Its massive form took the entire entryway with it. Glass shattered, metal twisted, and wires fell in a display of sparks from the ceiling.
Evesse followed. Launching herself onto the ceFtut once again, she dug her fingers into its rotting, leathery flesh. Red mist came to life around it like a vortex, showing her all the beings it had eaten in the last few weeks.
The mist also showed her the beast’s intentions, how it had been ordered to go after one specific being.
It wasn’t Spari. They had been sent after Dimithinia.
Eve let out a cry that was definitely not human.
With relish, she pulled her lips back from her teeth and began tearing the skin off the ceFtut’s body. It gave off one of its shrieks, and because she was on its back, her eardrums shattered. Blood oozed from her ears as the creature writhed, trying to get her off its back.
She threw a four foot chunk of skin behind her and went to work on its head. It reared back and shrieked again and again, but she was deaf at that point. Even if she hadn’t been, she wouldn’t have cared.
Kill. Make it suffer.
Yes. She was going to. She was so going to.
Digging her feet into the raw, exposed muscle on the creature’s back, she hung on and peeled off its skin. Even when it headed straight toward a parked car, she continued ripping. It still wouldn’t be enough to kill it. She knew that. The only way to really kill ceFtuts was to penetrate the spot below their chins.
The ceFtut slipped, landing on its side. She rode it like a surf-board and kept pulling at its flesh, taking satisfaction in the fact that the exposed muscle on its side was grating across the cement. Shifting her weight, Evesse pushed the beast straight into the car. She jumped off right before impact, landing in a crouch and watching as pieces of crushed metal pierced the creature.
Her ears began to heal and her hearing was just starting to return. It was enough for her to realize that thing had stopped shrieking. Pitiful, dog-like whimpers were all that escaped it. She would have loved to go at it some more. She was hungry, thirsty, aching to impart more violence.
If this is how Mavrak felt when faced with the world’s sins, she couldn’t blame him for what he did. Couldn’t and wouldn’t.
There was no part of her that felt wrong for what she’d just done. The only thing that felt wrong was the fact that she couldn’t continue. Spari was screaming, and behind that, Eve heard the grunts and growls of Dimithinia fighting the other ceFtut.
The life of the one in front of her had to end.
Now.
Evesse straightened, and headed toward the creature. She opened her mouth on instinct, and her voice box sounded without her consent.
“You are unworthy of existence.” The warped, split voice she’d been hearing in her head was now coming out of her mouth. “You deserve to suffer. You will die because I say so.”
As she got closer to the creature, she knew exactly what she was doing; what the words coming out of her mouth meant.
Justice.
Plain and simple. That thing deserved to die, and she was more than happy to deliver its fate.
The ceFtut managed to push the mangled car off, but was panting hard and seemed in too much pain to rise.
She remembered about the new terets. She willed the one that Nylicia had given her into her hand. One blast killed the creature and destroyed two cars next to it.
The body of the other ceFtut flew past her, slamming into the wall behind her. Half of it, anyway. The other half—the part with the head still attached—was in Dimithinia’s hands.
That shouldn’t have been enough to kill it. These creatures could reanimate and grow back any missing body parts, as long as you didn’t destroy them completely via teret or stab them through the chin.
But Dimithinia stood ten feet away from Evesse, ripping the creature that she had torn in half once already. The sound of muscle tearing and bone cracking filled the air. Dimi panted loudly while a black whirlwind of power tore at the air around her. Her eyes, completely black, flashed and locked on the remainder of the creature in her hands.
“You die,” Dimithinia said, her voice guttural and split as well, “when I say you die. You die because I say you die.”
Evesse could not look away from what was happening to Dimithinia. The air all around them was tainted and her instincts screamed out.
Death.
Eve could feel it on her skin, scent it in the air. Dimi was surrounded by death. Death and a power so massive, that Evesse found herself frozen in awe.
Her brain barely picked up on the sound of another ceFtut approaching, then Spari screamed.
