Page 20 of Nightshades
The windshield wipers squeak from left to right. He doesn’t even shut the door before he slams on the gas. The tires spin against the wet pavement, smoke billowing from his back tires. In four large strides, I’m behind the vehicle and grip the bumper with one hand, lifting the backend off the ground.
His eyes meet mine in the rearview mirror, the rain unable to drown the scent of his fear. Lifting the car into the air completely, he screams at the top of his lungs, and I swing the car over my head as if it were a baseball bat, then slam it onto the ground.
The road cracks from the force, and large chunks fly into the air, making the road impossible to drive on. His head smashes against the steering wheel, causing the horn to blare through the night.
I walk around the car, punch through the driver’s side window. The glass tries to cut into me, but the tough hide of my rhino skin prevents it. Gripping him by the back of the neck, I yank him outside, dragging his face along the broken, jagged edge of the window.
He screams, his fear an unexpected, tasty treat, and yet his scent doesn’t even compare to Lula’s. While his is bitter and sharp, hers is sweet and smooth—a dessert that’s a guilty pleasure.
“Please,” he begs, bloody drool dripping from his mouth. “Please, don’t. Please. I’ll leave you alone. I won’t say anything. I won’t tell anyone. I promise. I swear. No one will believe me anyway.”
I smell his truth. He isn’t lying.
But I don’t care.
His good-intentioned soul means nothing to me.
I lift him by his throat, his feet dangling off the ground. His eyes are level with mine. Shards of glass are embedded in the right side of his face. Blood drips, flowing down his jaw onto my hand.
Before I smelled Lula’s blood, I would have drunk him dry. No blood would have gone to waste. Now, I curl my lip in disgust. The only red nectar I want belongs to the lovely little dream in the other vehicle.
“You’ve interrupted me with my mate. That is unforgivable. She is mine. No one interrupts me with what is mine.” I take my other hand and dig my claws into his lower back, igniting loud cries of help from him.
Roots grow over my body, then stretch across to his chest, slithering up his face. Nightshade berries bloom, forcing him to inhale the poison on his next breath.
His body becomes deadweight, but his eyes remain alive, round and wild.
“What do you fear the most?” I tilt my head, wanting nothing more than to turn his sweetest fantasies into a nightmare that would kill him.
A whimper sounds, but it doesn’t come from the man in my grasp. I turn my head, listening to Lula’s breathing to make sure she’s still unconscious.
She settles a few seconds later, the whimpering easing to silence.
“I don’t have time to play with you like I want,” I sneer, the roots swirling around his neck to replace my hand.
He gurgles something, but I don’t care enough to figure out the words. His face is red, the blood trapped in his face from how tightly the roots are squeezing him.
If I had a camera, I’d take a picture so I could remember this moment forever.
My claws dig into his lower back, and I rip the skin, tearing it in half. I bury my hand inside and wrap it around his spine, the bones having no clue they are about to be pulled from their home.
He is still attempting to yell, but only a mouse could hear the small, little yips escaping him.
“Wrong place. Wrong time. That’s all.” A fresh new wave of fear feeds me. “It will be over before you know it.” I flex my claws into the side of his face and drag them down, ripping his flesh open so much, I can see his molars and jawbone.
“La-lala-la-la-laaa.”
“Ignore that.” The nightmare emerges from me, stretching over me, which has this stranger peer up to the black, ominous clouds. “He’s hungry for more of your terror.” I lean in, brushing my lips against his cheek as I speak. “But your terror isn’t good enough for me.” My eyes slide to Lula’s car. “My standards have changed.”
My nightmare screeches in protest as I yank the man’s spine from his body. Blood pours like a waterfall onto the pavement and my bare feet. Unraveling the roots from his throat, the body drops to the ground. His lifeless eyes stare at me, his cheeks still wet from tears.
No one ever knows when they are going to die. That’s what makes their death a little sweeter. The plans they had for tomorrow will never come. All their hopes and dreams have come to an end.
So sad.
Anyway.
“I won’t be needing this.” I place the spine onto his body, giving his torso a small pat. “You seem to need it more.” I smirk at my own joke, then step over him and head back to my mate.