Page 27 of My Demon Desire
I move my hands off his arms reluctantly and he clears his throat.
"I guess I need to give you my answer— about my father and the ritual."
At this moment, I know the only answer I have for him is yes. I'll do anything to help my father, even if it means bonding myself with three monsters. How it doesn’t make sense that I want him too and Thorne. I shouldn't want them, they aren't even human. Though if what Reis is saying is true, then I'm not either, not entirely.
That means I'm part of something bigger than myself. Something ancient and powerful. Already I can feel a connection to Thorne, Reis, and even Kaden that I don't comprehend. In my dreams and the back of my thoughts, I can feel them call out to me as if we're connected by some unknown and invisible bond that I can't explain.
Still. I need to be cautious. "If I agree to the blood binding… I'm not selling my soul to you or any satanic master of yours, right?"
"We have no interest in stealing your soul," he says in a velvety voice that has my knees weakening. "Your body is what we crave."
CHAPTER10
KADEN
Ipush up from the floor and hiss in pain. The wounds on my chest and legs sting with every movement, a reminder of Thorne and Reis's beating.
And now all the ale I drank to dull the guilt I felt sending Annalise away comes roaring back.
She survived a sluagh? I let out a whistle, but I'm stopped by the sting of my cracked and bleeding lip. Nasty creatures sluagh. They were faerie folk gone amuck and sucked out all the blood and souls of their victims, never allowing them to crossover into the afterlife. Thorne found her with one?
How did she survive?
My thoughts of her more than my beaten body keep me from finding peace, unable to shake the image of her face from my mind.
When I had led her out of the house, she looked at me with such fear and confusion, but also a hint of determination. I expected her to die in the woods and told myself it was her or me. That I didn't care what happened to her.
I close my eyes, trying to push the thoughts away and focus on healing my body. But they keep coming back, like a persistent echo that doesn't end.
I can't help but wonder what she's doing right now, if she's thinking of me, if she hates me for putting her in danger.
Why should I fucking care? I don't.
I curse and push myself up to stand. My arm hangs limply at my side. Shit! It's out of place.
Gritting my teeth and welcoming the agonizing pain, I throw my shoulder into the stone wall until there's a snap and the joint jams back into place. I'm left sweating but at least I can move my arm now.
There's nowhere I don't hurt. Thorne would say I deserve every fraction of pain. But he doesn't know what the queen is capable of. How she hates humans and will take a pound of flesh for every slight against her.
I comb my hand over my horns and cringe. Fuck, even they hurt. Enough of this. I have more important things to worry about like how to get Annalise back to the human world without Thorne and Reis ripping the flesh off my bones. But even both of them whaling on me is light compared to the queen's retribution.
I've seen parents betray children and vice versa for the sweet reprieve of release.
I snort out a laugh. Not that she granted death to many. Never me. No matter how much I cursed her.
I open my door and step out into the hallway. There's no scent of food even though it has to be past noon by now. It's quiet and I frown.
Where is everyone?
Grunting because I shouldn't fucking care, I force my body forward, down the hallway to the kitchen. It's empty, but I help myself to another goblet of ale.
Voices whisper and before I can take my drink and leave, Annalise, Reis, and Thorne slip into the kitchen.
When her eyes meet mine, she freezes and part of me wants to know what she's thinking.
"You sent me out at night, knowing you were putting me in danger." Her lips tremble. "Why?"
"Don't fret, it wasn’t personal." I smile, not caring that my lip splits open, and lift my drink before tossing the liquid down my throat.
