by Kimber Lee
“If everything goes according to plan, you will walk out of this building.” Teddy’s voice broke into my thoughts. “If not, well… that’s what you get for sleeping with the enemy.”
“Fuck you.”
“Sorry, what was that?”
“Fuck you!”
He smiled devilishly. “I thought so.” With a casual flick of his wrist, he brought me to my knees again, choking the life out of me.
This time, I felt something compress my lungs, sucking all the air out of me. I couldn’t scream. But I wouldn’t have wanted to, even if I could. I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction. And when black spots peppered the back of my eyelids, I vowed that if I didn’t kill him in this life, I would in the next one. Or the one after that.
God, please make it quick.
Air rushed back into my lungs just as Daniel and Paisley appeared. Daniel pulled me to my feet, dragging me to the center of the space, facing the wide steel door. I leaned against him, catching my breath, grateful for the gulps of life-sustaining oxygen.
To Andrei, the scene would probably shock him because it looked like Daniel was embracing me, if one could ignore the fact that my wrists were awkwardly restrained. We were the ones caught off guard, however, by the explosion in the far wall.
Brick and metal flew everywhere, throwing us to the ground, dust billowing in its wake. Someone screamed. Paisley. I tried to crawl away from Daniel but he grabbed my ankle, dragging me back toward him. Protection, of course. He needed to be around me. Andrei wouldn’t hurt him if there was the slightest probability that he could hurt me in the process.
So I kicked him with all my might, catching him in the face and scrambling to my feet. For some reason, the invisible rope around my wrists was gone. And so, on shaky feet, I stood up and scanned the room, my heart racing a mile a minute.
Teddy was nowhere to be found, but Paisley…
I cupped my palm over my mouth, swallowing a scream.
I want you to see my true form…
I tasted bile and gulped it back down, refusing to empty my stomach for the second time that day. And it had everything to do with the beast looming over a cowering Paisley. She was going to die and there was nothing I could do. I was rooted to the spot, my vocal cords useless.
He took up a hell of a lot of space. As a human, he was big. As a demon, he was immeasurable. Hovering high above us, talon-tipped black wings that spanned the width of the room jutted out of his massive back. Wild, jet-black hair flowed from his scalp down the middle of his back—his only feature that I was familiar with. From behind, his body rippled with huge bulky muscles, ones that looked as though they were made for destruction, under his reddish leathery skin.
And that tail…
Prehensile, my biology teacher’s voice said in my head.
Yes, it was flexible… and could probably pick me up. Right then, it was twisting about, actually whipping about like a lion’s tail. Wrath radiated from his every pore… wrath that was unequivocally directed at the scared-shitless woman in front of him.
And behind him.
Because I was scared… out of my fucking mind!
Andrei released an unholy sound that echoed throughout the room, and then reached for Paisley, picking her up as if she were as insignificant as a piece of lint. In fact, she was a dot compared to his massive size. And when he began to squeeze, began to crush her bones in one hand, all she managed to do was let out a strangled cry... before she bled out and became but a bloody crumpled chunk of skin and bones.
I squeezed my eyes shut, willing myself to fight the nausea. But there was so much blood. So much red. So much…
He whipped his entire body around, his wings ripping through the walls during the sudden movement. I stumbled backward, tripping over debris and landing on my backside. Icy fear relentlessly gripped me and it seemed that there was no way I could free myself from it.
Dear God.
Bright red eyes burned into mine, searched my soul, and seemingly found some foothold there. I tried to focus on them, focus on their familiarity. But my eyes wandered to the tall, pointed horns that were protruding from his forehead. They were visually striking. They looked menacing.
Andrei stared at me, the features of his raw, red face impassive. His claw-like hands hung at his sides, glistening with Paisley’s blood. His extensive chest was heaving with every breath he took. He stood still, his ominous stare never wavering.
I’m not afraid of you. Craning my neck to look up at him, I sent Andrei that single thought as I took one step in his direction.