“Dimithinia, watch out!”
A huge mouth opened behind Dimithinia and snapped down around her head.
Pieces of what remained of the other ceFtut fell to the floor at Dimi’s feet. Evesse dematerialized, dropping her gun. There was no way she could fucking use it. It would take out Dimithinia, too. She reappeared in front of Dimithinia—
Just as the creature separated her head from her body.
Evesse slammed into the ceFtut, but was too shocked to actually fight it. All she could see was the split-second image of Dimi’s twitching body falling to the ground without her head.
It was still in that bastard’s mouth.
She screamed, the sound that tore out of her scaring even her. It terrified her down to a primal level. Yet, she couldn’t feel. She knew why she was screaming, but the pain wasn’t registering. The need for revenge was. It had taken over and shut down anything that wasn’t vital to her new mission.
Furious, Evesse shoved her hands into the ceFtut’s mouth, not caring that its jagged teeth would cut her. She opened its mouth with a snap, tearing its jaw apart.
Dimithinia’s head fell out, rolling in a pool of blood and saliva across the floor.
Evesse had never felt such bloodlust. The rage was explosive, more than she could handle, and in a frenzy she began kicking, punching, tearing. Fuck, at one point she bit off skin. She didn’t remember doing it, but the taste of rotten, thick flesh registered inside her mouth. Her fist went through the spot underneath its chin and it burst into nothing but dust.
She didn’t stop. She couldn’t. She began sobbing, so hard that her body ached as she continued to slam her fists into the spot the ceFtut had been in. The entire parking level shook as the floor beneath her began to give.
Damn it. After everything they had gone through to bring her back. After Ismini and Evesse had both forged a fucking connection with her, and now she was gone. Just like that! Why? How the hell could she be dead?
The reality ate at her, breaking her apart from the inside, and fueling each hit she delivered to the concrete. She loved Dimithinia. Even though she’d only known her for a few weeks, she’d come to love her as much as she loved Ismini and Sol.
“Stop! Evesse, stop! Dimithinia’s body just disappeared!”
What?
She was still sobbing, barely able to breathe, when she looked over her shoulder at the spot where Dimi’s body had fallen.
It was gone. Not even the blood was left behind.
Stunned, Eve wiped her hand across her mouth and turned to search out Dimi’s head. Same thing. It had vanished.
Spari was shaking and wide eyed when she took a step in Evesse’s direction.
Eve was convinced her expression was just as shocked as Spari’s.
“Where did her body go?”
More shrieks sounded from deeper within the parking lot, signaling the arrival of more ceFtuts.
Evesse didn’t even get a chance to react to that.
Fury cracked the back of her head like Thor’s hammer, and a world of agony unleashed itself upon impact. She was thrown face-first into the cement by raw energy. The impact hurt, but nowhere near as much as what came next.
The burn of her mating mark sliced through the nerves of her neck, as if her core had become tectonic and two halves of it had crashed together in molten fury. Heat released in
side her, sure as if she was a volcano connected to the Earth. Her stomach turned in on itself, twisting so viciously that she cried out and hurled up everything but a lung.
Blood spewed out of her like a fucking geyser, and kept right on going, even when her body was lifted by invisible hands and slammed back down.
“Evesse!”
Spari’s cry was drowned out by the sound of the ceFtuts rushing toward them. Judging by the shrieks, four more were heading their way. Their thunderous steps shook the floor. For a split second, Eve actually wondered how Spari’s ears were taking the abuse.
“Sp—Spari. Run!” she choked out, before another wave of vomiting hit her.
In the next instant, images and emotions tore into her mind, brutally digging their way in until they were so deep, she felt her DNA being altered.
Zeniel was in an alley with some blond. The bitch had herself pressed up against Evesse’s man, and her lips . . . God. The moment her lips touched his, the images mutated, a playback on fast-forward that ignited the bomb inside Eve. She could see the female touching Zeniel. Her lips on his neck. Her legs spread on either side of him as she rode him.
