🐲 Dragon and Phoenix (Path of Light and Fire Book #2) (Completed) 🐲

Chapter 32

Leena racked her brain for all the people she'd wronged in her life. There had been many, but none she could recall to the point of wanting to murder her specifically.

In her travels with the Seriens, she was sure she'd made a lot of enemies, but this man didn't have the eyes of their devoted followers. No, he mentioned love. This was personal for him, but she hadn't ever had any serious lovers and never one of Durain descent.

Is he Turrent's family? Who in the royal fuck are you?

She must have voiced that last thought, for the man rolled his eyes and tapped his curved knife on his thigh.

"The answer depends on how you ask," he said. "My mother named me Horace Eastland. After I killed her, I fled to Acadia and took up with a mercenary group. The leader said Horace was too soft of a name and dubbed me Eastland the Edge. After you screwed the Falcon Mercenaries – and my face – I traveled the world, looking for someone who could fix me. The people of Hruh now call me El Verdugo Vainilla. Whatever that means."

Leena recalled the time she rescued her brother. It had started with her being tied to a chair and held at the mercy of a blonde mercenary.

"I'm a friend to your brother." The blonde man pulled a curved knife and tapped Leena's forehead. He let the tip graze Leena's skin, coming down to her chest. Just enough to tickle, but not enough to draw blood. "I won't take any liberties with you as a favor to him. Behave and we'll be just fine. Otherwise, I will slice each of those beautiful looking muscles and watch as you crawl helplessly to nowhere."

It had been such a strange experience, and one Leena hadn't bothered to analyze until now. There was something unbalanced in the way he talked and how he took pleasure in the pain of others. Now this man stood there, reciting poetry, calling himself her soulmate and threatening to kill her in the same night.

She wanted to scream, but she knew it would simply anger him further. Besides, whatever he'd drugged her with made it hard enough to talk. The ground felt as though it was calling her into its warm embrace. She was tired, yes, and while most days she'd kill for a nap, she knew this nap would be the death of her.

Stall Leena, give yourself time to think.

"Vanilla Butcher?" She asked. Her words came out slow and slurred. "You can do better."

He scratched the side of his head. "Is that what that means?" he asked. "These people speak in this ridiculous language. Whole stories are somehow told in the span of a five second conversation. It's maddening. Luckily, I speak the universal language."

"Money?" Leena asked.

Eastland smiled. He was handsome if you ignored the darkness behind his eyes.

She fought two battles from within, one versus her body and the other with her magic. It was elusive, almost as if it was running from her touch. It would be present for a second, just at the edge of her consciousness, but it never held still long enough for her to grasp it.

"You complete me, my love," he said. "This is why I have to kill you. I want to remember you as you are now before you ruin my memory."

This guy is insane.

"Make...more?" Leena offered. Her mind was hazy and drifted to thoughts of her childhood, running with her brother through the streets of Acadia. They were hard, but happy times, ones that she would never change.

Focus!

Eastland shook his head. "No, you're perfect just the way you are."

Leena willed her leg to move, but she may as well have been asking a house to move out of her way. The veins in her neck strained and her heart pounded in her chest. As Eastland approached, she was able slide it backwards, preparing for his advance.