But you are, Rainelle. I can feel it. His voice came back, clear in my head.
Surprised, I faltered. And that was when the entire room suddenly lit up. I spun around, squinting through the dust that still had not completely settled, and focusing on the lit candles that ran along the remaining walls of the warehouse.
Behind me, Andrei growled, the low sound bouncing off the walls and piercing my eardrums. Teddy was chanting loudly, the smell of burning herbs suddenly filling the air. My eyes were instantly drawn to the ground, to the pentagram that held Andrei captive. It was written in chalk into the concrete and I wondered then how I missed it. But that didn’t really matter. What mattered was that I did… and now…
An arm came around my waist, hoisting me up into the air. Andrei grimly towered over us all, yet in that moment, he could do nothing. I fought against Daniel, screamed the filthiest words at him, and when he finally dropped me, I did the one thing I had been aching to do: punch him in his smug little face.
The satisfying crunch of my fist connecting with cartilage and bone was worth the dread that he would hit me back. He stepped backward, simultaneously cupping his bleeding nose and cursing me out.
I didn’t stick around to listen. Instead, I threw myself at Teddy, who was murmuring praises to Lilith. Daniel was on me before I made contact. We rolled to the floor. I was trying to hit Daniel, and Daniel was trying to restrain me.
“Say goodbye to your demon,” he hissed into my ear, sitting astride me and holding my arms above my head. “Once Teddy banishes it to a faraway dimension, you can bet on the fact that you will never see it again, Rae.”
It was immature of me to spit at him but I did, and a childish joy bubbled inside me when my saliva landed smack dab in the middle of his face. His features turned murderous and his grip became painfully tight.
“Two-faced little fuck,” I screamed, pain radiating through my arms. “When I kill you…”
“When? Keep dreaming, sweetheart,” he snarled.
With more strength than I thought I possessed, I twisted out of his clutches and flung him off me, panting from the effort. Daniel was still on the ground when I got up and kicked him. My foot met his gut, which brought out a pained groan from his mouth. Only when I was sure that he was immobile did I turn my attention to Teddy.
He was sitting on the ground now, eyes firmly shut. Andrei loomed above him, his eyes filled with bloodlust and unadulterated rage. The only thing keeping him from crushing the hunter was some fucking drawing of a star in a circle written in chalk!
I grabbed a brick and flung it at Teddy’s head with all my might… and cried out in frustration when it didn’t even touch him. Fucking magic. Fucking hunters.
“You little bitch,” Daniel growled from behind me, slinking his arms around my waist.
Andrei’s eyes flickered from Teddy to me, and in that second, I knew that even in his beastly form, he did care about me. But was that love?
“I thought I knew you, Rainelle,” he spat, spinning me around to face him. “You’re willing to die for a demon?”
The fight went out of me. How many hours had I been here? The sky was dark now, speckled with tiny golden stars. So pretty…
“I love him.”
Daniel’s top lip curled in disgust and he twisted me around in his arms, forcing me to stare at Andrei. “That monster? You love it?”
I love you, I thought, and the voice
in my head was more confident than it had ever been. I love you as you are. I don’t care what you are. No matter what happens, you will always be mine, my Andrei.
Teddy jumped to his feet, staring up at the man I loved. “The spell is done, demon,” he declared on a loud sigh. “You are mine to control, to command. O Lilith, I thank you.”
“What?” Daniel’s incredulous voice rang in my ear, making me wince.
Teddy turned to look at him. “Don’t use that tone with me, boy. I’m not Raymond.”
“I’ll talk to you however the fuck I want to when I’ve been deceived!” Daniel threw me to the ground. I fell to my knees, the throbbing in my body increasing. “What the bloody hell do you mean it’s yours to command?” Daniel continued. “Did you make it your fucking slave when the plan was to send it away?”
“Demon, revert to your human self,” said Teddy, snapping his fingers for emphasis. “And you, Danny, this is your final warning. I don’t answer to you. Remember that.”
