CHAPTER TWO AMBROSE
CHAPTER TWO: AMbrOSE
I t had been so long since I had seen the light of day, whether it poured down from the actual sun itself or came from a small sliver of our simulation. I had been buried into a level far deeper than any existing being was meant to be. Existing here on this level risked tearing apart one’s sanity.
The admins didn’t give a single fuck if I maintained an intact mind, not when I had committed the worst crime against my own kind. They had shoved me into all this darkness with the hope that I would destroy my own sanity. After all, I owed them some level of entertainment when I willingly sank down onto that blade to protect my prince.
That was the cost I was forced to pay in order to ensure he remained free in the world, to carry out the dangerous game he had begun with the king himself. I hadn’t hesitated, not even for a second. Neither had my kin. We had all folded at the knee to accept the punishment.
He was still out there, waging war. That was all that mattered.
I hadn’t cared what happened to me for the longest time. Days had passed. Weeks evolved into months before it eventually built up to a solid century. At least, that’s what they teased. Pain was followed by questions and then darkness. The cycle was always the same. There were never any surprises, not even when our warden decided to play.
Nothing changed…not until today.
Something had finally sliced through all those shadows, tearing away at the talons that had their hooks in me for so long that they felt like a part of me. Little by little, their iron hold on my consciousness slipped and I found myself rising to a level I hadn’t seen in years. It had been so long that I forgot what it was like to maintain a physical form.
A woman’s whimper broke through it all. There was something about that sound that left every single one of my senses heightened, almost like I was preparing to go on another hunt — only I didn’t yearn for her end. But rather, the end of the bastard that had caused that sound. Still, the feel of her fear brushing against me was enough to leave my mouth watering. I followed that intoxicating trail with glee.
After all, I hadn’t been allowed to feed on fear. I had been kept suppressed, starving and weak from the lack of subsistence. The fact that I was smelling it now was completely irrelevant when it smelled better than anything I had consumed in my entire existence. The delightful aromas promised a reward on an ethereal level.
One that only a god could offer.
When I pushed through that final boundary that kept me separated from the original layer of the simulation, I found myself standing in a dark room. The air was muggy, as if it had been closed up for an extended period of time. That didn’t stop the sweet smell of blood from brushing against me. My head snapped over toward a scene unfolding at my feet.
A thin male was hunched over a smaller female, his legs straddling her hips while he ripped her thick jacket apart. He was covered with enough blood to give me the impression that there was a dead body somewhere else in this building. Probably belonging to his first victim.
Ah… So that’s what this was. A twisted mind struggling to show his affection to a female that only wanted to run in horror. I’d seen it all before. These kinds of souls had a unique taste to them. Both bitter and sweet at the same time.
My gaze slid over toward the woman. Judging from the way her heart was beginning to slow and how much her lungs were straining to suck in air, it wouldn’t be much longer until there would be a second.
The idea of her succumbing to all these wounds left a rage breaking free from that prison deep inside of me. Red dots painted my vision. I could feel my upper lip curling as the Venetian Day of the Dead skull mask we all donned slipped into place. It didn’t matter how weak it was after dormancy, my magic was eager to answer that call when I beckoned to it.
There was no reason for me to lose my shit over a mortal woman dying. We slaughtered them all the time for a quick snack in between hunts. It didn’t matter. It shouldn’t matter.
Yet here I was, enraged by the idea of letting Death get his hold on his one when something in the depths of my soul felt a pull like I’d never endured before. I had to stop Death from taking her from me. My fingers curled and a low growl rumbled in my chest.
Whether she heard the sound or not, those pale green eyes flickered over toward me. She was far too weak to pay much attention to the knife her attacker had pried loose from his combat boot.
Her attacker was both stunned and furious by the way her gaze had strayed away from him. His own aura flooded with the foul odor of decaying flesh as he twisted around, struggling to get a glance on what had the audacity to steal this moment away from him. He froze when his hazel eyes fell on me.
Swell… They could both see me and that animalistic fury had succumbed against the powerful wave of delicious fear.
His lips parted with a merciful plea lurking on the tip of his tongue.
Uh uh… I tsked under my breath.
He hadn’t shown his victim any mercy. I was more than content with extending that same treatment onto him. Adrenaline raced through my veins, driving me to stoop forward and curve my body along his. I didn’t hesitate to grab the same hand that wielded that knife. One jerk was all it took to redirect the blade toward himself.
The woman sucked in a slow breath. Her mouth fell open. There was no telling what thoughts were running through her mind, not with her life force fading fast. That light was already beginning to die in her eyes.
I will not allow this .
