Page 8 of Stalked By Pestilence

The gorgeous singer stopped just a few inches shy of me, half of his face catching the light from the kitchen window. I suddenly wished I’d turned on the lights as soon as I entered. The menacing air he put out made me feel more prey than predator.

His slow smile put me on guard, and I tightened my arms against my chest as if they’d protect me from the beast I’d lured into my apartment. When he leaned in, his luscious cologne wafted all around me. He smelled as incredible as he looked, I’d give him that.

“You can tell a lot about a person from a kiss.” His unnatural eyes dropped to my mouth. “And I’ve been thinking about those red lips staining mine all bloody night. Give me a kiss and I’ll do whatever you want,ma’am.”

My jaw clenched. “Fine.” He tried to steal one, but I stopped him with a hand before his mouth could reach mine. “But you’ll receive it on your fucking knees, birdie.”

It was just a second. Another flash where I couldn’t be certain it wasn’t some weird trick of the shadows or a momentary loss of sanity, but I could’ve sworn his pupils became reptilian and his incisors had sharpened to fangs with the little smirk he gave me.

It was gone by the time his knees hit the floor in front of my feet. Even on his knees, I wouldn’t need to bend far to do what he asked.

I grabbed a handful of his red hair, which was shaved on the sides and long on top, and yanked his head back. “That’s a good boy,” I murmured and bent in to give him exactly what he asked for.

Chapter Four

Zelus

I’d finally found her, the soul I was meant to take, and it had to be the bird fluttering around Dead’s domain, for fuck’s sake. Thanatos had snuck off with that feisty redhead somewhere to escape the literal Hell raining down on him, all because he was too beguiled and besotted to do his bloody job.

Start the apocalypse.

It was what we lot were created for.

Heaven and Hell were out in swarms now thanks to that tosser. Turned out, angels and demons didn’t want mortals to meet their inevitable end and were willing to team upthis one time to stop it from happening. Go bloody figure. It added an obstacle to an already complicated job.

I’d been waiting for this. Desperate for it. The ultimate suffering. The pain that ended it all. The final blissful release before absolute nothingness.

Living so many lives and watching the world turn again and again, the same shit, the same disasters, over and over—it was endless. I’d had my fun. I wanted off this bloody ride. But as the days passed, it was obvious my fellow Horsemen didn’t feel the same eternal burden.

Ares was off somewhere unreachable after I’d unwittingly crossed paths with her and got my ass handed to me. That woman couldn’t take a bloody joke. But after she disappeared, it’d take pure luck to find that clever minx if she didn’t want to be found.

Limos—the lazy twat—was dragging his feet somewhere, so no hope there. That bastard had no sense of urgency, and if he did find his Counter Soul, it was by no effort of his own. Like everything else, he refused to do more than what was expected of him, and unless the other three of us failed, he couldn’t be bothered.

That bloke barely took proper care of himself. He always had Ares hovering over somewhere nearby, making sure he didn’t disappear into time and space.

Of all the Horsemen, I least expected Dead to get caught out by his Counter Soul. I thought that wanker was my real competition for bringing the apocalypse first. No more mortals, no more death.

It didn’t take a bloody genius to see he hated his existence, and I’d been convinced he’d do whatever he could to bring an end to an eternity of duty he never wanted. But that selfish bastard wasready to start a war over one woman—and had—so it was up to me to do what he couldn’t.

My bloody luck meant the soul I was supposed to ripen and then take to start the end of the world—whatever the fuck that meant; the apocalypse didn’t come with instructions—just so happened to be the roommate to Dead’s newly chosen queen.

Fortunately for this desperate bugger, Dead had his own problems to deal with after I’d put a deadline on his Counter Soul and he got mixed up with the angels. It was the kick in the ass he needed, but knowing him, he’d figure something out. At least he’d be out of my way for a bit.

I hadn’t thought my reckless antagonism against the tosser who hid the fact that he’d discovered his Counter Soul would be the thing that helped me in the end with mine.

If only he’d given me some hint for how to ripen and deliver her soul before buggering off. At least we weren’t running up against a clock since the initial month we thought we had passed and nothing seemed to have come undone. Maybe we’d been given whatever time it took to complete the job. Who could really say?

I hadn’t figured out what we were meant to do with them once we found them. But with how easily I identified that this feisty bird was meant to be mine, I figured the same would be true for how to do my bleeding job. Intuitive. But it couldn’t hurt to enjoy it a bit while I poked around for what needed to be done, could it?

We only had theories about our Counter Souls. They were created to tempt us. Humanity’s last barrier against their inevitable end. Each soul was our perfect soul match in every way, so no surprise when mine was a gorgeous blonde with a penchant for punishing men.

Fate got something right.

I fucking lived for a challenge, and a dominant woman with very little interest in me was the ultimate fantasy for this bloke. I enjoyed the pain as much as I enjoyed turning the tables, and this beauty was clever and quick to snap back. She riled up every bit of my predator instincts.

I landed on my knees in front of her, the plume of her intoxicating scent near my nose. I smelled her fear and excitement. Her hesitation and determination were in every tick of her pulse. But on my knees, it was her lust that sent my senses reeling and what fully hardened my cock.

She didn’t hesitate. Her tiny but unforgiving hand was already in my hair, yanking. That delicious spark of pain was everything I needed it to be. It was an effort not to groan.