“Paisley’s dead, and for what? For you to suddenly want to be some big, bad powerful warlock with a demon lord for a slave?”
“I can assure you that this wasn’t sudden. Sit.” He motioned for Daniel to do just that—against his will—and the young hunter fell to the ground beside me. “You have no idea how much power I have with Lord Andrei under my command.”
I zoned out, meeting Andrei’s blue-eyed stare. He was getting blurrier and blurrier. It took me a while to realize that I was crying. I hated that. I hated this whole damn situation.
“Rainelle!” Teddy snapped at me.
I fixed him with a mutinous glare. His answering glare was equally hostile.
“I would like to thank you for your part in this,” he bellowed, reaching out to push a hank of my hair out my face. I shuddered. “Without you as bait, this would never have been possible. It will go down in history, how one man was able to compel a demon lord to be his slave. And you, my dear, are lucky not to be one of the casualties.”
From beside me, Daniel cursed.
“Unlike Josephine, right?” I snarled. “Unlike Paisley?” This was what she had wanted to tell me.
Anger flashed in Teddy’s eyes.
“Don’t even think about it,” Andrei growled from behind him.
“You are the one who shouldn’t be thinking,” Teddy warned, briefly glancing at him. He scowled at me. “Josephine died for the cause.”
A light bulb went on in my head. “She gave you her powers, didn’t she? Before she died. She passed them on to you.”
“A worthy sacrifice.”
“You’re sick.”
“That’s subjective.” Then he clapped his hands together. “Thank you both for your help.”
I scrambled to my feet, pushing past him and sprinting for Andrei. If Teddy was going to end up killing me, I could die happy if I heard the words. Just once. I only had this one chance.
“You’re wearing my ring,” Andrei murmured, allowing me space to step into the pentagram with him. I kicked at the circle. The chalk didn’t smudge. The movies had lied. Andrei took my hand in his, admiring my middle finger.
“Of course,” I whispered, savoring the feel of his calloused hand in mine. “Andrei, what will he do with you? To you?”
“Don’t worry about that, baby,” he growled, cupping my face in his hands. “This is only for a decade. When my service is over, I will slit his throat and watch him die.”
Only a decade? Only?
“How could he do this to you? You’re a king. You’re supposed to be…”
“You are my Achilles heel, Rae.” He looked away. “Please, do not cry.”
“This is my fault. Temp warned me that people would use me to get to you,” I choked out, despising the weakness in my voice, despising the feel of Teddy’s leery eyes on my back. “If I had stayed away from…”
“This isn’t your fault,” he said sharply, his brow furrowing. “I wanted you.” He paused. “No one—mortal or otherwise—has ever loved me, Rae. Genuinely. But you… you’re my fucking everything. I love…”
“I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” Teddy’s singsong voice interjected, “but we really do have to get going, Lord Andrei. And if you don’t mind, I would be so grateful to experience the joys of teleportation.”
Andrei’s glare could have melted diamonds. His eyes, swimming with emotion, swiveled back to me. “I love you, mea domina.” He placed my palm over his beating heart. “Yours.”
“Mine,” I whispered, tilting my head back as his mouth descended over mine. He gripped the back of my neck, pouring out his anger, his hunger, his love into the melding of our mouths.
He pulled back just as Teddy pulled me away from him.
“I am going to enjoy fucking your empty eye sockets after I’ve killed you,” Andrei barked, eyes flashing a deep red. “Or perhaps I should keep you alive for that part.”
Teddy laughed, stepping beside him. “Let’s get out of here, demon.”
I met Andrei’s eyes, mouthing the words again. He closed his eyes, just as Teddy glanced over my shoulder at Daniel.
“As soon as we leave, Danny boy, you know exactly what to do.”
Andrei’s eyes flew open, but a second later, he and Teddy vanished into thin air.
Weak from the immediate loss, I wanted to crumple into a dejected heap and cry my eyes out. But Daniel was there and I had to get as far away from him as possible.
I turned to go and bumped right into the brick wall that was Daniel.
