by Claire Marta
“His death is on your hands,” the Devil tells her. “His life snuffed out because of your betrayal. You brought this on yourself, my pet.”
Rosella makes no effort to move or answer. Staring into space, she sits awaiting her fate, broken and wrecked.
Abandoning his prisoner, his scrutiny slides up to latch onto each of us, one at a time, with an alarming lack of empathy. “You put this family in danger.”
Rendered speechless, all I can do is watch it play out. Am I to be punished now for my part in deceiving them? Haven’t I paid enough? He knows the truth. All of it. That I had no choice but to obey Arianna. Is he going to take retribution even after everything he’s told me?
Mavi’s astonished expression morphs swiftly to confusion when he circles her to confront her sister.
Cassandra is shaking so badly she can’t stand still. It’s never pleasant standing under the Devil’s wrath. She doesn’t even try to defend herself from the accusation. Fumbling with the material of her long-sleeved sweater, she cowers.
“I’m sorry.” The words come out frightened and hoarse.
Towering over the girl, he inclines in until his lips brush the shell of her ear. “My shy, innocent adopted daughter. Do you think those words will earn you forgiveness? I should leave you in the dungeons to rot or have one of my torturers slice up your flesh for everything you have done. I would take your tongue, but it has its uses.”
“Lucifer,” Mavi warns, trying to intervene.
Raziel takes a step toward them, but I stop him with a quick shake of my head. For all the anger vibrating off him, the Devil has himself in check. His actions decisive. He never executes a move unless he already knows the outcome. Whatever this is building up to, he will direct it as any fine conductor would an orchestra.
“I am Ruler here, Mavi. Family or not, she deceived us. Seduced Rosella with visions of her future to help her hire the vampires who took Jane and endangered our daughter.”
Disbelief still present, Mavi turns to the younger woman. “Why Cass? Why did you do it?”
“Heed my warnings. It’s coming from the dark. I had to stop it from happening. Raz wouldn’t help me. It’s going to happen, and I can’t stop it.” Her scream is hysterical as if every atom of her being is crying out. “I did this for you all. She’s the end of everything. The loose pebble that starts the avalanche. It’s all coming tumbling down.” Finger trembling to point at me accusingly, she bursts into tears, her slender frame wracked with sobs, blue eyes wild.
Gathering Cassandra into her arms, Mavi rocks her frantic sister, trying to give comfort. “It’s ok. It’s ok. Everything is going to be ok.” She chants, voice soft. “Whatever it is, we’ll stop it.”
Prowling to the prisoner still kneeling on the floor, the Devil grabs a fistful of her hair. Yanking Rosella up until she’s dangling in his grip, the corners of his mouth twist in sadistic rage. She screams fighting in his grasp, eyes wide and disturbed. Thrusting his hand through her chest with fearsome ease, it vanishes into the cavity. The sound of tearing reverberates around the room, blood gushing onto the marble beneath them. Rosella’s breathing labored, her nails dig frantically at his robed chest. Lucifer’s merciless features remain pitiless and brutal. With a final jerk, he rips her heart from its home. Discarding her carcass. He turns on his heels. The fragile organ still beats in his bloodied hand, the rhythm ebbing until it thumps its last.
“Take Cassandra to a cell,” the Devil commands, delivering the lifeless pulp into the palm of one of the waiting guards. “Chain her to the wall and leave the carcass of her accomplice somewhere she can watch it. No one is to remove it. I want her to witness as it decomposes and the maggots feast on the festering flesh. The only thing she will have to eat is that heart, and if she doesn’t want it, she’ll starve.”
Cassandra shrieks when she’s wrenched from Mavi. Moving to intercept them with a deadly look, Lucifer restrains his mate with a hand on her arm. Kicking, thrashing, the dark-haired girl is towed from the room.
Stunned, nausea rolling in my stomach, I gaze up into Raziel’s tormented face. He wants to go after her. She’s his sister blood or not. I know he loves her like one. Yet we both know that’s impossible. Going against Lucifer would get us both punished. His show of violence with his ex-mistress was a clear indication to us all what he is capable of if he’d chosen to turn on Cassandra. Under all his charm and cunning, he’s monstrous and immoral. The girl’s accusation hangs in the air around us. Like the gentle beat of a butterfly’s wings affecting a storm, am I somehow the harbinger of doom? Is my presence or my actions the cause of impending danger? Dread clenches, bony fingers around my throat.
The second they leave, Mavi rounds on him with fire and anger. “What she did was stupid, but no one came to real harm. We can’t leave her in that state.”
Returning to his seat, the Devil re-takes his throne, crimson dripping from his hand. “Cassandra let blind emotion govern her actions. There must be punishment. This is lenient to what I could do to her, my Flower, you know that.”
“Whatever she’s seeing is terrifying her. She’s rarely been wrong in her predictions. If something is coming, we need to be ready for it not splintered apart.” Mavi’s gaze bounces my way. “If we’re being played or betrayed, we eradicate the problem with extreme force just like you promised.”
