Page 84 of All Your Deadly Truths (The Filthy Duet #2)

Xeraphine

R evenge is my drug of choice. Once I’ve had a taste, no amount of therapy or treatment could keep me from craving more. The moment it hits my senses, a shiver runs through me. The smell of copper, the taste of metal, the vibration of death sweeping over them as they take their last breath.

It's euphoric… taking someone’s life.

My fingers hold tightly to the short hair of the man I just decapitated, and the chaos that ensues from such a single act, has my stomach fluttering with butterflies.

A dozen—no, several dozen —men and women pour out of the towering skyscraper, its lights dimmed under Kayn’s Crimson Dawn.

My prey varies: Vampires, Shifters, even Werewolves.

Yet they don’t stop, and among them, I can feel civilians, people with no business in my affairs, stepping up to stand alongside them.

I grin, running my tongue across my front teeth.

“I’d tell you to let me through or face death, but even if you stepped aside… I’d still hunt and kill you.”

In my peripheral, I catch a flash of movement—a wolf lunging straight at me.

Before I can react, Brice is already there, his jaws locked around its neck.

He dwarfs his opponent, towering over it with ease.

I suppose that’s to be expected, considering he’s from the strongest pack our side of the hemisphere has ever seen.

With a hard crunch, the whimpers of the wolf in his mouth die quickly.

I shift my gaze forward, and soon feel the presence of Kairhyse standing behind me. “Would you like to try something, little demon?”

“Now? Seriously?” I ask, my tone dripping with contempt.

“What better time?” He steps slightly in front of me and gives me a smirk. “During the Crimson Dawn, I have no limits on the number of shadows I can summon.”

My eyes widen because that seems impossible .

The sudden glowing of his crimson eyes makes my heart beat quicker, and as his fangs elongate, I can sense more of him. When gasps and shrieks echo around me, I tear my gaze from his.

Every enemy in my line of sight is cloaked in one of his shadows. There’s no hesitation—no moment to react. As swiftly as they appear, the shadows strike, latching onto their targets, piercing necks, arms, wherever they can.

It’s not just Kai who trembles. A sharp jolt of electricity shoots down my spine.

I can feel them. All of them, and not in the sense of my lifeforce. It isn’t my Amoro that is reaching, but instead, my blood. It’s like I can feel myself flowing through them, and when I look up at Kai, he’s panting.

“How?”

With a light chuckle, he waves his hand. “It copies all of my bodily fluids, and baby, your blood is all that flows through me these days.”

My heart races.

“Paint the town red, little demon.”

I step forward, a rush of excitement surging through my arms as I slowly raise them. It’s as if each body is a puppet, their strings tethered to my fingers. A sharp pinch at my fingertips jolts my entire body to life.

I’ve never reached for this scale of power, certainly never controlled it. I’d love to toy with them, make them fight each other, or better yet, send them marching into that building to drag Lars out for me. But that would be reckless. I need to conserve my strength for Tali.

Still, this feeling—absolute control over the masses—is intoxicating.

I can tell the moment they feel me, their fear overtaking every other emotion. With that understanding of their fate, I snap my fingers.

Death is a beautiful thing. It’s peace. Something that most people don’t deserve.

I am a monster, because watching as head after head pop like an inflated balloon, sends shockwaves of pleasure straight to my core.

Even the muffled sounds of hearts bursting has my clit tingling.

I severed arms, and shredded apart skin.

Every brutal death, so fucking glorious .

Bodies collapse, but not before blood sprays into the sky, creating a tempest of the peace I’m so close to reaching.

Crimson liquid seeps down the sidewalk, trailing into the drains and spilling onto the street. Though Kayn’s dawn kept the world around us shrouded in a red darkness, I knew what would remain once it faded .

This is the world they made when they kidnapped and tortured me. This is the destruction they set in motion. I am the villain they created—and then set free.

The corner of my lip twitches as I glance down at Brice. He shakes out his coat while Mister clings to his nape, holding on tight.

“We will be here keeping more from entering the building,” the Werewolf huffs.

I nod, and just before I move to go in, a hand grabs around my wrist. Turning, Sydni has her eyes trained on me. “Be safe.”

My chest tightens, and I give her a gentle smile. “You too, princess.”

Before rushing off, I glance at Niyla and Alaric. “Protect her.” I give the command, sending it through the blood bond. They will do as I say. “Her life matters above anyone else’s.”

