“What the fuck was that?” Andrew bellowed. He backed away from me with wide eyes, panting.
“That didn’t sound human,” Richard whispered. Fear tinged his voice as he stood frozen in place.
I stayed crouching and looked up at the two humans with a soft, deadly smile.
“What the fuck is happening?” Andrew demanded, never looking away from me. He reminded me of a deer in headlights.
“Why are we in the goddamn swamp?” Richard took a hesitant step away from me.
I released some of the hold I had on my inner demon. Instead of taking control and pushing one beneath the surface, we made room for each other while my form changed. We grew taller, bulkier, but did not entirely change into my demon’s true form. Our suit tightened around our body, and a few buttons from our jacket popped off.
The humans’ eyes rounded as mine flashed red in the darkness. We bared our lengthening teeth and licked our mouth with our long, black tongue.
“What the fuck is that?” Andrew screamed, his voice cracking.
We slowly stood up, the change still happening. Our horns sprouted from our temples and curled behind our head. It felt so fucking good to have them out. It was like peeling off your clothes at the end of the day and being able to breathe easier.
“He has goddamn horns and claws,” Richard breathed.
“I just want to have some fun,”Demon and I said.
Andrew bolted and slipped a few times on the soft ground. Richard’s eyes widened as we towered over him and grinned at him with devilish delight. He sucked in a sharp breath, then turned and ran after Andrew.
“Run, cowards, run!”
We stood still, allowing them to get a head start. When they disappeared further into the woods, a slow smile crept onto our face, and we licked our lips. We bolted forward, chasing after the two men who were stupid enough to stick together. Demon cackled through me, enjoying the chase.
“Be carefullll,”we sang out.“There are things in these woods besides me that can kill you.”
We laughed and watched Andrew go one way and Richard go the other.
Smart. Very smart. But not smart enough.
We followed Andrew first since he was the one who punched the wall beside Emma’s head and scared her. He was the main reason our mate had become upset.
“Andrewwww,”we called, grinning at his whimper.“Andrewww. Andrewww.”
The human disappeared through the thicket, and we slowed our pace, letting him think he got away. We cackled and licked our teeth, already tasting him on our tongue. Andrew whimpered and softly cried as his steps slowed down, his breathing harsh.
Ahh, he’s getting tired. What a shame.
We quickened our steps and came right up behind him. He slowed down and stumbled forward a few times before he caught himself. The snow came down faster in fatter flakes, covering the ground in a light dust of white. Reaching toward him, we grabbed his nape, our sharp nails piercing his flesh. Andrew screamed as we lunged forward and knocked him to the ground with our much larger body.
We laughed as he screamed at the top of his lungs like a little bitch as he fought, clawed, and punched at us. We tsked and shook our head while we sat on his pelvis, pinning him down. Fear contorted the human’s face as he stared up at us. He punched us in the face, knocking our head to the side. Slowly, we turned our face back toward him, and a soft cackle rumbled deep in our chest. He stilled, shadows crossing his face, and terror filled his gaze.
“That wasn’t nice,”we scolded with a grin.
Shadows slithered across the ground and curled around Andrew’s wrists. He yelped as they snapped his hands behind his head and held them to the cold ground. We licked the corner of our mouth, tasting the blood from the cut he inflicted when he hit us.
“Please don’t hurt me,” Andrew sobbed.
“Awww, you don’t want to play?”We curled our tongue out of our mouth and swiped the flat of it against his cheek. The human male whimpered and turned his head to escape our abnormally long appendage.
“You call this playing?” he sobbed and tensed beneath us, weakly attempting to thrust his hips to throw us off of him. We tsked and wagged our finger at him like he was a naughty child.
The corners of our pulled-back lips curled higher in a feral smile as Andrew sobbed, gasping for air as he panicked.“I do. And your wittle fwiend will play with me, too.”
Tears slipped down his temples, his chin quivering. “Please. Don’t hurt me.”
