Reaper Kissed

25. Son of the Devil

"Romina! ROMINA!"

Romina was awoken from her meditated state by Dragana's shrieking. Turning dimly, hands still outstretched – Romina blinked in shock at the sight before her. Dragana was a mess – her clothing torn, missing a shoe, her lower lip quivering uncontrollably. Darting like a rabbit, Dragana hid behind Romina and clung to the hem of her tunic.

Dragana's pursuer stood in the doorway, their attention now fixed on Romina who gaped in shock.

"You?" She gasped, staggering back and shaking her head. It was impossible. Chloe was supposed to be locked in a cell... "How?" She'd been squeezing the life out of the bitch. Chloe should be near dead – and yet...

Romina was, however, mistaken. It wasn't Chloe filling the doorframe – it was Lauren Fox. Starlight twinkled around Romina's fingers. Lauren sprang forward – crashing into Romina and knocking her down to the ground. Dragana screamed, crawling frantically for the door – clambering over Romina's dead assistant in the process. Overpowering the witch, Lauren managed to straddle Romina's chest.

Lauren screeched, her mouth parting wide. Bao, Romina's surviving assistant, made it to the door first. She looked back and saw Lauren's face being stretched apart by four suddenly protruding fangs. These fangs stretched Lauren's mouth so fully that Bao could now see the pink flesh, Lauren's gums and teeth all exposed and unprotected by skin. Bao made her escape, closing the door shut behind her with an incantation.

Dragana threw herself at the sealed door, tugging urgently at the handle.

"Let me out! Let me out! LET ME OUT!"

Romina screamed, staring horrified up at the mouth of hell as if closed in upon her. Lauren's mouth latched onto Romina's face, the four fangs hooking firmly in place -cutting through Romina's jaw and the upper two crushing Romina's eyes sockets.

Romina's screams were suffocated, drowned out by the sound of Lauren breathing deeply in – greedily sucking up her soul. Terrified tears cascaded down Dragana's face as she slumped against the door – out of breath, her fists bruised from beating against the wood. "Please!" She moaned, her voice muffled through her sobs. "Please, save me!"

                  Chloe felt the instantaneous relief as her phantom attacker dematerialised. Gasping for breath, she looked up and realised that her head was resting against Lucjan's firm breastplate. She gazed up at her own image, reflected in Lucjan's visor.

"What..." She struggled to catch her breath, "was that?"

"Witchcraft," Lucjan speculated, "or warlock sorcery." He was mentally running through the possibilities. Chloe was sentenced to die anyway, who was so anxious for the pleasure? Chloe sagged against him, allowing her eyes to flutter briefly shut.

"I'm not ready to die," she murmured weakly. Lucjan's gloved hand slowly stroked her hair.

             The people of Gomorrah wore black, or black armbands on their uniforms, as a mark of respect for the deceased doctor. The news was all everybody was talking about. Theories about what had happened were getting wilder and wilder.

"It was a demon spy, it got into Dubiki's lab and killed him."

"Nah no way, now listen. You're telling me, we get Ryder and his followers in the city and next to no time later the doctors dead and those two things aint related – you got to be joking. It's Ryder that did it."