Page 1 of Hazel’s Choice (A Monstrous World: Next Gen)

Hazel

S ometimes when I’m bored, I like to open my senses to the vibration of the universe and see where it takes me. There was a time not too long ago when my dads only let me hunt when they were around to supervise, but once they saw how capable I am, they slowly backed off.

Okay, it’s more like I turned eighteen and started escaping with no warning.

Siphoning is a gift when you want to disappear without anyone being able to stop you. All I have to do is imagine a place, and the universe pulls me there.

I used to assume I could only travel places I’ve been, at least until I picked up on “the pull.” That’s what one of my dads calls it.

It’s basically the overwhelming urge to follow a trail to whatever the universe wants me to find.

Most of the time, it’s something heinous playing out, but that’s just my lot in life.

Sure, I see some terrible shit, but whatever I stumble upon ends up facing something even worse…

Me.

The woman’s cries draw me through the woods outside of a town I’m unfamiliar with. Her terror claws at my chest, dragging me along with haste.

Sexual desire sits heavy in the air, but it’s the tainted kind. There was a point in time when I might have questioned whether this was some type of consensual interaction. I understand better how to differentiate what I’m picking up on now.

There are situations that might appear to be something they’re not, like a pre-discussed primal chase, for example. In that case, established rules would need to be respected. Outside of that, there might be fighting or struggling or even use of the word no .

That type of situation is one I would not intervene in.

Luckily, Knight has never shied away from discussing what I would consider uncomfortable matters.

He and Wraith might be my fathers, but they’re also my teachers.

They’ve worked hard to ensure I understand when to intervene and when to mind my own business.

Otherwise, I might devour someone innocent, and that’s the kind of mistake that can’t be taken back.

My powers are unimaginable to most, but I keep them on a tight leash to prevent ruining anyone’s life unnecessarily.

My mind stays focused on following the terrified woman’s vibration pattern, and my magic pulls me forward in a mass of black shadows that are invisible to the naked eye.

I land next to a sprawling oak tree and lean against the bark as my equilibrium catches up. The musty smell of aging leaves combines with the fresh scent of the night air, making something completely unique.

Is that an angel?

My head tilts.

That would be highly unusual in the human realm.

Damn, it is.

The shock of feathers stretched behind him means he’s either an angel or a sentinel, but I’ve never seen a sentinel with that shade of bright white wings.

Sentinels are the offspring of Heaven, basically half angel and half whatever species the angel chose to procreate with. Their wings give them away. They’re never pure white like a full-blooded angel, instead being some color on the spectrum between cream and black.

The assailant leans over the struggling woman, and the sneer on his face makes my fists clench.

If he is an angel, you should go for backup.

It would only take an extra minute or two to pop back home and ask my dads for help, but I’m hesitant to do that. Even in that swift amount of time, that asshole could do immeasurable damage to her psyche.

He keeps himself floating in the air, using his wings as leverage while he traps her arms above her head with one hand. It’s what he does with the other that causes a hiss of air to leave my lips.

My monster has been judging souls since before I could walk. Something in my magic or my demon genetics has always known who to target. Now that I’m older, there’s an aspect of free will, but I’m actually less likely to judge a murderer irredeemable than I am a rapist.

This slimeball doesn’t have any goodness left in him.

So much for angels being the saviors of humanity while demonkind is looked down on . Ignoring that can of worms, I step from the shadows and fully form on their plane of existence.

My mouth waters.

My monster is ravenous, and a filling meal is only feet away.

I could technically cleanse his sins while devouring him, but my sin eater side likes to make a show of it.

My head falls back as the monster takes over. Everything turns hazy and muted, except for the heat signature of the angel.

My magic propels me forward, and I wrap my clawed hands around his shoulders as his wings slam against my chest. Pulling him back, I spin and slam him into a nearby tree.

I suck in a deep breath, and my jaw falls to make extra room to feed. The double layer of razor-sharp teeth that appear on the top and bottom of my mouth would frighten anyone, but they’re mostly for show. I’ve never actually used them to attack someone.

