Page 40 of Stolen

And that would be worse than dying.

Chapter Fourteen

VARICK

Midian didn’t bother with dinner this time. He took Given and me straight to the bedchamber and ordered us to strip.

Hunger and lack of sleep played games with my mind, making me wonder if the illusions that danced on the edges of my vision were Midian’s doing or merely the product of my weakening body. My father was there, but so was Laurent. I wanted so badly to look at him, to tell him I was sorry for…everything. For always being so afraid of what we were to each other. For wanting more than he was prepared to give. He’d given me so much. A place at his side despite pressure to marry. A place in his bed. The obedience I craved because I couldn’t control my memories but I needed to control something. He never complained. He never denied me.

I wanted to tell him all these things, but mostly I just wanted to look at him. He’d always been the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.

But I couldn’t risk it. It was bad enough that I lacked the strength to hold Midian’s gaze. I was too tired to keep him out of my head. If he knew how much I longed for Laurent, he’d use it against me. Seeing Laurent on Midian’s face would only make the situation worse.

And it could get worse.

I held this certainty close to my heart as I covered Given’s shivering body. Midian was undoubtedly in her head, too, and the fact that I couldn’t stop him from ravaging her thoughts was harder to swallow than the hunger, fatigue, and hopelessness that threatened to crush me. I did my best not to crush Given as I rested my fingertips on her hip. I stroked her soft skin, trying to communicate as much reassurance as I could under the demon king’s salacious gaze.

Remorseful to the depths of my soul, I buried my face in her neck as I pushed inside her body. To my surprise, she wrapped her legs around my waist and cried out.

And then we were in the Middling.

I reared back, the scent of spring in my nose. “Did I hurt you?”

“No,” she said quickly. “I wanted him to think I was enjoying it.”

“We should return.” It was dangerous to linger, since I had no idea how we appeared to Midian back in the bedchamber. Time in the Middling didn’t always align perfectly with the real world, but I wasn’t knowledgeable enough about Given’s version of the in-between plane to know how hers operated. And this wasn’t the right time to find out.

“I need to talk to you,” she said, levering herself onto her elbows in the grass. She was different now, I realized with a start. She looked rested here, whereas she hadn’t in the bedchamber. And she glowed, her pale skin limned in soft light.

“What happened?” I demanded, touching a strand of her white-blond hair. It twined around my finger like it had a mind of its own. What in the name of all the gods?

“I killed one,” she said.

I forgot about the hair. “A demon?”

She nodded, and then she spoke in a breathless rush. “In my bedchamber. One came out of the wall and then it just kept coming, and then I was across the room but my body was by the hearth. It jumped inside me, Varick. I could feel it, and then I forced it out. By that time, its body was falling apart. It had nowhere to go, so it died. Or at least fled our world.”

“But you aren’t certain.”

She frowned. “As certain as I possibly can be. But listen. If I did this once, I could do it again. I could kill Mi—”

“Don’t,” I said, covering her mouth. To my shame, my hand shook. “Don’t say it, Given, and promise me you won’t try.”

She pulled my hand away and then cupped hers around my jaw. Her thumb brushed my whiskers. “I have to do this,” she whispered. “I have to get us out.”

Fear tried to close my throat. I pressed my forehead against hers and used my Voice. “There are things worse than death. If you try this and fail, he could split your mind open and make you believe anything. Think of the most horrific thing you can imagine and multiply it a hundredfold. It’s not worth the risk. We’ll find another way.”

“What other way?” Our hearts thudded against each other. My cock was still buried inside her, but it wasn’t sexual this time. It was something deeper—a connection we’d forged in two separate worlds. Gently, she pulled my head back, forcing me to meet her sapphire eyes. “You are the strongest male I’ve ever met.”

“I’m not,” I rasped, shaking my head.

She held me fast, stilling the movement. “You are, but you can’t fight lies with your fists. I’m a farseer. I have to believe I received this gift for a reason. What good is power if I don’t use it?”

Something struck me hard in the back of the head. A cry of pain broke from me as the Middling vanished and my body spun through blackness. I hit the bedchamber’s dusty floor with a grunt, my eyes flying open in time to see Midian drag Given from the bed by her hair. She screamed and kicked frantically, dislodging the rumpled sheets.

“NO!” I bellowed, springing to my feet. An arm wrapped around my throat from behind, and my father’s deep voice grated in my ear. “Don’t interfere, son. You’ll make it worse for your whore.”

“Don’t you ever fucking call her that!” I yelled, fighting his grip. It’s not real, I reminded myself. He wasn’t real. None of this was real.

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