Page 71 of Cruelest Kiss and Fairest Blood (Tales So Wicked #2)

So much has happened since I left Lenore.

How much time is left? I don’t know how long she was on the run before she jumped from the window.

I hid her wrist wound, but if anything has happened to her since then or if the creature has another way to track its victims, she’s still in danger.

My worry for Lenore surges when I realize Cassius is not present, nor has he come to his sister’s aid.

Catreena’s lip quivers. I’ve awakened her fear. She scowls like a petulant child. “I don’t need to kill you myself.”

Her words are the key that releases the dead from their stasis.

They spring forth, bodies loose and fast. The Beast and I meet them head-on.

My shadows slice through limbs and faces.

The humans barely slow. They don’t feel pain anymore.

The Beast rips the first few to shreds. Even I have to admit, he’s pretty fucking ferocious like this.

I’m so busy fighting off body after body that I don’t realize the mirror monster has started moving until it’s almost to the door.

Catreena gives it away. “Hurry!” The shrillness of her voice draws my attention. Her glance flicks to the door and back as she shifts on her feet. The mirror monster is leaving. In the middle of a battle. It’s going for Lenore .

I try to shadow toward it, but before I can disappear, a young mutilated woman latches on to my leg. The next time I try to shadow, I remain in place. The dead things are interfering with my powers. My dawning realization must show. Catreena smiles. A tiny victory for her.

Another grasps my shoulder. “Beast, get these off me.”

The severed lower half of someone who was once quite large slams into the girl attached to my legs. She’s knocked backward. The upper half of that same person hits the one on my shoulder, dislodging them as well.

Damn . The Beast just ripped someone in half and tossed them like two pieces of a battering ram. I glance back to find him smiling. His grin is pure savage. A severed leg juts from his jaw.

He’s like a fucking shark on land.

Finally able to shadow again, I blink across the room and land directly in front of the mirror demon.

There’s a chill in the air surrounding the monster.

Dark magic saturates its aura, making me queasy. The monster sidesteps me. I block it. The creature tries again. This time I strike, lashing out at it with shadows. If I can detain it long enough to come up with a better plan to kill it…

My ears ring as every human trapped on its body screams. The wailing is so loud and mournful it splinters my skull. They continue screaming, the sound hitting me like a shockwave and dropping me to my knees. This has to stop .

Diving into the deepest part of my monster, I push away thoughts of who the people were before and focus on what they’re doing now.

My claws bury into the throat of the first human, ripping his vocal cords free.

The second is a particularly loud woman.

With a sharp tug, I rid her of the ability to scream.

They’ve already suffered so much. But I have no choice.

Claws, throats, screaming, and finally, silence.

“That’s enough of that.” My hand latches on to the monster’s bony face and suddenly I’m in a world of mist.

Looking around, I can see nothing but veils of thick white fog. Where the hell am I? The soft sounds of sobbing reach me.

A woman steps into view. She’s beautiful. Young, with softly curled red hair and bloodshot green eyes. She wears a dress of deep purple, with a matching crown of flowers atop her head. Tears continue to run down her cheeks.

“You let it get me.” Her voice sends chills up my arms. “I was a good person. I was supposed to be safe.”

Her sobbing intensifies. More people step out from the fog. Young and old, beautiful and average. Hundreds of them. All crying.

I shake my head. “I don’t understand.”

The girl holds up a silver flower. My insides tighten.

She’s from my gardens. The change starts with the thin shimmery petals.

They wither, crumbling to the ground. Next are her eyes.

The green is lost, overtaken by pitch black.

Her skin darkens, spreading outward until it consumes her petite form.

When she opens her mouth to speak again, black tar oozes from between her lips.

“You were supposed to protect me. But you let it get us. All of us.”

Every person present changes, falling into ruin as their skin fades and darkness consumes them.

It hits me. They’re cursed. I’m being confronted by everyone I ever failed. All of these people had their peace in the Underworld stolen when a cursed spirit invaded their garden. Guilt funnels down my throat, stealing my ability to breathe.

I failed them. Feet shuffle closer, pressing in around me. I failed them. They reach out to me, hands dripping with goo. I failed them.

“ Wake up !” The demand is followed by a growl that shakes my skeleton. My eyes snap open. The Beast’s glowing gaze peers down at me. “Wake the fuck up. That thing is eating you.” He vanishes, returning to the fray.

The pain registers instantly. Shadows explode as I break free from its jaws. A bellow of rage fills the room as the creature loses its prize. My abdomen burns where the mirror monster has been munching on it. I was so deep under. That was a powerful spell.

Fortifying my mental shields, I ensure that thing will never get inside my head again.

So that’s where its power lies. Mental warfare.

Sorcery of the mind. How utterly terrifying it must have been for its victims. At least I have an idea of how to defeat it.

Keep it out of my head, and I may be able to overpower it physically.

A squawk of alarm has my head whipping toward the window. Mytha enters looking battered and disheveled. Fear cuts through my bloodlust. If she’s here, something has happened to Lenore.

There are more people spilling from the mirror every second. So many so fast that they’re piling up on top of each other, unable to gain their footing. Are these all the people the mirror has consumed? How many more are in there?

The Beast is fighting with valiant ferocity, but he’s outmatched.

I can’t leave this room to help Lenore. Renard will die, the monster will begin hunting, and Catreena will get the chance to rebuild her power.

Someone else will need to aid my beloved.

There are few people I trust. A few is enough for today.

“Stay with Lenore. Help is on the way.”

Mytha vanishes back through the window.

“Amidia!” My command is delivered quick and quiet. Amidia disappears, becoming smoke amongst the breeze, easily passing by those trading blows. Kingdom hopping is a specialty of Amidia’s.

I don’t have the energy to summon and transport another person here the way I did with Renard. Luckily, my next favor is being called in to an immortal. He has enough power to get himself here.