Page 105 of Darkness Bound
For so long, I’d underestimated him. We all had.
Now, he was underestimating me.
“Okay,” I said meekly. “I think… I think I just need two ingredients to make this work.”
“What do you need?” he asked.
Without a second thought, I lunged at him, slamming into him with the full force of my magic, the full brunt of my strength. He hit the ground harder than before, his eyes wide as the back of his head bashed against the rocks.
I leaped onto his chest, pinning his arms as I lowered my mouth to his neck. I bit hard, ignoring the wet, coppery slime of blood in my mouth as I tore out a chunk of flesh.
Blood gushed from the wound, coating my skin.
Jonathan gasped and sputtered, his legs kicking feebly beneath me, but I wasn’t done yet.
Calling upon the blackest magic in my heart, I watched my blue-green flames turn black and oily. Then I yanked the tattered fabric of his soul free from the confines of his physical form.
It writhed and twisted as I took it inside me, but unlike Travis’s soul, there would be no escape for the hunter. No last-minute swell of guilt, no sudden attack of conscience, no sage advice from Death, trying to keep me from condemning my own soul in the process.
My own soul no longer mattered.
We are, all of us, bound for darkness.
I grinned wickedly, finally answering Jonathan’s question. “Your blood and your soul, hunter.That’swhat I need.”
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