Dark Empathy Archibald Bradford (best books to read in your 20s TXT) 📖

to lie down and die too, once her tears were spent.

But in that dark place where she wailed awoke another will, an ancient malice that saw a use for the Chimera’s boundless agony.

Your soul is falling, give it to us, that you may pursue your vengeance.

You’d think a demon’s voice would be terrifying, but it wasn’t.

It was soft, sympathetic even.

Evadne wailed again and languished in the pile of ash that was everything in the world to her.

“I-I don’t want vengeance! I just want to die! To be with my babies again, to hold them tight and feel their little tails slither around my arms!”

Her claws dragged through the ash as she wept, still futilely searched for life where none could exist.

But surely the men who did this must pay? Surely you want them all dead?

Still soft, but more persuasive now.

The image of Malcolm’s face floated into her mind: his uniform showed him to be a spy, the calculating coldness she had discovered in his eyes showed her to be a fool.

“I know what you are.” She said faintly.

Her cheek pressed into the remains of her family while hollow emptiness filled her breast.

Yes, you know why I am here. Your kin woke me, seeking my power. If they had not than I would be as oblivious to your existence as you would have been to mine.

“I don’t care.”

Shhh… poor, wretched creature. Regardless of the circumstance, I am here, and with my presence you now have an opportunity.

It was nothing more than dull curiosity that nudged Evadne to respond.

“An opportunity for what?”

Vengeance. Justice. Whatever you would call it, I can give it to you...

Once again Malcolm’s face, only now his eyes were wide with terror as her snake tail buried its fangs into his guts and tore him apart for murdering their children.

It was some time before the broken Chimera was able to respond; when she finally did it was a single pitifully whimpered word.

“Yes.”

__________

Evadne woke with a start and sat up with a hissing gasp.

“Get out of my head human!”

With her good arm she threw her pitcher of water at Jonathan, the porcelain object smashing into his forearm with a sharp crack as he cried out in pain.

“Shit- Eve stop! It worked!”

The dark monster snarled at him as she tore the covers off, she had to hold her wounded stomach as she stood but didn’t care about the pain.

With the memory of her dead children so fresh in her mind she fully intending on finally killing him.

But the dark-eyed girl kneeling beside him gave her pause.

She leveled her glare on her bond-mate, her teeth grinding together.

“What did you do?”

“I told you it would work, and it did.” He said carefully around a grimace of pain.

Once he was convinced that she wasn’t going to attack him again, he slowly got to his feet while cradling his injured arm.

Her eyes narrowed.

“You twinned her mind with mine.”

“Yes, and she fell in moments. A true warrior, turned Tenebrae. In moments.” He spoke with great emphasis, clearly pleased with himself; “I could do this with however many girls we need! Hell, I could do this with a dozen girls at once! All I have to do is share your mind with them! This is the breakthrough we’ve been searching for!”

Evadne’s crippled tail let out a garbled hiss, which the Chimera echoed, clearly not caring about Jonathan’s latest achievement.

But another presence in the bunker gave her pause.

Dearest, I don’t want to see you suffer anymore, but the boy is right. Remember what you seek, the world must burn for what was done to you and your children.

Though it spoke rarely, the falsely soothing voice in her head had been her companion for centuries, and while it brought her no comfort, it did stop her from killing her bond-mate.

Instead she turned to look into the pure black eyes of the once-proud Amazon.

She couldn’t help but feel a certain degree of smugness at seeing Yana on her knees before her.

Having torn her stitches yet again, she wiped her hand in her own blood and smeared it across the other monster’s face, a cruel imitation of the Amazon’s war-paint.

Finally she nodded her approval.

“A warleader for my army.”

__________

Once Jonathan had changed Evadne’s bandages he took Yana out of the room to get her settled with the other Tenebrae, leaving the Chimera alone save for the demon in her head.

My dearest girl. I meant what I told you before, I don’t want you to suffer from your injuries anymore, please, allow me to bear the burden for you.

The wheedling in the demon’s voice made the Chimera snort out loud, her forearm covering her face as she rested.

“I know what you want from me. You’ve always wanted it.”

The voice responded quickly and with conviction.

I won’t deny that, I’ve never understood why you resist the notion. If you will but let me replace the last dregs of your soul, the power that I could pour into you would be insurmountable! And the destruction of the foul humans that murdered your babies would be assured.

The ghosts of Kaylen and Petra’s faces drifted across her vision, the shadow of Malcolm’s close behind.

“But I wouldn’t get to see it.” She hissed; “I am not a fool. What good is my vengeance if I cannot taste it for myself?”

A sound like shale rubbing together filled her mind.

Demonic laughter.

Dearest girl. You WOULD taste it! After all we’ve been through together I would not deny you that! However-

Evadne shifted her arm off her face to stare at the stone ceiling as the demon’s voice took on a sudden edge.

-if you do not accept this gift, after everything I have done for