“I’m a monster,” I rasp, dragging myself to hands and knees in the ebbing waves. The sight of the red swirling around my arms makes me retch. Blood has never affected me before. I’ve always been blood-thirsty, but this is something different. I’ve never killed for pleasure, but there’s an emotion attached to the new memories that’s never been there before. I was happy to kill them. I relished killing them all.
How many had I killed during my rage? What’s happening to me?
Peter stands and moves, kneeling before me in the gentle waves. With strong hands, he cups my chin and raises my tired head. “We’re all monsters, Tink,” he says sadly. “You just have to choose how to handle yours.” His clothing is shredded from my claws, and though the last of his wounds heal before my eyes, I know the pain he must have suffered to stand it, to bring me back.
“Thank you,” I rasp, the last bits of energy leaving my body. Peter doesn’t let me slump into the water. He catches me and lifts me in his arms, far more gentle than I’ve ever seen him. My wings are limp at my back, dragging, but Peter is careful not to step on them, not to drag them across anything sharp.
“Our debt is settled,” he murmurs, and though he claims it’s only to repay the debt, I can sense his pity.
Peter Pan has long known what it’s like to be Chosen. Even though he’s just as monstrous, he wouldn’t wish his plight on anyone else, and now at least three of us have been thrust into the power.
“You shouldn’t pity monsters,” I whisper, my energy fleeing me.
“I pity those who would be forced to become monsters,” I hear Peter say just before darkness claims me and I hear no more.
The next time I wake up, it’s to find myself nestled in the soil of my green room, Swift carefully tucking me against him.
Peter Pan is nowhere to be found but there, sitting in the dirt near me is the shining thimble he left me before. He didn’t take it back. The boy who pities monsters didn’t take it back.
And for some reason, that makes me sadder than the new struggle I find myself in.
For the first time in centuries, I cry into the soil around me, because my body no longer feels like my own. It feels like it belongs to a monster, instead.
For the first time, I feel like chains circle my body. . .
. . .and they squeeze until I can’t breathe.
Chapter Sixteen
ATLAS
I stare at the pixie, desperately trying to talk to her, but I know it’s useless. I try to get her attention, try to distract her, but she can’t even hear me. Whatever happened, it’s happening too fast, morphing her before our eyes. Her claws lengthen to brutal points on her fingers. Her teeth sharpen in her mouth until she looks more like a shark. And her eyes, her eyes change from the vibrant pink to blood red.
Bloodlust.
“Atlas! Step away from her!” Wendy hisses, trying to drag me backwards, but I ignore her. I’ve stopped it before, I can stop it now. Except, I can’t. I know I can’t. This time, it’s slamming into her too quickly and too fast to be stopped.
“Pixie,” I growl, wrapping my fingers around her bicep, but she shoves me hard away from her, slamming me against a tree. I’m on my feet a second later, just as close as before, trying to get through. “Look at me!”
But my words don’t register.
“Attie!” Cal rushes forward and Tink’s gaze jerks to her suddenly, but I step in front of Cal, blocking her body, forcing the pixie to look at me.
Whatever runs through Tink’s veins slams into mine, singing to the power I carry in my own. Something in me answers, my teeth sharpening in my own mouth, but not as drastic as Tink’s. Before I can do anything, before I can convince her to look at me again, I see fear briefly pass over the pixie’s face and she rips away from me, her wings flaring wide. Then she forces herself to turn away from us, from the ones she doesn’t want to hurt, and sprints into the trees.
“Did you see that?” Tiger asks, her eyes wide. “She turned away from us. There’s still some humanity in her right now.”
But I don’t stick around to listen. Without waiting for the others, I lurch into a sprint, chasing after the pixie in bloodlust, following the trail she isn’t trying to hide.
“Atlas!” someone calls. It sounds like Cheshire, but I don’t stop. I have to catch her. If she ends up making it to the Coven and she can’t stop herself, I can’t even imagine what she would feel in the aftermath of that. In bloodlust, would she recognize the pirates and Tribe members in her walls are friendly or would she see them as something to get rid of?
