It ticked against the floor.
Nox turned.
Both men had their weapons drawn.
The Anubis rumbled in anticipation and all the color leached from the world.
It would enjoy killing the men but not before letting them think they’d escape, before biting off parts just to listen to them scream and eviscerating them to see what they looked like on the inside.
Black threads spun down Nox’s arms.
Both men watched with wide eyes. The one with brass knuckles ran first.
Nox followed, taking wide steps. Panic and fear dragged him in the direction of the lumberyard. It mixed with pine sap and wet concrete. Particles lit up, marking their route around stacks of concrete blocks.
Gunfire sounded off in rapid succession, each shot piercing holes through Nox’s flesh only to have the Anubis devour the wound. One shot after the other until the click of an empty magazine.
The man who’d worn the brass knuckles froze. His terror leached into the air, lacing strands of pleasure through Nox, a sensation so close to what it felt like when it dragged a moan from Luca’s chest.
No. I can’t. I fucking can’t.
He could and it would be so easy.
I won’t.
He wanted to, and it would be wonderful.
It’s wrong.
The only wrong choice was the one this man made to assault Nox, and the Anubis would punish him. It would leave a clear message of what it was capable of if they stood against it.
New World will find out.
Let them. The Anubis would destroy them and leave their bodies in shreds.
They’ll come after us.
All the more reason to annihilate them.
And what about Luca?
Images of Luca covered in sweat blinded Nox. The sensation of Luca’s flesh ghosted his palms. And the sounds: the cries, the pleas, the most beautiful music Nox had ever heard. The only lullaby the Anubis cared about.
Control, control.
Nox clenched his fists.
The thoughts of Luca tangled in the sheets morphed into him running through the woods.
Thorns and sticks left scratches on his body, flavoring the air with the scent of his blood. He wove through trees, across streams, fled over a stretch of meadow, but no matter how fast he ran, he couldn’t escape.
The Anubis leapt, covering Luca with its body and sinking its massive teeth into Luca’s shoulder.
Sirens rose in the distance, obliterating the image and leaving Nox standing in the garden center of a big box store.
“Fuck.” Nox wove past forklifts to lines of potted plants and pallets of ground cover. He ducked as cop cars filled the space in front of open gates leading into the garden area.
The two gunmen didn’t seem to care about getting caught and had headed to the front, where the cops descended on them as they emerged from behind a stack of fence panels with their hands raised.