I see the determination to protect her sister at any cost. Kill anyone or anything to assure it. Blue eyes cold, the killer she is lurks just beneath the surface. She’d end me in a heartbeat.
“I’m not a threat to any of you,” I swear to her more than aware of Raziel’s muscular frame wrapping itself around me from behind, his nature to defend me on overdrive. “This is my home, and I would never do anything to jeopardize that, especially now. I’ll do whatever it takes to prove that.” Pushing free from the safety of his arms, I stand tall under her glare. I don’t need him to keep me safe. Standing on my own two feet, I can defend myself. I’ll never cower again or doubt myself. If this is to be my new family, then I have to assert my place in it. I won’t be a doormat. I’ll learn to hold my ground and be as ferocious as any of them. Just as heartless and wicked.
“Back off, Mavi.” Raz’s warning is a low growl. “I can vouch for my woman, so forget about all those sick and depraved things your cooking up to do to her in your head.”
Irises glowing with unholy light, Lucifer gazes into the flames still dancing and crackling in the hearth to his left. “Time in the dungeons will give Cassandra something to think about, but she will have to earn trust again with us all, and she must realize that. If she’s foreseeing danger, it will give her the opportunity to sort through the mess to explain to us what has brought on her actions. If there is a threat, it will be eliminated. Unchecked impulses, even to protect those she holds dear, can spiral into chaos. Cassandra has barely scratched the surface of what she is capable of, and I will not have her bring everything I have built down on some misplaced idea she can handle things alone.”
Epilogue
Raziel
“Pregnant. We’re pregnant…” Stunned, I stare into Jane’s wary face. A dab of cake icing is on the end of her cute freckled nose. The scent of baking hangs heavily in the kitchen. Cakes, muffins, and glazed donuts of every size, color, and description clutter every surface.
Asking her why she’s in a frenzy of cooking the last few days and the answer isn’t what I was expecting. It’s blown me away.
Winding her arms around my neck, she searches my eyes anxiously. “Yes…Are you happy?”
“Seriously?”
Tongue swiping out nervously to lick her glossed lips, it leaves a sheen of saliva along her mouth. “Yes, Raz. We’re having a baby.”
“I thought we couldn’t…” Dumbly I continue to gape.
“It’s a miracle! Are you?”
“Happy?” Dipping, I lick the sugary frosting from the tip of her nose. “No…I’m fucking ecstatic but only because I know how much it means to you. Kid
or not, you’re still mine, Jane, and I love you either way.” Her inner strength and resilience still amaze me. She’s risen from the ashes of her old life to become confident and dazzling. Although the Devil refused to let us leave, she’s made the fortress her home. My rooms hers. An increasing fierceness within her surges, assuring her role among the rest of our mismatched family. She fights to be heard. Her opinions expressed. Any worries that she’d be crushed have been put to rest. She may not be corrupt and depraved, but her heart and sweetness bring something to our household that’s always been lacking. Compassion. Understanding. Kindness.
Cupping my face, she gently caresses my stubbled jaw with such a look of tenderness it makes me catch my breath. “I love you, too, Raziel. My Angel in the dark. I wasn’t supposed to feel anything for you, but you broke down the walls to my guarded heart. I know this isn’t where we planned to be, but as long as you’re with me, I don’t care.” Lips curving up in an enticing smile, her irises warm to golden honey.
For a heartbeat, I’m frozen. She’s finally said the words. Deep down I couldn’t stop the doubts. A crushing despair she might never feel the same and leave. The insecurities that have been shadowing me drop away. I’ve been alone for so long before her I’d never let myself feel or care about that emotion. Hadn’t realized how desperately I need the kind of acceptance she offers me. Swooping in, I conquer her mouth in a kiss that leaves us both breathless. Romantic shit only goes so far. Tonight, I’ll eat out her pussy and ass with the left-over cake frosting. My sweet treat while I make her scream my name.
“My beautiful rainbow. You’ve been mine since the second you stepped through that portal. You humble me, Jane, with your acceptance and love. I don’t care who you’re related to. What matters is us. I’ll do whatever I have to, to keep you safe. Risk the wrath of Heaven and Hell if it makes you happy.” Dropping to my knees in front of her, I push up her shirt gently, placing my hand on her smooth stomach, caressing the area carefully. “Hey in there, this is your daddy. We don’t know each other yet, but I want you to know you’re loved by both your parents, and when we finally get to meet you in person, there will be nothing in existence that will ever tear us apart.” I vow reverently to our unborn child.
Jane’s fingers tangle in my short hair, clenching and unclenching with unspoken emotions. Tears shimmer on her dark eyelashes, and I know they’re from happiness. “It might be twins,” she confides shakily.
“Twins?”
“I…it’s just a feeling I have.”
Rising, I kiss her again with passion and all the fire in my heart. I don’t care how many babies we have as long as she’s happy. She deserves it after everything in her past.
