Page 36 of Demons and Debts
‘Why you?’ I wonder aloud.
‘I don't want this,’ she says, trying to pull away. ‘Whatever tricks you play with my mind with your supey mojo …’
Supey mojo?I almost smile. She’s funny.
‘…I don't want this. I didn't want it last night and I don't want it now, so unless you want me to start screaming this fucking place down, let me go.’
I do because sheisout of bounds and right now all I'm doing is torturing myself. I'm not so far gone that I'll make her do anything against her will. At least I hope I’m not. But I know it won't be long before I am. She’s not safe here.
‘Get out,’ I say.
She takes a step back, but that’s all. Even though she could escape me, she doesn’t, and I’m a hair’s breadth away from losing control. I need her out of my sight. On a whim, I let her see the real me, the demon behind the human facade. The scars are the first to appear, then the horns grow out of my skull. My muscles become even more defined as my skin turns from thin and human to the thick, greyish sandpaper hide of an incubus in his prime. My long tail flicks out behind me.
Her eyes widen as she takes in the changes happening so quickly before her. Still, she doesn't run. She's staring at my face, but not in the abhorrence that I've come to expect. That in itself gives me pause. Her hand comes up and a finger touches my bicep innocuously. There’s nothing seductive about it.At all.And yet I ache. For the first time in months, my dick is hard at the right time and it’s for a girl I can’t have. What the fuck?
Her whole hand is stroking my arm now. Where I find the will not to throw her on the bed and rut her senseless, I’ll never know. I breathe out slowly and I step towards her again. She’s frozen, her face blank, but she’s still stroking me.
I lean close, whispering in her ear, ‘If you don't leave right now, I’m going to lull you and then fuck you on that bed over there. I’m going to feed from you, bliss you out of your mind and leave you there like I did that girl you found here last night. And then I’ll tell the other Iron I’s. Vic will make you sign the contract and then you’ll be ours to do what we like with.’
My words get through to her. I hear her blood pumping faster, her heart rate increasing sharply at my threats. Her mouth opens but no sound comes out.
I force myself to put some distance between us. ‘Get. Out.’
The spell is broken. She turns and runs, knocking into the door jamb hard as she scrambles out of my room. I hear the creaks of her racing down the hall and Theo’s door slams a moment later.
I catch my monstrous reflection in the mirror.Fuck.I look worse than I thought. Why didn’t she scream? Why did I have tomakeher run?
Maybe I was using my power on her a little. It’s hard to tell these days to be honest.
I make the demon recede as I watch.
My phone vibrates and I draw it out of my pocket. It’s Vic.
I answer it.
‘We need to talk.’
I don’t say anything, walking into the corridor as I end the call and glancing at Theo’s room. There’s a two-inch thick oak door between me and the girl, but it might as well be an ocean. Let’s hope for the MC’s sake that it stays that way.
8
JANE
Islam the door behind me, making the wall shake. I sit on the bed and put my head in my hands and then I stand up again a moment later, pacing around the room. My mind is in overdrive, everything all in a jumble. I keep going through everything that just happened over and over and over from the moment he pulled me into his room; how he touched me, the things he said, the things Isaw. There's a rational part of my brain that's telling me to calm down. But I can barely hear it above the roar of everything else.
I sit down on the bed again, and then stand straight back up. I'm too wired. Upset. I realize that my cheeks are wet. I need to go somewhere where I can be alone for a while, and no one will find me. There’s nowhere to hide in this room, but the bathroom has a lock on the inside. I go in and push the button in the center of the handle after I close myself in, sinking to the floor by the door and staring at nothing.
I don’t know how long I stay like that, but my legs are cramping and I’m uncomfortable. I know water will help, so I get rid of my clothes and turn on the shower. I step under the hot spray, sitting down on the tiles and focusing on the water hitting my shoulders, streaming down my body, dripping off the end of my nose as I stare at the dark tiles beneath me.
I start trying to detangle the mess in my head. Sie. I shouldn’t have even gone near his room. He’s so big, so mean, so threatening, sointense. I’m rattled. I should be terrified of him. Maybe I am. But there was something … I put my head in my hands, my mind going in circles until it exhausts itself. I don't move and it's a long time before I stand up and turn off the water.
The bathroom’s really steamy and I grab one of the towels and wrap myself in it. I don't want to leave my sanctuary, so I sit on the closed toilet seat. I feel myself swaying. I've probably been rocking just a little bit this whole time because it makes me feel better.
My head throbs, my ribs ache, and my shoulder … I look down and find a fresh bruise. I remember hitting something while I was trying to get away.
I hear Theo’s bedroom door open, and I stand up, trying to compose myself. My time is up, and no one needs to know about this.
Theo calls my name and I take a deep breath as I open the door, making sure the towel is secure. The coldness of the air outside the bathroom makes me shiver. The lights are on in the room. It’s dark out.
