The OtherWorlders

Chapter 27

I flung my power out then, a deafening crack with no warning, tossing his father like a rag doll to the ground, the crowd moving out of the way but nobody making to help him up. When push came to shove, it was every man and woman for themselves in the human world; nobody would risk their safety to protect another, least of all this man.

Justin leaned in, I could feel him hard against me from behind, running his nose along my jaw as I panted; my skin was alive with nerve endings, every one on every inch of me singing, my power gleefully awakening my dormant senses to funnel in the surrounding crowds fear, taking it deep in an erotic and powerful spiral that bottomed out between my legs and melted.

I sucked it in greedily, watching the humans beginning to sway on their feet as I took, a little life force with their fear, and I hated them then. Hated how pathetic they were, how weak. How could I have been expected to grow, to thrive, surrounded by such waste; I was a god, and my power reared up in agreement as lightning split the sky in half above me.

"My love, I have never seen you this magnificent."

I rolled my head, shuddering as his fingertips found the bare skin of my hip where my shirt had ridden high, white hot fire beneath his touch. "They did this to me." My voice shook, power distorting it to something I hardly recognized.

He nodded, kissing my jaw, running his fingers up and down the outsides of my arms. "That's right baby. They did this to you. It's past time they were reminded of their place."

I flung out a hand, knocking Josh's father back into the dirt as he tried to stand, swaying on legs that were shaking from fear. Josh himself still hung suspended in the air, tears making tracks down his cheeks as he trembled. I stepped over, leaving the earth blackened and scorched beneath my feet, and brought myself nose to nose with him, inhaling his futile fear like a drug.

"Is this what you wanted, Josh? When you held me down, laughed as I cried and ignored my pleading and my terror?" He shook his head, in denial or in contritement I wasn't sure, and I hit him, shattering his nose and closing my eyes at the deliciousness of his scream.

"Stop, Please! It wasn't his fault, it was my fault. Please!"

I turned slowly, my hair a wild tangle behind me, my eyes finding his father upright again; fear for his son made him stand, fear of me made him tremble. "Please? You dare ask me, please? I heard you, you disgusting pig; I heard you telling my mom that I got what I deserved and that you were doing me a favor! Fuck your please!"

I hit him again with a blast of power, sending him flying; the crowd split as they saw him coming, allowing him to connect with the cement side of a town center stall, landing in a heap of awkward angles and broken bones at its base. Josh screamed, fear and pain for his father, and as the sound shot through me I turned quickly to cut his binds from where I stood, sending him crashing into the earth below with a wave of my hand.

I watch dispassionately as he crawled to his dad, bending over his broken form on the ground while he sobbed, pulling his head up into his lap as he searched for life. Finding it, he turned to me again, the fury in his eyes shinning an unholy light; anger for his father made him brave, edging out the fear. I smiled, all teeth—an invitation.

"You could have killed him! You're no better than those blood sucking, flea bitten, demonic pieces of shit! I hope you think of that night all the time, that you can't eat or sleep for thinking of it, and you always remember the pain!"

My fingers itched and twitched, power sparking unbidden from the ends of them as I gasped in breaths, drinking in the cocktail of emotions from my prey and the surrounding crowd. "Finish it baby." I had forgotten Justin was there, but his words were my undoing. They were my permission, the words that I needed to snap the last delicate thread holding me together, and I shattered.