Page 121 of I Accidentally Summoned A Demon
Kat twisted the scarf around her hands. “They were listening?” Melchizedek nodded. “What did they say? Will they help?”
“Do you still have faith, Katherine?”
Kat bit her lip, her gaze shifting to a Bible resting on a pew before she met Melchizedek’s gaze. Too many things had happened that could’ve been worse but weren’t. That had to mean someone was watching. “Yes.”
“Good.” Melchizedek smiled, setting his hands on her shaking ones, where her fingers numbed from holding the scarf so tight. “Because they know the plans they have for you. And they know the plans they have for Nex.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means,” Melchizedek squeezed her hands, “don’t lose faith. Love perseveres.”
Chapter 44
Love Always Hopes
Ifnotforthechains suspending his body, Nex would’ve been on the ground. With no energy left, he hung, ignoring the metal around his wrists cutting into his skin from the weight of hunching over. Venandi and Sicarius tried to keep him upright, but they too had little strength.
Venandi lifted her head and struggled to stand. She licked Nex’s face and whined.
“I know.” His voice was hoarse. “I’m sorry.”
“Aw.” Poena’s taunt filled the cave. Nex and his hounds stiffened. “How sweet it all is. Did you miss me?”
Nex didn’t bother to lift his head because he knew what was coming. He’d hoped for a longer break before the torture continued, but hope was a silly thing to have in a place so dark.
“Don’t tell me I broke you already.” Poena pouted and nudged Nex’s leg with her foot. “Where’s that fighting spirit?”
He had it still. Plenty of it. But the highest priority was getting his hounds out of there and returning to Katherine. That meant he had to be smart. If he fought back, Poena would enjoy it too much. The punishment would last longer the more fun she had. If he bored her, she’d want to move on.
“Nex.” Poena whined, unsheathed a knife strapped to her thigh, and raised it to his neck. She grabbed the back of his head and jerked it up, so he had to look at her. “Come on. You can do better than that. I want to see what impressed Lilith so much she made you a high rank. Don’t tell me my torture was too much after I was passed up for promotion because ofyou.”
Nex didn’t answer. One of the reasons Lilith let Poena take the lead on his punishment was because there was no chance Poena would take pity on him. She hadn’t liked Nex since the day Lilith chose him over her to advance up the ranks when Nex had far less experience. Poena remained bitter, convinced the only reason Nex moved up was because Lilith wanted something else from him.
“Nothing to say?” She twirled the knife. “After all these years of you supposedly being the stronger, smarter one, I have you speechless?You?” She laughed. “I don’t think anyone thought you were capable of being silenced. Your pet human made you weak.”
Nex wanted to respond, but her impatience and boredom wouldn’t outlast his determination. She might lash out at him, but she’d get sick of no one playing her game. Using all his self-restraint, he thought of Katherine and bit his tongue. No matter what he had to do, he’d find a way back to her.
“Hmm.” Poena dragged the blade across his skin, leaving pink marks but not drawing blood. “I think I know what will get a reaction. I wonder what your pet human is up to right now. Should I find out?”
Nex narrowed his eyes. The action made Poena’s smile grow wider.
“Oh, there it is.” She flicked the knife to the corner of his eye. “A reaction. I bet it would be better with her here.” She released Nex and stepped toward the exit. “Perhaps I ought to find her and bring her here. Let her see all thefunwe’ve had.”
“You can’t go near her,” Nex said, trying to breathe through his racing heart. “Lilith finally chose you over me. You want to risk pissing her off, get her in deeper shit by bringing a pure soul down here?”
Poena laughed. “Nice try. Lilith gave me freedom to handle this how I like. The human isn’t off-limits. In fact, Lilith said this human may be the only way we truly make you understand what happens when you don’t play by our rules.”
“She has a church full of people who love her.” He wanted to rip through the chains, but he wasn’t strong enough, and it would only fuel Poena’s desire to follow through with her threat. “They’ll talk. They’ll ask questions. You’ll create more problems, and Lilith will resent you for not handling it as discreetly as I would’ve. She’ll compare your ability to mine. You know she will. I set a standard you’ll never reach if you involve humans.”
Poena’s smile faltered. “You’re awfully full of yourself for someone who’s responsible for a fellow demon’s death.” She gestured to the pile of dust-like stone that used to be Lucian. “For someone responsible for the pain of his hounds.” She spat at his bleeding hounds. “For someone who’s going to be responsible for the death of a woman he supposedly loved. I was going to save her for the finale, but you’ve moved up my timeline with your pathetic attempt at getting in my head.” She crouched and grabbed his chin, a wicked smile on her lips. “Excuse me while I fetch her. It may take some time. I can’t bring a human down here andnotgive her a tour. I can’tnotintroduce her to our many demons who haven’t earned the freedom of travel and who would love to know what it feels like to have a human body warm them.”
Calm shattered, he snapped his head forward into Poena’s nose with a satisfyingcrack. “You fucking touch her, I’ll spend the rest of eternity making your life unbearable. Lilith will forgive me eventually. I’ll steal your rankagain, then I’ll fucking tear you apart until you beg to go to The Praeteritus. And I’ll have centuries of pent-up anger leading to that moment, so don’t you fuckingthinkabout touching her.”
Poena growled and reset her nose before grabbing her dagger. “Because of that outburst, I’m going to bring all those unforgiving demons into this dungeon, so you have to watch her suffer. Until I return, let this serve as a reminder that I have no problem taking this to a cruel level, even by demon standards.” She lifted her blade and stabbed it down on Venandi’s head.
A shrill ring sounded like metal on metal. Despite the force, the blade didn’t touch Venandi.
Poena frowned and brought the knife down again, but it never touched her. Poena growled and tried Sicarius, but the same thing happened. Last, she tried Nex, shoving the blade toward his chest, but it collided with an invisible force.
