Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 43080 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 215(@200wpm)___ 172(@250wpm)___ 144(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 43080 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 215(@200wpm)___ 172(@250wpm)___ 144(@300wpm)
“Bitch deserved it.” Craig’s voice came out broken from pain, but the defiance was still blatant. “It’s her fault my wife left me. If she’d stayed quiet, none of this would have happened.”
“So, you tortured that poor woman for telling the sister she loves that she’d seen her husband with a woman who turned up dead? That she’d warned her you’re a psychopath?” Bain gritted his teeth, speaking in a low, deadly tone. “Just how many women have you killed, Craig?”
“That’s none of your fucking business. Get the fuck away from me!”
The scent of this man’s fear was metallic and rotten, polluting the fresh air of this beautiful forest. It was a shame Bain would be further contaminating it by leaving a dead body here, but he found comfort in knowing the carnivorous animals would benefit, that this sorry excuse for a human would find his end alone here to be eaten.
“All I have to do is decide how I want you to die. Tie you down, slit your belly, and leave you to the animals? Would you like that, Craig? To lie here and be eaten alive?” Coyotes picked that moment to send out high-pitched howls. Perfect. So perfect Bain had to resist the urge to laugh.
Craig’s mouth fell open, and he took a deep, shuddering breath. “And you call me a psychopath?”
“Or I could remove my foot from your crushed junk and let you run some more. I do enjoy the chase.”
“You’re crazy!”
Bain lifted his foot then slammed it down again. Craig whimpered and grabbed at his leg, trying to pull his foot off. “Lucky for you, I don’t get off on torture, and I find it quite poetic that the last thing you’ll see before you die will be the scariest thing you’ve ever witnessed.”
Craig was too busy jerking around and trying to push away Bain’s foot. He wasn’t paying attention, and that wasn’t acceptable. Bain wanted all his attention on him, wanted Craig to see every moment of what was about to happen. He leaned in close, his long silver hair around his face. It had come loose during his run; he tucked it behind his ears to make sure Craig didn’t miss a thing.
“Look at me, Craig.”
Eyes glazed with pain shot to him, and Bain slowly grinned. Something in that smile must have sent utter dread through Craig because he went still. He stayed that way as Bain straightened and called forth his other form. His clothes and favorite boots would be destroyed, but it was worth it. He kept his gaze locked with Craig’s as his eyelids drew back and disappeared, as his bones popped and ground as they shifted, as he grew taller, his long, thick, extended tail whipping around to replace the foot he no longer had.
Bain might not have been into torture, but the ear-piercing screams of a vicious murderer, bringing justice to all those innocent women—those were things he could relish.
Chapter Two
Bain
Bain loved the offices of Protective Solutions. They were his home away from his own, so he spent a lot of time there, even when he didn’t currently have an assignment. The offices took up the third floor of a tall building in downtown Seattle, Washington, everything decorated in shades of black, gray and white. It had modern furnishings, the occasional plant that Xavier himself watered and fed—or probably used his magic on—and plenty of windows to let in sunlight. Bain had a small desk area to himself but rarely used it, spending most of his time in Xavier’s main office.
Xavier was his best friend and had been for over fifty years. Preternaturals lived long lives, so although Bain was over two hundred years old, he looked around thirty. He honestly had no idea how old Xavier was because the sorcerer would never say. But he got the feeling the man had put in a few more centuries. Possibly millennia, though Bain had never met any preternaturals that old. The oldest one he knew of was around a thousand years old.
Bain swept into the bright office and took his usual spot on the gray couch, knowing it would be a few moments before Xavier stopped his studying long enough to address him.
Like Bain, Xavier stood over six feet. The only other trait they shared was a preference for keeping their hair long. Bain kept his own silvery locks pulled back in a tail most of the time while Xavier let his black hair stream around his face. Other than that, they couldn’t be more different. Xavier preferred dark clothing while Bain loved all things color. He glanced down at his midnight blue leather pants and multi-colored, silky button-down. So what if he looked like he was headed to a dance club? He liked what he liked.
It sometimes made clients think he wouldn’t be good at his job, but he always quickly refuted that belief.