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Scattered Souls (Excerpt)

Book Two in The Manipulated Evil series

by T.C. McMullen

Prologue

Rhynon lay still on a mattress of feathers and stared up at a tar-black ceiling. He saw nothing beyond the ravaging pit his thoughts had become. The wounds in his shoulder and gut puls­ed like festering volcanoes, yet those pains were nothing compared to his new knowledge. Ravyn honestly meant to kill him. And she nearly succeeded.

He never thought she would turn so completely against him, she being the only other who could relate to everything he had experienced. Her refusal to join him in his quest also evaded his comprehension. The worlds needed cleansed of the vile filth populating them. Filth like Chione and Carter who took it upon themselves to force life and then abuse it. And after the worlds were cleansed, they would never again be filled with the unruly beings. He, with the others, would rule the new worlds and make sure no one ever stepped beyond the boundaries of nature again. Freedom was overrated. There would always be someone who would abuse it. Just like naughty children, the people of the worlds needed disciplined. They needed strong rulers who weren’t afraid of the absolute punishments.

The slice in his gut smarted when Bryn rubbed it clean. She worked over his wounds too brusquely, her silver eyes narrow, her skinny face pinched in concentration. Bryn certainly was an interesting creature even at her young age, but her beauty was nothing compared to Ravyn. He averted his gaze from Bryn and thought of nothing beyond Ravyn, one woman who could truly stand alongside him and help him with his rule. She was his equal. But her false hopes of free will obviously blinded her.

Still, he couldn’t believe Ravyn would stay blind. Somehow, he would make her see the bigger plan. Somehow, he would make her join him.

“Stop being so stupid,” Bryn said. She squeezed his wound together with what felt like the same force Ravyn used to inflict it and wrenched a groan from his gut. He stared hard at the ebony walls surrounding him. Shivering, bloody designs cast by the torches’ red flames danced upon the exquisite angles.

“Sometimes I wonder why Enar doesn’t off you because of your weakness for that stupid girl. Don’t you see what she’s done to you? Just a few moments more, one more strike from her, and you would be dead. And then where would we all be? It’s brainless, you risking her ending your life just because you won’t take hers.”

Rhynon snared Bryn by her slender neck. Her skin felt cool and smooth like snakeskin under his fingers. He wondered about her mother, a woman he figured shared similarities to his own. Bryn glared down at him. Her silver eyes soaked up all his thoughts, he was sure. She grinned and he quivered with the hate he felt for her. He tightened his fingers under her narrow jaw.

“You hurt me and Enar will have a pertinent part of you for a meal, main course.”