Sable POV
The shadows breathed around me.
Like beasts. Like old gods. Like the voices I'd spent centuries trying to drown in blood and ash.
They whispered through the trees as I shoved through the forest, claws shredding bark, wings twitching, tension curling like poison under my skin. My tail lashed behind me, cracking branches like bones.
And still.
Thirteen hours.
That cursed number pulsed behind my eyes like a war drum I couldn't shut the fuck up.
13:00:00
12:59:59
12:59:58
"What the fuck does it mean?" I snarled, slamming my fist into the nearest tree.
It exploded. Splinters. Ash. Dust.
I didn't bleed. My demon form didn't allow that. But gods, I wished I could. Just to feel something other than this maddening pull toward...
Her.
The one I kept seeing every time I closed my damn eyes.
Rhiannan.
The storm I didn't ask for. The light I didn't deserve. The soul that called to mine like a siren drunk on destruction.
I hated her for it.
I loved her for it.
And I wanted to set the entire fucking world on fire just to make it stop.
The goddess's voice whispered in my mind like static and static and static...
Go to her.
Yeah? And do what? Scare her? Corrupt her? Drag my cursed ass into her life and taint the only good thing I've seen in centuries?
I wasn't ready. I wasn't worthy.
I was a weapon with teeth.
Still…
12:45:14
12:45:13
I gasped like I'd been stabbed, panic crawling up my throat like acid.
Something was coming.
Something huge.
And for the first time since I crawled out of the pit they called my birthplace, I didn't feel like a monster.
I felt like prey.
I ripped through the last line of blackened trees, the ground trembling under my feet, the wind shrieking around my horns. My eyes burned red and black, scanning the horizon for nothing in particular and everything at once.
Then it hit me.
A scent.
Rain. Magic. Stars.
Her.
I dropped to one knee, chest heaving, claws digging into the dirt.
Run, part of me begged.
Find her, the rest of me screamed.
Even if I hated myself, even if I didn't think I could protect her...gods, especially because of that...I knew one thing:
If I didn't find her before that timer hit zero...
The world would burn.
And I'd be the one lighting the match.
Blood sprayed like confetti as I ripped my claws through the throat of a snarl beast lunging for my head. It gurgled once and hit the dirt with a wet slap. Another one skittered from the trees, six glowing eyes, dripping venom, its scream shrill enough to rattle bones.
I grinned.
"That's it, come to daddy."
I ducked under its jaws, twisted, and drove my fist through its chest. Ripped its heart out clean and steaming.
Splorch.
"Fucking gross," I muttered, wiping my hand on my thigh. "Demonspawn hygiene is offensive."
I kicked the corpse aside and stood over the carnage. Wrecked limbs, cracked bones, blood pooling like wine. Most would've puked.
Me?
I crouched and picked up a serrated fang the length of my forearm.
"Well, hello there, you beautiful bastard," I whispered.
I rolled it in my palm, admiring the curve, then dug through the wreckage for more, claws, bone, jagged teeth, maybe a horn or two. Each piece, a treasure. Each piece, hers.
"Rhiannan's gonna love this," I muttered, stuffing it all into my belt pouch like a gleeful fucking goblin. "Gonna make her the baddest necklace this side of the void."
Would she shriek?
Laugh?
Call me a psychotic bastard?
Gods, I hoped so.
"Gotta make it pretty," I said, standing over the twitching remains. "Maybe bloodstones... or that harpy talon I kept. Add some flair."
12:08:03.
The timer pulsed again, glowing behind my eyelids like a curse etched into my soul.
I licked the blood off my palm and kept walking, the battlefield at my back, a low hum rising in my throat.
Half war drum.
Half prayer.
All hers.
And if anything else tried to stop me?
I'd show it just how much of a monster I could really be.
Rhiannan POV
Something twisted in my chest.
Not pain.
Not fear.
Glee.
I was on the training field again, drenched in sweat, glaring daggers at Elisha who wouldn't shut the fuck up about my foot placement. "It's off center," he growled for the fifth time like I wasn't already planning to punt him into next week.
But then...bam.
A pulse slammed through my ribs, warm and electric, like someone had lit a spark in my soul and whispered, "Mine."
I gasped and doubled over, clutching my chest like I'd been sucker punched by the gods. But it wasn't pain.
It was him. The demon.
Not one of the mates I already knew. No, this was different. Primal. Unhinged. Absolutely feral. My heart damn near purred.
"What the fuck Rhi!" Kaleb was instantly at my side, growling like someone was about to catch hands. Arwen popped in from behind like a pissed off shadow, eyes scanning the skies. Liam tripped over a water barrel trying to look useful and heroic at the same time. Bless his vampire ass.
And Elisha? He roared. Roared. Like a full ass territorial dragon about to incinerate the countryside.
But I…
I just smiled.
I stood up slow, heartbeat thundering, skin tingling like the universe had just dialed my number.
"He's coming," I whispered.
Kaleb stiffened. "Who?"
I turned, grinning like the cat who stole the kingdom, a wicked sparkle dancing in my tired, chaotic little soul.
"My demon," I said, my voice like honey.
They all stared at me like I'd lost it.
And maybe I had.
But I felt him.
Somewhere out there, my monster was breathing smoke and collecting bones. Probably killing something unspeakable and picking out teeth for my next necklace.
Gods help anyone who tries to stop him.
Because I won't.
Hell, I might just bring popcorn.