Chapter 28
Lynx
Eldrith.
The company I spent years building railroad tracks for. The very company I stole from and ended up as this.
As soon as my gaze lands on the piece of metal in her hand again, bile rises in my throat, and I step away, putting distance between us.
Betrayal is crawling under my skin and burning through my veins as I stare at the traitor in front of me.
Her hair, long and disheveled from sex, lips swollen from endless kissing, and all for what?
I was summoned here by her. The blood of the people who sent me straight to Hell and made me leave my brother for dead.
She’s holding the blade that stabbed me in the chest all those years ago and started my lifetime of misery.
No matter what I feel for her, it isn’t real. She’s fake. She’s been sent here to fucking torture me.
The Devil sent her—It must have.
This is punishment, isn’t it? What did I do to deserve this?
“All of this was never real,” I say, the words like poison on my tongue. The shock on her face isn’t real either; it’s all a fucking lie. “Even for me.”
She shakes her head. “Don’t—You said you cared about me.”
I let out a laugh. “No. Just because you were on my cock doesn’t mean you matter to me. It was all just fun to pass the time.” I grimace, sneering at the next word. “Mindless.”
“You don’t mean that.”
“Unlike you, Sable, I don’t lie and manipulate to get my way.”
She goes to grab my shirt, but I back away. “Lynx, listen to me.”
“Stay the fuck away from me.”
“I don’t understand what’s happening? Talk to me.”
“Do you plan on killing me with that again?”
“What? Lynx—”
“Don’t you fucking dare say my name when you and your family are the reason I’m here—like this. What? Turning me into a demon wasn’t enough, so they sent you to finish the job. I’ll fucking kill you first.”
“That’s not even slightly true.”
Lies. All lies.
My hands fist, and the words come out before I can stop them. “I was falling in love with you, and all along you were one of those fucking snakes.”
Her eyes widen at my admission. “Lynx…”
I try to walk away from her, turning and aiming for the door, but as she goes to grab my arm and stop me, I spin to face her.
My eyes are glowing red, my skin already shifting as horns erupt from my head, and power shoots around me, smashing all the windows and obliterating the furniture.
She’s instantly terrified of me, backing away, and that fear is enough to make her jolt, sending the blade up so it ends up buried between my ribs.
Every bit of my demon shrinks back inside me when the metal impales my flesh, my soul shattering into a million pieces, déjà vu of my own nightmare as my blood spills onto her hand. The room is spinning; vomit curdles up my throat—I can’t fucking see. What’s happening to me?
There’s no pain. Only disgust and betrayal. Her eyes are wide and wet, but she’s a liar and worse: a fucking Eldrith.
All of this is her and her family’s fault.
“L-Lynx.” My name is a whisper on her lips as she yanks the blade out. “I’m sorry. I—”
A maniacal, humorless laugh bubbles from my chest at the irony.
“It’s in your blood,” I say, ignoring the pain in my chest—not from the blade buried in my skin but from the way the traitorous girl is staring at me like she’s innocent.
“Your family did this to me, and you couldn’t help but follow in their footsteps.
” I point a finger at her. “Stay away from me, Sable. That’s a fucking warning. ”
I turn my back on her and push open the door, the wound bleeding down my side and soaking my clothes as I hurry down the stairs.
Sable isn’t coming after me. Why would she? This was her plan all along. I bet she isn’t even a ghost. I bet she isn’t even fucking human.
The thought hits me, and I freeze, my blood running cold.
Blinking, I glance to each side, wondering if I’m still being tortured in Hell and this isn’t even real.
Of course this is something they’d do—make me think I’ve escaped and fallen for a girl who’s broken my heart and made me feel like I’m dying over and over again from fucking grief.
I lift my hands and stare at my shaking palms before swallowing the lump in my throat and pushing my body to move down the hallway, the staircase, and out into the courtyard.
Rain pours from the dark skies, the moon hidden behind clouds. Goosebumps raze my skin as the chill bites into bone, but I don’t know if I’m shaking from cold or anger.
I’m waiting for the snap of a whip. The sound of my brother’s voice while flames engulf me and peel the skin from my flesh, then flesh from bone. My eyes screw shut, and I grab the sides of my head needing—no, begging for—this not to be another form of torture.
Sable is real.
This is real. This needs to be real.
She needs to be real.
I’m not trapped down there anymore.
I’m free.
I’m out.
Breathe. Fucking breathe.
Each beat of my heart hurts. The wound seeps blood and stains my skin. My hands won’t stop shaking. I raise my eyes to the forest and storm toward it, needing distance from her. Water soaks into my clothes and makes my shivering worse.
