Page 67 of Upon Blooded Lips (Vengeance #1)

TESSA

The Black Forest, Germany

P rimordial trees surround me, their thick branches stretching upward like skeletal fingers reaching for the heavens.

A light dusting of snow covers the ground, softening our footsteps as we make our way toward the tiny chapel ahead.

I can’t say why anyone built it in the middle of the forest. Maybe it was once used by a hopeful minister, determined to preach the gospel to loggers or miners.

Or perhaps there was once a village here, looking for spiritual guidance.

Very little of it remains now. It looks like something out of a horror movie, with jagged pieces of wood hanging from the little tower, shattered stained-glass windows, and the cross on the thick wooden door hanging upside down. Mirror Girl would have loved that detail.

I brush the thought aside and drag Barbie along the ground, leaving a little trail behind me, much like Hansel with his breadcrumbs.

The man Nate carries over his shoulder screams into his gag, his wrists bound with frayed rope pounding against his back.

I know all too well the futility of that.

It’s like a fly buzzing around a horse—annoying but inconsequential.

Eric lopes up the stairs and waves us in with an elaborate flourish. I giggle and drop him a curtsey before sliding into the church and glancing around. Rotting leaves line the short aisle, with cracked and splintered pews lining both sides. Boring. This place could do with a little redecoration.

While they deal with our latest kill order, I twirl around the room, swinging Barbie into the windows, smashing what’s left of the glass.

The man cries out when Nate hammers his wrists into the cross affixed behind the altar.

I laugh, the sound freeing something dark inside me where Mirror Girl used to dwell.

I’ve learned to live without her since the wedding, to fill the void she left behind with each kill we make while we continue on our honeymoon across Europe.

Each country brings new adventures, new monsters to vanquish, and new ways to love my men.

Watching them nail the pedophile pastor to the cross sends lust running through me, my core melting with each stroke of the hammer.

Will this craving for them ever go away? In the coming years, will I find myself turning away, pleading a headache? Or will it always be like this? One heated glance and I’m soaked, ready, aching to be filled by them.

It might be a product of my childhood, never having been touched with love, never wanted, never needed. To find myself the center of their attention is heady, terrifying, and beautiful, wrapped up in lust and tied with need.

Eric glances up, checking on me, his nostrils flaring when he sees the state I’m in.

As if they’re one, they rise, their prey in their sight.

My mouth goes dry, my instincts on high alert, a shiver of apprehension rolling through me.

Nate gives me a feral grin, lights a match, and flings it at the pastor.

Gorgeous flames erupt around him, his agonized screams mixing with the crackle of the fire.

My boys stalk toward me, the orange glow behind them masking their faces in shadow. My heart trips over itself, something ancient awakening. I turn on my heel and race back down the aisle, out the door, and down the stairs.

Flying through the trees, I dodge stones and logs alike as my demons howl behind me.

My lips curl into a wide grin, adrenaline pounding through me, the excitement of the chase drumming up a heady mix of fear and excitement.

My lungs desperately claw for air, my thoughts clearing, eyes focusing sharply on the rugged landscape ahead.

The thudding, pounding footsteps behind me send an ice-cold shiver down my spine even though I know they will never hurt me.

No matter how fast or how hard I run, they will always follow, for they are mine, and I am theirs.

I need the hunt and the taking as much as they do. That wildness, that desperation. The roaring, biting, pounding, claiming. We would burn down the world for each other.

I come to an abrupt halt as the tree line opens up in front of me, and squeal when they lift me and spin me through the air with matching grins on their faces.

We pause for a moment, hearts thrumming and chests heaving, admiring the brilliant orange and pinks of the magnificent sunset, the mountains surrounding us standing out in stark relief against the painted sky.

Eric wraps me in his arms, resting his head on my shoulder while Nate does the same with him, the three of us together, always. My heart swells with warmth, of joy and family and love.

And as the last of the dying sun’s rays dip below the horizon, elongating the purple shadows around us, I take off again, my laughter rising above the trees like birds taking flight.

I’m free.

Will The Unseen finally find the woman he’s waited a lifetime for?

Thank you for reading Upon Blooded Lips! I hope you enjoyed Tessa, Nate, and Eric’s story. Please consider leaving a review, it means so much to us authors.