Page 190 of Evil Hearts

EPILOGUE: ZYAIR

G ods, the taste of another jinn’s soul was horrible. It left a foul taste in my mouth that I wanted to scrub clean. The only thing that made this method of killing even remotely worth it was the echoes of the fae’s essence woven with it all.

I rose from the ground with Lorelei’s lifeless body sprawled out amongst all the blood at my feet. A slight gesture left my shadows surging forward, eager to piece together the outfit it had destroyed prior to our lovemaking. I didn’t give a damn about all the crimson coating my skin, not when it wouldn’t stray me from the heated thoughts pouring through my mind now.

It was greatly disappointing when I caught wind of a fellow Boogeyman straying from the path. How can anyone stray away from the stones that had been laid down into the Earth before our feet by the two deities that began it all? Our king led us true along the laws our god left behind.

Our rightful place was to stand at the top of the hill with all the mortals trapped into a massive machine of our own making, their bodies blending together to mold the ground beneath our feet. It was the first step of many to ensure the rest of the paranormal races crumbled. Things were already in motion to guarantee it. It was only a matter of time until every single one of their empires fell.

Xerxes would be looming above them all with me by his side. Those of us that had gone rogue wouldn’t leave to see the day we destroyed it all and created a new world from its ashes.

Soft footsteps behind me jolted out of my thoughts. My head whipped away from the fallen Boogeyman toward the petite male approaching me from behind. A low feral growl rumbled in my chest as my upper lip curled to expose demonic-like fangs. It was one thing for my high to be ruined by the king himself, especially since this had been such a high priority hunt.

To have it destroyed by one of the grunts who had no purpose with being in my presence? My vision was completely consumed with red.

Ethereal whispers echoed in my ears as my magic pushed against the thin lining keeping it restrained inside my soul. It could sense their presence just like it could pick up on the way my rage threatened to spiral out of control. The power humming in my veins wanted that high returned to us as much as I did.

“Do you hunger for death tonight, Caleb?”

The smaller jinn arched an eyebrow. He drew to a halt several feet away with his hands clasping behind his back. “It wouldn’t be wise to shoot the messenger before I’ve delivered what I was sent to echo to you,” he returned.

Although he had been stripped of his vision long ago, it wasn’t hard to detect those milky white eyes dropping down toward the ground. He could sense Lorelei’s faint energy despite staring into a world of total darkness. The smell of her death amongst those of the other two men was enough to break free a twisted grin.

“Tell me what Brazierre instructed you to repeat and then leave me .” I didn’t hesitate to back a punch behind the weight of my snarl.

Right now, I wanted nothing more than to leave this pathetic excuse of a jinn behind and stroll through the simulation until I found another paranormal soul that didn’t belong in here. Nothing besides the feel of hot blood on my fingers would soothe this rage.

“My message comes from Xerxes himself, not my master.”

I had started to pace around the room, taking the delightful path around the lifeless body at my feet. My sense of urgency to move before I ripped this man apart completely dissipated when those words launched from his tongue. I froze. Seconds evolved into minutes by the time I managed to turn my head slightly. “What did he say?”

Caleb raised his chin. That slight air of cockiness grew and swirled around his aura. “Our king wants you to report down to Erebus — immediately.”

Erebus, the one part of the simulation that no other jinn saw except for a select few — myself and Xerxes included. Nothing existed there except for a massive abyss of darkness that wore down one’s insanity and a collection of Boogeymen that had strayed from our designated path long ago.

Starting with the prince’s right hand men.

It was a hell meant to completely destroy them from the inside out.

My magic fluctuated within me as a mixture of emotions coursed through my veins. Shock gave away to confusion, which was then consumed by the familiar searing heat of rage. I shifted until I faced the jinn completely. “What happened?”

His bushy eyebrows rose. “You asked what—” He didn’t get a chance to push out another snarky word before I lunged across the room and caught him by the throat. Air squeezed from his lungs as the momentum I had going into the attack allowed me to slam him into the nearby wall.

“What…happened?” I growled into his ear.

Caleb parted his lips several times, reminding me a little too much of a fish that had just been cast out of water. The only thing to make its way up his throat was a strangled noise.

Right… The weakling needed to breathe to speak.

I reluctantly loosened my hold on him.

His lungs immediately expanded with several shallow breaths being pushed right back out. I was left to endure a faceful of a foul odor that reminded me a little too much of rotting flesh. He didn’t seem in any hurry to speak now, not since I had chosen to get an iron hold on his throat.

Although my stomach was twisting from the unwanted odor, I leaned forward and drew my lips closer to his ear. “I won’t hesitate to rip out your voicebox if you don’t belt out that message, Caleb. If Brazierre didn’t need your sight, she certainly won’t need you talking, either. I’m at peace with the idea of requesting the king to repeat himself.”

“He’ll…kill…you…for asking,” he rasped.

“There is no higher honor than being slaughtered by his hand,” I countered. “Now speak .”

The jinn trembled against me. That bold facade that he had managed to piece together just prior to stepping into the same room as me had already begun to crack. Fear was leaking out of him in waves. It was enough to leave my lungs clogged with a conflicting scent. “T-They’re missing a prisoner.”

My grip immediately tightened on his neck. I could feel the muscle caving beneath my palm, but I couldn’t bring myself to cease such a rash action. “ What? Which one?”

A strangled whine escaped him. He started clawing away at my hands, desperate to save himself before I ended up snapping his neck rather than crushing his voice box. Despite the lack of airflow, he still managed to lip his answer. “ Ambrose .”

Impossible . I pulled away from the wall. There was enough shock tearing through my veins that I was finally able to release Caleb from my deadly hold. I turned away from him while he sank down onto his knees, succumbing to a fit of coughing and wheezing.

The simulation was perfect in the ways that mattered. Our portion of the human race had been injected into a world made by our own design a long time ago. Granted, there were paranormal beings that had found a way to inject themselves inside, but it was a risk that not many of them were willing to take.

We controlled it all. To push yourself into that system would trigger a kill order from the admins. One of us would then be sent after the little virus until we struck them down. Erebus was buried so much deeper than the level these little leeches existed on.

It was absolutely flawless. None of the prisoners had ever broken free before.

Now one had and my mind was reeling from the realization.

I flexed my jaw as the rage continued to work its way through my system. “What about the others?”

Did they…?

Caleb shook his head. “Just…Ambrose.”

So only one rogue Boogeyman had managed to pull this off, but out of all of them…he was the worst one to be on the loose. It was only a matter of time before he backtracked to break out those that had been imprisoned with him — his precious mates. At least that meant that the bait had already been set.

I had to nip this in the bud before our perfect simulation crumbled and Rhys destroyed everything we had worked so hard for.

“Increase security around the remaining two.” I pushed forward, storming straight through the blood that had pooled from the other two bodies.

Caleb could only grunt in response.

A small bend of my magic had my mask slipping back into place. I willed the room before me to part with only an ocean of darkness lurking beyond it. The first set onto that invisible ground tore me away from the bar. I sank down into the prison deep within Erebus.

It was time to hunt a runaway Boogeyman.

To be continued…