Page 101 of A Monstrous World: The Complete Series

Chapter Four

Knight

M y eyes fly to Wraith as he siphons through the air.

In Hell, he wouldn’t be able to teleport short distances, like he can in the human realm, but even back home, he has the ability to phase through solid material, such as block or flesh.

He’s going to say it; that cliché motherfucker can’t help himself.

The way he’s studying Nadia makes it clear it’s coming.

Malice is still mostly in nightmare form.

He floats to one of the decaying walls and leans against it before crossing his arms, like he’s just itching for the show we’re about to put on.

His white teeth are the only thing fully visible in the darkness of his shadows as he smirks wickedly.

If he wasn’t one of my oldest friends, that look would terrify me.

Wraith completely ignores the complaining warlock and proceeds to Nadia. She’s tied to an old wooden chair with strips of dirty cloth. It makes it very difficult not to slaughter the warlock without warning.

“Who did this to you?” Wraith asks, squatting down in front of Nadia’s chair. And there we go. I knew it was coming. He’s wearing his robe, and he has the hood up. I bet he looks just as terrifying to her as Malice does. “The dirty fuck of a warlock?”

“I didn’t do it to myself,” Nadia snaps and frowns. “I’m pretty sure he drugged me, because nothing is making sense right now.”

I chuckle. “I’ll bet not.”

She’s unaware that she’s met the two of us on many occasions.

Wraith and I have as much of an addiction to the little witch as Malice has to the sad-eyed fae. Aline is beautiful, as most fae are, but she’s a bit too cold for my tastes.

I much prefer the chaotic witch with more secrets than a cluster preparing to overthrow their Lord in Hell.

She’s messy and imperfect, but I love the way her entire body shakes as she laughs.

The way her eyes glimmer when she’s about to make a sarcastic joke.

There’s also the fact she doesn’t take herself too seriously.

Fine, I’m truly fucking besotted, and I can’t bring myself to care.

I suppose we’ll see if that changes once she realizes we’re here to make a deal. Months of planning have finally paid off. The wretched warlock took more coaxing than either of us imagined.

He finally did as he was told, partially .

Under no circumstances was he to injure or frighten our tether, but here we are. He will suffer rather than being absorbed and allowed to live out his days in Hell. Oh well, he made his proverbial bed and now he gets to lie in it.

“I was under the impression it was quite the romantic gesture to ask that question.” Wraith gives me a look of pure confusion.

It’s difficult to make out his face in the low light with the hood, but I can sense his confusion by the way he tilts his head like a bewildered puppy.

The poor fucker is completely socially inept.

It comes with the territory as a reaper.

They’re feared, even among our own kind.

We’re in a warehouse with two people, and she’s already stated she didn’t do it to herself. It’s not rocket science.

“It’s totally romantic if you don’t consume my soul to give that dick immortality,” Nadia says with a hopeful lilt to her voice. “It’s the sexiest thing I’ve ever heard.” She nods and groans as her head rolls back. “That was a bad idea. So bad, in fact, it bordered on downright awful.”

I spin around, aiming for the warlock. “Did you drug her?”

Nadia is never loopy. Not even on the rare occasions I’ve been able to coax her into subspace.

“She’s the most powerful type of witch in existence.” Kash crosses his arms. “I couldn’t risk her getting the upper hand.” He’s majorly misreading his cards. It’s going to be a stark realization.

“You couldn’t risk injuring our tether,” I snarl. “Which we made blatantly fucking clear.”

My eyes glow white. It fully illuminates the dirty floor of the warehouse he had the audacity to bring Nadia to.

Are we to blame for this?

Perhaps.

We have been coaxing him to do the summoning spell for some time. However, we were very clear his sacrifice was not to be injured under any circumstances; otherwise, she would be deemed unworthy. Fat fucking chance of that happening, but it was the best we could come up with.

“Your tether?” Kash sputters.

“He’s a little slow, isn’t he?” Malice asks.

“Would you mind untying me?” Nadia asks in a weak tone that I instantly hate.

“Fuck, no. That’s not happening,” Kash hisses. “You’re my ticket to immortality. I’ll no longer need to make yearly sacrifices.”

“Of course, love.” Wraith ignores the warlock completely as he unties her ankles first. As soon as he’s done, he immediately moves to her wrists.

“What the fuck is this?” Kash snaps. “Malice, I command you to stop him.”

