The Soul Eaters (The Thin Hex Line Book 1) by Gwyndolyn Russell (e reader txt) 📕

left. At some point as they walked, she spoke in another language.

Phantom answered back. A short exchange left Spectre shaking her head.

“You want a drink? I could go for some coffee.” She said, stretching her arms up over her head.

“Whatever you want.” He smiled.

They met up with a few other individuals, sticking to the back roads more than not. Each meet up came with a conversation in another set of languages. None of these faces were familiar to Ianisse, but surely they would be recognizable by Reaper and Jackal.

They took a turn down a small alley. Not much room to maneuver. It felt like a tunnel closing in with just two lights shining down the entire length, both of which meant to light up doors, not the walk path. A few tiny areas branched off into the darkness.

Ianisse stepped quietly and slowly, sticking close to one metal wall. Still the other wall was just two arm lengths away when nothing was set in the way. The alphas he had been following disappeared. Surely there was no place for them to go that fast.

The further he stepped into the alley, the tighter it felt. His body trembled. The lights seemed to fade into the shadows.

In the blink of an eye, a silhouetted figure came from around the corner, swinging. The arm slammed into the wall, cracking it. Ianisse had barely ducked in time. Another swing. Ianisse shoved himself to the ground and to the other wall. He dug into that bag for the baton.

The figure came for him as quick as lightning. He jabbed the baton upwards, pressing down the button to send the electricity to the prongs at the end. The figure froze, her entire chest lit up in blue. She took a step back, letting Ianisse go for one of the grenades. He tried to spy where the other Alpha was and where that robotic dog had gone. They were right. It wouldn’t hurt her. It wouldn’t even stop her.

Spectre snatched the baton right out of his hand and smacked him across the face with it.

“Who gave you this toy?” She asked, spinning the baton around her fingers. Her eyes glowed red like fire. As she bobbed her head around embers of the light flaked away.

“Well? Answer me!” She reached for him with her free hand only to be kicked right in the chest. She barely moved anywhere. Ianisse jumped up to his feet.

One of the grenades pulled out, he went for the pin. Kicked in the chest by a horse. Ianisse hit the wall, then the ground. The grenade rolled away into a puddle.

Spectre knelt down over him. Grabbed him by the collar of his leafy jacket. Punched him.

“What’s wrong? Can’t talk?” Another punch. “Oh, that’s right. You need a ball of feathers to talk for you, don’tcha?” She shoved him into the wall and stood up.

“Birdie. Birdie…” She looked up. That falcon had flown away when she tried to get him the first time.

There it was. Perched on a power line above. It cawed, showing off its wings.

“Wow. Looks like a falcon. Ain’t you fancy.”

Ianisse pulled out a knife from his boot and stabbed it right into her calf.

She had no reaction. She was focused on the bird.

“Did you say something?” She asked, looking down to the flower still gripping the knife in her leg.

Seeing what he had done, she kicked him in the jaw, throwing him back into the wall.

She pulled the knife out. Flipped it around her fingers.

“You’re feisty for a mute.”

She tossed the knife.

Ianisse moved to catch it, but the blade sliced right through two of his fingers to lodge itself into the middle of his chest. He writhed, pulling back.

“Better start talking!” She poked the prongs of the baton into his leg. “Who put you up to it?”

The bird cawed.

“I’ve never killed a plant before. I mean, not like this.” The prongs jabbed into his stomach. “I’m afraid I won’t be able to kill you quickly. Where’s the heart? Do you even have a brain?” She lifted his chin with the end of the baton.

“Stop!” The bird squawked. It swooped down, yanking at her hair to get her off Ianisse.

The assassin yanked the knife from his chest and stabbed it into her side.

She grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him across the ground. Threw him down the alley into a puddle of water. The bird swooped down again.

He gripped at the floor, dragging himself through the water.

Spectre walked over to him, ignoring the attacks from the bird. As he crawled in an attempt to get out of there, she stomped down onto his back. Her weight rolled to her toes, heel lifted. Soft little crunches rippled out from the leaves and delicate fibers. Ianisse clawed at the concrete.

“Where do you think you’re goin’, Blossom?” She messed with her hair, straightening the locks back where they belonged. “You think you could be a hunter? Like this?” She laughed. A blade extended from the bottom of her heel. Her weight rolled back, plunging the knife into his back.

She grabbed the back of his hood. Pulled to bend his neck backwards. She knelt down over him, looking him right in the face.

“I think that’s adorable.” She snatched the eye piece from his face. Bounced it around in her hands.

The blade pulled from his back, she stepped over him to set the gadget down on top of a trash can. Her face in full view of the camera, she adjusted it.

This was a mistake. Ianisse thought. He should have said no. He should have been safer. He tried to crawl away again. Get that grenade just barely out of his reach.

“Whoa, hold on, kiddy.” She stomped on his shoulder. “You fucked up!” She rolled him over, smacking him across the face.

“Mako, what should we do with this idiot?”

“He’s from the Federation.” Mako answered with a stoic voice. He hardly sounded like a machine. He sat just within the light, watching them.

“Ooh. What made a little pacifist