Seeking to Devour Read online

  Seeking to Devour

  Kyle Alexander Romines

  Copyright © 2020 by Kyle Alexander Romines

  Cover by Damonza

  Copyedit by C.B. Moore

  Proofread by Margaret Dean

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Also by Kyle Alexander Romines

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Also by Kyle Alexander Romines

  Warden of Fál

  The Wrath of Lords

  The Blood of Kings

  The City of Thieves

  The Will of Queens

  Tales of Fál

  The Fortress of Suffering

  The Price of Hate

  The Path of Vengeance

  The Way of Rage

  The Heart of Magic

  The Keeper of the Crows

  The Chrononaut

  A Sound in the Dark

  Bride

  Atonement

  Drone

  Seeking to Devour

  To sign up to receive author updates—and receive a FREE electronic copy of Kyle’s science fiction novella, The Chrononaut—go to http://eepurl.com/bsvhYP.

  This novel is dedicated to Allie and Gabrielle.

  “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”

  —1st Peter 5:8

  Prologue

  It was almost dark.

  Alex finished setting up the tent and wiped the sweat from his brow. It was harder doing it alone. The hike up the trail had taken most of the day. He’d come a long way to lose himself in nature. Exhausted, he lowered himself to the ground and stared off the edge of the world. Golden light reflected off the Smoky Mountains as far as he could see. The breathtaking view made the difficult trail worth it.

  Alex delved into his pack and removed a bottle of bourbon and two plastic cups. The breeze whistled through hemlock and yellow birch trees at his back. Although he’d veered off the trail to find the perfect spot to camp, he knew how to find his way back. His father had trained him well. He filled the plastic cups and poured the first onto the ground.

  “This one’s for you, Dad.” Alex raised the second cup to his lips, forced down the burning mouthful, and made a face. While he had just turned twenty-one, the drink was more a tribute to his father’s beverage of choice than a personal preference.

  It was his first time camping since his father’s heart attack. Camping was just one of their shared hobbies. When Alex’s mother left when he was just a boy, he and his father had only each other.

  “I could really use your advice now.” Alex reached into his pocket and took out the box containing an engagement ring. The diamond glittered in the orange sunlight. When he returned from his trip, he planned to ask Samantha to marry him. His life was about to change, and he wished his dad could be there to see it.

  Something rustled in the bushes behind him. Alex stuffed the ring into his pocket and looked back. He was alone. Still, he couldn’t help feeling something was watching him. Imaginary eyes had followed him on the trail earlier that day. Then there was the eviscerated deer he’d discovered a few miles back. Whatever was capable of that…he certainly didn’t want to cross its path.

  The sun faded. Natural fog settled over the mountains as the full moon glowed in the night sky. Alex shivered and gathered firewood for the campfire. He had just returned to his spot when a howl rose above the crackling flames. That sounded like a wolf howl. He knew what wolves sounded like; he and his father had heard them on a trip out west. Alex’s brows knitted. There were no wolves in the Smoky Mountains—at least not that he knew of.

  Maybe I was wrong. Alex leaned closer to the fire to warm his hands. The howl rang out again, louder this time. It was closer than before. Thick fog climbed up the mountain and crept over his campsite, and an inexplicable feeling of dread took hold in the pit of his stomach.

  A woman’s scream shattered the stillness of the night. Alex bolted upright. That came from nearby. He climbed to his feet and peered past the trees. He was isolated and alone, away from the trail. His flashlight waited in the tent. Alex switched it on, trained it on the trees, and moved the beam from left to right.

  Something moved in the darkness in response. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end. Alex held the beam on the place where he’d spotted the animal, but it was gone. He’d barely glimpsed the creature, but whatever it was, it was big. Alex took a step back. A sharp drop awaited not far past his tent. He was trapped. The trail was his only way back.

  A growl emanated from the dark. Before Alex could swing the flashlight toward the sound, something rushed at him through the fog. Alex lost his grip on the flashlight and landed on his back. A pair of amber eyes stared at him. He scrambled inside the tent. The moonlight cast a monstrous two-legged silhouette along the tent wall. Alex tried his best to stay calm and fumbled with his flare kit with trembling hands. Before he could open the kit, a pair of claws ripped through the wall. Alex tore out of the tent before it collapsed and ran from the campsite as fast as his legs would carry him.

  Even in the full moon’s glow, it was nearly impossible to find his way through the fog without his flashlight. Alex headed in what he thought was the direction of the trail and readied the flare. Just when his legs threatened to give out, he stumbled into a clearing where the fog receded. Campfire embers glowed faintly outside a nearby tent.

