Lethal Blow: (Succubus Hitwoman Book 2) by Eliza Hendrix (love books to read TXT) 📕

total fool of myself when she points at the fire again.

I follow her aim, and my throat swells.

Inside the flames is a vivid flash of families screaming—mothers, fathers, and children running inside a burning village. Inside my village.

I want to turn away, but I can’t.

Instead, I watch as my younger brother screams and runs in circles as fire engulfs his little body. My parents try to help him, but it’s no use. As people attempt to run from the chaos, pale faces sweep through the village, moving about so fast it’s almost impossible for anyone to see them.

But now, as I watch the devastation unfold inside the fire’s flames, I see them clearly.

My older sister charges toward one of them with an iron pitchfork in her grasp, but it’s no use. A dark-eyed vampire swoops in, slicing her throat open with its sharp fingernails. Blood splatters inside the fireplace, and I flinch. My chest tightens as I watch my sister fall to her knees.

As I did centuries ago, I stand still, unable to move.

I want to help, but I’m too afraid.

I remember Papa teaching me how to use my wings that day, but for some reason, I couldn’t extract them… I couldn’t save them.

The old woman clicks her fingers and the bloody scene fades from the flames.

“You were young,” she says.

Although I want to look at her, I can’t. I stare at the fire, feeling like I’m about to shatter into a thousand pieces. It’s one thing to think about the past repeatedly—it’s quite another to relive it.

“Evil did that,” she says, pointing into the fire. “Not you.”

“I should have helped. I knew how to fly. I could have saved them.”

The old woman shakes her head. “Your anger is destroying you, Alexis.”

My throat swells so much I feel like it’ll split open. I’d do anything to chug down an entire bottle of tequila right about now.

Rather than allowing myself to break down and cry, I do what I’m best at—I get angry.

“Why’d you show me that?” I snap.

“To remind you that people suffer at the hands of evil. You are no longer a child, Alexis. You can protect the vulnerable.”

“Why are you even doing this? How does showing me my past help me at all? Tell me where Devania is. I’m getting fucking sick of playing this game.”

She doesn’t react to my anger. Instead, she smiles sweetly, bows her head, and extends that same open palm at the fire again. I’m afraid to look into it, but I can’t help myself.

Thankfully, nothing happens. All I see is a fire licking logs of wood.

“What am I looking at?” I say through gritted teeth.

With her arm still extended, she says, “The doorway.”

Chapter 12

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It takes everything in me not to laugh in her face.

She’s on crack if she thinks I’m about to step foot inside a lit fireplace.

“If your heart is true, you will not burn.”

“Did you pull that out of the bible, or your ass?” I say.

I feel like an asshole the second it comes out of my mouth, but it’s too late to take it back. “I’m sorry,” I blurt.

She doesn’t seem bothered by my attitude. It’s like she expects it from me.

“Who are you, really?” I ask.

She makes her eyes go big at the fireplace.

“You can’t seriously expect me to walk into a fire,” I say.

Is this lady insane? I might not die, but I’m not exactly in the mood to have my skin melt off. I think back to the image in the fireplace and feel sick to my stomach. No matter what this lady says, the burning of my village will always be my fault.

My parents didn’t ask to find me abandoned at the edge of the forest. They also didn’t ask for a demon child. It’s my fault the vampires came searching for me in the village. They got word of a demon living among feebles and wanted to put an end to it. Instead of saving the people I cared about, I ran.

I let them die.

I’m a fucking coward.

And so is my biological mother for having abandoned me in the first place.

Is she even alive? Deep down, part of me hopes so, while the other part of me hopes she rots in hell.

The old lady remains silent. I could stand around waiting for her to spill, but that may never happen. There’s one thing left to do, and that’s to walk into the fireplace and hope for the best. I’m tempted to ask her why we can’t put the flames out before I walk in, but I know she’ll give me some lame excuse about the universe requiring more of me than that.

Spirituality isn’t my thing, nor is magic, so I won’t overthink it. My one option is to cross my fingers and hope I don’t fry.

If your heart is true, I keep hearing in my head.

My heart’s true—it’s fucking beating, isn’t it? If this has something to do with being a good person, well, my odds aren’t all that good. I’ve done a lot of awful shit in my life.

Sucking in a deep breath, I move toward the fire, fighting to push the thought of Veerka out of my head. Not that sex is a bad thing, but thoughts of sex and booze have been all-consuming lately.

Okay, that’s a lie. It isn’t only lately; they’re always on my mind.

Clenching my fist, I reach out a hand and feel the fire’s warmth spread across my knuckles. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve walked through more fires than I can count, but not intentionally. And it was a quick in-and-out—something I’m not too fond of.

You aren’t a bad person, Alexis. Bad shit happened to you.

I roll