A feral snarl escaped me as I yanked my left arm back toward myself, forcing the man’s arm to fold against his will. The blade sank deep in his throat. There was nothing more satisfying than hearing those panicked noises mixed with the sound of ripping flesh graced my ears. It was true we enjoyed the smell of blood as much as we did when our marks thrashed against us.
But the fear… That was what kept us full. We chased after that to satisfy that hunger again and again.
It poured out of him now in waves, almost as thick as the amount of blood that strayed down on his weak victim. He jerked against me with that desperation gaining strength fast. It didn’t matter that I had his own weapon lodged in his throat. He still fought my hold.
I brushed the mouth of my mask against the back of his ear, causing him to stiffen against me. “You cannot stake a claim on something that has already been marked,” I hissed into his ear. “Her body…her essence…her soul is not yours to take.”
The man’s body began to sage against me. His life was fading just as fast as hers was. He wouldn’t survive the blood loss for much longer.
Had I meant to stake a claim on a dying woman’s soul? No. That didn’t mean that I had enough control over myself to stop and ponder on why I would feel so compelled to prevent her death rather than allow it to pass. The damage was done. I had bound myself to her in a way that I had never allowed myself to do before.
“Because she’s already mine .” I pushed the blade forward, guiding it through all the flesh until it ripped free and sliced through the air itself. My right arm gave away, allowing the predator’s body to slump over toward the side and crash down onto the filthy floor beside her. The knife slipped free from my fingers, sinking into another wooden beam.
Time was threatening to break around us. I could already see bits of colorful static breach through all the carefully woven illusions. The woman was fading at my feet while the rest of the world moved on. I became vaguely aware of another woman screaming at the top of her lungs outside.
Her panicked pleas were joined by a few others. Soon, the silence within the building was pierced by high-pitched sirens. An ambulance skidded to a halt with EMTs piling out of the vehicle. They broke the door down without a problem and scurried over toward where the weakened female lay.
Those pale green eyes were already beginning to flutter shut. She was going to sink into that abyss before they had a chance to save her because the internal bleeding had progressed so much.
Human bodies were like that when a rib bone snapped and sliced into their lungs. Add in all the injuries her attacker had piled up prior to their fall… She was doomed for that cold embrace.
That didn’t mean that I was going to allow that final thread to be cut, not when I had the power to put a stop to it. It would use up the last of the energy that I had woken up with, but I found myself willing to pay that price.
I leaned forward just as the main EMT ripped her tank top apart and prepared the paddles. Raw energy pulsed through my veins. The air caught in my throat as I shifted slightly, pushing one hand straight into her chest just as he pressed the paddles against her skin. My magic pulsed through my veins, leaking out of my body and into hers.
This wasn’t an experience like one I had ever endured. I had a unique bond with my fellow imprisoned Boogeymen, but this seemed to scream at a small piece we’d been missing our entire existence. I couldn’t bring myself to back away, even if I tried. Pure energy pulsed from her body into my own, chasing away the touch of exhaustion that was nipping at my hills.
The room glitched around us again. More of those strange static colors erupted amongst all the darkness. The majority of them seemed to surround our immediate area, especially around the frail female lying beneath me. That didn’t stop those green eyes from fluttering open.
Those pale irises were dull from the full extent of her injuries. Her body was more than willing to give out on her if I released her heart now. My fingers curled around that fragile organ, pushing magic through it to force out the beats, was the only reason why it hadn’t failed yet. Despite all that fatigue, those eyes widened at the sight of it buried underneath her skin.
Her gaze snapped back up to my face. “Y-You’re…”
You’re not human.
No, I’m not. I don’t know why those words lurked on the tip of my tongue with any hesitation about launching free. Why did I hesitate to expose what I really was to a creature who wouldn’t even remember this happening? She’d be lucky to retain a small fragment — the sight of my mask amongst all the darkness as I struck down her attacker.
She would never know that we’d spoken. That was simply a side effect of brushing hands with death.
A deep chuckle rumbled in the depths of my chest. I stooped down closer, bringing our faces only a few inches apart. We were so close that I could feel that shallow breathing brushing against my skin. “Little doe, I am the figment of the darkness you believed to be a monster all your childhood. My shadows consume your fears. I twist every hopeful dream into a horrible nightmare.”
It wasn’t like I hadn’t expected for the young woman to twist around and try to crawl away from me despite my hand still being lodged deep in her chest. The confusion swirling around in her eyes revealed she couldn’t wrap her head around that part. I did anticipate fear that would only add to this odd high.
The last thing I could predict was getting slammed in the face with a delicious aroma of lotus flower and vanilla. There was even a slight mix of cotton, which completely threw me through a loop. Only one thing was making sense right now and that was the startling fact that this mortal wasn’t terrified about my admission.
She was turned on by it — and she seemed to guard one hell of a secret underneath it all.
