Page 163 of Hell Bound

“Do not believe you will rule beside me as an equal. I bought you. Iownyou. And if I must be burdened with your presence, I will make sure you understand your place.”

He buried himself to the hilt.

He buried the knife to the same.

Just below my collarbone, a small knife jutted from my body. I was too shocked to do more than stare at it, something within me splintering..

A fracture deep within, past flesh and bone… something in my spirit.

At least until he ripped it out. My scream seemed to come with it… along with something else.

A vital piece of me, now ripped away in a torrent of pain.

He gathered blood from the knife on his fingertips and muttered words I couldn’t make out through my blind pain and panic.

“I thinkI’ll take you to bed and renew my claim on you, darling wife. Remind you and your dog who you belong to.”

I heard his words at my ear, but at the same time, I saw him on top of me, kneeling upright with a bloodied knife in his hand. My body was awash in agony, but it was somehow muted.

I forced my eyes open, my vision a total blur. Asmodeus wasn’t on top of me, but beside me.

My sluggish brain took a moment to put it together. I’d been reliving one of my memories, but Asmodeus’s words had been filtering in as he continued his damn speech.

A blazing rage pushed out everything else.

He’d hurt me in ways I hadn’t even known, and now he was intending to do it again.

Over all of my fucking dead bodies.

I felt around and closed my hand around the first thing it came in contact with. A rock, about the size of my fist. A paltry weapon, but we worked with what we had, right?

He wasn’t looking at my hands, still leaned in close and enjoying the anguish on my face.

Good.

With every ounce of speed I possessed, I swung for his lowered head, aiming for his temple in retribution for my own.

He caught sight of the movement at the last second.

Which was a shame for him.

That slight turn placed the rock directly in his eye.

His roar of pain was a sound I’d never forget, and it warmed my cold, aching heart.

“Sire!”

“My King!”

Both of the guards came running, but Asmodeus halted their process with a single word.

“LEAVE!”

Those footsteps retreated immediately, and I was pretty fucking jealous. Retreat sounded amazing right about now.

One hand clutched over his bleeding eye, Asmodeus buried the other in my hair and yanked up. He lifted me from the ground in a single pull, and I had to wonder how my entire scalp hadn’t come off.

“I’m going to fuck you todeath, you disgusting whore. Over and over again. You’ll never grow stronger, I won’t give you the chance to feed from me. But this time? This time we’ll do one of your favorites.”