Obumbrate by Alivia Anders Read Free Book Online Page B

the wall opposite me and using it as a springboard to crouch against.
    "You have a death-wish I see, Nephilim," she hissed, crawling up the wall like an insect. What ever spell that had been keeping her looking human had now faded, revealing her form. Her face was no longer the creamy pale perfection she'd sported before. Now it was scaly and deep murky green with sharp, jutting angles making up her cheeks and nose while providing deep hollows for her black eyes. Her lips had been pulled back across the lower half of her face, revealing multiple rows of jagged teeth, stained and discolored with a mix of blood and pus-like goo.
    "Not nearly as badly as you do." I stepped back, keeping to the balls of my feet. I felt like a spring, ready to launch at any given moment. "Should have turned around before I decided to fight back."
    She laughed, twisting her arms to impossible extensions, the scratching of her nails against the wall shudder worthy. "You won't say that when we finish slaughtering everyone you love. I pick my teeth with loved ones of Nephilim, ever since your filthy kind was created."
    I could feel the pressure in my veins, each heartbeat making the sensation overwhelming. Pictures of Jayson, dangling in this creature's grasp like a petrified rag doll, brought my rage to a boil. If I didn't release it soon, someone was going to pay. I was going to lose control.
    "Tell you what," I started, craning my neck while keeping my guard up. "I'll make you a deal. My blood for my life. You can leave with your life and do whatever you want with the blood. I leave and you never see me again."
    She seemed to mull over the offering, twisting her head at me with curiosity. She scuttled down the wall a few feet, drooling as she got closer to me. "Can't do. Master promised me your flesh when they would be done with you." One of her eyes changed color to a bright chartreuse. "Delicacy, flesh is. Those two mortals were delicious, smelled just like you. Appetizer to the main meal."
    "Shame I have to disappoint," I replied sarcastically. "But your days of murder are over."
    She screeched and launched off the wall straight for me. I had a second to spin around and curl inward, squeezing my eyes tight. I forced all the energy through my back just as the alleyway exploded into a luminescent bath of sparkling light.
    The effect was instant; It felt like an extension of my soul had been pulled from my body, wrapping me into a cocoon of pure energy. The woman had screamed in horror, leaping back from the light as fire laced up her limbs with merciless speed. I turned to face her and she lashed out, nails scrapping across my face and knocking me to the ground.
    Against the vines of burning light, she stood on her two feet and took a third lunge for me. This time I couldn't fend her off. Teeth sunk into my abdomen, tearing into the side with my scar. The pain was beyond anything I'd ever felt, the sensation like hot screws driving into my flesh. One of my wings flung at her, knocking her off me while adding to the fire pressing upon her body.
    I scrambled back to my feet and added distance between us. Crafting a fireball I launched it, watching the brilliant blue mesh with the white flames, burning her skin as far as bone. The creature screamed and writhed, flailing her melting limbs in a desperate attempt to reach me.
    I stood there, watching the fire char her body as if I was from afar. Skin peeled back like curling paper, revealing layers of the same pus-like ooze that drooled from her mouth, while the layers of muscle and fat melted away. I stood there until nothing but bones remained. Until I was sure she was dead, never coming back. One reincarnated demon was enough for my lifetime.
    I walked out of the alleyway and down the main streets, oblivious to anyone who chose to stare. Chances were my outside appearance reflected how I felt on the inside; bruised, weak, drained. The crystal wings and blue fire both had vanished, leaving a hollow