by Coralee June
My mind raced backwards, going over my time with Risk in The Between. It had all moved so fast. We latched onto each other in a whirlwind, caught up in the storm. It had felt so right. Relying on instincts and impulses, following my demon’s lead. And yet now, nothing had ever felt so wrong. I didn’t know the man I was currently perched on, nor did I understand what the fuck his angle was.
“You’re always so impulsive, Risk,” Belvini chided. “Unlike me, you don’t know how to play the long game. You never have.” He pulled out his BlackBerry, his demeanor changing when he looked at the screen. Once he put the phone back in his pocket, he looked back up at Risk with a smirk. A smirking Belvini was even more terrifying than a pissed off one.
Risk started playing with my hair, his fingers brushing it over my shoulder so he could run his nose over the skin of my neck. My body wanted to melt against him, but my mind was screaming. “You’re boring me. Get to the point. I want to play with my new pet again.”
Oh gods. How could I be so fucking stupid? My lip trembled, and I was forced to catch it between my teeth to keep it from moving. Risk wasn’t who I thought he was. I’d been so drunk on his risk power, too naive to realize.
Belvini shook his head, annoyed. “Always thinking with your cock. Tell me, how many sexual partners do you think you’ve had over the years?”
Risk rolled his eyes. “If you’re trying to make my new pet jealous, you’re being laughably juvenile,” he replied before running his hand up my thigh. My core instantly began to pulse, like a beacon trying to beckon him closer. I snapped my knees together, horrified at my body’s response, but he wasn’t deterred. His hot, sinful hand just kept trailing higher.
Belvini chuckled and shook his head. “No, nothing as crass as that,” he assured him. “I don’t particularly care for jealousy or other mundane emotions, especially from lowly supes and hybrids. But I wonder, do you even remember your last indiscretion with a certain elemental?”
“Mmm, perhaps.” Risk reached the hem of my black dress, and his fingers stopped to toy with it, while I struggled to become numb to his touch and focus on what Belvini was getting at.
“Allow me to refresh your memory,” he continued while standing up. He walked around his desk with slow deliverance. “She works on the council, yes?”
“I never understood your obsession with the supernatural government,” Risk put in boredly.
“It seems I’m not the only one with an obsession,” he said pointedly, watching Risk’s hand where he played with my dress. “Though I’m surprised. The councilwoman was not your usual type, but you did what you always do—you took a risk.” Belvini then motioned toward the door with a sly smile. “Miss Cainson, would you mind joining us, please?”
My stomach dropped. Risk’s wandering hand stilled.
A pretty woman with blonde hair coiled up in a stiff bun walked through the door with her head held high and a snarl on her face. She was wearing wobbly heels and a business suit—a suit that barely covered her large and very pregnant belly.
“Hello, Risk,” she greeted before positioning herself at Belvini’s side.
My gaze hitched on the woman’s stomach, dread collecting in the pit of mine.
“Up, pet,” Risk said tapping me on the thigh in a clear signal. I practically bolted out of his lap, backing up as much as I dared to put distance between myself and everyone else in the room. Risk was on his feet in an instant, his eyes flashing. “What the fuck is this?”
The woman laughed, but it wasn’t a nice sound. “I should think it’s obvious, Risk. Can’t you sense it? I’m carrying your child.” She pressed a hand to her belly, looking smug.
Risk scowled. “The fuck you are. I believe I recall you saying you couldn’t have children.”
She lifted a shoulder in a lazy shrug. “Seems I misspoke.”
Smoke started to gather at the ends of Risk’s sleeves, the billowing black falling down his arms and coiling around his wrists. He looked furious. Scary. Like the high level demon from hell that he was. My heart started beating wildly.
“So you understand now?” Belvini asked, moving to stand next to the woman. “I have your child. Which means that unless you want to risk his or her life, then you’ll do what I require of you. Because as uncaring as you try to appear, we both know you have a soft spot for women and children.”