Evesse’s womb felt as though it split in two. Pain detonated inside her abdomen and shot down her legs. She tried to clutch her mid-section, but she was shaking too hard. All she was able to do was flip over. She felt a gush leave her, and she knew without a doubt that she’d just started bleeding.
More blood leaked from her mouth. Her teeth sliced through her inner cheek, adding to the flow. Whimpering, she squeezed her eyes shut, but it didn’t stop the images. She could fucking see her mate’s cock disappearing into another female.
“Evesse!”
Ismini? That was Ismini.
Pounding footsteps ran by her, followed by a dangerous howl. Whatever it was collided with the ceFtuts.
“Baby! The structure is coming down. Keep it together!”
“But Evesse! What’s happening to her? Where is Zeniel?”
“There are innocent humans here, Ismini. Please. I’ll get to her after. Please!”
“Okay!” Ismini cried, sounding on the verge of tears.
For her. Her tears were for Evesse. Though, she should’ve been crying for Zeniel, because if Eve somehow survived this, she was going to kill him for allowing another woman to touch him. Now, as well as in the past.
Another image hit her, and it was Zeniel letting that bitch ride him again, and this time it felt like her uterus was being put through a blender.
She torqued off the floor, choking on her own blood. Slamming her hand down into the concrete beneath her, she dug her fingers in, and managed to push herself into a sitting position.
To her left, a massive, navy blue wolf was jumping off the back of the ceFtuts and tearing off flesh with its teeth. The beast was nearly five feet tall on all fucking fours. When its head turned in her direction, she was hit with the sight of its white eyes.
It’s not like she hadn’t known who he was already, but having it confirmed was still a shocker. Ianthen wasn’t just huge in his wolf form, he was beautiful. There was no denying it. That damned blue pelt of his was the shiniest thing she’d ever seen.
Dyletri was to her right. At least, she thought it was Dyletri. He looked more like a walking halogen lamp on full blast. His hands were extended and he was shooting white energy from his palms like lasers. Each beam connected with a ceFtut, incinerating it instantly, just as a teret would.
He hadn’t been able to do that before. Eve had a good idea why he was so powerful now, though.
“Evesse! You okay?”
She turned to Ismini, her eyes filling with tears.
Ismini was next to the wall, her hands pressed against it, her head turned so she could see Evesse over her shoulder. Pulse after pulse of energy shot out of her, and her hair was doing that fluctuating thing. She was keeping the mall together, forcing the molecules to stay connected.
Evesse’s lips parted in surprise. She had known what powers Ismini had been gifted with, but knowing and seeing were two different things. If not for Ismini, the entire building would have collapsed already.
“Eve! Talk to me! Tell me you’re all right!” Ismini demanded angrily.
“No!” Evesse cried out, shaking her head. “I . . . she’s dead, Ismini. I fucking let her die!”
“What are you talking about?”
“Dimithinia.” The tears started again, sliding hot down her cheeks. “Dimithinia is dead!”
“What on Earth are you fucking talking about? She’s right behind you!”
What in the—
“Come on. We need to get you out of the way.”
Evesse froze at those words. Clutching her mid-section, she stared off into space, in disbelief. Two hands slipped under her shoulders, pulling her backward.
“Dimi, make sure to keep her out of the way!” Ismini called out, her eyes on whoever was pulling Evesse behind one of the parking lot walls.
One look behind her shoulder had Evesse’s mouth falling wide open.
“You are covered in blood. What has Zeniel done to you?”
No. No. Don’t remind me. Please. Too much. “Holy shit.”
“He ‘holy shit’?” Dimithinia asked, looking behind her then looking back down at Evesse.
Fuck. It was really her.
“I saw you die.”
Dimithinia stopped in front of the only parked car still intact and collapsed behind Evesse, panting. Eve, as weak as she still was, ended up falling back against Dimi.
“I saw you die,” she repeated.