Kayn huffs. “Sure I can’t come? Come on… a threesome would be?—”

“No,” Kairhyse cuts him off.

“She’ll be kept safe,” Brice says. “You can trust that.”

I watch him—and everyone else—nod, then turn to Kai as we break into a sprint.

We’re both covered in blood as we charge into the brightly lit lobby. Towering glass panels stretch three stories high before meeting the ceiling, everything pristine—until we drag our destruction in with us.

Several bodies come charging through the security panels, guns poised right at us and firing without even a second thought.

Kai is gone from beside me, and I curl my shoulder in before rolling behind the lobby desk.

I can’t risk any bullets lodging into my brain, and while I could heal one, dozens will incapacitate me.

The loud thump of several bodies has me peeking over the barrier. My monster stands over them, his finger pointed at me, and pinching as though summoning me.

I roll my eyes. This isn’t meant to be fun!

Okay, I’m having fun, but I’m still nervous. These are grunts, and he needs to be more mindful.

Standing, I look from left to right before strolling toward him.

“Be more careful, that head of yours is?—”

I haven’t even finished my sentence when something crashes through the wall to my left, slamming straight into Kai.

“Kairhyse!” I scream, pushing off my foot just as he’s crushed into the adjacent wall. A beast of a man stands before him, hands wrapped around Kai’s neck, spikes beginning to jut out from his back.

Gathering my hemokinesis, I grip against a blade and throw it right at the man’s back.

A thick scaled tail breaches from its backside and swats it away.

It was only meant as a distraction, because the moment his tail slaps harshly against the marble flooring, my fist is making contact with his cheek.

It grunts, and its grip on Kai loosens slightly, just enough for him to kick the Shifter right in the chest.

They are going to go after him , and I need to be mindful of that. He stands, pops his neck, and disappears.

“Be careful, you fucking prick,” I hiss, scanning for him. There aren’t many shadows left for him to slip through, leaving me alone with what I can only guess is a croc Shifter.

His eyes are bloodshot, a white ring encircling his irises. There’s no life in them, but he’s definitely alive. He swats his tail, cracking the floor beneath him.

Just as he is taking a single step, I see a black shadow slicing something downward toward its neck. I don’t hesitate, and charge at him. He’s tall, much more so than Kai, so when I swing my leg up, I jump enough to be able to make contact with his massive head.

One of Kai’s shadows had picked up my blood blade and attempted to cut through the thick skin of our attacker. It shatters, and even as I kick hard enough that it should have separated his head, he merely stumbles.

Before I can gather myself, he’s grabbing my ankle and—as though I’m a toy—tosses me across the large open room. Instead of smashing against the elevators, which is exactly what I should have done, I’m caught.

Caught is a loose term, I’m given a softer object to collide into.

Kai grunts and pushes me up to my feet as he pulls himself from the bent metal of the elevator doors.

“My guess, he’s a Necroth.” He groans and grabs my chin to turn me to him, inspecting my face. “I hate these things.”

As he releases me, I sigh, looking back at our attacker stalking toward us.

“I got the drop on Jay, but something tells me I won’t with this one.

” Shifters, in their own right, can be strong depending on their breed.

Now with the added strength being a Necroth comes with, I imagine if this one gets that tail around Kai’s neck, or even mine, we are losing our heads.

His hand comes to my shoulder and I gaze back at him. “Trust me?”

Without a beat of hesitation, I nod.

“Good, lets run.” He turns away from me, charging straight for a set of double doors. My mouth falls open, and I freeze for a second, stunned. The ground trembles as the Necroth sprints toward me.

I take off after Kai, and as he steps through the doors, I see it’s a massive stairway. Before following him, I glance up. Fucking shit. This building is massive; I suppose we weren’t going to be able to take the elevator anyway. Still, I hate that we will be taking this to the top floor.

Without saying a word, I pump my arms and charge up the stairs behind Kai. He’s not going at his usual pace, much slower actually, and I’m almost tripping over myself trying to keep up.

It’s as if he’s purposely holding back, wanting that Necroth to catch up.

Then it hits me, and I let out a soft chuckle through my heavy breaths. He glances over his shoulder, grinning at me, before pausing at what must be the twentieth flight.

I place my hands on my knees, sucking in a deep breath. Being part Mundane fucking sucks.