Risk’s face was an emotionless mask, but everyone in the room could feel the heat of his fury. “And what is it you require of me, Collector?” he asked, not denying Belvini’s claim.
“Simple,” Belvini answered immediately. “You’ll agree to let me use your blood for the demon rituals. My current supply is running dry. It’s so tedious to find high level demon participants, you know. The ritual is quite costly, and the demons get drained so easily. But I have a feeling you won’t get as...depleted. Not now, at least.” Belvini looked pointedly at me as he spoke, making me squirm.
More and more sulfuric smoke swirled around us, filling the entire office into swirling bouts of embittered gray. “You weren’t up for donating to your own cause?” Risk asked dryly.
Belvini chuckled. “I’m not particularly fond of dying. You might be drawn to the risk associated with testing mortality, but I personally prefer to live. I also prefer to be efficient. Unfortunately, I’ve had to replace too many demons too many times. I needed a more permanent solution, understand? I have big plans for this company, and you’ll be a part of it, whether you like it or not.”
Risk watched him, his face expressionless. “You know that these rituals don’t take just blood, brother. Every possession takes a higher level demon’s essence. Are you even capable of something like that? A ritual of that nature will require a lot of power, and we both know how pathetically weak you are.”
The vein in Belvini’s temple pumped with anger, and I was afraid that he’d bring the fire of hells and destroy us all. I itched to flash away, but Spector was locked down, and I wasn’t ignorant enough to think that I’d actually make it out of here. Besides, I couldn’t leave Crow and Tomb.
“I know my limitations, brother. I also know that you’ll have plenty of power to go around,” Belvini replied. “I plan to mass produce the hybridization of supes. There are a lot of power hungry men and women out there. A friend of mine has just the sorts of connections I need to truly make this a profitable endeavor. My clinical trials have been a success. All we need is you.”
Risk rolled his eyes. “How predictable. You’ve always been a greedy fucker. You’re a collector of all things—money, power, and people. Seems you’ve found the trifecta with Spector.”
That thought was horrifying. I didn’t want Belvini to have more power than he already did.
“You have no right to judge. You’re as much a slave to your nature as the rest of us.”
Risk turned his attention to the woman. She didn’t seem bothered by the threat to her unborn child’s life. She simply shifted impatiently on her heels, like she wanted to get this interrogation over with. “And you’d let him threaten our child, Martha? You’d actually let him kill an innocent?” Risk asked.
“I never wanted this, Risk. I don’t want your spawn,” she said with contempt. “I’m on the council. I’m expected to uphold a certain elemental standard, and that doesn’t include interspecies breeding. This solution is a win-win for me. If you cooperate, Spector has promised me a lot of influence over the council. Their contract would be financially beneficial, and then no one would dare say a word about our offspring. If you don’t agree to help, I’ll be rid of this thing growing inside of me and Belvini can do what he wants with it. A demon’s spawn. Can you imagine the embarrassment? If my parents were alive, they would disown me.”
I found myself baring my fangs in a quiet growl. My spider and I really didn’t like her. What kind of heartless bitch was okay with giving up their child to a monster like Belvini?
Maybe it was because my own parents rejected me when I was just an infant, but something about her ca
relessness for the life growing inside of her made me rage. I didn’t want Belvini or her to have anything to do with this child.
I wasn’t the only one burning with rage over her words. One second, Risk was standing on the other side of the desk. The next, he was in front of her, his hand wrapped around her throat. Her eyes went wide with fear at his sudden intrusion, and though she tried to jerk away, she couldn’t get out of his grip.
“You don’t deserve to carry any child, let alone mine,” he growled, squeezing her throat one more time before dropping his hand to her rounded belly. The smoke still spilling out of his sleeves coiled around it like a caress. “If you harm her, I will end you,” he said, his tone so chilling that even the hairs on my neck rose up to attention. “Do you hear me? She’s mine.”
I didn’t know how Risk knew that she was carrying a girl, but I did know that his promise was genuine. I had zero doubt that he would fulfill his word and kill the councilwoman.
