Page 69 of Malicent (Seven Devils #1)
Malicent
ONCE I STEP INTO THE night air, I’m overwhelmed by the hearts I hear, each one thudding like a war drum. A feast. An entire feast waits for me, and the thought thrills me so deeply it sends me skipping into the crowd.
“Millicent?”
I ignore the lumbering fool who dares to call her name. “Millicent Le strange!” He yells again, pursuing me. I slip through the sea of bodies, giggling. He’s too big, unable to maneuver as I do.
A divine scent arrests me. I hone in on a woman, neck bared, begging me to have a bite as she chats casually.
Oh, if you insist.
Another tall figure steps in my path, but this one’s magic offends me.
“Move.”
“Hello to you, too. Is this a new look? People are staring.” He gives me a warning, as if I need one.
I raise a hand to slam through his chest, but the vermin dares to grab my wrist.
I grin wickedly and twist. The bones in his wrist snap like brittle twigs. His shout is delightful. I drive my heel into his gut, impaling him and launching him through the crowd. He crashes into a table. Screams erupt, and the crowd scatters.
Sheep. Panic-stricken, mindless sheep. I am their shepherd.
I summon a veil of night, my magic rising from the earth and sealing them in a dome of shadows that stretch into the sky. The herd crashes against its boundaries. They try to break through. Futile.
“You may all bow now.”
I reach into their minds around me and rip through them. Knees buckle from the pain, their pleas now drowned in sobs.
I find my chosen offering, my precious little morsel. She sobs about her family and her sons. I wish they were here so I could feast on them, too.
“Kiss it and beg,” I command, presenting her my bloodied foot.
She hesitates before kissing my shoe, then immediately turns and vomits into the grass.
“Well, that’s rude. Eat it.”
She refuses, so I grab her hair and shove her face into her own bile. Bash. Crack. Then again. And again. Until her skull splits like an egg under my hold. Even then, I don’t stop, relishing the thought of seeing the color of her brain.
“Enough!”
A blast of searing heat slams into my ribs, flinging me into my own veil.
“You dare?” I whisper, rising as the grass grays beneath me and black tendrils writhe at my feet. A portion of my true power is now stirring.
I rise smoothly, brushing dust from my gown as I stare down brilliant silver eyes burning across the field.
His aura intensifies. Someone is showing off.
Recognition clicks as I take in the vessel before me, brimming with energy that practically begs to be torn free.
The failed bond.
The mind intruder.
The one who refused to kneel.
My lips curl as I lean left, effortlessly dodging a volley of darts from the large oaf who first dared to speak to me outside.
Oh, I will have fun devouring them both.