Chapter 32
Chapter Thirty-Two
Violence still ravaged him, demanding to be released. It churned sadistically, mercilessly as it slid through his veins like slivers of glass. Relief lay in obliterating humans. They had to pay for their crimes.
And there were so many.
A woman’s face filled his mind, her stormy gray eyes beseeching, her touch gentle. He faltered as he flew and dropped like a stone. He hurriedly flapped his wings to remain in the air but couldn’t dislodge her image.
Druid .
He didn’t know where the thought came from, but he knew the woman, whoever she was, was a Druid . How did he know what a Druid was, though? He was falling again. This time, he tucked his wings and dove. As the ground rose up, he shifted and dropped the last twenty feet to land, knees bent.
Light blinded him. He raised his hand to shield his eyes from the intense sunset. He blinked against the brightness. The hilly terrain offered wide-open views of the mountains farther to the west. He stared across the vast distance to the peaks beyond for a long time, but nothing stopped his outrage. Or the need for death.
Darkness rose, engulfing him. His wounds were healed now, the pain gone. He was strong—stronger than he had ever been. He had the power of the universe in his hands. His fingers spread before firmly closing into a fist. And he intended to use that supremacy to its fullest potential.
He turned his head to the side as he gazed south. Others of his kind were there, but he didn’t need them. He needed no one.
He closed his eyes. The woman was there, waiting.
She had touched him as if she recognized him, spoke as if she knew him. Her hands on his face had stopped him from taking her life. The frenzy to kill had eased, much like now. But it wouldn’t last. The need to mete out justice was too strong to ignore. Even now, he felt it building.
“ Katla ,” he whispered, his voice rough and unused.
Her name came to him out of the blue, pulled from his chaotic mind. Memories bombarded him, but they vanished as quickly as they formed. The rage came like a great tidal wave, enveloping him. Engulfing him. He was lost to the storm once more.
The darkness within him growled with pleasure. He shifted and released a roar before taking to the skies.