When he dropped his hand from her belly and stepped away, the woman finally snapped out of her frozen shock and backed up, anger trying to cover up her fear. “Y-You don’t have the right to touch me,” she stammered, clutching the reddened part of her throat where his fingers had dug in. “And you’re not calling the shots. Belvini is.”
“Indeed I am,” Belvini said, beaming. He pressed a button on his phone, and a team of Spector guards came in, guns cocked and at the ready, and they didn’t hesitate to surround Risk and me. “We are hosting a demonstration for the council in a few days. There, you’ll get more of an inside look at how our business works. This doesn’t have to be an unfriendly deal, Risk. I think you might actually like the arrangement—and benefits—I have planned. My guards will show you to your rooms now.”
I recoiled as two of the guards grabbed hold of my arms.
“Your blood will no doubt summon very powerful demons for my new customers. I’m looking forward to it,” Belvini said with uncontained glee.
Risk didn’t even spare the guards a look as they lined up at his back. Fear was dripping out of me in steady streams of webs that fell at my feet.
But then, a wide, cocky smirk suddenly spread across Risk’s face. It chilled me all the way down to my bones. “You sent her on purpose, didn’t you?”
Belvini grinned maniacally. “What ever do you mean?”
Risk cocked his head in my direction. “My new pet you sent to retrieve me. Black Widow. Curious abilities, that one. Strength, webs, lure, sexual cannibalism...” he purred, making it sound like a delicacy. “It’s rotten luck for the ones she feeds from…unless she takes them as a mate.”
As Risk’s words sunk in, hot tears collected in my eyes. Certainly Belvini didn’t intend for me to mate Risk? That would mean all of this was a sham.
“I’m very aware of my hybrid’s abilities, Risk. I created her, after all. We’d been studying how her mating works, even tested it on a hybrid to see how she chose. I figured her spider wanted an organic mating, which is why I sent her to collect you. She performed exactly the way I’d hoped she would.”
The blood drained from my face. Risk’s grin widened, and he pulled down the collar of his dress shirt, revealing the red hourglass mark right there on his skin. “Hmm, it does appear that way,” Risk replied, looking like the cat that just ate the canary. “Such a pleasant welcome basket from Spector, brother. I knew the moment she stepped foot in that casino what you had planned. I’d been hearing whispers, you know.” Releasing his collar, he started walking toward the door unassisted, while the wary guards followed after him. “I think this could be a fun arrangement. The risk appeals to me. I’m glad you reached out, and even more glad for the delicious taste of invincibility you’ve gifted me with.”
Belvini nodded. “I’m a good man to be in business with, Risk. I’m glad you recognize it.”
Risk paused at the door to speak once more. “I’ll supply whatever you need. There was no need to threaten my child. But I want a cut of the profits. Wealth, power, status, and all that. Plus, my child’s safety, of course,” he added.
Risk looked at me, and my stomach dropped.
“Oh, and make sure that my new mate gets a nice room to stay in, yes?” Risk said offhandedly over his shoulder. “I might want to enjoy her specific...talents while I’m here.”
Without waiting for a reply, Risk strode out of the room, with eight wary Spector guards trailing after him.
My mind exploded with spitting sparks of betrayal.
It had all been an elaborate ploy. Belvini wanted me to mate Risk. Risk wanted to work for Belvini.
I’d just given them an indestructible high level demon and an endless amount of blood to supply more possession rituals. I’d played right into their hands and made Spector even more powerful than they already were.
Chapter 19
I didn’t pay attention to anything as I was escorted out of Belvini’s office. Escorted was a loose term. I was basically dragged down the hall. Not because Spector was using overt force, but because my body forgot how to move.
I was spinning.
Round and round my mind went, replaying everything that had happened since I stepped foot in the casino. My head was stuck in a tailspin, screeching tires on pavement like the sound of my screams, repercussions spiraling out of control and landing me in the shattered remains of my own choices.
Risk tricked me.
