RIVEN
EARLIER…
I was starving, not in a way that humans starve, but far, far worse. I was starving in a way a sin-eater starves, and that was eat or die. I would fade, become ashes that would blow in the wind.
So you might be wondering? What's a sin-eater? Let me help you out; we were demons. But not the kind of demons that were born with horns or fangs or dark power and lived in hell. Sin-eaters were born on Earth. We looked like normal humans, every damn detail. The only difference from us and humans was that we fed on sin, and we had unimaginable strength.
We didn't need to eat human food to survive, we just needed to feed on sins and we were fine. Any sin was okay. Small or big. But big was better because it was more sustainable.
The last time I fed was two weeks ago, and it was just a petty sin; theft. I needed something more than that. And fast. The color was beginning to drain from my skin.
And that was how it all started; with me hunting and coming across the biggest prick to ever walk the Earth, and the underworld—though, I haven't been there.
There was a man I've been stalking for days, the sins he's committed were coming off him in waves—black waves. And it made my mouth water. From abuse, to bloodlust, to incest. You name it.
And he was good-looking too. That would make this easy.
Oh, I forgot to mention that a sin-eater has to be in contact sexually with a prey to be able to eat their sins. It doesn't have to be sex. A simple kiss would be okay.
There was a bar that my new prey always came to, just at the back of one of the biggest cafè in this town. He didn't really have a time when he came to the time. And today it was almost the end of the day when he strode inside.
Just as I was about to enter, I paused, feeling the back of my neck stand on edge. I turned and my eyes met dark blue eyes. Blue eyes that seemed so unnatural and just looking into them made me shiver inwardly.
This person wasn't human. But it was okay though. You'll be shocked by how many non-humans walk around every day pretending to be what they weren't. What wasn't okay, though, was the power in his eyes? Just merely looking at him I could tell he wasn't just a normal supernatural being. He was more powerful.
I looked away from him and his chilling eyes, walking into the bar. He wasn't my business.
As soon as I entered the bar, I immediately spotted my prey. He was seated on the bar stool, elbows resting on the counter, just a breath away from the bartender who placed a glass of brandy in front of him.
I slid into the seat close to him, making sure my knee bumped his.
"Whisky," I said to the bartender with a smile. "Neat."
The bartender's eyes trailed over me, growing heated the more he looked at me. "You've got it," he said, his voice hoarse. He looked good, but the sin coming off him was too little for me.
Also, another thing I forgot to mention; sin-eaters were beautiful. We were born with natural beauty so it was easier to attract our prey, man or woman, it didn't matter.
I turned to my prey to see him watching me, his eyes also trailing over my face.
"You like your whiskey neat, hmm?" he asked, leaning closer to me.
I didn't even need to do any work. This one was easy. I put on my charming smile, leaning into him. He looked like weed and alcohol. I wanted to gag but I had to hold it on. The things one has to do to survive.
"The same way I like my men," I purred, my eyes dropping down to his lips.
The bartender came at that moment, placing the drink in front of me with a wink. "On the house."
I smiled at him, winking back and he left. I picked my drink, nursing my drink as I felt my prey's eyes on me.
"I'm Justin," he said finally.
"Riven."
"Want to get out of here, Riven?"
Bingo. Fish in the damn net.
I swallowed my drink once, wiping my mouth with my sleeve as I stood up, smiling. "Lead the way."
And like a fool, he did. I thought he was going to a hotel or something, but he just slammed me against the wall when we got outside the bar, pinning me with his body.
Well, someone was impatient.
The bar was between two buildings, just down the alleyway so no one was going to notice us. He kissed me, forcing his tongue into my mouth as he groaned. This time I did gag. No need to keep up with the act now that I have him.
I grabbed both his hands and turned, switching our positions and pinning him. He gasped in surprise but I didn't give him time to recover before I slammed my lips on his, devouring him. This was going to take time given how large his sins were. The bigger the sins, the harder it is to take, and so the harder this disgusting sin has to be.
The sin began to take form, shadows curling from his mouth to mine. They rushed into my mouth and I gasped, kissing him harder. Justin hasn't registered what was going on yet. Not now.
He did notice when my lips went cold from taking in his sins. He frowned, trying to pull away but I held him down. That was when he began to struggle, but before I could even hold him down, something grabbed me and pulled me away.
I was slammed into a wall, pinned by a strong body.
"What the fuck?!" I screamed into the intruder's face, but my voice died down when I saw who it was. Blue dark eyes that held power in them.
"What the fuck are you?" the man from earlier growled into my face.