Perhaps she doesn’t quite understand what she’s crossed paths with…
My magic pushed against the edge of my soul, seeking far more freedom than I had granted it thus far. It was a reckless move to even consider the idea, especially when I had barely gotten much of a feast from the slain man beside us.
So why couldn’t I restrain myself?
The shadows leaked through my skin with a sense of glee. I didn’t dare move a muscle. Not even my grip around her heart loosened in the slightest bit. I simply gazed down at her and watched those eyes widen as far as they would go.
Any minute now… All it would take was a single second for her mind to process what she was seeing. Then that little touch of intrigue she had going would dissipate. She would tremble beneath me with frightened whimpers to let her go.
Whether it be in the hands of Death or returning to the agony in the real world.
If my shadows weren’t so fixated on stretching out and showing this petite little female what all we could offer, my jaw would’ve crashed down onto her chest. The fear that I expected to be slammed in the face with never came. No, that fucking river of curiosity had just exploded into a goddamn raging river.
The woman stunned me to the core by raising her hand and stretching those fingers out toward the bit of my magic that had strayed closer. Her lips parted with a million questions dancing around in those wide eyes. And that arousal? Gods, it had become so thick that my lungs were seizing up from the sweet aroma.
Why do I feel this strange urge to kiss her?
My mind raced to commit her scent to memory. The intense pull I had felt from the heart of my prison returned in full force. I could do nothing but stare as those bits of smoke slimmed down and started coiling around her fingers. The surreal sight was nothing compared to the moment my magic brushed along her skin.
A violent tremor worked its way through my body as the tips of her fingers ran along my shadows. It was one thing to feel the heightened sensations when they moved against someone else. Never in my existence had anyone wanted to willingly touch them — especially not a mortal. I found myself lashing out a hand, slamming it down against the wooden beam beside her just to prevent from crushing her under my weight.
She sucked in a sharp breath, startled by the loud sound so close to her face. Those pale green eyes swung back over to my face. Her scent fluctuated slightly.
I tensed for a moment to process what had changed. What I found was almost enough to have me swearing out loud. She was startled by my strong reaction to her touch, but it didn’t go any further than that. Even having my face so close to hers wasn’t triggering the fear that I expected to roll over me.
Her gaze started to stray, moving around my face to take in all my features. They briefly rose up to the mask that I’d shoved up, but didn’t linger on it. Instead, she dropped it down to my lips. The arousal in the air thickened.
She felt that pull, too.
A deep growl rumbled in my chest. It was a feeble attempt to trigger the appropriate reaction out of her, despite the glee my shadows displayed from her fascination. “Do you not see my hand in your chest?” I hissed. “I have my fingers curled around your heart , mortal. One squeeze and I end your existence. I won’t lose any sleep over it.”
Yes, you would. Don’t lie to yourself, Ambrose. The voices of my own failures mocked me.
My shadows pulsed with a burst of rage. That part of my soul was livid that I had even made the recommendation. After all, it was her cry that had pierced through all that darkness and silence. It was her pain that had broken us free from our hell.
The woman dragged her attention away from me. Those pale eyes shifted slightly to take in my shadows. “No, you won’t…” she whispered.
I snapped my teeth near her face, close enough to give her a good look at the demonic-like fangs. “If you want me to prove it to you, then I gladly will.” I tightened my grip on her heart slightly, squeezing a pained gasp from her lips.
She arched her back. Her eyebrows furrowed from the powerful, but strange sensation that washed through her body. She could feel the intense pressure I had on the vital organ. The squeeze had certainly sent a searing hot wave down her spine.
That same pain ripped through me with so much strength that my vision went hazy. It was enough to send panic clinging to me . We never felt the pain of another unless we were instructed to take down one of our own. Only then would we endure what our victims did. To have a mortal woman’s agony echo in my own soul…
If the gods were trying to send me a message with the thunderous roar of her vital importance, it finally sank in. There was a reason for this pull, for my sense of urgency to rescue her when humans shouldn’t be anything more than a blink on my radar.
Now wasn’t the time to figure it out. Not when the window where we’d share this moment was closing fast.
Her breathing grew ragged again. It took her a moment to recover from my threat. When her eyes fluttered open again, that fear was still nowhere to be seen. “No…” she repeated softly. “You won’t.”
I snarled at her in my native tongue, allowing more of that hot rage to pour through this strange bond. It was a moment of weakness where my control over it slipped. Still, I had hoped it would jolt some common sense loose in that head of hers. That wild blaze was completely extinguished when she simply tugged her hand away from my shadows and brushed those fingers along my lips instead.
That chaotic voice inside me was silenced. Every single frazzled and frustrated thought dissipated, leaving me with only the sensation of her gentle touch.
