Page 8 of Jackal's Pride
And the way he grabbed his chest, pounding and howling, sayingstop beating…Did he not want to be alive? If that was the case, it must suck to be an entity and live forever.
I squatted next to him. “Jackal?” I waved my hand around, throwing a bit of power toward him. In the process, I fed him languages. I couldn’t stand the guttural sounds and barbaric words he was using.
“Stop making me feel.” Ah, much better. He spoke in English this time. I didn’t even think he noticed what I did. Hell, I didn’t think he was speaking to me.
I sighed and dropped my head between my knees. After a split second of sulking, I lifted my head and tapped his shoulder. He stiffened and his eyes bore into mine. “Why did you wake me?” He lunged for me, but the second he did the collar glimmered. He howled in pain and pulled back. “What the—” He noticed the collar. “What is this?” His eyes cut into mine again, leaking with fury. “What did you do to me?”
“Are you Jackal?” I ignored his question.
He bared his teeth. They were extremely white and perfect for someone who had been asleep for so long—perks of being an entity I was sure. “Who’s asking?”
“I’m the Grim Reaper’s daughter,” I informed him impatiently.
“How can a skeleton…?” His words died off as he glanced up at me. “What year is it?”
I smirked. “Would you even know if I told you? Did they even keep track of years before you hid up here and slept?”
He scoffed, then I saw the moment he finally took me in. I saw the way his eyes skimmed over me slowly. I was fully clothed head to toe so there wasn’t much he could see, but one thing was for sure. He could tell that I was the opposite gender. He fixated on the gap of my thighs with a curious intensity. His nostrils briefly flared as he inhaled the air around me. Lifting his gaze back to my face, he asked again, “Why did you wake me?” He rubbed his chest every few seconds like it hurt. Strange.
“A bet,” I said absentmindedly, placing my chin in my palm. “You can go back to sleep now.”
“No,” he said so swiftly I blinked at him.
“No?”
He yanked at the collar around his neck, his bright gaze now terribly dark as he scorned me. “You did this to me and expect me to let you go?”
I laughed. “Well, I was going to take it off but with that attitude...”
“Do you know who you’re messing with?”
“Jackal?” A woman could hope she caught the right guy.
“Exactly.” He gritted his teeth, then squinted at my chest with a menacing twitch to his lips. Seconds went by before his smile vanished, and he studied me angrily. “Why aren’t you sick?” He glanced down at his hand. “Why isn’t my plague working?”
My nostrils flared. “Did you just try to give me the plague?” I hissed and stood. He did the same. Now that he was standing I could see how big he truly was. I was by no means a short woman at almost six feet tall. I was surrounded by my brothers and father who were all way taller than me but nothing made me feel as tiny as Jackal did. “Good thing the collar keeps you from hurting me then!” I shouted at him. “What an asshole!” I said even though my actions started this mess. “And just so you know, I’m an entity as well. I’m immortal so if I caught the plague, I’d suffer for a bit and move on.”
“Asshole?” His jaw jumped. I could tell that he was clenching his teeth through his closed mouth. “You come here and do this!” He yanked the collar. “You wake me from my slumber, and it’s wrong for me to want to snuff the life out of you right here and now?”
“I was going to take it off after I won the bet!” I yelled.
“Bet?” His nostrils flared before he growled again. Oh, boy. If I thought he was mad before, mentioning the word ‘bet’ made him ten times worse. “I’m going to fucking squeeze the life out of you the moment I get the chance.”
I laughed haughtily. “Thanks for the info. There’s no way I’m taking that collar off now. I guess that makes you my bitch boy.”
Oh man, the look on his face. He really wanted to kill me. Snuffing and squeezing the life out of me wasn’t going to be enough. Then just as quick as his anger came, it disappeared. He stumbled back, looking between us. His brows lifted as if he just realized something. “This is anger?” I didn’t know if he was talking to himself again or me so I didn’t answer. He gaped at me incredulously. “I’m angry?”
I squinted my eyes. “I can’t answer that, but from the looks of it—you do seem mighty pissed off.”
His pupils dilated, the force of his anger darkening his green eyes. His brows furrowed together as he hissed. “It’s the hearts—they’re making mefeel.”
His mouth twisted around the words like they tasted bad. He glanced up when a snort escaped my mouth. What the hell! I wasn’t Joy—she snorted, not me. I was bad news wrapped in leather ninety-nine percent of the time.
“What are you the fucking Grinch?” I scoffed, regaining my composure. “Going on about feelings…” I said it in a little kid voice for the full Cindy Lou Who effect.
“Something about you really pisses me off, and I’ve never disliked anyone before,” he said it like it was important that I knew this.
I shrugged.News flash—most people didn’t like me.