Chapter 24

Chapter

Twenty-Four

Phil

S he is near!

The demon can better grab my attention, out here in the wilderness. Too fucking quiet. To drown him out, I turn up my earbuds, blasting some random heavy metal playlist.

Ember and her three mates are chatting, going about various domestic duties, and while I imagine some of what they're discussing involves me and my little demon problem, I don't want to listen.

Take her. Fuck her. Make her scream in pain as you paint her womb with my seed. Using her, we can rule the world.

"Fuck you!"

Everyone's head turns toward me.

I shrug my best attempt at an apology. It's not like I asked to have a demon inside my head.

"Are you going to be okay?" Ember asks me. She leans against her largest mate's chest. The one who's part bear and named after a tool. Hammer or some shit. Nice guy. Can't remember his name, but I get him.

She looks toward Zuben. "Will Ana be safe around him?"

I step forward. "I'd never hurt Ana."

She flinches, and I realize I yelled.

"Sorry." Looking down, I remove one of my earbuds. "Going for a walk. Need to clear my head."

But you will hurt her.

The demon says this with so much malice, his words are acid inside my brain.

You will hurt her, and you will love it. You will love hearing her screams as we break her will. Crushing and tearing her tiny body apart, over and over and over again.

Tromping through the forest, I remove the earbuds and stash them in my pocket. It's not like they're helping.

Once she is claimed, once she is mine, you will be grateful.

"I'll be grateful once you're fucking dead ," I say out loud.

The demon laughs, the sound like metal on metal, scraping through my senses.

I cannot be killed, foolish mortal.

"Mortal?" I mutter. "Shows how much you know."

The demon laughs again, and I breathe through the pain. I've been through much worse.

Humans may find it difficult to kill your kind, bloodsucker, but you have not yet begun to comprehend my powers. Fighting against me is futile. Soon I will rule over every soul in this realm. Soon, every creature on earth will understand the true meaning of pain. And my followers will understand the true pleasure of inflicting pain on others.

"Fucking sicko."

Unable to clear my head, I start to run, loving the soft bouncy texture of the forest floor, layers built from season upon season of fallen needles and leaves. The trees blur as I dodge around them, and then there's a break—nothing visible but the star-filled night.

No idea what lies ahead, I leap, turning midair as I fall, loving the rush of the air as I descend in front of a granite cliff, not even looking down to see where I'm going to land.

If I'm staked through the heart by a branch, who the fuck cares?