Page 46 of Cruel Revenge (Jacky Leon #12)

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

I parked somewhere, leaving everything I owned in the car, none of it mattering. I was close. So close.

I listened to all my senses, letting them guide me.

I could hear water, smell the sea, and taste the salt of ocean air from the nearby Gulf, but that wasn’t what I wanted.

I had caught the scents of these witches before.

Distantly, but I could recognize them if I paid enough attention.

They were around, on the wind, as I started to prowl the street, looking for my prey.

I was going to help Carey. I was going to protect my daughter. She wasn’t going to be safe until all the witches were dead.

So, I was going to kill all of them first. I had to kill them all first. When she was free, I wanted her to be able to run without anyone trying to catch her again. I wasn’t going to risk it again.

So, I needed to make sure all of them were dead.

I walked, letting my nose take in everything, guiding me to where I wanted to be. She was somewhere in these buildings on this block. One of these places was going to be protected by witches.

I caught a whiff of magic, holding back a joyous roar as I learned they weren’t hiding the scent of it here . They never expected us to find them here, so they didn’t even try.

I followed the scent, the scents of the witches I had encountered growing stronger. I went between two buildings, knowing I would be better served coming up behind my prey than from the front.

Then I saw it through an open garage door on the back of the concrete building. The semi from the video that took the werewolves. Memory sharp, I knew it was the same plate. I slipped in, prowling, a proper hunter.

I saw two witches but didn’t hear the words they were saying. I was guided by instincts I wasn’t born with, fully giving myself to them. By letting the impulse of the wild nature of the curse guide me, I was embracing the monster the curse meant for us to be.

For Carey, I was okay being a monster.

I listened to their heartbeats, their breath, the shuffle of their shoes. What they were saying didn’t matter.

What mattered was that they were alive and smelled of magic.

I knew they were witches or worked with them.

That was all I needed to know.

I was suddenly behind one, my claws sinking into the weak flesh of a neck. My claws went through everything easily, the red of the blood seeming more vibrant than anything I had ever witnessed. But the kill did nothing to ease me. It didn’t snap me back to rationality.

It gave me more push to continue.

Before the body finished its fall to the ground, I was on the second. It was easy to knock them to their back, my bloody hand on their face as I sat on their chest.

I pushed down.

It felt like popping a grape, except for the crunch of bone.

I only kept moving, not looking at the mess I left behind. To dwell on it was to potentially lose time and surprise. Like any efficient predator, keeping the advantage of surprise was something I couldn’t afford to lose.

I’m here, Carey. I’m coming for you.

I went in through the closet door, following how the scent of magic and various witches grew thicker. I saw one in the hallway and jumped, dropping down on them as my claws grabbed their neck and I tore out everything once again, this time the blood spraying toward me.

Someone screamed, blood curdling and horrified.

I snarled and lunged for the sound, low and dangerous, hitting them in the soft part of their abdomen.

They didn’t stand a chance.

If they had wanted to survive the day, they should never have been in this building. Never had been part of those who took my daughter.

I got up, hearing a drip of liquid, and kept moving, the drip marking the beat of my steps. My heart wasn’t racing. I wasn’t breathing hard.

With that terrible clarity of a monster on the war path, I kept moving, listening to my instincts, letting them tell me where to step and what turns to take. Steps were running toward me, and I stood boldly in the space.

The moment a witch opened a door, I was there, grabbing them and throwing them across the hall. Drywall broke.

I killed two others before they realized their third was gone. I went back to the one I threw and made sure to finish the kill.

Not a single witch was leaving this building alive. They were never getting second chances. Not for touching Carey. Not for scaring her. Not for hurting her.

If it was the last thing I ever did, I was going to make sure to drag all of them with me to hell. And from the depths of hell with them, I was going to smile and know that Carey was going to be okay.

I reached a pair of bay doors and tried to open them, but was met with a strong smell of magic. With a snarl, I knew the best way to break a spell was to kill the witch who was maintaining it. I turned away and continued hunting.

There were plenty of places for the witches to hide.

But not from me.

I heard footsteps and tracked them. Running. Running toward me and away. I listened to those coming closer, wondering if they knew what waited for them. When I heard a few clicks, I was moving toward them, ready to be on top of the fool who thought they could shoot me.

Around a corner, the witch revealed herself, firearm raised.

I slipped to the side and grabbed the gun, slamming it back into the face of the witch.

Then I grabbed her head and sent it into the wall.

A gun went off, but the thud of impact hit the body in front of me.

I pulled the head back out of the wall and threw the whole body at those further away.

The force of the throw sent people down, and once they were on the ground, they were easy to deal with, unable to recover faster than I could kill them.