He gave me a strange look. “I’m sorry, Rainelle,” he muttered. “I would never want to physically harm you despite everything but… he put a spell on me. I’m sorry,” he repeated.
The first blow took me completely by surprise. His fist rammed into my gut so fast, I didn’t have time to react. Winded from the force of it, I doubled over.
I was too weak for this. My stomach was already in knots—with pain and hunger—and the rest of me ached as well.
Maybe I should let this happen, I thought, receiving the next blow to my skull this time. Daniel grabbed my hair and hurled me to the ground. Yes, this is the coward’s way out.
You’re no coward, Rae. You weren’t afraid of me at the end, were you?
Andrei’s voice was in my head, as clear as day. I savored the memory of it… and went numb.
Chapter 24
“Just because you’re a girl, doesn’t mean you have to be weak,” said Jared, picking up his water bottle from the grass and dousing himself with the cold liquid. “Stand over there.” He jerked his head toward the apple tree his father had threatened to chop down..
“I’m an Erickson. We’re not born to be weak,” I grumbled, refusing to admit to myself that the thought of spending the day ogling a sweaty, shirtless Jared was way more productive than his misguided attempt at playing a game of wax on, wax off.
My father had taught me how to throw a punch the day I started walking. Faking inexperience with Jared was like being an AP student forced to dumb it down to fit in. My hormones didn’t mind though. It was totally worth it pretending not to know how to kick someone if I got to stare at Jared’s tanned, tattooed body…
“Focus, Rae. You want to end up like that woman they found the other day? Mugged and beaten half to death?” He sent me a level stare. “The fact is, a guy will underestimate a woman two seconds after looking at her. I would never forgive myself if something happened to you that I could’ve helped prevent.”
I rolled my eyes at him and socked him right in the face.
After the black-eye incident, Jared never underestimated me again…
I felt a smile tilt the corners of my lips at the vivid memory. There was another man who would never miscalculate me: Andrei. The man I loved, undeniably. Monsters could be loved as well. Whatever happened, I knew he would hold on to that. And he would come back to me.
But in the meantime, I had some ass to kick.
As soon as I returned to the present, I became aware of th
e blood trickling into my eyes… and my mouth. The taste of copper reminded me that I was still there, still conscious. I was a ball of cuts and bruises, yet none of them hurt. Beneath me, the ground was icy and it chilled my skin. I scrambled blindly for something behind me and found a brick. It weighed heavily in my hand and, bracing myself for the impact of a kick to my ribs, I launched it at him.
A blinding pain instantly reverberated through my chest from the twisting motion but that was nothing compared to the crack in my shoulder. I rolled onto my knees, wheezing from the effort. Beside me, Daniel gasped for air, clutching his chest where the brick had struck him.
Relying on the adrenaline spiking in my veins and the urge to kill, I grasped the brick again and cracked it against the side of his head, tearing a guttural cry from his throat.
The liquid-gold eyes I had once thought beautiful became unfocused. He garbled out a string of words, the head wound obviously fucking with him. In that moment, I knew what true vengeance was. I fed on the sound of the brick bashing his head inside… fed on the sound of a once daunting man being reduced to a screaming, mangled mess… fed on the sound of him dying.
Blood, his and mine, started to dry on my face and on my hands… on my entire body. This time, I didn’t shy away from it, didn’t cower. The blood was evidence of my strength, of my fight. And as Daniel’s writhing ceased, it was a testament to my survival.
“I told you I’d kill you,” I whispered, my anger seeping out of me with the words. I was exhausted, could barely see through the rain of crimson, and could barely move from the pain in my every bone.
But my hands moved of my own accord, continuing to break his skull, even after the life had left his body. Everything hurt. It hurt to breathe, to blink, to even move. But I kept at it, sobbing when even my adrenaline-induced bashing became too painful to do.
And that was how Officer Paul Marino found me, sobbing over the bloody body of a man who lived in the house next to mine… in the quiet English countryside of Parishville.
