Page 33 of Hell Bound

“No, I’m not. When you get your memories back, you’ll realize just how funny that question was.” She grinned, and for the first time I realized that when she shifted from her wolf form, her fangs didn’t go away like the rest of theirs. “I’m from the Sangris line of the Tainted Court. My family was the biggest rival for the throne until we were betrayed. And now I’m a beast on the best of days and a blood-sucking bitch on the rest.”

“So you’re… you’re a vampire?”

“That would be the closest human approximation, yes.” I swayed a bit, which Pyp mistook for fear. “Never fear, Queen, I wouldn’t drink from anyone I like without permission.”

I was taking that as a confirmation that she liked me, and I planned to make sure it stayed that way. The smile I sent her was weak though.

Damn, I was exhausted. I hadn’t pushed my body that hard in years; my muscles were screaming their displeasure, along with all the cuts and scrapes.

Of course those were going to make my usual anemia-induced weakness even worse.

“You okay, Lil?” Deasley’s concerned expression was sweet, but when I glanced forward, I saw Lucifer’s shoulders stiffen. He might appear out of earshot, but he could definitely hear everything we were saying.

I wasn’t about to let him think I was even weaker than he already did.

“Yeah, all good. That was just a healthy jog. Gotta stay in shape, right?” And running through a stygian forest with black-barked trees that seemed to reach out for me as I sprinted by was exactly the same as my morning runs in Miami.

“You’ll have to spar with us, then!” Pyp’s excitement made me cringe. Ireallydidn’t want to do that, but I couldn’t back down now.

“Definitely. This seems like a place where knowing how to kick some ass will come in handy.” Before Pyp or Deasley could push the training idea, I turned my attention to Jovran. “What about you? Are you from another court, too?”

“Yes, my Queen.”

Oh, he was gonna make me work for it.

Challenge accepted. I would break this stoic bastard if it took the rest of my days.

And I wasn’t going to think of just how few those days might be.

“Which one?”

“Ossea, my—”

“If you call me ‘queen’ one more time, I will kick your balls back up inside your body.”

Deasley and Pyp guffawed, and Jovran’s eyes rounded in surprise.

“Ossea, Lady Lilith.”

Fine, I’d take it. Better than the alternative.

“What’s your court all about, then?”

“Yeah, Skeletor, tell her all about Ossea.”

Jovran either didn’t get the reference or he’d grown accustomed to Deasley’s snark and ignored it.

“Osseans derive our power from bones. There is much energy stored within, and we’re born able to tap into it.” He absently grazed a pendant that hung from his neck, and when I looked closer, I could see it was a string of runes, all of carved bone and engraved with silver marks.

I was going to ask about it, Deasley clapped a hand on my shoulder and gave a quick shake of his head. The question died on my lips as my vision blurred from a sudden onset of agony.

I hissed in pain from the contact, and it was at that moment that every single cut and bruise I’d racked up during my escape attempt began to throb.

The distraction of conversation had kept the worst of it at bay, but now that the imminent danger of being trampled by a gargantuan beast had passed, my pain receptors had flared back to life.

“What’s wrong?” Deasley snatched his hand away with a frown.

“I think… I think I dislocated something when I jumped. Or maybe when I fell. Or fell again.” Honestly, how long had I spent on the ground? Taking the balcony route had been a stupid idea at best—but thankfully I’d slipped only ten feet above the ground instead of fifty.

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