Chapter 20 #2
Shoots of darkness erupt out of Shadow—first three, then six, then twelve… so many tentacles, I can’t count. Each of them wraps around the cyclops, countless pythons squeezing and restraining the beast.
The cyclops, still struggling, emits a guttural growl. "Nexus… ours… want… now we know… nothing stops…"
The words are rough and primal, difficult for me to understand. Or maybe that’s my brain and ears rattling from being whipped around like a bag of potatoes.
My heart hammers against my ribs. What did Nexus mean? And why would this creature be after me? Before I can let my mind wander further, Shadow snarls ferociously with a bellowing rage I’m sure sends shockwaves across the heavens.
"No one touches my Evie."
Shadow’s clawed hand rips into the creature’s chest and comes away with a dripping green organ that resembles a heart.
Shadow stuffs it in his mouth and the air around us blurs and sizzles as if physics themselves are being trespassed upon.
It's more than just a physical change—it's a metamorphosis that is terrifying in its intensity.
A transformation ripples through him as he swallows.
The tips of his horns blaze bright red, then white, elongating several inches in mere moments.
They sharpen into menacing spires, glinting ominously under the neon light.
His skin, already leathery and scaly, hardens into a terrifying armor that seems impenetrable.
His eyes, once burning with hellfire, are now engulfed in blackness, a dark abyss filled with rage and hatred.
His tentacles thicken, slithering and coiling around his body with a newfound ferocity.
In his rage, he tightens his grip around the cyclops until I hear a faint pop, followed by an eruption of green ichor from where the beast once was.
Silence descends, broken only by the rhythmic drip of water from a fractured pipe, a haunting soundtrack to the devastation.
The scent of battle is in the air—blood and other organic fluids, slick and coppery all at once.
Overturned tables, shattered chairs, spilled pho—the scene is a painting of chaos.
The neon sign outside casts a flickering green glow, giving everything an otherworldly tint.
I pull myself up, leaning on a broken table piece. Every muscle protests and the implications of the cyclop’s words weigh on me.
Shadow stands, breathing heavily and oozing black blood from the bright red gaping wounds in his body. He turns to me, and as our eyes meet understanding passes between us—a bond, deeper and more profound than words could express.
He once promised he would always come for me, but I believed him the other night. I believed he would never come back and either the blood loss or the bone-shaking relief of his return has me on the verge of hysterical sobs.
"You came," I whisper. My voice is a rasp filled with fear and relief.
Shadow limps toward me. "Always."
There is something about him now, something unfamiliar.
There’s been a palpable shift within him, a transformation that makes him almost unrecognizable. His softness, his compassion for me seems buried under layers of brutality. Shadow is more animalistic. No… he’s more monstrous. But I don’t have time to examine how he’s changed.
The distant wail of sirens snaps us back to reality.
"Evie," his voice is rough, "we must go."
My heart thrums like a bass drum as I fight the overpowering urge to follow him out of the restaurant. I force my feet to stay rooted in place and gesture to Miguel.
"I have to help him."
Miguel lays where I left him—so still, too still. The blood has drained from his face, leaving it chalky and near bloodless, but I can see the subtle movement of his chest as he still breathes.
Shadow limps toward me one more step. His talons curl into his palms with anger—or maybe frustration.
He opens his mouth and I know he’s about to say something, but red and blue lights swirl into the restaurant, accompanied by the creaking of car doors opening.
"Go," I say, jerking my head.
Shadow hesitates, his eyes now pools of darkness, betraying a flicker of emotion. "I will come back for you."
Something inside of me cracks open. Those words. Those words are all I have ever longed to hear from him; they fill me with an aching hope I can barely contain. My chest heaves as I struggle to take in oxygen.
"I’ll wait for you," I manage to whisper back.
Shadow closes his eyes and disappears in a dark haze. The empty space he leaves is filled with the echoes of his transformation. I’m not sure if he turned invisible, teleported to where he came from or simply became mist on the wind, but one minute he’s there and then he’s not.
"In here," I call out to the emergency services. "Help! Someone’s hurt." I wave my hands high, hoping no one shoots me on sight.
The wail of sirens grows louder, the red and blue lights painting the pho restaurant in a dizzying array of emergency.
Miguel's unconscious form is a weight that pins me between duty and the instinct to flee.
The battle's aftermath is chaos, the monster's remains now nothing but a corrosive stain on the tile.
As paramedics rush in, I am oddly detached, my voice a hollow echo that directs them to Miguel.
The touch of their hands feels alien as they gently pry me away from him.
They're speaking—urgent, clinical words that make little sense to me.
My gaze lingers on Miguel, his stillness a stark contrast to the frenetic activity around us even as they wheel him away on a gurney.
The nights ahead are uncertain, but one thing is clear—I’m not alone. Not while Shadow lives.
But that doesn’t help me now as I face down the cops surrounding a scene I can’t explain. An invisible hand squeezes around my throat as I enter a new arena of danger—one filled with humans I know can never truly be trusted. No matter what they wear or badge they hold.