Total pages in book: 401
Estimated words: 390373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1952(@200wpm)___ 1561(@250wpm)___ 1301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 390373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1952(@200wpm)___ 1561(@250wpm)___ 1301(@300wpm)
“What’s going on?” Kieran asked as he stepped aside, giving us space to enter.
Perry was there, standing at the head of where the victims were laid out. “Damn if I know. I was hoping one of you all might.”
Aware of Malik slipping in behind us, I stepped closer to the bodies, keeping my attention on the woman. Even with my improved vision, it took me a moment to notice the changes.
“Look under the eyes,” Perry instructed.
The area on the woman’s face—who had to be no older than her third or fourth decade of life—had turned gray.
“Looks like decay,” Naill said as Malik knelt by the body of what I now recalled was a little girl. There was a stuffed bear nearby. “But there is no way decay would show this soon.”
“The eyes aren’t the only thing,” Perry said. “Look at the hands on the father.”
I shifted my gaze. The first thing I noticed was that he no longer held the shard of glass. The bloody weapon lay on the floor beside his hand—
His fingers twitched.
My heart dropped, and I jerked back.
“What the fuck?” Kieran stepped forward. “Did I just see…?”
“Fingers twitching?” Naill said. “Yeah. It’s been happening for a couple of minutes. Their legs and arms, too.”
I pressed my hand to my stomach. “But they’re dead.”
“Bodies can do that,” Kieran suggested. “Have muscle spasms.”
Malik looked up. “Hours after death?”
“Well, that’s the best reason I can come up with,” Kieran replied. “Because Poppy’s right. They’re dead.”
My gaze moved to the father’s face. His cheeks had also taken on a gray shade, but not one of decay. It was a chalky gray like the vines I’d seen outside. I looked down at the jagged slash across his throat. Earlier, it had been a dull shade of red, blood no longer seeping from it. Now, the edges of the skin had turned black, looking almost charred.
“Fuck,” Casteel muttered as the mother’s leg jerked. “We’ve all seen mortals turn Craven. There’s a point right before the bloodlust takes over, after the fever burns through them, when they look dead.”
“Until they start doing the twitching shit,” Kieran finished.
“But there are no wounds suggesting they were fed on,” Perry pointed out. “That doesn’t mean there aren’t any, but based on the amount of blood spilled, I can’t see how it’s possible.”
It wasn’t.
These weren’t Craven. As I reluctantly turned my gaze to the little girl, I searched the vast information swirling in my head for an answer to what was happening here. My eyes widened as I watched the girl’s lips darken as if black paint had been splashed across them—
They parted.
“Malik,” Casteel warned.
The little girl’s eyes flew open.
CHAPTER 27
POPPY
The little girl jerked up, her bloodied fingers grasping Malik’s arm.
Malik lurched back. “What the—?”
Her mouth stretched wide, and her head snapped down, her teeth tearing through cloth and sinking into flesh.
“Fuck,” Malik snarled, falling back, the scent of blood hitting the air.
The girl had latched on like some feral animal. Casteel shot forward, grasped the back of the girl’s dress, and pulled, dragging both the girl and Malik.
“Fucking gods,” Malik hissed. “She’s not letting go.”
Naill lurched forward, grasping the girl’s cheeks. He dug his fingers into the joints of her jaw. His wide gaze swung up to meet Casteel’s. “It’s not working.”
“Yeah,” Malik bit out. “I can tell.”
“This may hurt,” Casteel said. That was his only warning. He jerked his arm back with the strength of…a Deminyen Primal.
Malik’s shout of pain got lost in the girl’s snarl as Casteel tore her free. He twisted at the waist and flung her across the chamber. She slammed into the wall with a sickening crack. I winced as she fell forward, landing face-first against the floor.
“That poor girl,” I whispered.
“Poor girl?” Malik scrambled to his feet. “I think she took a chunk of flesh—”
The girl stood, bones cracking as she did, her upper body out of alignment with her hips. Horrified, I stared as she…chewed.
“I think she did,” Kieran drawled as Malik cradled his arm to his chest. “And she’s currently eating it.”
She was.
She totally was.
“I think I might vomit,” I whispered.
The girl swallowed.
My stomach churned.
Her neck crackled as she turned her head toward Perry.
With a guttural sound somewhere between a growl and a hiss, she rushed forward.
Naill darted past Perry, snagging the girl around the waist. She went wild, kicking and snapping her teeth at the air. He grabbed her by the chin. “I’m sorry.” He twisted.
I looked away at the snap and inhaled deeply.
Naill lowered the now still body to the floor, his jaw flexing.
“Grul,” Kieran muttered.
“Excuse me?” Malik breathed. Casteel grabbed his arm, and Malik winced as his brother peeled back the torn cloth.
“You’re not talking about…” Casteel swore as he bared Malik’s forearm. There was definitely some flesh missing. “They were just an old wives’ tale. Like the lamaea.”