In a flash, I was no longer running scared. My feet slowed, and the emotions that filled me disappeared and drifted away. My gaze lingered on the town and the firelight flickering in the windows as night fell completely. Glancing up at the moon, I smiled; tonightwould be a good night to kill a man…or three. With that thought, I headed into town to find Barron and the two men who dared to threaten Remy. Kira’s family owned one of the biggest homes in the village, which made it easy to find. My grin turned wicked as I quickly made my way there.
Barron answered the door at my banging and glared at me. I could see the confusion in his eyes as he looked me over, trying to figure out what was different about me. He wouldn't know until it was too late.
“I have the money my father owes you,” I lied.
“Give it and go,” he snapped.
“I’m not an idiot. I didn’t bring it with me. I have a hiding spot. If you want it, you’ll come get it.”
His blue eyes lingered on my face. I bet his instincts were telling him not to come with me. They were trying to warn him that even though I looked like the innocent, push-over Haden, I was not him right then. I was a monster lurking in plain sight. If he looked into my eyes, he would no longer see stormy blue. Instead, he would see the black void of my soul staring back at him.
“Alright, but if this is a trick, I will gut your sister in front of you.”
The nice side of me would have been paralyzed by fear at this statement, but this evil part didn’t bat an eye. I welcomed him to keep talking. It only made the need to break every bone in his body worse.
“You might want your two friends from earlier to help carry the bags, because I won't.”
He clenched his jaw as he stomped his way up the street. Barron kept looking over his shoulder at me as if he expected me to attack him out there, but I was a patient man. I wanted to hear him begging and pleading for me to show mercy—mercy I would not give him. We stopped at both men’s homes, and they came willingly. One of the men stared at me for a long while, though. As if he knew there was something different about me, too.
“What’s wrong with you?” he asked.
I gave him a smile void of any emotion, which seemed to scare him more.
“Nothing.”
“Your eyes… It's like looking into the night sky.”
I just watched him with a smile until he looked away. My fake smile immediately disappeared. I led them through the woods.
“There is a small shack just ahead of us that I kept the money in to hide it from my father,” I said.
The idiots believed me. It was honestly too easy.
For just a moment, I stopped and glanced around me. My skin prickled, and I knew she was watching me from somewhere. But I was sure that after she saw what I was about to do, she would never show her pretty face to me again. Even as this empty shell of a man, I felt the disappointment of that realization. Did she wait for me all these years, or did she move on? Fuck, I was pissing myself off by thinking like that. My eyes darted around the woods, and I knew I would fucking gut any man that hadtouched her since me. I had missed those starlight eyes. I smiled to myself. How would my Storm react to seeing how different I was now? The thought made me hesitate, but nothing would deter me from killing these three fucks.
“Where is this damn shack?” Barron turned and glared. I stared him down, not bothering with fake smiles or emotions anymore.
“Oh, shit, I forgot.” I pretended to be remembering something as I leaned down and picked up a small round log that was perfect for beating someone to death with. “I lied.” I smiled as Barron’s tiny brain figured out this was a trick.
“Get him,” he demanded from his stupid little henchmen. The first of the two came at me alone, his long braid trailing behind him. He was running at full speed toward me, but I didn’t move. Instead, I lifted the log, drawing it back and then swinging it forward with all of my might. It cracked across the side of his skull with a wet, smacking sound. He dropped to the ground, eyes rolling back and blood spewing from him. I watched him suffer for a moment before leaning down and wrapping his long braid around his neck. My eyes never left Barron as I strangled the life from his friend.
I shoved his dead body away from me as I stood.
“Well, that was hardly a fight.” I tisked and stood up. “Next.”
The second man didn’t move, but Barron did. He pulled out a knife and swung it at me. I dodged it easily and chuckled when Barron turned quickly. I cocked my head to the side to watch him. He was terrified of me, and I liked seeing it.
“I knew something was wrong with you when you looked at me with those soulless eyes. Are you possessed?”
This made me let out a genuine laugh. Barron was trying to distract me enough that I wouldn’t notice his friend coming up behind me. I let them think they would win this fight.
“No, I’m not possessed.” I glared at him. “Then again, maybe I am.” I shrugged, not knowing for sure.
“What is wrong with you?”
I smiled.
“Let's just say that I have two sides to me. The nice, innocent man that everyone loves to torture, and this version.” I waved my hands down the front of me. “A man no one will overpower; do you know why?”
