Page 160 of Bitten & Burned

Not the Anton who flirted and baked pastries. Not the one who fed me bites of chocolate like kisses.

This Anton was soaked in blood. His shirt hung in ribbons. His mouth was curled back, fangs fully bared, eyes black and glowing. A predator. A monster. Mysavior.

And gods help anyone who gets in his way.

Twenty-Four

UN MONSTRE

Kravenspire, Sol, Verdune

27 Ebry, Year 810

Anton reached behind me.He grabbed the thing that was curled around my waist.

I heard them cry out. “No! No no no no no no?—”

Anton’s hand clamped around my attacker’s throat and squeezed, dragging him off me with inhuman strength. He held him aloft with one arm, legs kicking, back scraping against the wall as Anton lifted him higher—past eye level, past the sconces, until the thing’s boots were scratching for traction against wood.

“You touched her,” Anton muttered, like he was testing the words in his mouth. “You tasted her.”

He leaned in, nose brushing against the man’s jaw as he inhaled deep, slow, and deliberate.

“Do you know what happens to men who do that?”

The Ashborne drudge whimpered. Anton bared his teeth in what almost looked like a grin.

“They die, of course. But not quickly. Quickly is for mercy.You don’t get mercy.” He tilted his head, mock-thoughtful. “I could peel the skin from your face like a ripe orange. Start with the eyelids. Or maybe I’ll crush your jaw so your tongue just hangs there, flapping while you try to scream.”

The Ashborne drudge cried out, but Anton didn’t stop.

“I’ve killed hundreds,” he said, tone conversational. “But it’s the ones like you that I remember. The begging. The sobbing. The way your bones sound when they break. Gods, I could play your spine like a harp.” He smiled wider. “You’ll make suchlovelymusic.”

And then he slammed the man against the wall.

Once.

Blood painted the paneling. Teeth scattered to the floor like dice.

Twice.

A rib cracked. I heard it. Felt it.

“Please—please—” the man begged.

Anton pressed his forehead to the man’s. “I want to take my time and make sure you feel every second of this. But unfortunately… There are other problems to which I must attend.Je regrette, mon ami…”

The third slam silenced him.

The body dropped like butchered meat.

Anton moved again.

Rellin was crawling, dragging lifeless legs behind him in a smear of blood and what I wanted to believe was snot. He didn’t make it far, but he still tried to flee.

Anton caught him by the ankle, yanked him back like he was nothing. Rolled him onto his back with one foot, then dropped to his haunches beside him. Leisurely. Almost curious.

Rellin screamed, but Anton just looked at him.