Page 110 of Blood So Brutal

A chill filled the air.

“Which is why it will besucha shame to have to kill you.”

Before I could flinch, Asmodeus’s power lashed out at me. Pain erupted through the very depths of my mind, paralyzing me as he moved behind me. He gripped my throat with one hand and held a blade to my chest with the other.

By the time his power released me, Wolf caught up to us.

He breathed heavily with nothing but rage on his face. “Get your fucking hands off my wife.”

Luseyar finally stepped forward and aimed a small dagger at Wolf’s chest. “That sword does not belong to you,” he growled. “I thought I warned you not to do anything stupid.”

I stiffened.

Asmodeus held me in front of him like a barrier, like a protective shield against his own body. I wanted to shiver from the closeness of him, from the sheer proximity of this monster.

Desperation leaked from his every pore.

“After all I did for you!” he yelled. “After everything I sacrificed so you two could stand in power!”

“You did nothing for us,” Wolf argued. “You forced us to act. All you ever wanted was power, and you didn’t care who got hurt in the process!”

Asmodeus laughed again behind me. I shut my eyes, blocking out the sound. “Huntyr is a queen, dammit! She is meant for power!”

Tension dripped from the air around us. Nobody moved a damn muscle, not even Wolf. “She’ll still be a queen, but she’ll rule Scarlata like it was always meant to be ruled: with grace and loyalty.”

“And what do you know of loyalty?” Asmodeus argued. “Did you not betray your new wife time and time again? Did you not lie to her about why you met in Moira, about what you wanted from her?”

Wolf’s hand was still tight on the angel killer weapon, still ready to fight, ready to end it all.

“This isn’t worth it,” I whispered. Asmodeus tightened his grip on my shoulders, and I couldn’t stop the whimper of pain that escaped.

Wolf roared in anger as Luseyar tensed.

“So protective,” Asmodeus tsked. “You’ve always been loyal, I see,” he continued. “Just never to the same person. Do you really think these rebels will protect you? Do you really think they have your best interests at heart?”

Again, I tried to catch his gaze.

Look at me. Focus on me.

But his eyes locked on Asmodeus, blinded with anger, hatred, fear.

“Well, I hate to break it to you,” Asmodeus pushed, “but if you want to kill your own father, you’ll have to kill her, too.”

Chapter 42

Wolf

Each second that passed with his hands on her body sent me fuming into a spiral.

She was no longer a stranger I had been sent to collect. She was no longer my roommate. No longer a mission from my father.

She was mywife.

This would be the last fucking day he laid his vile hands on what was mine.

The weapon in my hand buzzed, as if it reacted to my anger. It wanted to kill Asmodeus just as badly as I did. It was an extension of me, of what I wanted most.

Luseyar lingered inches from me. He raised the dagger in his hands defensively, but he knew the power of the weapon I held.

---