The Creators: Book One by

I looked over at Angela, and saw her face ashen and trembling, on the verge of sickness. Brandon had tensed to a rock beside me, his face drawn to a grimace, his hand pulling out of me. I found myself not giving a single shit for Tera, which was a relief, because everyone else seemed pretty broken-up about it. The benefits of Corruption usually did outweigh the detriments, so long as the Sentient wasn’t trying to get me in a relationship.

“Well, shit.” I grumbled, “I guess Astrid’s going to be a solo act now.”

“Willowbud,” Brandon said, taking my hands and looking intently into my eyes, “can I trust you?”

“As much as you can trust a snake to bite,” I laughed, uncomfortable with the seriousness of his tone, wishing he’d be as apathetic to Tera’s death as I was, “why?”

Brandon didn’t answer. He got off the couch, and walked toward the balcony of our box. It was then that I noticed Astrid had picked the dying succubus off the ground, and was flying right for us.

“What are you doing?” I yelled at Astrid, “Leave her on the sand to die!”

Astrid ignored me. She flew into our box and draped Tera on the floor. My aunt was barely alive. Her violet eyes were bulging, her breaths were gurgling and rattling, her bronze flesh was as pale as death. Her wound was over a foot long, and revealed everything inside her.

“Astrid, put her out of her misery,” I groaned, “I don’t need to see her like this.”

Brandon knelt before Tera, and she pushed him away weakly, slapping at his face.

“Don’t!” she coughed, looking from me, to Brandon, eyes bloodshot and panicked, “Don’t!”

“Don’t?” I asked, looking from Tera, to Brandon, “Don’t what?”

“Can you save her?” Astrid asked Brandon. Why was everyone ignoring me? What the fuck was Brandon going to do?

“Cover me,” Brandon said to Astrid, “they don’t need to know yet.”

Astrid nodded solemnly, and shielded our box with her wings, blocking out the sunlight and the crowd. I stared dumbly at her, trying to figure out what the fuck was going on, when I felt something sharp pressing to my throat.