Page 67 of The Devil's Waltz

She laughs softly. “You humans truly are selfish things. You would go so far as to sacrifice your friends to avoid becoming the pride and joy of your parents?”

I blink quickly, fighting back tears. If I agree to her completely insane plan on the condition she lets Phoebe and Grayson go unharmedandshe vows not to hurt my parents or Harper…and then she figured out I was never in a position to keep up my end of the deal, I can only imagine the bloodshed that would follow. She’d be sure to punish me for my disobedience, and it has tension and nausea coiling tightly in my stomach as I grasp at a plausible response. “That’s not—”

“Fair?” she cuts in with a cruel smile. “Very well. Allow me to sweeten the deal for you. To show you I can be generous. Do as I ask, and I will release Xander from the power I hold over him as his queen. You will have the opportunity to have a life with him free from my influence.”

I don’t speak for what feels like a short eternity, because what. The.Fuck?For the life of me, I can’t make sense of what Lucia has just presented me—much less consider my future with Xander, if there even is one at this point. If Iwantone.

My head is spinning so fast, I wish I was still sitting, because my legs are getting shakier by the second. But if I drop into a chair now, that will show weakness I can’t afford to let Lucia witness. It’s bad enough she can hear the race of my pulse and the thunder in my chest.

She exhales a sigh. “Here I am thinking I am making this easy for you.” She glances upward for a moment before meeting my gaze, her eyes narrowing. “Should you refuse me, you will watch me destroy everyone you love, and then my son will destroy you.”

My stomach plummets and my legs move back without conscious thought. Inwardly, I’m screaming and crying and begging for someone to save me. Outwardly, though, my expression is frozen. I briefly consider that I might be going into shock. I’m so out of my element here, my body has shifted into survival mode without me even realizing it. Everything is starting to feel so detached, as if I’m watching this entire exchange from outside of my body.

Lucia purses her lips, as if she’s ensuring her lip color is still even. “It would be quite a shame if that came to fruition, Camille. You see, my son…Xander does not want to hurt you. You might not know how you feel about him, but he does care for you. He battles with it constantly—I can feel it. It is his biggest weakness. He is torn between what he feels for you and the part of him that clings to the demonic nature to serve me. Killing you will hurt him, but I have accepted that.”

I clench my jaw so tight, my molars grind and my temples throb in protest. I’m willing the bile in my throat to recede so I don’t vomit all over my feet. I’m torn between wanting to scream and sob, and not being able to do either is making my chest feel as if it’s about to explode. I stare at her wide eyed and horrified. “You would do that to your own son.”

It isn’t a question, but she doesn’t miss a beat in answering.

“I would, and he would come to understand why.”

I shake my head. “If he cares for me the way you say he does, I wouldn’t be so sure he would.”

Lucia shrugs and somehow makes even that look graceful. “No matter. The choice is yours, Camille.”

I continue shaking my head. “You can’t be serious.”

She smiles, a slow, wicked twist of her lips that makes my blood run cold. “Allow me to show you just how serious I am.”

Before I know what’s happening, Lucia whistles sharply, and the double doors behind me swing open. Two impeccably dressed men storm in, grabbing me by the arms, and drag me out of the room. A scream tears its way up my throat, and I start fighting, trying to break free from their grasp. It’s instantly clear my captors are demons, which means there’s no chance I can overpower them. They haul me down the hallway, barely fazed by my kicking and screaming as I try to dig my nails into their skin. I whip my head back at the sound of Lucia’s melodic chuckle, then quickly turn away as hot tears burn my eyes.

A moment later, one of the demons opens a door, and I’m thrown into another room. This one has no windows, just dark wallpaper and gold sconces that casts the space in soft, warm light. There’s nothing in here, save for a large area rug and two chairs in the middle of the room with—

I choke on a horrified gasp when my eyes land on Phoebe and Grayson slumped over in the chairs with their shoulders pressed against each other’s. At first glance, they look unharmed. No visible injuries, nothing beyond slightly disheveled appearances.

I start toward them, but the demons hold me back with infuriatingly little effort as Lucia waltzes into the room past me at an easy pace and comes to a stop at my friends’ backs.

“Let them go,” I say, my teeth chattering as I shake with a debilitating combination of white-hot anger and bone-chilling fear.

No amount of hunter training would have prepared me for this moment—thisnightmare.

When Lucia rests her hands on each of their shoulders, they stir, stiffening in the chairs they’re sitting in unsecured. She’s not worried about them escaping.

Phoebe looks up first, her terror-filled gaze slamming into me. The blood drains from her face, leaving it pale, and her chest rises and falls quickly as she breathes shallowly. She opens her mouth as if she’s going to speak, but nothing comes out.

“Let. Them. Go,” I repeat in a shaky voice.

One of the demons holding me releases my arm and stalks toward my friends, while the other keeps me from going to them myself. My eyes swim with tears, the heavy weight of helplessness making it hard to breathe as my eyes dart back and forth between my friends and the queen of demons standing over them.

She holds the power, and she fucking knows it. The smug glint in her eyes and the twist of her dark red lips says as much.

The weight on my shoulders, the defeat blanketing me, only adds to the pain filling my entire body. Because whatever happens, whatever I decide, I lose. It’s just a matter ofwhogets hurt in the process of my choice that is somewhat within my power. I can say without an ounce of doubt Lucia crafted it that way to ensure the maximum amount of suffering.

“You don’t have to hurt them,” I say. I am not above begging her to spare them.

She offers a soft laugh, walking closer to me, while one of the demons who led me here takes her place. He trails his fingers along Phoebe’s collarbones before crouching in front of her and gripping her chin to make her look at him.

“No—” I try to take a step forward, but the other demon’s grip on my arm tightens, biting into my skin until I yelp. I clamp my jaw shut, unable to tear my eyes away from my friend as hers fill with unbridled panic. Her gaze goes vacant, her eyes filling with tears that roll silently down her cheeks, and then she lets out a bloodcurdling scream.

---