Null and Void (Patrons of the Divine, #1)

by R. Moody

It’s my earliest memory, rage. The fluttering bird in my chest became a full-grown firecat clawing to get out.

Women should be safe to travel without the need for protection by another man, from other men. The thought alone boils my blood and fuels my rage as it takes over.

Being caught off guard is dangerous. Men in particular have found great joy in taking whatever they want from me.”

Pretend. Detach. Let my rage take over.

The wall of stone and ice that’s been built brick by brick around her heart to suffocate it, allowing herself to be controlled by rage instead.

I vow to build the wall higher. Tighter. Colder.

“Mika, if we constantly let the awful things that happen darken the sun, then we would never see the light again.”

“You are infuriating, you know that?” “You’re easily infuriated,” he rebuts,

“I know you don’t need my protection, Firecat, but I’ll be Divine-damned if I allow anyone to treat you as anything less than the fucking glorious woman you are. As much as it might have turned me on to see you annihilate those cockheads,” he finishes huskily, a curl to the side of his lip.

But those girls certainly had no interest in fighting with boys in the mud or having competitions to climb to the top of the tree first. Unlike me.

Felt

It’s the reminder I need: I am a monster. So, I will fucking act like one.

I’m an empty vessel barely containing a nightmare.

Take. I want to take everything from him. I’m going to take it all.