“I did. I think I did. I woke up in Renentr. Had to . . . how do you say? ‘Get the hell out?’ ”
Chapter 24
Evesse could do nothing but stare at her for a few seconds. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“I did not want Crius to see me. Indeed, that is the last thing I needed occurring right then.”
“You freaking died. Head bitten off,” Eve reiterated.
Dimithinia blinked. “Thank you for the reminder. It had not been clear.”
“How? How are you here right now?”
“When I figure that out, you shall be the first person I inform. I promise.”
“You told that ceFtut to die.” Evesse pointed at the lower half of the creature that was still lying not ten feet from them. “You told it to die, and it did so. No questions asked. No regenerating. Nothing.”
Dimithinia looked at where Eve was pointing. The look that crossed her face was honest to God confused. “I . . . what?”
“Dimi, you commanded it to die. And it did. Just like that.”
She didn’t remember that specific part. It was obvious.
Dimithinia’s lips parted. “I . . .”
A ceFtut shrieked before the sound was abruptly cut off. Dyletri unleashed more of that power of his. Evesse could hear every beam as it left his hand. She also heard Ianthen growl, and what sounded like a body landing hard on the concrete.
Turning her head, she saw a blond male, crouched with his head down. The concrete beneath his feet had been obliterated by his landing.
Tendrils of purple, light blue and aqua energy were snaking out, crackling across the cement floor, the walls, and even the ceiling above them. Evesse had a feeling that if it hadn’t been for Ismini forcing the atoms and molecules to stay together, the entire floor beneath them would have caved in from that male’s landing alone.
The male was still in a crouch. He was wearing a black felt coat with the collar raised around his chin. His golden blond hair fell over his forehead. Then he moved, slowly, raising his head. A leather gloved hand swept the hair off his forehead as he stood to his full height. A gorgeous, statue-like face came into view.
There was no emotion there. She’d never seen anyone do stoic so well. Not even Crius, and based on the little Eve had seen of him, he was downright flat sometimes.
The newcomer’s eyes met Evesse’s, twisting the painful blade inside her further.
They were light blue and as beautiful as the rest of him, but they were also the saddest thing she’d ever seen. There was so much agony there. So much that she had to look away. There was just no way in hell that one being’s eyes could hold so much pain.
Silently, without glancing behind him, he made his way toward the destroyed mall entrance. His footsteps were light, every move fluid and controlled. He stepped over the jagged pieces of metal and glass.
Once inside, he stopped, looking over his shoulder at the battle starting to die out behind him. Fucking hell, those eyes. With a wince, Eve looked away, turning to Dimithinia. In her peripheral vision, she saw the blond turn back around and continue into the mall.
Dimithinia’s wide gaze was frozen on his retreating back.
“Who is he?” Eve asked.
“That is Ryth,” Dimithinia said. “He still lives. I cannot believe it.”
“Who?”
“Ryth. The God of Memories. He was . . . he was going mad thousands of years ago because of his powers. There were rumors in my kingdom, and everywhere else, that he was going to destroy himself. That the memories he harbored were too much.”
That’s what she’d seen in his eyes. Eve was sure of it. “Where is he heading now?”
“He is the only one with enough power to erase the memories of thousands at once.”
“You’re saying he’s going in there to erase the memories of the humans, right? Take away what they saw?”
“Yes.”
“And he does that how?”
Dimithinia shook her head, her expression so full of pity that Eve had to wonder at the history behind it. “He takes them into himself. It is the only way.”
A cramp hit Evesse, making her groan and curl into herself. A myriad of images loomed, all she had to do was focus on them, and she’d see Zen and that female again.
Scratch that. All she had to do was think about it for a moment, and the images came back full force.
“Evesse!” Dimithinia caught her before she could keel over and eat cement again. Eve felt bad about that, though. Because now Dimi was getting blood all over her, too, and that just wasn’t right.
Blood Stained Tranquility Page 22
