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Why did it take the prince claiming me before I finally got the justice I deserved? I hadn’t asked to be brought into this world. Hell, I wasn’t the one that had chosen to lay with a demon so recklessly. It wasn’t easy to obtain medicine when it came to birth control, but I could feel it deep within my soul that my mother hadn’t even tried.
She’d probably allowed herself to get pregnant with the hopes of roping in a man to use to her advantage. Anita just hadn’t planned on it being a demon, resulting in a bastard child. Which meant my blood father had been eliminated not long after he impregnated her, leaving her with a mouth to feed and no extra income likely.
Asher seemed surprised when the first thing I did was turn on my heel and drag the sledgehammer behind me. While he was genuinely confused about what I had in mind, my body knew what I wanted to do even without my mind in agreement. It wasn’t long until I found myself staring at the door that concealed the source of all my hell. The fact the lock had been put back on baffled me.
Anita had gone from keeping me in this endless torment to attempting to conceal it from the rest of the world. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that the thieves hadn’t broken the door down simply because she’d left enough of her goods lying around the house. Easy access meant a quick retreat.
Curling my upper lip, I shifted the sledgehammer behind me before I finally raised it off the ground. The damn thing was heavier than I wanted it to be, yet my growing strength allowed for a solid strike. The wood was far too old to put up much resistance. One blow was enough to completely split it in half. A few kicks from me and the entrance to my personal hell was exposed.
The searing heat of the rage burning through my veins had been enough to give me the strength I needed to obtain that access to the basement, yet that strength seemed to be sapped away by the muggy air that hit me in the face. I simply abandoned the sledgehammer and trailed down the steps empty-handed.
From the way the wood groaned beneath my weight, there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that the sledgehammer would have broken them just from the movement alone. I brushed that thought aside as I quickly reached the bottom of the stairway. All that lay before me and the basement that haunted my dreams was a single step. I couldn’t bring myself to take it, leaving me forced to stare at all the metallic devices that had been left behind.
My eyes found their way over toward the small cage that had been my bed for most of my teenage years. It didn’t matter that I’d hit a growth spurt that left it impossible to move inside. I would still find myself stuffed into it, spending every agonizing minute just struggling to breathe. The lack of room simply ensured I couldn’t get away from Anita.
I didn’t need the faint steps from Asher for my mind to register that he’d descended the stairway and drifted past me into the heart of the basement. “Is this why you asked me where my loyalty lies?”
The prince didn’t answer. He simply jammed his hands into his suit pockets and peered at me in silence.
Flexing my jaw slightly, I surveyed the grim scene. “I wasn’t allowed outside very often. Certainly not when the other neighbors were out. That didn’t mean they weren’t aware that Anita was my mother. I was filthy and underweight. Fresh burns on me every week. Hell, I even had bruises that should have raised concern. They never lifted a finger to help me.”
How could I forget those few memories where a neighbor happened to be outside when Anita would allow me a brief moment in the fading sun? It didn’t matter who saw me. There was always sorrow lurking within their gaze and it was usually mixed with another emotion. Sometimes it was horror, sometimes it was guilt. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that they wished they could simply forget they’d ever seen me.
The bitterness soon fanned on the flame within me, finally prompting me to leave the stairway. I made a beeline past Asher to grab a jug of gasoline that had been tucked into the corner. The fact it was still here left me reeling. Anita had kept it for a scare tactic. I could still remember how she’d threaten to pour it all out on me and bake me alive if I didn’t offer up enough screams from the cigarette burns.
The strong aroma from the gas was enough to leave me nauseated, yet I refused to let myself go still. I didn’t bother unscrewing the cap. I simply twisted my upper body and cast the jug at the brick wall. A surge of peace washed through me when the plastic split from the sudden force, allowing the gas to flow freely onto the damp earth.
The prince drew back slightly before those piercing eyes swung my way. A hint of curiosity swirled within them. Although the words were haunting his mind, he didn’t utter a single word.
A part of me that yearned to retreat upstairs and start unleashing hell upon the rest of the house, to leave it a hollow shell before I set it on fire. Yet, this was the source of all my pain and agony. I’d made a beeline for the basement just because it haunted my nightmares. The rest of the house didn’t matter, not when I rarely saw it. That realization ate away at the desire to ruin the other rooms. I started tearing the basement apart. My mind was fixed on finding that goddamn lighter.
The basement barely contained anything beyond the instruments Anita would use to torment me, leaving very little hiding spaces for it to be. I found myself checking every corner and shadow twice before I acknowledged it wasn’t here. With my luck, it was probably tucked into her pants pocket.
“Quinn.”
I whirled around with a frustrated huff. It took me a moment to realize that Asher was holding up a hand with a small flame dancing on his palm. As soon as our gazes locked, I understood. This bastard had the ability to summon fire and he was more than willing to give me what I sought.
He held it out toward me. “Come.”
The rage burning within me simmered to faint background noise. I didn’t hesitate for long, quickly closing the distance between us. A part of me wondered why he was even asking me to join him when that type of magic simply wasn’t possible for me. It wasn’t until he reached out with his free hand to grab mine and turn it over that it started clicking. I tensed as he tilted his right hand toward my palm, anticipating the flames to scorch my skin.
Aside from an eerie heat, it did nothing more than trickle onto my palm like water and continue burning. I shivered as he transitioned his hand beneath mine to help me remain steady. “Why isn’t it hurting me?”
A soft chuckle escaped Asher. The sound wasn’t loud enough for me to catch the velvet edge in the noise, but it was enough to weaken my knees and almost bring me down. The edges of his lips twitched, the prince no doubt able to sense the surge of desire. “I am a man of many gifts, pet. Not only do I have the ability to pierce your dreams — should I ever have the need to do so again — but my bloodline is naturally gifted with fire. It destroys what I ask while protecting me. Because we are bonded…that protection extends to you.”
An excited shiver ripped down my spine. I sucked in a sharp breath. “So while the house burns…”
“You’ll be unharmed, yes. We can remain here until it is nothing more than mere ashes.” Asher drew his face closer, a wicked glint in his eye. “Should that be your desire.”
“You promised me that you’d corrupt my memories.”
That smirk widened. “Do you still want me to?”
I’d woken from the nightmare with my underwear already wet, Asher’s presence enough to keep my body on fire in its own way. Hearing that unspoke offer again simply made the dampness on the material grow. “I want to ride you while it burns around us,” I breathed.
The prince released a pleased hum, hooking his free arm around the base of my back. One yank was all it took to bring me against him and push his hard cock into my pelvis. “Release the flames, pet,” he growled in my ear. “Set it all on fire until nothing remains.”
That was all the encouragement I needed to tilt my hand further until the flames dropped down onto the gasoline waiting below. It didn’t take much for it to catch fire and it spread rapidly throughout the basement. As soon as it was released, I was drawn into Asher’s arms and escorted upstairs.