Black plasma filled with flickers of his sins flies from his mouth to mine. Replaying someone’s worst acts is actually my least favorite part of feeding, but it helps me feel confident that I’m making the right call.

His victim probably thinks a monster is kissing her attacker. My mom always picks on my dad by saying it looks like he’s making out with his victims when he feeds. Our mouths never actually touch, but I do get close to prevent spillage.

That would count as food waste.

I’m lucky that there are enough sins to go around to keep me well fed all the time.

Something clicks inside me as I watch the memories of his darkest moments.

He is an angel.

About to be was an angel.

His light blond hair falls over his forehead, and his gray eyes betray his terror as he slams his fist into the side of my skull. It’s barely noticeable, and it certainly doesn’t deter my monster.

Huh.

I always figured killing an angel would be swinging outside my weight class, but apparently that’s not the case. The last bits of his sins flicker in the plasma that contains them, flowing from his body to mine.

Power pulses under my skin, and the sin eater recedes to give the reaper agency to take over.

The angel groans, falling back against the tree. “What the fuck are you?”

I look over my shoulder at the woman now that my face no longer looks like a monster. “You’re safe. He won’t hurt you again. You should go. This part isn’t pretty.”

The last time I saw her, she was on her back on the dirty ground, but she got to her feet at some point.

“Thanks.” Her eyes are almost comically large as she nods, backing away with her palms raised. “Yeah, I mean, I’m gonna go. Thank you.”

My hood fell when the sin eater took over, but I focus on the angel and answer his earlier question. “Something the world hasn’t seen in millennia, but there was a need for my kind, so here I am.”

My hand rests over his heart, and his soul feels lighter without the weight of his sins to drag him down. My face transforms as my jaw falls open, and my appearance changes into some combination of the sin eater and the reaper.

I guess it’s both and neither, considering I’m each and somehow something else entirely. Taking a deep breath, I suck up his soul, devouring it as it nourishes my body.

One of my fathers believes I have the ability to rehabilitate beings by consuming their sins without devouring the soul.

Basically, it would require only allowing the sin eater to come out to play.

If that were to work, it would essentially be a full reset of their soul, similar to what happens when a reaper reaps someone for rebirth in the pit.

Only without the additional step of him having to serve out his penance in the bowels of Hell.

I have a reaper for a father. When he deposits a soul in the pit in Hell, it’s completely reset, thus losing all memories of its last life. They spend however long the universe has assigned for their crimes in the pit, atoning for all the evil they did.

Being cleansed in the pit can even wipe away their powers, although I’ve always wondered if that could extend to species too. Like, do extremely terrible humans end up as demons upon rebirth after the pit, or will they always reincarnate as a human?

Those answers are above my pay grade.

Ultimately, all of that is irrelevant, anyway. Even if I could simply reset him, I wouldn’t for two reasons.

First, I find sex crimes abhorrent. There will be no rehabilitation ever for beings like that under my watch. And secondly, I’m too hungry to resist such a filling meal.

The angel turns to a desiccated version of his former self, and I retract my claws, stepping back and allowing him to slump against the ground on the roots of the tree.

My hands fall to my robe, and I brush them off. I’ll wash them as soon as I return home. I don’t want any of his vile residue on me.

“Levi?” a male voice calls out from quite some distance away.

My head tilts, and I scan the area for any heat signatures.

The same name is called by another individual much closer, and my eyes narrow. Apparently he has friends who are searching for him.

Too bad they weren’t around to stop him from doing something vile.

Spinning around, I barely catch sight of an angel as he swoops through the trees.

Shit.

I have to go.

My eyes close as I turn myself invisible to the naked eye.

Perhaps I should stick around to verify if they’re monsters like their friend…

No, one angel was manageable.

More than that?

I truly have no idea what would happen. If it becomes necessary to handle them, I’ll pick them off one by one.

Focusing my intent, I siphon home.