Gypsy Truths (All The Pretty Monsters #6)- Kristy Cunning Page 0,153

is quite surprisingly strong. Idun, however, will never be defeated. She’s stronger than ever, thanks to all the fearful whispers that have gathered this past millennium among monsters. You had to bury all of us to put her down, and that was at full strength.”

“That was full strength back then,” Vance says with a smirk.

Taylor, Idun’s first cousin, steps to the front, grinning darkly, as he holds his phone up.

Vance’s smug expression falls, and I lean closer to get a better view of the screen.

There’s a coldness that washes over me when I see Violet being slammed into the ground. A dark, visible fog slams my almost-bride into the ground so deeply that she cries out in surprise and a small bit of pain, as Idun flexes some of her true power.

Idun comes into view, bloodied mouth twisted in a fiercely excited grin. The wind swirls all around her, as the earth begins to wilt in her wake. Hyde is suddenly screaming, and the screen cuts out.

“You’re no match for us. You never were. Now—”

Clyde’s words are cut off, because his head goes rolling off his shoulders. As Vance’s sword finishes the deadly arc, I quickly close the short distance between myself and the headless body, rip out Clyde’s heart, and toss it aside, all before the body drops to the ground.

He’s down until someone puts his heart back in.

Vance’s glare is icy when he stares down the Neoprys, and my blood begins to boil. Taylor takes an uneasy step back, the smirk falling from his face.

“Fucking Neoprys,” Vance grinds out.

We don’t give them much of a chance to react. In the next instant, we become the attackers. My monster surges forth, and the sounds fade to near nothing. My vision dims to mere shadows. My senses dull into subtle numbness.

The monster takes over.

The delicate taste of Neopry blood hits my lips, and a grin curves inside my hungry soul. Fire burns against my flesh, but my cold overpowers it, chilling the painful heat almost immediately.

My vision swims with fresh, rushing images, the monster feeding my curiosity, as I trust it to keep me alive long enough to claim our bride.

At last. At last I have a bride to claim.

My vision shifts to a still scene before me, and I’m plunged back into reality, as the reins land in my control once more. My gaze collides with Taylor’s—arguably one of the strongest skin-walkers—and I look down to see my hand shoved inside his chest cavity.

I grin when I look up, and his eyes widen, just as I yank his heart out. Idly, I notice his severed arms lying at his sides.

“I do love losing control. I don’t get to do it nearly enough,” I taunt, smiling as I skip toward the rest of the stragglers.

I spent too long watered down, and these fucking fools think they’re stronger? A thousand years does make a beautiful difference after all.

As two run away from me, deciding to take their chances with one of the others, I remove a head.

It’s been a thousand bloody years. I don’t even remember which Neopry that one is. Bet it sucks to be fighting against people who buried you and forgot your name.

Oh, I need to tell Violet I remembered every single Simpleton, but I forgot some of the skin-walkers. I bet that gets me rewarded.

Violet…

I need to find Violet.

Focusing is hard, because the blood is driving me crazy. There’s so much of it, and Neopry blood is damn tempting. Always has been.

My monster lurks near the surface, but stays caged, as I turn to see Vance and Zuela working like a well-oiled team against the remaining three Neoprys.

Marta is running away from a fight, which can only mean she’s on her way to Violet. Makes it easier when I have a trail to chase.

“Coming, little monster,” I whisper into the wind as my body begins moving.

Chapter 45

DAMIEN

“But then you killed Theon before the sacrifice could happen. He didn’t have the appropriate sacrifice to appease the blood magic,” Talbot goes on, almost as though he’s reciting this information. “Jack was born to Dr. Harvey Jackal. Shortly after, the tale of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde started circulating. Hyde isn’t truly dangerous until it learns its name, because that’s when the memories slowly start returning. It drives the host mad, especially when Hyde starts showing the conscious mind all the ways it has tried to make the host’s ‘dreams’ come true. Most of these humans were far too pure