Chapter Sixteen

SCARLETT

T he sound of the gun is so loud that I'm temporarily deaf. All I can hear is ringing. The world spins on its axis as I try to right myself while looking around to figure out what just happened. Hands land around my throat before I have time to gather myself. My vision goes in and out. Black spots dance around the periphery of sight. The ringing continues, blurring out the sounds of the outside world. Everything feels slowed down, as if the world has stopped, just for this moment.

All I know is that I have to fight. I can't leave Morgan. I need to get to her. To help her. I can't lose her.

I saw what she is—a demon .

And I don't care. I love her. Demon or not, she's beautiful and she makes me feel like no one else ever has. I'm going to fight for her, for us. I'm not losing her. She's mine and I'm hers. These motherfuckers aren't ruining that for us.

I kick and scratch and claw until the pressure on my throat slackens enough for me to greedily suck in air. My eyes shoot open to be assaulted by the horror surrounding me.

Kyle lays on the ground near me. His vacant eyes stare unblinkingly at me. Blood stains his skin. He's very clearly dead. His face is twisted into a look of grotesque shock. It's a horrific sight and yet I feel…nothing.

Yes, I feel physical pain radiating through my entire body. But as I look at the man I thought I once loved, lying violently mutilated and murdered on the ground, I can't force myself to feel the anger and pain I know that I should feel. Instead, I just feel…empty.

A sharp slap to my cheek pulls me from my thoughts. "Scarlett, what the fuck? That thing is a fucking monster. She killed Kyle! Get your shit together and let's go!"

Kyle's friend Will straddles me, a gun in one hand and his other still lightly against my throat. Above him, the blood moon hangs ominously in the night sky, casting a gruesome glow across the world. Will looks down at me with a hot anger radiating off of him. His fingers are swollen and scratched from where I clawed at him while he strangled me. Right after he shot—

My eyes frantically dart around the shadow streaked ground, desperately searching for my goddess. When I finally spot her, my entire world darkens. She's lying lifeless on the ground. Her chest isn't rising and falling like it should. She lays on the ground behind Kyle, just as silent and unmoving as he is.

Will's hand snakes into my hair, pulling me to my feet. "Why the fuck are you here anyway, Scarlett? Were you following your boyfriend like a nosey bitch? Or are you here for something else?"

"Fuck you and fuck him too. You're both assholes. I'm here for her. She's worth more than the two of you could ever amount to in your entire lives." The words lighten something in me. I've been holding on to so much hurt and pain caused by Kyle, I didn't even know it was weighing me down.

His hand leaves my hair to strike my face again. The sting is sharp as the back of his hand connects with my cheek. My head snaps to the side and I stumble. I almost trip on Kyle as I try to keep myself upright. Next to him the ground is barren. My goddess is gone.

"She bewitched you with her demon cunt and turned you gay? Are you that fucking dumb, you stupid bitch?" Will moves to grab me again, his monstrous form looms like a shadow of rage and hate. "Maybe I should take you with me and remind you that the entire purpose of your cunt is to accept and please cock."

This misogynistic asshole is getting his dick nowhere near me.

But he has a gun and I have nothing.

"If you get your filthy cock anywhere near my princess, I will slit you from ear to anus and feast on your entrails." The voice that slithers slowly from the shadows of the woods is filled with the promise of deadly female venom.

My goddess stalks from the shadows into the haunting light of the blood moon. Only now, she's changed. Dark and rough horns rise from out of her golden locks, curling towards the back of her head. She's taller; her limbs are longer and her nails are sharp shiny talons. Her eyes are black pits, completely empty of any white. Red streaks of lightning pulse in the onyx orbs. Her skin is paler, and dark black veins snake beneath the surface. She's a beautiful nightmare. My goddess of death and destruction.

Will spins, aiming the gun straight at her heart. The heart that belongs to me.

"You're just some stupid fucking chick! I'm not—"

"Afraid of me?" My goddess stalks closer towards her prey. Waves of viscous power radiate from her being. "You should be William, you really should be afraid of this woman."

"Don't come a step closer or I'll shoot!" he shrieks, cocking the gun and holding it with an unsteady hand.

Fear courses through me like fire. My heart thunders inside my chest as I desperately watch the scene unfolding in front of me. He can't shoot her. I won't let him. She is mine and I'm not letting this asshole take her from me tonight.

