Hymn of the Elder Gods

Brutal

Arman wasted no time with his shot, and it crashed towards them reeking of gunpowder and charred metal. Whipping one arm out - bones aching from the speed with which she turned her body - Eve's wall of purple fire caught the bullet midair.

Protect.

The instinct had come so readily it swallowed her sound of protest, ballooning to something thick and cloying and slightly bitter in her throat. A sound came from Samir, and it was utterly inhuman, stifled by his teeth. His hands were large and desperate, stronger than perhaps intended as they struggled to shove Eve's body behind his broader frame. She only slapped him away with a motion that was growing increasingly familiar and released her tightly clenched fist. The bullet clattered noisily to the ground. Such strong magic. It flooded her veins, her very being, suffocating and refused to fade.

"Arman, you're a dead man."

"Sorry boss," the other man cocked his gun a second time. "But I don't think I can allow this to go on for any longer. You're clearly not in your right mind. And my loyalty - it is not to this woman. I see no value in continuing to risk our lives for someone who is little more than a stranger."

"She's kept us safe. I thought you were smarter than this," Samir breathed. His hands were wandering towards his belt, trembling with barely concealed rage.

"Smart? What about anything that you've done in the past week has been remotely intelligent?"

"If I had not stuck to Eve's side, if she had not gotten involved, I would have been dead thrice over."

"And that is where it should have ended." A voice like a blizzard, barreling through the room. "Move, or I'll shoot you too if necessary. I'd much rather have you sane and injured, than meddle with this monster for even one minute longer."

Monster. Yes, she'd heard that before. A clammy sweat had left her skin damp and her heartbeat thrummed obnoxiously in her ears. Was she feeling nervous?

Whatever for? Arman was one measly human. She could take care of him if she was forced to do so.

Slowly, stuttering over the thought as though she were choking on it, Eve realized that it was because, for whatever reason, she wanted this person to like her.

She didn't wholly disagree with him either. The conflict felt like a regurgitated, repeated version of what she and Samir had just hashed out two minutes ago. Only now she'd made her decision. However selfish it might be, Eve wasn't one to go back on her word.

"I'll keep him safe," she said, and hearing her voice out loud sent a scratching of goosebumps down her neck. That wasn't her mortal voice. Not with the way it bled into her mind, cool, collected and attractive. The kind of the voice that had kept humans hanging onto her every word. Feeling as though she were still wading through that unfamiliar, sparkling strength, Eve trained her gaze on Arman's flaming hair and tried to will the flood of magic away from her eyes. "And you as well."

A sharp-edged and cruel frown was her reply. "Fat chance I'll believe you now. Didn't you just say you've been killing me, to sustain myself?"

"Yes. But it's not what you think. Because you see -" Eve paused, knowing her eyes were still glowing a bright violet. She smiled, hoping to appear a little less threatening. "I could kill you right now if I wanted to."

Perfect.

Arman grimaced and steadied the trembling of his shooting arm. "Psychopath."

"That didn't come out the way I wanted to."

"Don't think there's a different way I could possibly interpret such a statement."

"What I meant is that I don't mean you any harm," Eve tried to soothe. "If I wanted to kill you, I would have done it already."