I can’t look at her—can’t breathe the same fucking air as her. I need to get as far away from her as possible. I’ll sit down and think. I’ll try to wake up—and pray that when I do, my brother is playing with one of his toys while I get him ready for school.
The world swirls around me, my mind growing dizzy as I struggle not to tumble to the ground, but I fail and dirt wedges itself beneath my blunt nails and I’m on my ass. My breaths come in forced bursts, like I’m exhausted from exercise, my heartbeat ricocheting off my ribs.
Sable is either my punishment or my reason for being punished—regardless, I need to rip out my own heart and cut her off. Walk away for good.
My vision blurs more, black spots everywhere, but I force myself to sit up and rest my elbows on my knees, breathing through each ache in my chest.
Why the fuck am I so dizzy? I haven’t felt this way in a long, long time.
Centuries, in fact.
I squeeze my eyes shut and count to five, ten, twenty.
With strength I don’t feel like I have, I get to my feet and stagger to the side, stopping myself on the brick wall of the manor and using it to move forward until the dizziness subsides.
As soon as I get into the forest, I sigh, leaning against a tree to catch my breath, filling my lungs with each deep, ragged inhale. I only make it a few more minutes before I need to lean against another stump; another ten and I’m crouching and choking until I vomit all over the mushy ground.
I haven’t vomited in years either.
I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand and straighten, continuing into the forest. Deeper and deeper, the world around me growing darker as night takes full control.
The snapping of branches grabs my attention, and Tidus leaps in front of me, his teeth bared, hackles up. But then his fangs vanish, his fur flattening when he realizes it’s me.
He sniffs, taking a step closer.
My brows knit together. “What?”
“Hu-man.”
“The fuck are you talking about?”
Tidus comes closer, sniffing harder, his head tipping to the side in confusion before he whines, ears flattening.
Confusion overtakes me because I’ve never seen him like this before. Tidus doesn’t get scared or skittish—he’s more of a beast than anything.
He shifts to Tony with another whine, and then my friend’s wide eyes are locked on me.
“Dude,” he starts, his voice failing him before he takes a deep breath. “What happened?”
Frowning some more, I shrug nonchalantly, trying to pretend like it doesn’t feel as if I’ve had my heart ripped from my chest. “Sable screwed me over. I’m done here. Her fucking family were the ones who put me in Hell.”
“N-no, man. You… you smell like a human.”
I pause. “Did you do drugs?”
“I’m not fucking around, Lynx.”
For a second, I debate rolling my eyes and walking away from him, but my surroundings catch my attention.
I can see the moon—usually almost hidden beyond the treetops—clearly, and the lake.
I shove him aside and walk toward it, frowning down at my reflection.
My hands are shaking still, my mind going blank when I try to summon my inner demon.
“I… I can’t shift,” I say.
Fuck.
The breath’s knocked out of me as I drop back, but Tony catches me, holding me up. “You need to tell me what happened.”
“She stabbed me,” I force out before everything grows still. “She stabbed me with the blade that put me in Hell.”
My curse is gone. I can’t feel it at all. There’s nothing beneath my skin, trying to get out.
My gaze flicks behind me, but the manor is nowhere in sight. Before, I could at least see the roof, a chimney, something.
I gulp. “I’m human.”
And I can’t teleport to Sable.
I’m no longer tethered to her.
I can leave.
But…
I…
“Wait,” Tony whispers, his head snapping in the direction of the manor. “Fuck.”
He shifts and runs toward the building, but I have no energy to go after him, and I’m human, unable to shift or teleport or do anything other than stand in confusion and stare at my fucking hands.
I’ve wanted to be human again for longer than I can remember, but right now, I’m useless and weak and helpless. I can’t save Sable when I can’t even run five minutes without coughing up a lung.
All my senses are different. I can feel more, but I can’t smell the way I did before either. All I can smell is the earth, the grass, the trees, the fresh air. It’s not poisoned by residue or death.
I should be happy I’m human again.
But I no longer feel that bond to Sable. It’s gone, and I don’t like it.
It takes me half an hour to reach the yard, sweat coating my forehead and covered in dirt from how many times I’ve tripped over my own feet.
Something is wrong.
Sable might be in trouble.
Gritting my teeth, I push forward, aiming for the back entrance, but Tidus pounces in front of me, and my very human body recoils before he quickly morphs into a worried-looking Tony.
I stare, blinking once. “What?”
He rushes up to me and grabs my collar. “They fucking took her. I’m sorry, man. I tried. I… I couldn’t stop them.”
His words don’t register—I must have misheard him and the tiredness is kicking in. “What did you just say?”
He winces like he’s in pain. “Soul suckers got her. She’s alive. But she’s… she’s down there.”
My knees meet the forest floor as my heart completely halts and my world turns upside down.