Exhaustion nipped at my heels, warning me that this was about to end. It was enough to trigger that panic into rearing its ugly head again. I shook my head, taking great care not to pull myself out of her reach. “You’re dancing with the devil, little doe… Be careful. We like to mark what we own.”
The edges of her lips twitched. Whether it was true amusement or deliria at its finest, I had no clue. “You told Ryan that you already owned me. My body, my essence… my soul .”
“My shadows will devour you if I mark you as mine,” I growled.
“Then let them…” Her fingers strayed down toward my chin. “I’m dying, anyway.”
Like hell. I curled my upper lip, revealing those sharp fangs again. “If I stake my claim on you, then there will be no afterlife for you. No heaven, no hell. No fucking woven limbo. You will be mine. ”
My magic hummed within me with my shadows dancing all around me. Pieces of it ventured in between us to brush along her jawline. The woman didn’t hesitate to turn her head into it, leaving that delicate skin completely exposed. “Then I’m yours.”
My control snapped. The pull to solidify my claim was so intense that I couldn’t resist it any longer. I released a feral growl that echoed off the walls around us as I shrank down the distance and latched onto her neck. Her blood spurted into my mouth, coating my tongue with the same delicious scents that I had been inhaling.
But that essence…that gods damned mortal essence. It held a taste like nothing I had ever consumed before. It only encouraged me to cup the back of her neck with my free hand with the other still buried in her chest. The electricity increased between us until it felt like every single part of us was alive in an entirely different way.
Conflict brewed within me. There was a part of me that didn’t want to pull away. I wanted to consume all of her essence until she was nothing more than a hollow shell. The rest of my soul refused to allow that threat to stand. I found myself enduring a shock that forced me to release her neck. My growl transitioned into a snarl as I straightened up.
Whatever it was that had driven me to actually lay a permanent claim on her had also sapped that little bit of energy she’d gained from me. Those eyes had fluttered shut with her body relaxing once again.
Fuck. Did I kill her?
Why do I care?
I wasn’t sure what to think until her back arched, timed perfectly with the first time I had squeezed that delicate little heart. Her eyebrows furrowed, however subtle that might be.
She was still alive.
Gods, I needed her. She had to live so that I could use this pure soul to find my way back from hell with my beloveds in tow. That innocence would be the beacon that could save us all. I didn’t want to stop with just claiming her essence. I yearned to have that delicate skin wear my mark — to wear all of our marks.
The world resumed and those little glitches that had surrounded us faded. It wouldn’t be much longer now until that thin veil divided us once more.
The fatigue hit me with so much force that I found myself slamming my hand in perfect harmony to that back arching. It was a different feeling entirely to feel a heart restarting in my palm rather than ceasing function altogether. I found the taste of that far more addicting.
Gods, how I wanted more of it.
I squeezed that delicate little heart again until those pale green eyes flew wide open. Only then did I release it from my iron grasp.
I didn’t understand what it was about this woman that called to me or how her cries had managed to slice through all that darkness. All that mattered was that I was awake for the first time in centuries and she would survive. My claim had been made.
Now it was time to pull her to me so that this unique bond of ours could be completed.
Content hummed in my body despite the intense fatigue that now nipped at me. I ventured closer, pushing myself through the EMT’s body to put myself in between them. My hand strayed up, pushing away at the bottom of my mask until the chilly air kissed at my skin. “ Mine ,” I whispered.
For a split second, our gazes locked. This female was looking directly at me without any realization as to who — or what — I was. She couldn’t maintain eye contact for long before her extensive injuries pulled her back under.
I didn’t try to keep her conscious this time around, not when I had restarted her heart and supplied her with enough of my magic to ensure she’d survive these wounds. No part of my body moved as the EMTs worked quickly to transfer her over onto the gurney with the aid of a thin blanket. My gaze followed the woman wherever they moved her.
When they headed outside, I trailed after them. I went as far as this strange little bond would allow us until I found myself frozen in place in the doorway with them rolling her over towards an ambulance. I could do nothing more than watch them push her inside before they scrambled to haul ass to the hospital.
With her energy now moving away from me, the exhaustion that had been nipping at my soul was sinking all those sharp teeth into me. It refused to allow me to linger out here any longer than I already had. I had overexerted myself, spending valuable energy that I had not yet recovered.
As long as I could feel that heartbeat growing stronger, it could take me as deep as it wanted to. I would break free from these shadows again. I’d regain my freedom. Then I’d seek out my mates that had been imprisoned with me, breaking those chains until we could all hone in on that fragile little soul.
Only then would we direct our rage on those that had done this to us.
I would stain the ground red with their blood and my delicate little mortal would be sitting on a throne made from their bones.
My upper lip curled. I am coming for you, Zyair…
You and your king.