Blood & Honey #1

*Chapter Twenty-Four*

A shrill scream right in my eardrum pulls me from the best sleep of my life. I open my eyes to see Kinley scrambling away from me so fast she falls off the bed, taking the bloodstained top sheet with her.

Bloodstained?

Looking around, I see the gray sheet I am laying on is also smeared with red as am I. Actually, I am covered in it. My jeans are splattered and the shirt on the floor next to the bed is soaked in crimson as well. My mind races trying to piece together what is happening. Last thing I remember is going to bed and falling asleep to the sounds of Kinley's heartbeat.

The most disturbing part is the blood covering me isn't just human. It's vampire and demon as well.

The memory of me waking up during the night because I was so thirsty my throat felt like it was on fire hits me full force. I remember now. I went to the kitchen to get something. When I closed the fridge, the Beast of the Damned was right there. Before I could react, he lunged at me. With one quick twist, he broke my neck.

I'd like to believe this is a side effect of antherest, but I haven't touched the stuff since the first bad trip.

"Why are you covered in blood? Whose blood is it? It's on me. Someone's blood is on me." Kinley panics when she sees blood also stains her silk nightclothes.

Last night was the first night she's ever worn them, but that's probably because it's what I handed her after she forgot to grab clothes when she took her shower.

I attempt to drown out Kinley's frantically racing pulse and shrieking voice so I can try to piece together what the hell has happened.

The thumping music of a club pounds in my ears as flashes of last night enter my conscious mind—two human girls loudly laughing as they exit a nightclub, one nearly falls off her platform stilettos in her drunkenness. Her friend had to support her. The next image that comes to me is the human girls unlocking their apartment door in a not so nice part of town. They are giggling and having trouble standing up, yet they invite me in.

I'm not me. There are no black veins, but I am not me. The Beast has taken over me. I can feel his ravenous hunger growing out of control. One human goes to get me a drink and the other puts on music and starts to dance.

The Beast lets the human walk right up to him and circle her arms around his neck. There's a knock at the door. His head snaps in the direction it came from, searing heat turning his eyes black immediately.

The one whose arms are around my grandfather that possesses me screams as the black veins pulse into sight and his fangs elongate preparing for who is on the other side of the door.

What comes next is a blur of three vampires and two demons, body parts, and massive amounts of blood. It all happens so fast my brain can't process the speed of the Beast's movements.

When it's all said and done, the two human girls with blood splattered all over them are the only ones left standing. They don't get the chance to scream before one's heart is ripped out and the other's throat is torn wide open in his feeding frenzy.

The buzzing on my cell phone from an incoming text pulls me back into reality and away from the massacre that I took part in last night.

Thank you for trusting Shadow's services. Remember, there is no mess too big for us to clean. They end their text with a smiley face as they usually do when you use their cleaning services for damage control.

"You're not answering. That means it's human. You killed someone." Kinley begins to shake as she stares down at her clothes like the soul of whoever I killed has attached itself to the life force that stains them.