“Can you imagine the destructive power they’re going to have, if you’re right?” Grinning smugly, I grip onto her hips pulling her pelvis into mine then hesitate. Fuck. I need to be gentler with her. All the rough sex is going to have to stop. We’ve already christened every surface in the kitchen multiple times. The library is also one of our favorite spots to get frisky. Has she been working too hard? On her feet for too long? I frown, my good mood dimming.
One elegant eyebrow rises slightly. “Compared to baby Juliana?”
“Finding a sitter is going to be non-fucking existent for them.”
Gabriel? That severe son of a bitch loves having Mavi’s baby around. Maybe he’ll enjoy babysitting them all. Could he cope with three? Would Cease Fire still be standing afterward? Why the hell would I want my children out of my sight? There are too many shady fuckers hanging out there. Protective instincts reinforce the ones already in place for my mate. When it comes to Jane, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do. I’ll be unstoppable for all of them. Take a thousand lives to keep them safe.
“Any news on Cass?” Jane’s soft enquiry snaps me from my freaking out thoughts.
“I’m surprised you don’t hate her after everything she did,” I reply, seeing her worried expression. “She attempted to have you murdered.”
“It’s hard to hate when I saw how terrified she was. What I want is her reasons behind her trying to have me killed. What horrific vision drove her to such motives?”
That thought has also been rolling around none stop in my head. Cass has never acted in this way before. She’s not violent. Never shown any homicidal tendencies. Messed up, yes, but she’s kind and compassionate. Human enough to know right from wrong. What she did was cold, calculating, and well thought out. Premeditated. Would she try to have Jane slain a second time? Mavi’s lingering suspicion also remains even though I’ve assured her Jane isn’t a threat. There’s no doubt in my mind that she’d never betray us. Whatever Cassandra is seeing, it’s not my fairy.
Since returning to my position at the fortress, I’ve been teaching her how to fight properly. Her powers are also flourishing. Practice and training out in the snowy wilderness have started to hone her skills. If the situation ever arises, Jane will be able to take down her foes without even batting an eyelash.
Bringing my mate’s head into my chest protectively, I lay my cheek against her rainbow streaked hair. “It’s Cass’s eighteenth birthday tomorrow.”
A week locked in the dungeons and the girl has been shown no reprieve. We’ve all been forbidden to visit her. All I’ve been burning to do is shake her to get some answers. The truth behind her predictions. Although I haven’t experienced the dream I’d had in the Devil’s throne room again, it leaves me with a sense of unease. I’m not even a hundred percent sure that’s what it was. It’s as if I’d touched something beyond my knowledge. Connected with something that hadn’t been meant for me. A vision? Only Cassandra can tell me if it was. She’d warned me of a disturbance in the dark. Had I somehow seen it too?
“Lucifer will let her out,” Jane assures me, her vanilla scent bewitching as it curls around my senses. “Maybe we can finally get some sense out of her now things have calmed down.”
A growl at the Devil’s name trickles from my lips. I’m still angry over everything that he put us through. How he played warfare with our hearts. Manuevuered us all for his own means. He rarely gives second chances. There’s no way he’s about to let Cassandra’s precious visions slip through his fingers. She’s far too valuable for that. The last of her bloodline.
“Mavi will have him by the balls, if he doesn’t release her,” Jane continues quietly. “You watch. His mate will make him cave. No sex has him cranky already, so I can see him cracking if he wants to sleep with her again. She’s as desperate for answers as I am.”
I love the way she’s been picking up my filthy words. Swearing when she doesn’t realize it. Coaxing them out of her when we’re fucking is one of my favorite pastimes. Lifting Jane up, I sit her on the kitchen counter. Moving between her legs, my teeth nip playfully at her throat. “I hope you’re done baking because the only place I’m planning to have you the rest of the day is moaning on the end of my cock.”
Hurrying footsteps interrupt us.
Foreboding sweeps over me as cold as the grave as Mavi enters through the kitchen door. Blue eyes, large and haunted, she’s as pale as a ghost. “Cassandra’s gone missing.”
Playlist
Watch Me – The Phantoms
My Kind of Night – The Hot Damns
Ready Set Let’s Go – Sam Tinnesz
Soldier – Fleurie
Welcome to the Fire - Willyecho
Heroes – Zayde Wolf
Hellfire – Barns Courtney
The Devil You Know – X Ambassadors
The Ceasefire Series
If you haven’t read the first two books, find them here!
The Devil You Know
Buy Here
The Devil’s Plaything
Buy Here
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br /> About the Author
Claire Marta has a passion for writing and finally took the plunge and became published with her first book, Frostbite, Book One in The Hunter Chronicles.
She has always been a fan of everything paranormal, especially romance books.
A native Brit, she lives in Italy with her husband and daughter. When she is not writing, and drinking copious amounts of tea, she enjoys taking photos of her adoptive country, trying to stay fit with running, reading amazing books and being a stay at home mother.
[email protected]
Also by Claire Marta
The Hunter Chronicles Series
Frostbite (book one)
Dark Desires (book two)
Claimed by Magic (book three)
The Serpents Kiss (book four)
Twitch (book five)
Standalones
Coloring Under The Covers
