Hollow Beasts (A HorrorVillain Romance) by Courtney Leigh

Author:Courtney Leigh [Leigh, Courtney]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-10-28T04:00:00+00:00

20: Piper

I would not die at the hands of cruel men. I would not suffer under the blade of an evil killer. I was not the monster. They were.

“I think we will extend our stay here for some time,” the man said.

I snarled, staring the stranger in his shallow, infected eyes until I could hear his pulse beating under his skin. My body shook with desperation and I let out a scream that tore my throat to shreds. Gaya was suffering in chains. Corlys was on the floor of his own tavern, dead. The residents of Stillbrook were being ripped apart and leashed like rabid beasts.

And so was I.

Before I could struggle free, a pair of irons were locked around my wrists, the chain connecting them only four links long. The man stepped in as a hand gripped my hair and pulled my head painfully back to look at him. No part of my body was safe from his gaze and it made me feel oily and covered in filth. He stroked his fingers over my lips and I felt my teeth ache to bite him, but I was overpowered and outnumbered, especially without Gaya.

I had always been weak. I’d always been powerless.

“I’ll find out what you are eventually,” he whispered.

And with that, I was hauled forward, shoved through the crowds, and dragged away from the tavern.

If only I was stronger. I would have torn through the men in seconds and I would have enjoyed it. But I was simply a vulture—a scavenger of the dead—and these men weren’t dead. Not in the way I could exploit. And even if they were, I was a feeble creature, useful only for disposing of scraps.

A hate for myself and my situation festered inside of me while I was forced across the square to the cellar where Corlys stored old ale barrels.

I never went down there. I’d always refused…

The place smelled and was stuffy, the floor covered in moldy hay since the leaks had never been repaired over the years. The rain was relentless, so that place was as dirty and dark as a grave.

And everything about it stirred the most unwanted memories and feelings in me. Things that made me wish for a horrid end. A violent death. Anything to keep the dark at bay. Anything to distract from the disgusting blackness inside me that grew like a weed.

. . .

“Let us out!” I screamed. “Let us out, please!”

Tears wet my cheeks, stinging my raw eyes. I’d been crying for days. So had Bella. We were terrified and weeping was all we could do. Weak and small, we could not fight. We could not pry the cellar door open. Not that it had kept us from trying.

Outside, there was a distant, soft singing. It was soothing, but not soothing enough.

“You must stop,” Bella said. “You must stop. Your nails are already bloody. I can smell it. You’ve broken all of them.”

“We need to escape,” I sobbed. “I cannot breathe down here. There is someone out there singing.

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