Page 42 of Haunted Nightmares
A silent war is raging on and apparently it has soldiers who are no longer extinct.Or possibly never were.
“Look familiar?” Declan holds up one ear in particular, one with a very large, gaudy jeweled earring still attached and dangling from a bloody lobe.
That’s interesting.“Morgana’s?”
Explains why I wasn’t able to find that horrible wench. Granted, I didn’t look very hard for her. She wasn’t really a priority when I wanted her chosen mate’s head on a platter but both took a backseat to the Descendants I’ve been eliminating. At least I don’t have to worry about her anymore.
“Do you want me to do anything with these?” Declan asks as my eyes flick to his briefly before they drop to the troll.
“Put them back in the pouch. Lydia can sort through and try to identify who else this creature came across.” I reach for a scalpel and move toward the troll’s throat, eager to get things moving since it took four thousand years for everyone to get here before sunrise. Which was an intentional scheduling choice because it prevents the possibility of any more unwanted visitors while doing this. Though it didn’t appear to deter Orion and Aries from tagging along. “Where are we with the original treaty?”
“I’ve almost finished translating it,” Lydia says as she and Declan both step toward the head of the table. “Your key was very helpful.”
Nodding, I push the chin up, tilting the head back before pressing the blade to the tough skin above the adam's apple. “Once you’re done I want to organize a meeting.”
“A Purist meeting?”
“Knitting. I thought perhaps we should start a circle. Get all the old biddies together once a month to make scarves and sweaters,” I say with an annoyed huff. “Yes, a Purist meeting. It’s time we reorganize now that I’m stable enough to lead.”Barely.“And I have a plan when it comes to that document, and this piece of shite, one that will hopefully flush out the mole. Brace yourselves.”
My blackened fingertips momentarily lighten as I push the scalpel into the first layer of callused skin, shoving the sharpened edge down until the tight, leathery epidermis pops. I have an easier time getting through the next few layers and once I’ve gotten to where the voice box should be, the troll’s eyes flip open in horror, and a scent more putrid than my entire house immediately fills the air.
“He’s still alive?” Sadie gasps just before she does actually faint again, her mate gagging his brains out while he attempts to catch her.
And I just smirk as I drag the surgical tool down its throat, the dark brown blood oozing from the incision while the troll’s mouth opens and closes like a fish out of water. It’s all the thing can do since Lorna used some kind of elixir to paralyze it.
My compromise since I didn’t see the point and the healer thought I should kill it first.
“You didn’t have to be so dramatic,” Declan mumbles as he starts collecting blood. “You knew they weren’t going to be able to handle that.”
Shrugging one shoulder, I sigh. “I’ve got to get my rocks off somehow. And to be fair, I didn’t think the smell would be this bad until I went lower.” I peer around my friend briefly to find Orion and Aries tending to the others, the two males looking a little green around the gills themselves. “Should clear out the room relatively quickly, though.”
Especially as I methodically slice two four inch lines above the troll’s buried collarbones back toward the shoulders, then two more above the adam's apple toward the elongated and still slightly pointed ears.
Lydia writes furiously as I shift the scalpel between my fingers then peel back the flaps I just created, exposing the inside of the troll’s neck completely.
I squint as Lorna moves the lamp, literally shedding light on the situation while Declan quickly dabs away the blood pooling in its throat before grabbing the probe to cauterize the tissue. “It’s all decaying.”
“It is.” I lower my face and begin digging around inside with my hands. “The tongue was removed rather crudely, all the way to the root but whoever did this also made sure the voice box was unusable as well.”
“It’s crushed,” Lorna says as she steps closer to me. “Crushed and partially removed.”
Interesting.
Clearly this creature had knowledge someone didn’t want it to share, knowledge that meant life or death to it as well as whoever sent it out into the world to hunt vampires. And it is definitely why they didn’t bother taking proper care of the wounds. A dead troll can’t share secrets, but one that is dying will continue its mission out of fear and hate.
“What do we have here…” Shoving my left hand down into the trachea, I bypass a few arteries and nerves then grab onto a partially swallowedbig toe.
“Yep, I’m out,” Aries says at the same time Orion covers his mouth and mumbles, “I thought I could but I can’t.” The males making their exit toward the staircase with Archer and his unconscious mate on their heels.
“Wussies,” Lydia snorts as she scribbles away on her notepad. “I told them they wouldn’t be able to handle watching.”
I hand Lorna the toe as I keep digging, the healer examining it before setting it aside. “He really has been busy.”
“Mhm.” The troll begins to seize as I shove my hand further down its windpipe, pushing my fingers through until I’mwrapping them around what feels like the heel of a foot. “Very, but I don’t understand why these things are still so close to the surface.”
Declan frowns as I pull out an ankle bone still covered in skin. “And hardly digested.”
“Trolls have extra pockets lining their throats and the entire track down to the stomachs,” Lorna says as I hand her more body parts. “They keep food there and regurgitate it later like snakes when they need to eat again.”
