Page 37 of Hell Bound

I stared at the woman’s back.

I could try again. It would be better than starting another awful cycle of deaths and resurrections and doing nothing about it.

We reached her floor all too soon. Lilith had gone pale with pain and was now openly limping, almost all of her weight supported by the armored guard.

Asmodeus pushed her bedroom door open and gestured, glaring at her imperiously.

The guard hustled Lilith inside, and the pack and I made to follow, but Asmodeus stepped in after them and turned to look at me.

“Go tend to your duties, Morningstar. Your presence is no longer required here.”

With that, he shut the door in my face.

Anger flooded me, and my claws ripped out from my fingernails. I would shred the flesh from his skull—

“Commander, we need to talk.” Jovran’s firm tone cut right through the red haze of rage.

I took a deep breath and exhaled, forcing the rage away.

Lilith would be fine for now. Her only saving grace was that Asmodeus wanted to take his time with her, and she was already injured enough to satisfy his taste for blood. If he wanted to play with her more, he would have her cleaned and healed by Hana.

His lust wasn’t a threat, either. He had never laid his hands on Lilith with desire.

Not even the first time had been driven by carnal appetites.

I made myself turn away from the door before I broke it down with my bare hands, taking off down the hall towards the stairs that led to pack quarters.

“Speak, Jovran.”

My second-in-command was at my side instantly, matching my steps. “Not until we reach the quarters, sir.”

I glanced at him and saw he was toying with his bone rune necklace.

Each piece of it was carved from the bones of Travan, his twin brother. The one who had refused the offer to become a member of Asmodeus’s cursed pack and had paid for it with his life.

I was the one who had exacted that toll on the king’s orders, while Jovran had been forced to watch. He’d already thrown in his lot with the pack, intent on protecting his brother once he also joined.

Travan had surprised us all.

We met no one else on our way to the pack quarters, and Odragir was nowhere to be seen when we arrived.

Jovran slammed the door behind Killian, who immediately curled up on a sagging couch and stared up at me, wearing an absent smile. Deasley began digging in a dresser, and Pypentha had already pulled on the first shirt she’d come across.

“This can’t go on any longer, Commander.” Jovran whirled to face me, the bones in his long blond hair clinking together. “It’s time to give her up.”

I leaned against the wall, my arms crossed over my chest. My only answer was a raised eyebrow.

Jovran turned to Deasley, who had found a holey shirt with the wordNirvanaprinted across it in faded script. “Tell him, Deasley! We can’t keep doing this. He needs to let her go, or this entire pack is going to go down with him.”

Deasley stared at him like a deer in headlights, clutching his shirt to his chest. “Um.”

“She doesn’t evenrememberyou.” Jovran’s nostrils flared as he took a step towards me. “She doesn’t remember a damn thing. You mean nothing to her, Commander. Let the past be the past, and move on for the rest of us.”

My heart clenched at the truth of it, but still… some things were worth fighting for. I hadn’t given up this much to throw it all away now. “What she can or cannot remember doesn’t matter. As long as she is here, we protect her.”

My words carried a weight of finality. Jovran looked around, his eyes landing on Pypentha. She’d sprawled out on the couch next to Killian, her legs draped over his as she tried to hide behind a book. “Pyp?”

Pypentha slowly lowered the book, wincing at Jovran. “I’m sorry, but… I am with the Commander on this one. She is human, Jovran. It would be cruel to cast her aside now when she needs our protection the most. Besides, it’s not as if we can do much, anyway.”

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