Our Demonic Hearts - The Craven Pact Book 1

Chapter 22: Crestfall

Those next few seconds were the longest few seconds Ana had ever felt. Deacon's head lay onto of her breasts, blood gushing from his neck and onto her dress, ruining the gold fabric. She liked that dress.

Something made of metal dropped onto the floor, and the clanging sound brought Ana back to the present. Breathe, she reminded herself, and took in a great lungful of air. With shaky hands, she pushed the corpse off of her, letting it topple to the side as she looked up at Deacon's killer.

Judas was standing before her, his right hand bloody and a wild, terrified look in his peridot eyes. He eyed the corpse as if it would move again but when it didn't, his gaze turned to Ana.

"Are you okay?" He murmured, reaching a hand out. He had more rings than he had fingers, and his nails were painted black. A memory reached the front of Ana's mind, another memory of the same hand helping her a long time ago. "I can summon my father if—"

Ana's hand reached for the doorknob behind her as she tried to stand, but her legs felt like jello. She turned the knob and let out a cry of relief when it opened. She opened the door and stumbled out, still facing a confused Judas. Her shaky legs folded under her and she fell to the porch. She crawled away from the scene before her—

"Ana?"

Ana jumped and whipped around to see Beau standing only an inch away from the porch steps, almost too close to the spellwork. Her heart started to pound against her chest. Trapped. She moved away from him, into the corner of the porch, right up against the railing and the siding. Trapped. Her heart beat faster as her breath quickened.

Judas walked onto the porch, dropping her revolver next to her feet. "Cute gun. That was your tramp stamp, wasn't it? Smart way to hide a weapon."

"Go away," Her voice was barely a whisper, hoarse from crying and screaming earlier. She took a deep breath before trying to raise her voice. "Get out! I don't want you here!"

Her voice was now a scream, and it angered Judas. His face turned into a scowl as she yelled at him. "This is the thanks I get? I just saved your pathetic life."

Ana sobbed and went to hide her face but stopped when she noticed the blood covering them. She slowly looked down at her blood-soaked dress, her mouth hanging open in shock. Her hands started to shake as she took in the sight, the dark blood against a gold sheen. Her dress had risen up to her thighs and she desperately pulled it back down, her bloody hands slipping on the equally bloody fabric.

"Can we just calm down? What the hell happened?" Beau said, raising his hands to the both of them.

"Her cambion friend was getting a little too handsy and using some spell on her. She was screaming for help, so I stepped in. I don't see what the big deal is! There's blood everywhere but, so what?" Judas explained, wiping his bloody hand on his shirt.

Beau tried to peer into the hallway before switching his angry gaze to Judas. "You...killed him? Are you an idiot? I just told you we need to lay low!" He pulled some kind of bead out of his pocket and crushed it between the palms of his hands. Blue mageia flowed from his hands and wrapped around them, some tendrils going down to his feet. His walked onto the porch and towards Ana. She shrunk away from him, wishing she was small enough to fit through the gaps of the railing. He stopped moving towards her, raising his hands in surrender.

"Get out," She breathed. "I summoned my father. Now get out before he comes!"

Judas laughed. "You really think he's coming?" He leaned closer to her. "If he didn't show up when you first summoned him, then he won't show up now."

"What would you know?" Ana spat. "My father saved me from being murdered by a family of cambions. Where was your father that night, huh?"

Judas frowned. "You wanna know the difference? My father has a heart, and soul. Yours couldn't give less of a shit if you get assaulted."