  Relief flooded his veins, and Alex felt the wave of adrenaline subside. “Hello?” He cast a glance over his shoulder and approached the tent. “I need help. There’s something out here!”

  Silence greeted him. Alex frowned and squinted in the dim firelight. Fresh blood stained the unzipped tent door. Distracted, he nearly tripped over a body at his feet. A man had been ripped to shreds. Another body—a woman—lay dismembered in the tent. Alex fought a wave of nausea. Before he could flee, a howl sounded behind him. Shaking, he turned around and fired the flare. The red glare illuminated a terrifying mass of fur, teeth, and claws.

  Alex opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came out.

  The sun had all but vanished from the sky when Samantha Brewer encountered the last person in the world she ever expected to see.

  Samantha pulled up to the house, turned off the car, and walked to the front door. The sight of home was a comfort. With final exams only a few days away and everything that had happened recently, she needed time to herself. She slid the key into the door, which creaked open. “Mom? Dad?” There was no one inside. Her parents were gone—probably at an evening church service, knowing them.

  Rather than waiting indoors, she decided to take a walk to clear her head. The evening air was cool but not overly so. A gentle wind brushed her hair as she made her way to the trail that led through the woods behind her house. Samantha knew she
should be happy—graduation was only a few weeks away—yet her heart was weary.

  Leaves drifted from trees on either side of the trail. Fall was on its way earlier than usual. As always, the scenery was beautiful. Her mind focused on other things, Samantha barely noticed it.

  Life had changed dramatically in the last six months since her boyfriend had vanished without a trace. Alex Hawthorne had been everything to her, and losing him had almost destroyed her.

  They hadn’t even shared a proper goodbye before he’d left for his camping trip. She just assumed he would return. Despite her abiding love of nature, even Samantha admitted Alex was the true outdoor enthusiast of the two of them. He’d started young, travelling to national parks with his dad. When his father passed away, he continued the tradition on his own.

  When Alex told Samantha he was going camping by himself in the Smoky Mountains, she hadn’t worried. He could take care of himself. Or so she’d thought.

  The news of his disappearance came as a shock. The park rangers said it looked like an animal attack. His tent had been shredded and blood found around his campsite. Something in the area had mauled another couple to death. After trying to find Alex for months, the searchers finally gave up. Alex was probably dead, everyone told her.

  A twig snapped somewhere nearby. Pulled from her thoughts, Samantha looked around. Was someone there? She waited a few moments longer, but everything was quiet. Her imagination was getting the better of her.

  Her thoughts returned to Alex. He could have gone to college anywhere he wanted. His ACT score was off the charts. Instead, he chose to go to community college to be with her. They had big plans after college. Alex hadn’t proposed yet, but everyone had known it was only a matter of time.

  Then he died. It took a long time for her to accept it. Only through the love of her friends and family was she able to get through that dark period in her life.

  Leaves crunched somewhere in the woods. Samantha stiffened. It wasn’t her imagination. “Hello?”

  No answer came.

  The last of the sun’s rays vanished into the clouds above. She should make her way back to the house. It wasn’t long before dark. The walk had done little good, and she felt more restless than ever. Her parents would be getting home soon. They would help her get over what was troubling her.

  Wind howled through the forest, answered by the creeping sounds of life.

  Samantha turned and followed the trail cut by her father.

  The sky darkened, and the sound of trampled leaves started again, closer than before. Samantha’s heartbeat raced. She wasn’t alone.

  The sound ceased as soon as it began. Samantha finally emerged from the woods and allowed herself to relax.

  She jumped when saw him. He appeared from nowhere, suddenly in front of her like a ghost—some pale apparition sent to torment her. Surely this could not be.

  “Samantha.” Alex breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m here.” He grinned widely, as if waiting for her to smile in turn.

  “You’re—” Samantha stopped. Dead. This was no apparition. Alex stood across from her. Where did he come from? She hadn’t heard a car engine. And how had he found her so easily?

  The clothes he wore—a pair of faded blue jeans and a tight white t-shirt—were unfamiliar. Samantha wasn’t sure in the darkness, but it looked like Alex had gained a considerable amount of muscle since she last saw him.

  “I’m alive, Samantha. I came back for you.”

  When he put his arms around her neck, his look of joy almost equaled her sense of shock.

  At last, she regained the wit to speak. “I don’t understand. Where have you been?”

  He hung his head. “I’m sorry. I wanted to come sooner.”

  “Six months. You’ve been gone for six months. I thought you were dead.”

  Regret clouded his expression. Alex ran a hand through black hair cropped short to prevent it from becoming unruly. “Does that matter? I’m here now.”

