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

want to take up arms?” She grabbed his face, turning it this way and that.

Ianisse hit her in the arm and shoved. The alpha did not budge. She laughed at him.

“People like me?” She smiled sweetly.

The bird squawked.

“The signal is not far from here. A ship docked at Bay 7.”

He kept pushing on her. Struggled to break her grasp.

“Guess I’ll have to visit his Captain.” She snatched him from the puddle and kicked him back down across the alley.

“I’m bored!” She called. “Could you do it?”

Phantom stepped out of the shadows now, looking down at the fleebeeron. He stood right over him, a bear wound up and ready to charge. The bird squawked repeatedly. Ianisse flipped himself over to back up, scooting across the ground. As Phantom reached down for him, he snatched up the baton that had been left. He stabbed it up, digging the prongs into the side of that alpha’s neck. Button pushed. The electricity jumped out, sparking around his entire neck. He gritted his teeth, growled. His helmet covered his eyes, the sharp teeth of the wolf jaws reaching for Ianisse’s head.

If he could scream, he would be shrieking right now. He pushed as hard as he could on the baton with both of his hands. He kicked up at the beast, hoping to strike a soft spot. Spectre had stepped off to the side to pick up the recording gadget.

“You might be thinkin’, hey, jus’ let the kid live! We already have the footage. I could! You would just try again.”

Crrrnch!

Phantom had ripped the baton out of the fleebeeron’s grasp. Used it to break his arms. He, too, toyed with Ianisse. Threw him around. Kicked him. Beat him into the floor.

“He dies. His bird dies.” She pointed at the camera. “You die. Whichever of you thought you could turn a daisy into a hunter, his blood is on your hands.”

The device crashed to the concrete, the eye lens cracking. The camera still had a view of the slaughter. Spectre stepped away. Phantom continued until the bird quieted down and the body only twitched. A white cream seeped out from the fibers of Ianisse’s body. It coated Phantom’s hands.

TWENTY-SIX

The moment they saw the baton fail, both Reaper and Jackal jumped up. They forgot about the rest of the recording. Jackal hit his hand to the desk, hitting the button to make a call over the intercoms.

“I need two medics to report outside the ship ASAP!” Jackal yelled. “We need a medivac!”

“Fuck! Fuck!” Reaper kicked the desk. “We need to get him. We have to go!”

“Go, go, go!” Jackal waved his hand. Hit the button to open the door.

They rushed out, running as quick as they could go. The medics were barely ready, not even fully dressed. One must have been caught in the middle of a nap. Left in his skivvies, boots unlaced, and his jacket unbuttoned. A bag of medical supplies slung over his shoulder. The other had an extra pack and a stretcher on his back. He was the better dressed of the two, though shaving cream was still on the side of his face.

They wasted no time. Jackal and Reaper lead the way. Jackal had snatched up his pistol from under the desk, tucked into his pants. He was ready for the worst. Prayed he didn’t have to do it.

When they got to Ianisse, there was no sign of Spectre, or her friends. Ianisse was left crumpled up in a pool of his own white blood and dirty water. His bird had flown off to find Jackal and Reaper and helped them reach him.

“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck, man!” Jackal cried.

The medics were already working on stabilizing the fleebeeron. Gauze and bandages to stop the bleeding. Temporary braces. Tourniquets. Whatever it took to prep him for transport.

Reaper paced around the alley, scratching the back of his head. I never should have sent him. God, forgive me. He thought.

Jackal did his own form of pace. He checked around the corners and unlocked doors. Rooftops. Found the eyepiece Ianisse had been wearing.

“She’s gone fuckin’ psycho.” Jackal said.

“You would’ve killed him, too.” Reaper snapped.

“That’s not the point!”

“What’s the point then? That we shouldn’t have let him go?! We should have called him back sooner! We should have sent literally anyone else!”

“You know she’s on the run. She’s being hunted down. She fuckin’ told us. How could it have been a good idea?! Yeah, it worked out fuckin’ great, didn’t it?!”

“If she would stop being secretive, and let us help her, I wouldn’t have had to spy on her.”

Jackal shoved Reaper backwards.

“You’ve got to let her fuckin’ go! She doesn’t want us in that fight!”

Reaper stepped back up to him, face contorted into a scowl. “It’s easier said. You don’t know what it’s like to love someone and have to watch them walk away. You don’t know what it’s like to have that!”

“Maybe she never loved you to begin with.” Jackal snapped. They were in each other’s faces. “Maybe you were just a taste of a memory.”

“Shut the hell up. You don’t know her like I do.”

“You don’t even know her.” Jackal threw his arm off to the side. “That’s an Alpha Hunter. A lying, manipulating, conniving, murderous, monster on a killing spree. And you? You don’t even have the fuckin’ balls to stand up to her!”

“Fuck you!” Reaper shoved him.

Jackal shoved him back. “Fuck you!”

Reaper punched him in the jaw.

Jackal punched back.

They yelled obscenities at each other and traded blows for only a moment. One of the medics jumped up to separate the two of them.

“Guys! That’s enough!” He shouted, a hand to each of their shoulders. “It doesn’t fuckin’ matter why. We have to get him back to the doc, or he will die.”

Panting, Reaper wiped his lip clean on the back of his hand. “Is he ready?”

“He’s as stable as we can get him out here.” The skivvy medic gave a thumbs up.

By time we got back to the ship, there