Page 21 of Siren Sins
My Blood Stone shielded me from the worst of the blast, but it was Derek who used his own body to protect me when my world cracked like a mirror. My fingertips went numb and spearing needles found their way through my chest. When I looked up, I expected to see Derek’s rage, but I only saw his pain as he endured Jin’s wrath as he protected me.
I was wrong to believe that I’d simply been tossed aside. The Incubus King had plans for me, and that required keeping me alive. I refused that he would protect me for any other reason.
“Foolish girl,” Derek hissed, “you don’t know what you’ve done.”
Pain crashed through me after the blast was done, and when I reached for my locket I realized why.
My locket had turned to ash, and what was left of my Blood Stone fell from my collarbone in tiny shards.
“My wife made a special concoction, it seems. She didn’t want you to lust after me.” He smirked. “She may not lust for me, but she loves me, and she’s certainly the jealous type.” He traced his finger over the blister at my chest. His caress should have made my stomach clench with desire, but I swayed as I felt nothing but the nauseating wave of pain from my wound. “She didn’t care if it cost you the Blood Stone.” His gaze locked onto mine. “Now you’re just like her.”
I blinked. He was right. The resistant wasn’t temporary; it was permanent. My Blood Stone had shattered and infused that power into my chest. My fingers trembled as I covered the gash. I’d never be influenced or aroused by the Incubus King again.
Jin growled, having returned to his human form. “My rage has been tempered,” he announced, and that’s when I found Jet unconscious on the floor. “Sacrifice them both, for all I care. Just make sure we’re able to leave Shanghai soon.” He glared at Derek. “And by soon, I mean at first light.” He waltzed to the door and pushed it open. “I have some virgins to entertain me until you’re ready.” One last glare and he added, “I do hope you can keep good on your promises, or I’ll show you the true force of my power.” He smirked. “That was only a taste.”
When he’d left, Derek hefted Jet over his shoulder. “You heard the dragon,” he said, “time to go unleash some demons.”
“What the hell is wrong with you?” I shrieked. I’d followed Derek to the streets not because he’d expected me to, but because I wasn’t about to let him sacrifice Jet. Without my Blood Stone, I was powerless, but its loss had granted me a permanent resistance to his charm. Nothing was going to hold my tongue. “You’re a bastard if you think I’m going to let you ‘unleash demons.’ Do enlighten me, oh mighty king, how such an act will allow the dragons to leave Shanghai? How that’ll help anything?”
Derek chuckled. “When demons roam the earth, do you think the humans are going to worry about missing virgins or lost hoards of gold? No. This is the kind of distraction that’ll let the dragons roam free and unchecked.” He grinned at my slacked jaw. “It’s time that supernaturals walk free, my dear, all of us.”
I blinked. “Are you mad?”
He shrugged and adjusted the unconscious Jet over his shoulder as he walked. His henchmen followed us from a respectful distance, but Derek didn’t seem inclined to ask for help even though remaining embers burned in the torn shreds of cloth at his back. If he’d been seared by the dragonfire, his wounds had already healed.
“When you’ve been alive as long as I have, you learn that the humans are the enemy.” He frowned. “On a one-to-one basis, they’re weak and fragile, but they outnumber us by the billions. It’s why supernaturals have been forced to hide in the shadows since the dawn of time.” His gaze found mine, and even if I wasn’t impacted by his magic anymore, I could appreciate the attractive lines of his jaw. They went hard before he spoke. “It’s time to even the odds.”
I scoffed. “Demonspawn? Seriously? That’s your solution to humans hunting dragons down if they knew they existed?”
“The dragons aren’t the only ones,” he snapped. “I’m tired of hiding, we all are. Demonspawn are supernaturals, just misunderstood. We all have darkness. They deserve to be a part of this world just as much as you and I. We’re no different, trapped behind a veil while the humans roam free.” He turned and began his march anew. “If I have to unleash hell on earth to change that, then so be it.”
The Blood Canals
Sonya
“You’re not going to sacrifice him, are you?” I asked with a hysterical lilt to my voice as I followed Derek into the confines of an elevator. Two of his men followed us inside, both leering at me with lustful gazes. Apparently losing my Blood Stone hadn’t made me lose the force of my allure. I growled. “Tell your sons to stop looking at me like that.”
He smirked and gave the impossibly handsome bodyguards a nod. Both immediately averted their gazes while one produced a key and inserted it into the elevator panel’s slot.
Derek leaned against the cold bars as we descended to a secret level illuminated by red numbers, Jet still unconscious on his shoulder. “You may think me a monster, Sonya, but I assure you, I’m not the monster here. I’m trying to make right by the world.” He gave me a mournful glance. “Had I known it would have cost your affections, I would have done things differently.”
“Yeah, a girl loves to be used in political games.”
He smirked. “I was always going to save you from the big bad dragon after he gave me what I needed.” His gaze fell on Jet.
I gasped. “Holy shit, did you plan on me seducing Jet?” My mouth hung open as I realized that I’d done exactly as the Incubus King had expected. “You wanted it to play out like this all along.”
He sighed. “Yes, albeit, I didn’t know about my wife’s little scheme. Clever minx.”
When the doors opened, I shielded my eyes against the unexpected flair of light. “The hell?” I asked.
“Now, dear,” Derek chided, “I wouldn’t curse in the presence of Angelstone.”
With a growl, I followed him into the brilliant halls. My vision fought to adjust, revealing limp bodies strewn across velvet sofas. “What happened to them?”
Derek frowned. “It seems things are escalating. We need to get Jet with the other dragons, fast.”
In spite of my distrust of the Incubus King, he had Jet, and I’d lost the power of my Blood Stone. I followed him into the halls that burned with light as if the world had caught fire. Heat seared from all directions and my nose wrinkled when I smelled my own flesh starting to cook. “How far in do we need to go?” I asked.