"Will!" I scream at him, my shrill voice bouncing between the trees and echoing through the emptiness of the night.

He whips around to face me. I paint a pained expression on my face, letting him see the weak little girl I was before I met Morgan. It's the distraction my lady needs. Her red talons slice across his neck, becoming deep scarlet pools on his skin beneath her touch.

"You fucking bitches!" He hollers, whirling toward Morgan and slamming his fists at her. He's quick—she's quicker.

With grace unlike anything I've ever seen before, she dodges each of his blows with ease. His shoulders are hunched in anger and white wisps escape his lips as he angrily screams into the darkness of the night.

"I knew something was wrong with you the moment I saw you! I should have fucked you and disposed of you that first night in the alleyway, before you brought corruption and chaos here." He spits at her between heaving breaths, exhausted from trying to catch her.

"Oh fuck off with this whole ‘the Devil makes people gay' shit. The Devil is too busy feasting on souls to give a shit where you stick your cock."

With Will momentarily stunned by my goddesses' sassy mouth, she takes the opportunity to pounce. Her razor sharp talons slice through his shirt, leaving shredded fabric and skin hanging across his front. Then the blood comes. Red rivulets ooze from the gashes, staining his skin and running like rivers down his form. His hands grasp at his mutilated flesh. It's only then I notice he's no longer holding the gun.

"Threaten my girl again Will and I'll slice your cock from your body…slowly."

He pales and falls to his knees. The soft ground beneath him sinks, pulling him down to the Earth. I turn my eyes to my goddess to see her eyes assessing me critically.

"I'm fine," I assure her as I begin to move towards her.

She takes a few steps towards me, a smile crossing her lips and the tension easing from her shoulders as she takes in my unharmed state. Suddenly she falters and she falls.

I run to her, catching her as she collapses completely. "Morgan?" I cradle her limp figure as she tries, unsuccessfully, to hold her head upright.

Her body looks so limp and fragile lying motionless on the cold earth. I hold onto her core, trying to figure out what the hell is happening. My hands skim down her form until I reach a damp patch on her stomach. Pulling my hand back I realize in horror that blood is seeping from her core. The blood red of her dress covered the stain.

I didn't even see her pain as she fought to protect me. "What the fuck happened?"

"The gun, babe," her voice is so much weaker than I've ever heard it. "You need to get out of here. Run."

"I'm not leaving you—"

"You have to run. You need to get away from him and get somewhere safe."

Will's not a threat anymore. In the pale light of the moon I can see his figure slinking through the twirling veins of the pumpkin patch, running away like the bitch he is.

"He's gone. Come on, let's go and find help." I try my best to hold her weight and pull us up, but her anguished cry stops me.

"You have to let me go, Scarlett."

The pain in her eyes is enough to break me. It's as if I can see my life on a linear plane, laid out in front of me in that moment —everything that has been and will be.

"There's no life for me without you, Morgan. I love you. You make me strong and brave and confident. I have become the me I've always wanted to be, because of you. You can't leave me now. I love you."

"Scarlett, I'm no one's knight in shining armor. Just look at me," she motions weakly to the horns still protruding from her head. "I'm the villain of this tale."

"Then be my villain, and let me love you just how you are."

Her eyes go wide and empty, her stare fixed on something behind me. I know it's him before I even turn to see him. The stench of decay hangs thickly in the air, the pungent smell assaulting my senses. The air turns freezing, my breath escaping my mouth in puffs of frigid white. All light seems to have been snuffed out, extinguished by his presence.

Slowly, I turn to meet his unseeing gaze. His dark hood and cloak masks his form in blackened shadows. An apparition of darkness. Here yet not truly of this world, he seems to swim through the night air towards us. I can't see his eyes but I can feel them assessing me as he approaches. I cling tighter to Morgan's limp body.

"You can't have her," I state, sounding far more confident than I feel.

He doesn't respond. He doesn't need to. Death bends to no man.

But I'm not a man.

"Please, I love her. My life without her will be shades of gray. She's my light, my color, my vibrancy and joy. Please do not take her from me."

He cocks his hooded head. Clearly the pleas of a poor girl amuse the Ruler of the Dead.

"If you take her, then take me too. I will not let you take her from me. She's mine . I claim her."