I was in a maze as I got up and kept moving, not really knowing where in the building I was. It didn’t matter that much. It didn’t bother me. I was tracking sound and smell, looking for those still alive, those who would dare hurt my daughter and take her from me.

I am her oath-sworn protector, and I will not fail her again. Never again.

I found witches hiding in rooms, trying to defend themselves when I entered. Guns were going off, and I was knocked around by magic a couple of times. I wasn’t totally perfect, but pain wasn’t registering. I could smell my own blood as I continued my hunting.

I had one goal, and I was okay with dying for it. Had been since the first time I ever fought the battle years ago. Over five years of knowing this moment could come again. I’d take every bullet. I’d bleed.

But I wasn’t going to stop this time. This time, my body wouldn’t grow weak until it was over, and I had protected her the way I should have years ago.

Panting, I continued, knowing with every successful kill, I was one step closer to freeing her. Closer to seeing her again. Closer to holding her one more time. Being able to tell her how she meant the world to me, the daughter of my heart and soul.

It was the only thread of humanity I felt like I had left. I knew Heath wouldn’t be able to love me anymore when I was done here.

It was okay, though. He wouldn’t be able to love me, but he would have a chance to keep loving his daughter. They would have forever.

There were fewer sounds as I went. However, the scent of magic grew stronger. Not only magic.

I slammed through a pair of doors and was greeted with a powerful blast of magic that had my back hitting the wall in the hallway. Air left my lungs, but I quickly recovered, snarling as I saw the face of the man who caused all of this.

“Incredible,” the witch said softly, the doubled voice spiking my temper in its wrongness. “Beautiful.”

I lunged forward, roaring as my anger reached its peak and I found the source of all the pain that had been inflicted on my family. Magic hit me again, but this time, it was a wall.

“Now, now,” the witch said, wagging a finger. “We can’t have all of that. You’re angry. That’s reasonable, but killing me won’t do what you think it will.”

I snarled, slamming myself against the magic wall that rippled as I hit it. Aside from those ripples, it was practically invisible.

“Killing this body will only kill one of us. I will continue on, you see. I’ll come back. So why don’t we instead make a deal? If you’re capable of it.”

I slowed my assault on the magic barrier. The feminine voice had grown dominant in that statement. If I killed the body, only the man who it belonged to died. The witch who had once captured Hasan for her own means would somehow be okay. Important. That meant I would need to find a way to kill her.

“You for them,” the witch said, smiling as they realized they had my attention. “I take you, I give Carey and the werewolves back to your family. How does that sound?”

I narrowed my eyes on them. Then, slowly, I lowered myself to my knees. What I didn’t do was nod or voice any agreement.

She didn’t notice that my submission didn’t come with a real agreement.

“Good.” The barrier dropped right as the witch got to me. They reached out to touch me.

I smiled. I would kill this body and deal with the dead later.

I grabbed the arm with one hand, both standing up and pulling the witch closer at the same time. My free hand grabbed the throat, and my claws sank in.

“No,” I growled.

I pulled, letting the blood go everywhere. I let go of the body as someone started to laugh over the sound of the body's thud.

Standing where the body once was, an ancient woman stood. Washed out, but still in just enough color for me to see she was from the same area of the world as Hasan. And the smells of the room changed. Suddenly, it was like I stood in the desert, surrounded by scorching sands.

“Just like your damned father,” she said, shaking her head as she looked me over, then down. “Well, that body was beginning to fail, anyway. The others will be upset that I let him die on a whim. They need me more than I need them, though. So, I’ll have a new one soon enough.”

I lashed out with my claws, and they passed through her. She laughed more, stepping away from the body.

“Now, now. You can’t kill me. I’m already dead.” She looked around the room. “And I’m having fun.”

I lunged and went through her, snarling in frustration. I knew, but I still had to try. So long as she was around, she was a threat.

“You would be such a prize, though. I had to try to get you, and a deal would have made it so easy. Not only would you be such a great werecat, looking the way you do, but to get those…” She leaned in, her fingers hovering near my face.

I couldn’t touch her, and she couldn’t touch me.

Her fingers tried and went into my cheek.

“Those beautifully cursed eyes. I’ve always loved them.” She smiled. “He must hate you, having to see these all the time. The eyes of the monster that made him.”

Someone screamed in the distance, then I realized I wasn’t done yet. I decided to leave the witch, ignoring what she had just said. She didn’t follow, not that I looked back to check.

There was something more important than her, and that was Carey. I needed to finish what I was doing and get to her.

I’m coming, Carey. You’re going to get to go home soon.