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CAMEO WAS PROPPED against the headboard of her bed. Her friends had been in and out of her room for several days, welcoming her home, checking on her.
Torin sat in a chair he’d pulled close, but out of reaching distance. She wanted so badly to curl up in his lap, to feel his arms wrap around her and offer comfort, but she didn’t dare. Would never dare, for any reason. As miserable as her life was, touch and the connection with others was all she had. She couldn’t give them up, become a carrier of disease. Not for any man, even this one.
Also, there was a stranger in her room. A beautiful blonde who leaned against the closed door, arms crossed, watching everything through intelligent eyes the color of a morning sky.
She wore a black gown with short laced sleeves that hung over her shoulders. The sculpted top conformed to her curves and plunged low in the center, the waist sheer—completely see-through. The ruffles on the skirt fell to knee level before puffing out in layers of tulle. She looked powerful and just as wicked.
There was a strange tension between Torin and the woman. One that crackled. Made Cameo’s skin itch for...something.
No. Someone.
Why can’t I forget Lazarus? He’s a liar. A cheat.
But he’s also captivating. Seductive.
Apparently I’m not just Misery. I’m Fool.
“I’d like some time alone with my friend,” Cameo told the girl. If centuries of war hadn’t taught her to be leery of strangers, the gorgeous male who’d teased her with slavery certainly had.
Torin shook his head. “Sorry, Cam, but Keeley stays with me. Always.”
Such a proprietary tone. One she’d never before heard him use.
Realization hit and hit hard, and Cameo gasped. “You two are together.”
He gave a stiff nod. His shoulders squared as if he prepared himself for a blow. As if Cameo would yell at him, tell him how wrong the relationship was.
The girl—Keeley—left her post and settled atop Torin’s lap with the grace of a ballerina, exactly as Cameo had wanted to do. He didn’t push her away as he would have done to Cameo, but did make sure his skin was properly covered before cuddling her close.
Had Cameo been standing, shock would have drilled her to her knees. “But...that’s...”
“We’re the cutest couple you’ve ever seen. We know. You may continue.” Keeley waved her hand, a gesture that reeked of royalty
Cameo almost snapped, He was my boyfriend first, female, but somehow restrained herself. Torin and Cameo had loved each other deeply...just not the way lovers were supposed to love. Not like this.
“Is she immune to you?” Cameo asked, wanting so badly to be happy for him.
Hate my demon.
Torin shook his head, a familiar guilt spreading over his features. “No.”
“But he still gives me the greatest pleasure womankind has ever known,” Keeley said, her pride unmistakable.
Cameo’s eyes widened. “You touch her skin-to-skin anyway?”
“I have.” He shifted in the chair, clearly uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation. “But I’ve also found...other ways.”
“I highly recommend those ways,” Keeley said. “But I also highly recommend you don’t try them with my man.”
Torin reacted to the girl’s increasingly rough tone surprisingly, smiling for the first time since Cameo had woken up. It was a punch to the gut. I could have had that with him—amusement and jealousy, possessiveness and obsession—but I kept my distance. Welcomed the distance. And so did he.
Now she was stuck craving the man who’d amused himself with her life and led her on and probably would have kicked her out once she’d given him what he wanted. Talk about poor life choices.
My specialty.
“Do you remember what happened to you before Keeley came to get you?” Torin asked her.
Keeley had rescued her? Great! I can’t not like her, can I?
Cameo thought back. The fog had choked her. Demons had stepped from the mist and dragged her away. Finally she had been able to breathe. But then she’d found herself flashed to a throne room. Fires crackled all around. Demons wandered this way and that. Screams filled the overhot air.
A beautiful man loomed over her. Pale hair, black magic eyes. Features so perfect they’d made her chest ache.
“You’re going to help me with a little task,” he’d said, his voice nothing more than a seductive whisper.
Even still, she’d shuddered, repulsed by him but also ensnared by him. Something about him...
Maybe the fact that Misery adored him, and had purred like a kitten inside her head.
She’d tried to scramble away from him, but a horde of demons had held her down. He’d stabbed her with something sharp and black—and left it inside her.
“Did you think you had a choice?” he’d asked and grinned coldly. “Well, you thought wrong.” Then he’d looked to the demons. “Take her to her room.”
They’d dragged her away.
She relayed all of this to Torin, embarrassed by her weakness and being unable to fight her way free. She was a warrior, but time and time again she’d come off as a damsel in distress. Hate that!
“Lucifer,” Keeley said, and she sounded annoyed. “Hades told the truth. For once.”
“Unless the two are working together,” Torin said.
“Not likely. I don’t know how much you’ve heard about Lucifer, but before his fall, he divided his time between heaven and the underworld. Since no man can truly serve two masters, he eventually had to make a choice: Hades or the Most High. He chose Hades, thinking he would receive greater power and a higher position.”