The first corpse of some creature comes into view, something I don’t recognize, but I don’t stop. It’s too late for it, the eyes glassy in death, its neck shredded by claws. At least it’s not a person, I tell myself. Still, pity for the beast fills me. It was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
I run harder. Behind me, I can hear the others following, but they’re too slow. Cal and I had tested my speed before. I’m faster than her. I’m faster than Cheshire. But the real test came when I raced White.
I’m faster than the fastest creature in Wonderland when I’m desperate enough.
Pumping my arms, I leap over fallen trunks, around thick trees, chasing after the pixie that I draw closer and closer to. Suddenly, I can see her back of in front of me. She’s moving fast, far faster than she should be, but I don’t stop. I don’t even call out. She won’t hear me. I have to catch her to make any progress, and if I have to allow her to rip me to shreds to get through to her, I will. It’s the least I can do.
I don’t know which direction we’re going, if we’re headed to the Coven or the Dark Side, or some other place I haven’t been before. I just follow Tink, pushing myself until sweat coats my skin, until my hair is wild around my face. It’s hotter wearing my thick armor, but I don’t care.
I see my opportunity in front of me, a clearing that Tink is nearly to. I’m barely ten feet behind her now, her head tilting, picking out the sounds of the hunter behind her. She’ll either continue to run or turn at the last minute to gut me. I’m prepared for either as I push harder, intending to tackle her in the clearing where there’s less chances of slamming against a tree.
The moment she breaks through the tree line into the clearing, I shove myself forward, my arms outstretched, ready to grab her and roll. I’m worried about her wings, what will happen if we roll, but I don’t get the chance to worry about cushioning her fall. Tink knows I’m coming. The moment I’m in the air, she turns, her face twisted in a snarl as I fly towards her. It’s too late to stop my momentum so I barrel into her front, only for her to flip me away. She’s on me before I ever slam against the ground, her claws scraping over my armor but not piercing through. It’s only a matter of time before they do, if she keeps digging, if she finds a crevice, but I focus on her teeth that suddenly snap towards my face.
“Tink!” I growl, just barely holding her back. “Snap out of it!”
She hisses at me, her gaze red, her teeth peeking from her lips when she isn’t snapping. One of the claws finds the crevice and pierces my side. I grunt in pain and roll us, placing her at the bottom. It lasts for a whole second before she’s switched positions again and pinning me to the ground. The claw digs in a little deeper and my body fights to heal it with her claw still inside. It’ll probably hurt just as much coming out now if not more, with the healed flesh.
“Pixie!” I shout but none of my words get through. The others will be behind us. Though I put distance between us, soon, they’ll come bursting through the trees. They could hurt her, but worse, she could hurt them. After knowing her, learning who she really is, she’ll never forgive herself if something happens to those she cares about. Running out of options as her claws dig at my armor, with her teeth centimeters from ripping out my throat, I do the only things I can think of. It’s risky, and if it backfires, I’m going to seriously regret it, but there’s no choice. I don’t know how to overcome the bloodlust, so the only thing I can
think of is to replace it with a different kind of lust.
When she rears back to strike, her hair wild around her face so she looks a little demonic, I lean up. Released the hand with claws digging into my side, letting them dig in deeper with a wince, I instead curl my fingers around the back of her neck and tug her to me. I press my lips against hers, regardless of the blood on her, ignoring the teeth that could bite my face off if this goes the wrong direction. God, this is going to go painful if I’m wrong.
Tink freezes above me.
Chapter Seventeen
The red falls like a curtain so suddenly, it almost gives me vertigo. One moment, a red haze fills my eyes, demanding blood, pushing me to run faster from the predator chasing me; the next, I’m blinking down at Atlas beneath me. His lips are on mine, moving, kissing me with so much passion, I immediately kiss him back. All the adrenaline in my body from the shift, from the bloodlust that had filled my body, morphs into something more primal.