That term was like a physical blow. Like someone had shoved a spiked spoon into my gut and emptied me out like a pumpkin on Halloween. I was hollow. Scraped raw. Lit up from inside my abraded heart with the realization of how thoroughly stupid I’d been.
I’d played right into his and Belvini’s hands. It was so reckless. So...risky. I was disgusted with myself for thinking that Risk actually cared, when all along, he’d simply outsmarted me. I guess that was bound to happen with a gods-knows-how-old high level demon.
As the guards roughly led me down the labyrinth of hallways, I barely had the wherewithal to place one foot in front of the other. I was a mess of thoughts and a jumble of emotions, and every second I replayed how Risk had called me pet or how he’d told Belvini he wanted in on the operation, the knife of betrayal in my gut sunk in deeper.
I scratched at the blood-red hourglass on my throat as if I could skin it off Risk’s neck.
He used me. Used my spider for the sole purpose of becoming indestructible. And now he was my eternal mate. He carried my mark. The mark that was also on Crow and Tomb. It was supposed to be something meaningful. Something that showed our everlasting bond to one another. But now it felt tainted.
I didn’t even realize that tears were spilling down my cheeks until I tasted salt on my lips. My spider was in an agonized ball curled up inside me, refusing to come out. I was still floored that he managed to trick her too. My hands curled into fists in devastated anger, my sharp nails cutting into the skin of my palm, the pain just a fraction of what I was feeling inside. Spiderwebs immediately pushed out of my fingertips and wrapped around the wounds, fitting my hands with silk wrappings. My spider’s way of trying to protect me from our shared heartache.
I hadn’t been paying attention to where the guards were leading me, so when they suddenly stopped, I looked up, surprised to see I was at the cafeteria doors. “You’re not taking me to my cell?”
The one to my right shifted on his booted feet. “Your, uhh, new room isn’t ready. You’re to come here first.”
The fact that I was getting a newer, nicer room because Risk demanded it didn’t do anything to help my mood. I’d rather stay in my cell with what dignity I had left. The guards wouldn’t listen to my requests though, so I didn’t even bother to waste my breath.
Walking past them, I pushed open the cafeteria doors and walked inside, finding only a trickle of Thibault hybrids here and there. Everyone looked over at me as I came in, and I realized belatedly that it was probably because I was still wearing a fuck me dress and boots.
“Oh. My. Gods.”
Ch
eryl’s voice was like whiplash snapping me to attention.
There was a rush of air that blew back my hair as she suddenly flashed in front of me. She grabbed me by the shoulders, staring me up and down with wide eyes. “You had a makeover without me?” she screeched.
I winced at the sound, fairly certain that some of her siren power had slipped through. “Umm, yeah,” I said uncomfortably as the other people in the room continued to stare.
Cheryl’s lips formed a thin line. “That is, like, totally rude, Motley! I would’ve invited you.”
I sighed and knocked her hands off my shoulders before picking a table and slumping down onto the bench. Cheryl followed hot on my heels, staring at me pointedly from across the table until I gave in. “It wasn’t like I was watching romcoms and having a spa day, Cheryl. They dressed me like this for a mission.”
She crossed her arms over her chest, making the buttons on her pink blouse strain. “So you’re saying you didn’t even like it?”
“I’m saying I was forced.”
Her eyes dropped down to my hands. “Is that—” She gasped and snatched up my hand. “You got a manicure too?”
I pulled my hand back and hid it on my lap. Her eyes narrowed. “Let me see your toes.”
“What? No.”
“I knew it!” she exclaimed, pointing at me with accusation. “You got a pedicure too, didn’t you?”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. I wasn’t in the mood for this. I was too raw from what had happened with Risk.
“If you tell me you got a facial, I might never speak to you again,” she said while staring me down.
“I got a facial, Cheryl,” I replied dryly before rolling my eyes. Part of me hoped that there was merit to her threat, and the other half was thankful for this brief moment of normalcy. Cheryl would always be Cheryl.
She opened and closed her mouth, assessing me with her selfish gaze while debating on whether or not she was actually going to go through with her no speaking promise.
