Masquerade (Heven and Hell #1)(31)
Author: Cambria Hebert

I held back because he knew I was there. He was on guard and watching. When I kill her I want it to be a surprise. Even he won’t be able to stop me.

She let herself in the house, and he waited while she locked the door. When he turned he looked right at me, his eyes flashing in the dark, a silent challenge. He was angry, I could smell it. He gunned the engine when he drove away. I didn’t bother hiding the fact that I was following him. He issued the challenge, and I was answering. Maybe I would just kill him too.

Sam

For a single moment I thought she might say it back. The way her eyes melted when I gave her the bracelet, the way her body molded against mine as we sat in the swing. I had started to believe it might be possible.

Then we were interrupted. I smelled trouble coming; I heard its silent trip through the woods. Was one night was too much to ask for? What should have been a night to remember turned into another threat to avoid.

I couldn’t sit out there in the open with her any longer, she was a sitting duck. Her safety wasn’t something I was willing to chance. So instead of waiting to hear the words I desperately wanted, I ruined the moment and pulled her away.

I knew she was upset, I could see it in her eyes. She thought she had done something wrong, and for that I was pissed. How much more was she going to have to endure all because I love her?

The minute she stepped inside her house and turned the lock I turned and sought out the one who was watching. Adrenaline and anger surged through me. I have had enough. I was tired of looking over Heven’s shoulder, tired of hiding in the shadows and keeping danger from her door.

It was time that I eliminated the threat. I didn’t like to kill.

But that didn’t mean I wouldn’t.

I drove to an empty lot not far from town. I didn’t want an audience for the murder I was about to commit. When I turned onto the road that lead to the clearing, I felt a weight land in the bed of my truck. I didn’t bother to look; I knew exactly what it was.

I slammed on the brakes a few seconds later, letting the truck fishtail and jerk as it tried to stop so abruptly. I enjoyed hearing the banging in the back and the snarl of pain.

Once the truck was stopped I turned off the engine but left the keys in the ignition. I leaped out of the truck, my body tense, expecting the hit. It came, from over my head, a body sailing right over me. I turned and caught the attacker from above and tossed them onto the ground. Again, the sickening thud of the body hitting the ground pleased me.

I didn’t wait for them to get up but leapt on top, landing a few really good punches to the side of my target’s head.

Next thing I knew I was sailing through the air, and I turned to land on my feet. My enemy charged, and I ducked out of the way sending the shadowed figure stuttering forward. I shoved my enemy from behind, but my nemesis turned, sharp teeth raking down my arm. I pulled back and glanced down at the blood welling on my arm.

“I’m done with you,” I spat. “I’m sick of the games you keep playing with Heven!”

I got an answering snarl, and then I was tossed through the air again. This time I landed further into the lot, in a part with trees growing closely together. I gritted my teeth when my back hit a branch, but I straightened and braced for another attack.

But something else distracted me.

The smell.

I looked down and held back a gag. Body parts littered the ground. There was a hand lying next to my foot and another laying a few yards away. A foot was sticking out from beneath a pile of leaves and there were puddles of blood in the grass.

“I told you that you belonged with us.”

My gaze snapped up at the sound of the voice. I preferred them in their other forms. At least then they couldn’t talk.

I took pleasure in the swollen purpling bruises that marked the monster’s skin.

“I’m not anything like you.”

A humorless laugh echoes around me. “Then why did you come here? You challenged me. You have death in your eyes, you came here to kill. You led me to the place that I kill too. Your instincts told you it was the perfect place to hide a body.”

“When I am done with you there won’t be anything left.”

I saw the hit coming, and I blocked it. We went round and round, throwing punches and trying to weaken the other.

When we both pulled away I realized I had the upper hand. I smiled, knowing that the months of fear would finally be over. “I never wanted to kill you,” I said. “You leave me no choice.”

I pounced, wrapping my hands around a gasping throat. I heard the others coming and knew that they would be here soon. I squeezed harder, wanting to snap her neck. She was struggling so fiercely, I couldn’t finish the job.

A shoulder caught me under the ribs and I was suddenly knocked aside. I smacked into a tree and landed hard. Ignoring the pain in my side, I planted my hand in the grass to stand and came away with a severed ear. I wanted to gag at the bloody appendage. Where was the rest of the body? I couldn’t think about that now because the others had come. I hadn’t been fast enough at delivering death. Why wouldn’t they just let me do this? Removing the monster would make all our lives easier.

The three of them stood in a line, staring at me with eyes devoid of emotion.

I glanced at the monster who was grinning like a maniac in between gasping for breath. “I told you that you couldn’t beat me. You’re nothing but a little pup.”

Up until this point my body quivered and shook, I held back my need to change. But now I prepared to shift. If I was going to survive a fight of one against three I had too.

The others recognized what I was about to do and they jumped into action, pinning me down and laughing.

“You need to be taught a lesson, pup. One you won’t forget.”

I’m not really sure how long the beating lasted. I tried to fight back, but it was useless. It was three against one, and I was pinned.

My last thought before I blacked out was of Heven.

I opened my eyes to only to blink back the sunlight. How long had I been out?

Heven.

I jerked up, ignoring the protest in my body and looked for my phone. I was in my apartment. The apartment I barely ever spent any time at. How did I get here?

“Going somewhere?” A voice beside me asked.

I turned, angry that I hadn’t realized he was sitting there.

“Morning. Did you have a nice nap?”

“Like you care,” I snarled. I shoved my hand in my pocket looking for my phone. It wasn’t there. Then I remembered I left it in the truck. I wondered where the truck was.