The Reaper's Wicked Obsession-Chapter 211: Tainted (1)

Isadora gazed down at her hands, smudged in blood, and they recoiled on top of her lap.

Her mind reflected everything she had gone through for days. They prickled at her senses, dousing out the rest of the world as her mind plagued her.

She could still hear their voices, their peals of laughter, and slurs. She could still feel their touch marking every hair of her skin—how her body reacted despite her opposition.

They didn’t finish the job, but they thrived in tarnishing her mind and body to sow torment and scar her for life.

Her skin wriggled, and her mind cracked, silent tears tapping against her bloody hands, her lips quivering tremendously.

She crammed her eyes shut, begging the gods to wipe her memories so that she would forget.

With each piece of the sensations slinking into her skin, her breath convulsed, and her fright grew, the tears gushing out of control.

She bounced her head, whimpering, puffing, forcing herself to stop recalling, but she couldn’t.

The fright increased as she reminisced about how she was entrapped in her mind, having no idea what would happen, when they would come back for more, how further their touch would go, and if she hadn’t stopped them, they would have...

A large hand clutched her bloody ones, hauling her mind away from the depths that consumed her.

The black dots blanketing her vision retreated, and the brilliant sunlight became vibrant. The birds chittering filled the air, as well as rustling leaves from the wind.

The brush of the cool air against her features reminded her that she was no longer in that Hive, stank with decay and piss.

They were gone... The Stingers were gone. Forever.

Presently, she sat against a boulder, close to a waterfall—the soothing sound liberating her senses, and a warm hand clasping around hers made her aware that she wasn’t alone.

Her hands were lifted, and she followed until her gaze locked with silver eyes.

Kraven placed them against his cheek. "Where did you go, love?"

The sound of his gravelly voice caused warmth in her chest, and her lips trembled.

"I would have wreaked mayhem again just to find you," he said. "Don’t go too far, this madman needs you."

She whimpered, sobbing as she forced her eyes away, cramming them shut, the world around her closing in. Her chest squeezed painfully.

She couldn’t possibly bear to look at him. If he knew what they had done to her, what she had endured... She was ruined.

He’d feel revolted, and the mere thought devastated her.

Would he still want her?

Kraven scowled the instant she looked away, like she couldn’t handle the sight of him.

But he kept Logi’s guidance in mind. He had precisely told him to take his time with her, that whatever happened within that Hive was seeped deep within her, and the only way she could open up was if he was gentle and not forceful to get inside her head.

Kraven never knew how he could do such a thing; even now, his body itched to question, hold her, and kiss, just to remind himself that she was real and not an imagination.

He had been fighting that urge ever since he laid eyes on her. His mind was still unable to make this real.

And now? She wouldn’t even look at him. It settled an unnatural feeling in his chest.

Lately, the organ experienced several things whenever he gazed upon his little bunny—a turmoil of eccentric sensations ever since he found her daggers, and thought he would never find her, and even if he did, it might be too late.

The days of relentless search were his personal nightmare. Even a madman had nightmares, and his? Was the thought of losing her forever.

Kraven exhaled a low breath and said. "The blood won’t come off easily if it stays longer. Speaking from experience."

He waited for her to say something, but she didn’t.

Just when he thought it was going to be another endless silence, lingering, and observing until she uttered any word, she spoke.

"I... killed." Her voice sounded like a stranger’s—ragged, cracked, and unfamiliar.

"I know," he replied. "Your first time."

She nodded slowly, her lips pressed in a thin line.

"They deserved it," he added through clenched teeth. "You gave them a swift death. I wouldn’t have."

He held her hands tightly. "No amount of torture would’ve freed my wrath. But I’m pleased, love, you got the revenge you deserved. You got justice..."

He couldn’t be any prouder of her strength, she amazed him. The passion of every single sway of her arm was brilliant. She was magnificent.

"These words are coming from a man who doesn’t care about rights or wrong, but yours? Is mine."

Isadora said nothing back to him, staring into space like it was a far better view than looking at him.

Whatever happened in that Hive was something that shook terror into her, and he wanted nothing more than to erase it.

"I shouldn’t have left you," he began. That was one of the biggest regrets he had. Maybe if he had taken her along, none of this would have happened. "Maybe it was a silly excuse."

"An excuse for what?" she asked without sparing him a glance.

"Because of the desire to protect you," he said as if he were trying to understand it himself.

His eyes narrowed as he tried to comprehend his actions. But the more he thought about it, the more he embraced the idea of wanting to shield Isadora.

His ways were always twisted, always inconsistent, and he wouldn’t flinch for a second when it came to jeopardizing anyone.

But with her? He wanted to shroud her with his darkness so that the world wouldn’t see her.

He wasn’t opposed to the idea of sealing her in a cage where she would forever be shielded from the world that tried to harm her, and he wouldn’t hesitate to cause mass destruction on her behalf.

Even now, just because she wouldn’t look at him, he wanted to steal the Stingers’ souls from Daudi just to get the chance to erase them from existence again.