Page 39 of Hell Sent

There was surprise in her voice.Azreth went still. A cold feeling swept over him, extinguishing the warmth. He looked up at her, searching her face.

He had not thought about what would happen in the future, after she didn’t need him anymore. Of course she would leave him eventually.

He pulled his hand away from hers. “Yes.”

She looked at him closely. “What do you mean by that?”

It was like she was taunting him. She was challenging him to admit what he meant—that he’d thought they would stay together and help each other, and he hadn’t thought about when that arrangement would end.

She must have thought he was a fool. And she was right. She must have been privately laughing at him for believing that she wanted his company or that she thought he was something more than a monster.

Suddenly he wanted to be cold to her. He wanted to make her feel what he felt. “You will stay by my side while I remain on your plane,” he said. “That is all.”

“That’s all?”

“Yes.”

She crossed her arms. “Perhaps you should ask me what I plan to do, instead of telling me.”

“What do you plan to do?”

“I don’t know. I hadn’t decided yet, and I was considering my options.”

If she left him, he would either have to force other mortals to feed him, offer himself to the disgusting cultists, or die.

She could take everything from him. Maybe it wasn’t fair to her that he depended on her in order to live, but it wasn’t fair to him, either.And besides that, the thought of her leaving him made that flame in his heart burn so hot that it became like a lump of iron in his chest.

Anger and fear made him increasingly stupid. Words spilled from his mouth before he could stop them. “You will remain with me, and I will feed from you.”

She raised an eyebrow sharply. “Is that a command?”

“If it must be.”

Anger billowed from her. It made him nauseous. “You can’t do that. You can’t tell me what to do. You’re not my master.”

“There is nothing you can do to stop me. You are weak.”

Her jaw dropped. She slammed her book shut, and it seemed like she’d barely restrained herself from kicking it away before she stood up. “How dare you talk to me like this?”

He stood up too, so that he could look down on her. “You give me no choice,” he said through his teeth, baring his fangs. “I must feed, or I will grow weak and die. There is no other option.”

“Perhaps I would have continued to help you if you had just asked me. Did you think of that?”

“You said you were considering leaving me.”

“So you’ve decided to force me to stay?”

“If you refuse, you will force my hand!”

“So if I tried to leave you, you would keep me against my will? And how will you feed from me? Do you plan to hold me down and torture me?”

Was that what she thought of him?

Of course. Of course it was. Wasn’t that exactly what he was threatening her with?

“I do not want to hurt you.” Just the idea of it caused him a pain that was almost physical.

“Then what is your plan, exactly? How will you feed from me if I’m unwilling?”

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