  “Of course it matters. Why didn’t you come back?”

  “I wasn’t myself. I was—attacked at the campsite and hurt pretty bad. I must have wandered for days. My sense of self was completely gone. You have to believe me. For a while, I didn’t even know who I was.”

  “You had amnesia?” She’d read about dissociative fugue brought on by severe psychological trauma in her psychology class.

  “Sort of.”

  The response was hasty. Samantha knew him well enough to understand that he was keeping something from her. “None of this makes sense. Where did you come from? What are you doing here?”

  “Let me finish.” Alex framed her face with his hands. “When I was out there—when I thought I wasn’t going to make it—you were the only thing that kept me going. You saved me, Samantha. You helped me pull myself back together, out of the dark.”

  He pulled her closer to him, hugging her again. When he moved to kiss her, Samantha turned her face away at the last moment.

  Alex stepped back in clear confusion. “Samantha? What’s wrong?”

  Then he saw the ring on her finger.

  “I was trying to tell you.” The reunion she once longed for had turned into a nightmare. “I thought you were dead, Alex. Everyone told me to move on.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “I met someone. We’re getting married.”

  Alex’s disbelief was evident. “You don’t have to go through with it. I’m back now.”

  Samantha had difficulty maintaining her composure. Everything was happening so fast. “Can we talk about this later? I still can’t believe you’re alive.” When she averted her gaze, she knew he understood her feelings had changed.

  “But we love each other.” His voice cracked.

  “I do love you. I did. But I love him too.”

  He gripped her arm tightly. “How can you do this to me?”

  Samantha looked up at Alex, surprised by the sudden surge in anger. “You’re hurting me.”

  Alex released his grip and looked away in shame. “Sorry. Sometimes I don’t know my own strength.” Samantha regarded him curiously, but he offered no further explanation. Instead, he reached into his pocket with a shaking hand. “Do you know what I was planning to do tonight?”

  She noticed a ring in the silver moonlight. “Please don’t do this.”

  He placed it in her hand before she could withdraw it.

  The ring wasn’t like anything she had ever seen before. It shimmered like metal, yet it was black, with two serpents entwined. Samantha wanted to ask him where he had obtained such a strange object but didn’t have the heart to prolong his suffering.

  She returned the ring to him. “Please, take it back.”

  Alex just stood there, dumbfounded. It was clearly not the reaction he’d anticipated.

  The headlights of her parents’ car appeared in the distance. Samantha wiped a tear away and reached out to him. “Come with me. My parents will want to know you’re OK. I know it’s not what you wanted, but we can find a way to make this work. We can be friends again.”

  “I won’t be your friend. Not after what we shared.”

  Samantha shook her head. “I’m sorry, Alex.”

  “Don’t go,” he said one last time, before she turned and headed up the trail.

  It was the perfect day for a wedding. Alex stood across the street from the church as bells clanged loudly. Despite the distance, he watched the entire spectacle unfold through the window. His eyesight was a lot better than it used to be.

  The hardest part was seeing how happy everyone was. This was the image he had played in his head so often, except that the groom had been replaced.

  When he saw Samantha walking down the aisle, agony tore at his heart. That perfect smile was no longer meant for him. Unlike in the forest, he shed no tears as he observed the ceremony. He had none left to give. His heart was a black hole.

  The ceremony finally came to a close. None of the attendees noticed him as they spilled out of the ch
urch. He had forced himself not to be among their ranks. Today was her day. She’d chosen, and now she would have to live with that choice.

  Yet the pang of loss would not abate. Some part of him had imagined she would back out at the last second and come running back to him. But another part knew the truth from the moment he saw her engagement ring.

  “It burns, doesn’t it?”

  Alex didn’t have to turn around to see who it was. He knew the voice intimately. “Yes.”

  “Then everything is as it should be. They are beneath us. Time is everything to them, and to us it is nothing.”

  He searched her mesmerizing eyes for the kindness he had seen in Samantha’s. Although the woman’s expression was devoid of compassion, she was intensely beautiful. Her appearance was elegant and noble, almost catlike. Alex thought it was appropriate, as she was in many ways a lioness.

  “Tell me there’s some way to ease this pain.”

  “Perhaps there is. Revenge. Make her feel the pain she has caused you. Suffer the same heartbreak.”

  Alex turned from her and watched Samantha and her groom exchange a kiss. “The same heartbreak.”

  A smile spread slowly across Alex Hawthorne’s face.

  Chapter One

  Twenty Years Later

  In the end, Ellie Sullivan was too nice to say no. Agreeing to a date with Winston Henderson was probably social suicide, but she didn’t have the heart to turn him down again.