I need a distraction.
I need something else to occupy me.
I curl my fingers and draw my phone to me, pulsing a little sedation into the air to keep Adriana asleep. I've rarely used magic on her, but this is for her own good and she doesn't need to hear this conversation.
I call Eva.
“Lord, I...”
“No excuses will satisfy me, Eva. None will calm my wrath. Your mistake could have cost me Adriana.”
She swallows, and I hear her breathing falter. I pour my venom into the world and Eva screams, caught by the spell I’m weaving. Its lashes will hold her as they burn her, tormenting her as she struggles against the searing hot restraints.
“I have news, Lord,” she screams. “I've been working to discover who's behind this.”
She's got the right idea, but unfortunately, I need more. My cock hasn’t forgotten Adriana's teasing and Eva isn't doing nearly enough to salvage this situation.
“NOT. GOOD. ENOUGH.”
Eva screams as my power surges and I can almost smell her singed flesh from here. She's miles away, but her agony and burning flesh excite me and she's going to have to do much better if she wants to save herself.
Someone threatened my girl, and now I’m angry.Murderous. And I don’t care who I kill.
“It isn't easy. The warlock wasn't working alone,” she screams through stuttered breaths.
“You're boring me, Eva.” I send another surge of magic through her, shattering her bones as she begins to crumble. “Tell me something I don't know.”
“I think I know...”
I release my grip a little and let her catch her breath. Demons don't experience hope, not in the same way humans do, but whatever Eva's feeling is as close to that as she'll ever come. It's palpable and I consume it, stealing the pleasure of her relief.
“Lord, I think it's Mordecai.”
The world stops, and a heavy, violent silence descends.
“I cannot be sure, Lord. I need time. Byron and I need some time to pursue this.”
My hand has curled into a fist so damn tight that my claws have pierced my palm. I've lost control and slipped into my demon form, a hulking mass of muscles built for terrorizing and intimidating.
“Mordecai is dead, Eva. I killed him myself. Centuries ago.”
“I...” she stammers, and her fear is like a drug. “There are rumors, Lord. Of his return.”
My teeth grind and the shadows drawing around me darken. None of the fires in the pits of Hell could match the rage burning inside me as Eva dares to tell me something that no one should even think could be true. Even if Mordecai is dead, rumors of his return will stir up trouble. It'll incite his followersto dare to challenge me again, and another one of his minions will rise.
And if it's true, then it's a fucking disaster.
I almost died the last time we faced each other and blood poured through the rivers and halls of Hell as we fought. It took all I had and a few unsavory deals to finish him, and it was worth it to see the bastard destroyed. He shouldn't be able to come back from the devastation I wrought on him—and if he has, he's far more powerful than I dared imagine.
“Do it. Quickly and quietly, Eva. I want regular updates. On everything.”
I tighten my hold on her, and she screams again. My lieutenant has grown far too comfortable and a good dose of fear will motivate her to perform better.
“Don't disappoint me, Eva. I won't tolerate it happening twice.”
She screams again as another lash of pain tears her apart and I release her, feeding off her relief as she gasps for air in my offices on the other side of London.
I hang up and leave her to her misery, certain she'll be lucky to make it to a bathroom before she vomits. Shadow demons as powerful as Eva are rare, but even she isn't robust enough to endure what I subjected her to. She's more powerful than most of her kind. More cunning, too.
