothing is coming to me. The demon, or whatever it is, screeches behind us. I can only assume it has recovered from smashing into the wall. Without a backward glance, I seize Elvira’s hand and run faster.
“Your brother’s room window!” I gasp, yanking her along with my heart revolting inside my chest. “It’s above the garage roof. We can make the jump!”
We continue down the hall, the floorboards thundering underneath our feet. Behind us, the monster crashes through the door frame. I can hear it groaning, imagining it shaking its head in confusion while growling. Then it takes up moving again.
“Eden!” Elvira shrieks before I drag her inside her brother’s room. “It’s coming!”
I slam the door shut, knowing it won’t hold. Only for a few precious seconds, max. Luckily, Elvira is at the window, opening it for our escape. The night wind sweeps in, brushing back my hair and carrying the sound of distant howling pack members.
Logan and the others are close!
“You go first!” I shout at Elvira.
She hesitates, eyes wide with fear. “But—”
“GO!”
In that split second, the door splinters behind us, and Elvira doesn’t hesitate then. She jumps and lands in the snow on top of the garage roof. I’m halfway through the window when clawed fingers seize my ankle.
“Nooo!” I scream.
My nails dig into the windowsill.
I stand no chance.
The monster roars and pulls harder, determined to get me.
“EDEN!” Elvira cries from the roof.
The creature’s claws dig into my flesh. It fucking hurts! I kick frantically with my legs. I want to break free, but the monster is too strong. I stand no chance. Inch by excruciating inch, it hauls me back into the room.
“Help!” I cry out. “Elvira!”
My fingers betray me, slipping from the windowsill, and I am pulled forcefully back inside. The harsh impact of the floor robs me of breath. The creature looms above me.
This is it. I’m going to fucking die!
A massive hand grabs my arm and spins me around so I’m no longer lying on my stomach but on my back, staring up at the
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10:24 Mon, 23 Jun
Chapter 20
grotesque creature.
Billions of eyes.
Round, weird face with just a mouth.
White human skin.
Impossibly long fingers.
ས ་ 22% –
“Omega,” the monster hisses, drool splattering across my face. The burning liquid, as corrosive as acid, forces a cry of anguish from my lips.
I have to get away from it!
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I scramble backward on elbows and heels. I hope the monster won’t follow me, that it won’t be intelligent enough. But it is. The monster steps forward, and my eyes widen when its colossal jaws dislocate. It reveals a terrifying array of needle–like teeth.
This thing is going to eat me!
“Stay away from me!” I bellow, seizing the nearest weapon, which is a baseball bat propped by the wall. I swing it with every ounce of strength.
The bat smashes into the creature’s head. But instead of recoiling, it traps the weapon in its massive hand and snaps it like a brittle twig.
This is the end. I’m doomed. Not as a mere sacrifice for Azriel’s sister but as a meal for this grotesque nightmare.
Then it happens: the creature lunges and abruptly halts, its form suspended mere inches from my face, as if caught in the grip of unseen forces. Its limbs contort and jerk in a maddening struggle against invisible shackles.
Azriel’s powers?
The creature shrieks in fury as its body contorts unnaturally, its spine bending backward until its skull touches its heels with a sickening crunch. Black blood sprays my face as, one by one, its thousand eyes burst like overripe grapes.
It gets worse.
Seconds later, the entire monster breaks like a water balloon, and then my entire face is colored black by all the blood that splatters everywhere.
“Disgusting,” purrs a velvet–smooth voice from the doorway behind me. “Looks like I arrived just in time.”
I take a sitting position, my movements robotic. I think I’m in shock. I’ve never seen a creature like that and am so relieved when I lift my chin to see Azriel standing in the doorway.
“Are you hurt?” he asks, stepping over the remnants of the door.
I try to speak, but all that comes out is a choked sob. Black blood drips from my hair, my face, my clothes. I must look like a complete mess.
“Eden.” Azriel kneels in front of me, his voice gentler than I’ve ever heard it. “Look at me.”
I force myself to meet his gaze. His glamour is gone, revealing his true fae appearance–more beautiful, more terrifying than ever.
“What was that thing?” I whisper.
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10:24 Mon, 23 Jun
Chapter 20
“A Hollow. A creature from the Nightmare Court.” His jaw tightens. “One of my sister’s pets.”
ས༢,21%..
I blink, trying to process this information through the fog of terror clouding my mind. “Your sister sent that… thing after me?”
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“No. Those things aren’t supposed to be in the human realm, but me going back and forth between realms might have left a crack in the veil between worlds.” Azriel’s fingers brush against my cheek, wiping away some of the black blood. “These creatures can sense omegas. They hunt them. Feed on their magic.”
“We have magic?” I ask.
“The power to reproduce,” his smile is pained. “It’s what all supernatural creatures want. There is also some magic in an omega’s blood. Magic that most omegas can’t use, but when a fairy eats another creature’s flesh, we take their strength. That’s why my sister wants you. She would become so strong if she ate you, Eden. So strong.”
“So I’m really just a meal to you? To all fairies?” I whisper.
Azriel doesn’t respond, but his eyes drop to my arm where the creature’s claws have dug. There’s blood there, and Azriel looks away, his Adam’s apple bobbing.
It’s then I realize why–he is hungry for me too.
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