“You may have chanted, but her blood was the sacrifice to summon me across the veil,” Malice replies in his normal bored and disinterested tone.

“You may want to check the fine print on your spells in the future.” He floats over, grabbing the leather spell book the warlock used before heading for Nadia and Wraith.

“They piggybacked in through the portal used to summon me. You’re going to want to close it before any even more vile creatures find their way through. ”

“What?” Nadia sputters.

“It’s this one.” Malice taps a finger against the notebook. It’s weird as hell when he manifests certain body parts out of his shadows.

The warlock keeps hissing commands no one pays any mind to.

Wraith carefully assesses Nadia’s scalp. “She has a deep wound.” He’s vibrating with tension or rage, and that doesn’t bode well for the shithead.

“It’s fine, my magic is reabsorbing all the blood I’ve lost. A little like it’s cannibalizing my energy.” Nadia frowns. “That sounds gross.”

“Read this,” Malice instructs her. “We weren’t exactly in an isolated area when you summoned me, and any being could pop through that portal after us.”

“You injured and drugged her,” I say as my fists clench. “You were warned.”

“I’m serious, little witch.” Malice’s head swivels back to look at the portal. “There’s some nasty shit in Hell, and I’d rather that it didn’t make it into this realm.”

Nadia snatches the book and begins to read. She’s not chanting, but it’ll get the job done.

“No fucking way are you stealing my demons.” Kash raises a hand of dark blue magic. I take a step forward, assessing him as he extends it like he’s about to attack.

I move faster than his eyes have a chance of tracking and break his neck. I twist a little too strongly, and the next thing I know, his mouth is facing mine. Which is surprisingly convenient, since I need to eat his sins immediately.

I suck in a deep breath, causing black smoke to pour from his mouth into mine. Kash makes for quite the delightful meal. I’m going to be stuffed to capacity once I gorge on his sins.

“What the hell did you do that for?” Wraith growls.

“He was about to attack. The three of us could weather his magic with no issue, but...” I step back, nodding to Nadia. “I’m not sure she could in her depleted state.”

“He’s going to pass over. Malice, jump your ass in there before this entire plan goes to shit!” Wraith hisses. “She’s wobbly. Keep her upright.” He directs the last bit at me before heading over to devour the warlock’s soul.

“Hello, doll. Sorry about that unpleasantness,” I murmur, wrapping an arm around her lower back.

“Is he about to make out with Kash’s corpse too?” Nadia frowns across the room. “Today went to shit so fast.”

I snort. “My mouth never touched his. Wraith is going to suck out his soul, then Malice will dive into his shell at the exact same instant in time. Would you like a better view?” I guide us closer, explaining as I go.

“It really is a very delicate procedure. One second too early, and you get booted out; one second too late, and the body instantly starts to decay. Trust me when I say there’s no coming back from that. ”

“Intriguing,” Nadia mutters. “By any chance, would it be fine if I just go?” She tosses her thumb toward what I believe is the exit. “It seems like you’ve got everything under control here.” She nods awkwardly, and her hand flies to her forehead. “Damn, I keep forgetting about that.”

“Did you seriously have to break his neck?” Malice asks in Kash’s voice. His head is twisted around toward his ass, and the image is rather gruesome. “It’s going to take hours for me to fix this. I have places to be. A naughty little fae to check in on.”

“Talk to Knight. He’s the one who fucked this up. We were supposed to keep his soul alive long enough for you to command us to stay,” Wraith says, pulling his hood down. He really does have an unnecessary affliction for things that help enforce that grim reaper stereotype.

“That is a valid point,” I say. “Hmm, how about you, doll? Your blood somehow overrode his part in the summoning spell. Would you like to command our vessels to your service in the Earthly realm?” I flutter my eyelashes at her for good measure.

I even dig my teeth into my lower lip to seem extra enticing.

Nadia blinks, giving me an incredulous frown.

Malice chuckles darkly. “I think you might be coming on a little too strong.”

“Okay, that’s creepy. I might never recover.” Nadia takes a wobbly step back. “Heads aren’t meant to face that direction. Drugged or not, I’m sure of it.”

“Oh, come on. We’ll gladly do your bidding if you do ours,” I try. “We’ve murdered your attacker.”

“And replaced him with a nightmare,” Nadia says in an exasperated tone. “Are you stuck in there forever now?” Her eyes fly to Malice like he’s the one who will be truthful.

I snort. That motherfucker loves mind games.