If Death could laugh he would. And yet, he's not taking her. He seems to be considering my request. His black cloaked hand motions to my arm. He doesn't need to say a word, I know what he asks of me. I place my palm to the sky and hold out my arm, exposing the pale expanse of my arm to him. My purple veins seem to glow brightly beneath my alabaster skin. I'd willingly drain each and every vein, pull my heart from my chest, give my soul, anything he asked and more—for her. I'd happily die if it meant an eternity with my Morgan.

With a final glance, he asks without any words. I nod in agreement. I'm ready.

Searing pain like I've never known pierces my skin. It burns and stings like a thousand tiny needles all on fire, scorching through my skin and tendons. I scream and shriek as my vision becomes blinded by white hot agony. But I don't pull my arm back. As much as I want the pain to stop, I want her more. The sensation of being torn in two spreads up my arm and into my mind. It's as if my entire being is being ripped in half. Torturous radiating pain shoots through every single piece of me.

And then as suddenly as it started, it all stops.

I'm left breathing heavy. My body stooped and sagging under the weight of what just happened. The shock wears off and I start to shiver in the cold night air. I feel like I might be sick. The pain recedes slowly, everything returning to normal. Everything except my arm.

Emblazoned in dark black ink is a swirling symbol on the inside of my lower arm, right beneath my inner elbow. It's dark and intricate and striking. Its beauty is strangely familiar.

"Mine," her breath is barely audible, her voice almost gone. But it's her. My goddess is alive.

I wrap my arms around her tightly, holding her against my chest. Her heart beats against me, it's thumping enough to cause tears to fall in waves over my cheeks. I sob into her hair as we both hold onto each other for what feels like an eternity.

"You offered yourself for me?" she finally asks, her voice regaining some of its former fire.

I pull back to meet her eyes. She searches my face with such open vulnerability that it almost breaks me. How could she not realize that I'd do anything for her?

"Of course," I brush a soft piece of her silken hair behind her ear before laying a chaste kiss to her plush lips. "I can't live without you. I'm yours, remember?"

"Scarlett, I'm a demon. That symbol on your arm—that's the symbol of the Hell demon inhabiting my soul," she pushes up to sitting, her hand cradling my cheek. "You didn't just offer your life for me love, you sold your soul."

Hearing it put into words causes my mouth to go dry and my palms to sweat. A deal with the Devil sounds… intense. But I don't regret a thing. For her, I'd sell everything I have and all I ever will be.

"I'd sell my soul to the Devil a thousand times over to save you, to be with you."

She rises to her full height, standing over me like the imposing demon goddess she is. The blood moon illuminates the sky above her, surrounding her head like a halo from Hell. She is beauty and power, sun and seduction, my savior and my villain.

"You didn't sell your soul to the Devil, my love. You sold it to me. It's my mark on you. Me who owns your beautiful soul," her hand shoots out, her talons gripping my chin. "You're mine, from now until eternity, princess."

"I'm yours? Truly?"

A smile spreads across her face. She nods, acknowledging that I've truly found my other half, even if I had to sell my soul to do it. Her smile warms my core, filling me with more joy than I've ever felt in my life before now.

"You're mine, Scarlett, for the rest of our lives. And when your soul embarks this existence I shall follow you into the darkness beyond. You're mine now, and for all the eternities that come afterwards."

The weight of her words hits me hard. I'm hers. Maybe I should be afraid, but I'm not. The pain of the night has faded and now I just feel…whole.

"Ready, my love?" she asks, holding her hand out for me. I take one look back—back at the corpse of the man I thought I loved and the life I had lived before, a life that was not worth living. Turning back to the woman I truly love, I reach out and grab her hand in return. She pulls me to my feet and kisses me lightly on the forehead.

"What about Will?" I ask her as we step over Kyle's lifeless body and head back towards the lights and noise of the carnival ahead.

"He's gone for now. But he will find his way to Hell, I can sense it."

I give her a quizzical look but find her staring at my arm, at the new mark left there. She looks proud and pleased to see me marked as hers.

"Let's go home. Samson must be worried sick about you." Her slender fingers slip between mine, holding my hand tightly. Our pulses thrum against one another as we walk slowly through the decaying gourds and soft earth. Covered head to toe in mud and blood, we walk off into our new life—together and in love.