Only then do I realize my claws are buried in Atlas’ side. I move to break the kiss, but his hand at my neck holds me still, his lips moving against mine ferociously, regardless of any pain he might be in. I growl against his lips and pull my claw out, and I feel his flinch. I jerk back, breaking his hold to stare at the blood coating my now shorter claws. It smells like Atlas, like the spiciness he always claims he tastes like. He pants beneath me, his fingers going to my hips and holding on, grinding me down against his hard length. I hum in approval. Even though my vision is no longer red, something else drives me. Instinct, perhaps, or some knowledge of what I want from Atlas.
“Did I kill anyone?” I rasp, staring at the blood on my claws.
“A few creatures who got in your way. Otherwise, no.” He sits up and presses his lips to my collarbone, making my breath stutter. “Now stop talking about it so we can see which of us comes out on top.”
I hiss between my teeth, something in me singing at the challenge in his voice. “You’re foolish to think you can dominate me, Berserker.”
“Am I?” He leans back and meets my eyes, a cocky grin on his face. “I think I’m just stating what’s true.”
With his eyes locked on mine, I lift my claws to my lips and dart my tongue out to lick his blood from my finger, purring at the taste. The Coven has long had a connection with blood, far more likely to drink an enemy dry than simply killing them. It should scare Atlas. I’m tasting the blood I’d gouged from his side. But he only shivers beneath me in pleasure and cups my breast through the thin dress I wear. The next time he grins at me, his teeth are just as sharp as mine, laying down the challenge between us.
I thread my fingers into his hair hard and hold him still, baring my teeth at him. “I could rip you to shreds,” I hiss, staring at the column of his throat, but even as I say it, red spots begin to dance in my vision again.
“I’d gladly let you,” he murmurs, tilting his head back further, an offering. He knows the bloodlust threatens to overtake me again, knows what I’m capable of, and still, he allows that vulnerability.
Desperately, I start tearing at his armor. I need him to touch me skin to skin, to fight the bloodlust. At the same moment, his fingers grab the skirt around my legs and hikes it up around my waist. In the next moment, he’s jerking the tie at the top loose and lets it hang, baring my inked skin to his eyes. The black lines cover most of my body now where they hadn’t before, forming designs of Neverland’s history, as if I’m a walking history book. At first, I’d revolted against the newest surprise, but now, I hardly notice them against my dark skin.
I don’t stop until his chest is bare between us, but it’s not enough. More red spots dance.
“Bite me,” Atlas growls, even as I still hold his hair in my grasp. His fingers go to his hips, working on the ties of his trousers and armor there.
“What?”
“I can see it trying to dig back into you,” he growls, baring teeth at me that make me bristle. “Bite me. I’ll even give you a chance to dominate me before I take over.”
“You think you can really be in charge over me, Berserker?” My fingers clench harder in his soft hair, too hard, but he doesn’t complain. I feel his length twitch in answer beneath me. “You think you can dominate me?”
His eyes grow hooded with my question. “I know I can, and the moment I get these fucking ties undone, I’m gonna show you exactly what I’m capable of, Pixie.”
When my vision turns completely red, I stop hesitating. I strike, digging my teeth into the corded muscle of his neck right over his vein. He grunts in pain at first but shivers a split second later.
“Fuck,” he groans, one of his hands going to my hair to hold me to him.
His blood blossoms on my tongue, bringing with it a taste of copper and power, of the scents that make Atlas who he is. His power is intoxicating, and I pull at it, grinding myself against him just in time for him to free his length and take control.
There’s no foreplay. There’s no time for that, not with bloodlust dancing at the edges of my vision. With my teeth still locked on his throat, Atlas lines his length up with my opening and slams inside me. Instead of chasing away the red, it sends me into another frenzy. I break the hold on his neck to tilt my head, arching my back as Atlas slams inside me over and over again. I cry out, my claws digging into the sensitive skin of his shoulders.
“You think I’m not as much a monster?” Atlas snarls, and before I know what’s happening, his teeth are clamping down on the flesh between my shoulder and neck, biting hard enough to draw blood. My wings flare wide behind me in ecstasy even as everything in me revolts against the domination Atlas is flexing.
