Eric was growing stronger. She could sense it as they circled each other. Though Natalia didn’t think he could overpower her, she was concerned. All this time, she played the helpless victim, but not anymore. Her blood made her strong. Her abilities made her deadly. It took her too many years to find him. For most of her life, she’d been searching for an angel, but Eric was far from angelic now. Being condemned to this fate confused her at first. But in the past few weeks things came together. And the book strung his story together like a row of pearls ready to be crushed.
“Tell me,” she asked, “was your sadistic need for pain always there?” Her eyes were like ice and her voice was even colder.
“No,” he whispered. Eric didn’t elaborate. Watching her feet, her hands, he evaluated the way she moved. Eric needed to strike first and pull those damn scissors out of her hands. While he didn’t think she could kill him, getting stabbed and tormented would severely fuck-up the rest of his plans. And whatever was going on with Natalia, he didn’t want her around when it happened. Every time he thought he saw an opening, she closed it.
Eric tried talking, hoping to push her mind off balance. “So, do you always lie when people ask you if you’re mortal? Does telling people that you’re a real girl get you off or something?”
She snorted a rush of air through her nose, “I am a real girl.”
“But you’re not mortal. There’s something else… something more.” Her eyes flashed, widening slightly, telling him that he was right. “You’re a half-breed. An abomination. A perversion of something once good. Oh my God,” he breathed looking at her, watching her dark hair fall over her shoulder. Her stance, those incredible pale blue eyes, the shape of her face, the way her curves flowed and melted together… it was all familiar. He’d done this before, a very long time ago, but that fight ended and Eric was the only one who walked away. “I know who you are.”
Natalia nearly choked. He was lying. She retorted, “Impossible. No one knew about me. I was unknown and I intend to keep things that way.” Her throat was tight as she stepped one foot over the other. Eric’s left hand was dropping lower and lower. His stance was becoming more closed, but that spot was nearly open. It would be a vulnerable point that she could stab, if his arm dropped a fraction more. Natalia wondered if he realized it, if he was luring her to strike at that spot.
“No you weren’t,” Eric said with a smirk on his lips. “Who do you think hid you?”
Natalia snapped. Time froze and she heard nothing. Her eyes locked onto Eric’s face, as he spewed lies meant to throw her off-kilter. She saw the opening and she took it. Launching her body toward him, she moved the scissor at his left flank. It connected and she slammed him into the wall. It would only take a second to trap him. Then she could see if her powers extinguished his life or if she’d only get to torture him for eternity. She hoped he could die. She wanted to feel his body die beneath hers. After all the years of searching, she’d finally have her revenge.
Eric screamed when the sheers pierced his side. Natalia was strong. He couldn’t believe he didn’t see it before now, but she was a creature that wasn’t supposed to exist. He knew nothing of her power, of her capabilities. He felt the metal twist in his side as Natalia shoved the handle deeper into him. He called shadows quickly, saying incantations to throw her off, but they didn’t work.
She laughed in his face, “It’s funny how things work. I cancel you out. You’re magic is dead, Masterson, just like you’ll be in a moment.” She leaned in close to him, about to press her lips to his. Blood flowed down Eric’s side, the muscles screaming, protesting the steel that was lodged in his gut.
“You’re a succubus?” he whispered, no longer fighting her. If she could destroy him, he wanted her to try. The heat in his eyes began to waiver, making Natalia’s rage falter.
“Something like that. A creature that shouldn’t exist—like you.” She spit the words at him. “Tell me,” she said, twisting the sheers in his side. Eric gritted his teeth as she did it, his eyes shut tight. Natalia could feel his blood on her hand, but she didn’t care. Demon blood didn’t affect her the way it did other immortals. “How have you avoided the angelic assassins so long? How is that they killed my mother, but they left you alone?”
It was the only explanation. Eric had to be evading them somehow. They both knew that fallen angels were executed, and technically Eric had fallen. She didn’t understand how he survived so long. No one knew that she existed, but she still lived in fear of the assassins finding her. She had to know how he did it. Desperation filled every inch of her body, making her shake.
For the first twenty years of her life, she had no idea what she was. She aged until she was about nineteen years old, and then stopped. Her body didn’t grow taller, her hips didn’t fill out, and wrinkles didn’t mar her smooth skin. While her family aged and died, she remained young and vibrant. She was nearly as old as Eric was, and alone just as long.
Sweat coated Eric’s brow. His voice was raspy, breathless, “I slaughtered them. To protect you.” Sweat clung to his brow, his golden eyes downcast.
“What?” Natalia’s grip on the scissor loosened. She gripped Eric’s face, smearing blood on his cheek, making him look at her. Before she could speak, Eric shocked her.
“Kiss me. See if you can take my life and end this,” his eyes were intense, searching her face.