The colours of the city are receding, the fields and forests fading into a blur in the light of the traffic lights. The road is deserted, the area uninhabited - the perfect setting for a suicide; no wonder the victim travels this route several times a week. And yet he does not do it.

But I will.

The asphalt speeds up under the wheels, the wind whips my hair. I enjoy the speed as it washes the thoughts from my mind, leaving pure euphoria behind. Freedom. The same freedom as when, at five, Alden decided to stop cutting my wings and let me fly for the first time.

To this day I can feel the air resistance sweeping away years of dread, the anxiety of limits and rules, the oppression and there is no power to pull me back down to earth.

Although I'm not allowed to sprout wings here in the Underworld, the roaring bike below me makes up for it somewhat. I glance at the instrument panel; 90 km/h. My palms itch to accelerate, but it would be suspicious to get any closer to the silver Mercedes in front of me. Its red lights flicker on and off on the horizon, but the driver's fierce pink aura is impossible to miss. How nervous. As if he knows... I smile, my hair twitching hungrily behind me, though the helmet on my head slightly impedes the flow of energy. Like a rope on an limb about to be amputated. I'd prefer never to put it on, but sometimes it makes sense to follow human's rules. I can't let them fine me now. It would take too much time and I would lose the target.

Jev behind me, on the other hand, can enjoy speeding without limits, after all, during a possible traffic control he can simply distort her head into the shape of a helmet - in the same way she sometimes grows a dress - or turn into a fly and disappear into the night.

At a sharp turn, her arms tighten around my waist, her breasts pressed against my back. She could have jumped into Morawa's car at the start, but she wouldn't miss the chance to ride snuggled up against me. At other times I might find her closeness arousing, but at the moment I need to concentrate on the road and the surroundings, the trees, the bushes...

We pass the second wildlife danger sign. The dark crown of the huge oak tree we have chosen appears on the horizon.

Are there any witnesses? If need be, the Alliance's clean-up units will do a thorough job after taking out a victim, but they'll deduct from my pay if I leave too many clues.

Jev gently places her slender, feminine hand on my shoulder, signalling that we are alone. At times like this, I'm a little envious that she can pick out the fragments of thoughts of those in the same airspace as her from miles away, while I, without horns, can only detect auras within my field of vision.

I accelerate, the engine roars. I reach the car in no time at all, I turn my indicators, pull alongside it to overtake it and allow Jev to find her way inside in the form of a tiny insect, when I notice that the window is open. I direct my waving hair to my left side so Jev can also see the opportunity.

The oak on the side of the road is getting closer.

Jev's embracing arms let go, the warmth of her body is replaced by cool air. Thanks to the sudden loss of weight, I can effortlessly cut in front of the Mercedes.

I reach the tree.

I can almost see Jev assuming human form in the passenger seat and pulls the steering wheel aside, allowing just enough time for the driver to recover and brake before the collision. If he hadn't, he'd end up dead and I'd have to find something else to eat.

The thud of the crash fills the area. It's as if a tank, not a car, had slammed into the massive trunk of a centuries-old oak.

Soon after, I brake only to spin around with a quick drift. The tires squeal, the bike tilts and I go down with it. My knees slide just an inch above the asphalt, my fingers could easily touch the ground. I love the way the moment stretches out and even at this unreal angle, I control the vehicle as if it were part of my body. It's almost like flying. Almost.

I arrive back at the oak, stop the engine. Jev is leaning against the tree, waiting for me with her arms folded, slightly turned away. Despite being a thousand-year-old dragon who dismembers and eats humans without batting an eye, she's averse to the sight of their souls being annihilated.

I take my helmet off. The evening breeze stirs my tortured hair, the hunger in them stirring to a new appetite, crying out for salvation with increasing urgency. I walk to the smoking wreck. The car chassis, immaculate only minutes ago, now shows its metallic insides, wrinkled like skin, smelling of oil and petrol. The windscreen has been shattered by a tree branch. If I couldn't see the fading movement of the man's aura, I'd be sure he is dead. The deformed door miraculously squeaks open, revealing the victim's body collapsed on the airbag. He moves as if to get out. But he cannot.

“P-please help... my... leg...” He coughs, blood dripping from his lips to his chin, his eyes clouded with pain and shock. His helplessness gives me a deep sense of satisfaction. How pained he is, how panicked... And I can be the one to liberate him from his suffering, along with his life.

I lean against the roof of the car, bend down. The sense of power makes me smile, but as he turns his tortured, blood-streaked face towards me, my face turns grim.

Those pale grey eyes, that square chin, that sunken face...

Suddenly I realize why he looks so familiar; the memory pierces my consciousness like an arrow. A remembrance from Alden's mind.

Of my birth.

This man was there.

So it's not just a coincidence; I really do bear his name. However, he is not my father. My father was executed months before I was born for impregnating a human woman as a parasite.

Anger flares up inside me. For fifty-five years this guy lived out his dull, charming days as a doxi, completely ignorant, while I was dragged to Etrina as soon as I was born. Me, the monster. The monster that doesn't fit into the idyllic world of humanity's sprawling lies. For years, while I was tortured and despised, this man lived here with his wife. With his children. With all that I never had.

And he didn't even appreciate it.

“Please...” His ranting reaches me from afar, through the thick fog of envy and anger.

He holds out his hand towards me, laced with broken fingers.

How dare you?

My hair takes on a life of its own, curling around his arm, neck, torso, pushing him back into the seat. I lean into the wreckage, into his cloud of pink energy, inhaling the rusty, salty smell of his fear.

But his quivering aura is suddenly renewed by the realization...

Yes, I am a monster; just like you.

With the rest of his strength as he tries to get free, cries out to me:

“What do you think you're doing? Do you know who I am? James Morawa, the son of that Steven Morawa, the star lawyer...”

“In death, everyone is equal.“ My soft, cold words drown out his shout.

I part my lips, open my teeth. His soul flows into me swiftly, like a vortex into the abyss. A solid satisfaction tingles my gums, my scalp, my whole being throbs with pleasure. I immerse myself in it, let each moment push hunger, anger, suffering out, until finally only satiety, strength and freedom remains.

When I'm done, I let go, its wrinkled carcass collapses onto the airbag.

I back away, signaling to Jev that I'm done, and she can burn the remains.

I take a deep breath of fresh, cool air. I've taken his life, his soul, and it fills me with happy satisfaction. As a child, I thought myself a monster because of it.

But now I don't care.

I smile.

After all, I like being a monster.

Behind me, blue flames stretch skywards from the wreckage, and then an explosion of yellowish claws of petrol and oil tears the vehicle further apart. It's completely engulfed by fire, the stench of burnt flesh mingling with the hot, stinging wind.

I walk to the bike, get on. I take hold of the helmet, but don't put it on yet; I watch the flames reflect off the shiny black surface.

Jev climbs on behind me, talks to me, but all I can hear is Emma's cheerful voice echoing in my head, to the rhythm of my heart, over and over.

Do you also have a brother or sister?

It seems I do. For now.