I jerk him away from my shoulder and slam his back into the ground. The breath rushes from his lungs. I get two seconds of riding him, of conquering him at my own speed before he rolls us, coming over me in the soil. The life inside it fills me, dragging some of the red away, but this isn’t about that. He slams inside me in the new position, dragging cries from my lips. He may be on top, but it opens him up for prime biting territory. I strike, sinking my teeth into his skin right over his heart. He grunts and fucks me harder, his own lust making him relax. Leaning up as I am, all I have to do is flap my wings and we lift into the air. I don’t’ take us high, just enough to slam Atlas back against the tree, his feet dangling as I use him. Pixie dust fills the air around us, raining down until I don’t have to flap my wings at all, until we hover in the air, but if I think Atlas will allow me to take such control, I’m wrong.
“Convenient,” he growls. He jerks out of me, and before I know what he’s doing, I find my chest pressed against the rough bark and him behind me. He enters me from behind with one swift thrust, claiming me. His teeth lock onto the same place as before, holding me still as he powers inside my aching core. My wings flap uselessly trapped between his chest and my back, but when he moves to run his teeth down my spine, right between my wings, I nearly explode right then. “Where’s the big, bad pixie now?” he groans against my skin.
I’m so lost in pleasure, I can’t answer. Instead, I clench around him as he pumps inside, drawing a groan from his lips. I don’t even care that he’s technically overpowering me. I don’t care about anything except for the pleasure he draws from me. But I can’t allow this to be the way he wins.
I push against the tree, releasing the power around us so we fall suddenly to the ground. I twist before we can hit the soil, before I land on top of Atlas and let him roll me with my back against the ground. There’s no time for words as he slams back inside and viciously drills me into the soil, taking over, his hair framing his face. Above me, sweat coating his skin, his muscles bunching with his effort, he looks like the warrior he is and I’m perfectly happy to let him take me.
Wrapping my legs around his hips, drawing him closer, I arch my back and he takes the offering of my breasts, drawing one of my nipples between his teeth and rolling it with his tongue. I don’t think I’m breathing anymore. Every nerve in my body screams with plea
sure and all I can focus on is the Berserker between my thighs.
“Mine!” Atlas snarls against my skin as he claims me, his sharp teeth dragging against my flesh.
“I belong to no one,” I rasp, threading my fingers into his hair and jerking his head up so I can look into his eyes. “I belong to no one,” I repeat so he actually hears me.
That smile spreads across his lips, amusement, and then he twists his hips in a way that forces him to hit some sensitive spot inside me. My thighs quiver and my head falls back to the soil. Atlas’ skin glitters from my dust and his sweat, and the way he hovers over me, claiming me, it builds my orgasm until I’m standing on a cliff, but I fight it. I’m in control, not him. I have to be in control.
“Let go,” he snarls, dragging his teeth against my jawline. “You don’t have to fight me, Pixie.”
“No,” I hiss, but the word is so garbled by pleasure, I’m not sure he hears me. My claws dig into his skin, drawing blood, but he doesn’t even seem to notice anymore. He slams inside me, hard enough to bruise, claiming me with his body rather than his words.
“Give in,” Atlas grunts, twisting his hips again. My eyes might roll back in my head, but I clamp my lips shut, refusing to give him what he wants. “Fine,” he snarls, and suddenly, our positions are reversed and he’s laying on the ground with me on top of him.
I blink at him in surprise. “What are you doing?”
He pumps inside me from his position and drags my head down, capturing my lips with his but when he breaks away to run his teeth along my throat, he speaks. “You don’t want me to claim you? Fine. Then you can claim me, Pixie.”
“Why?” I hiss, titling my hips. I’m so confused, so amped up on pleasure, I can’t think straight as he pumps inside me. In this position, it’s a little less frantic, a little less vicious, but it still drives me higher and higher.
Wicked as a Pixie (Daughters of Neverland Book 3) Page 12