To torture me.It was the only thing that made any sense. He brought me here to torture me, and he meant to do it by sleeping beside me and making me ache for him.
It was already working. My body was screaming at me to crawl back into his arms and ease the fierce need building inside me for the past month, but I couldn’t. The worst part was, I knew sex would be so much better with him. It wasalwaysbetter with a demon’s Chosen, or at least that’s what they said, and I didn’t think they were lying about it.
It made sense. Casual, one-off relationships were great, and how I’d planned to live the rest of my life until he entered it. However, the Chosen bond was more profound and more intimate. I’d also watched the demons I knew fall in love with those fate picked for them. Of course, sex with your Chosen was better; they cherished each other.
This man and I would never be like those happy couples, but sex between us would still be better. I felt that in every fiber of my aching being.
“Where is your home?” I grated through my teeth.
“I can’t tell you that.”
If our roles were reversed, I wouldn’t tell him either, but his response still annoyed me. “How do I get out of here?”
“I’d have to show you the way.”
“Then do that.”
His chuckle came from only a few feet away, and I realized he’d moved closer without me knowing it. I kept my alarm hidden as I refused to let myself twitch at his nearness. I was an old, powerful demon, but I was dealing with someone far older and more powerful than me. I reached for the sword on my back, only to discover it was gone.
“You took my weapon from me?” I asked.
“No. You lost it in the woods.”
“Then give me my other sword back.”
“The only way you’re getting it back is if you take it from me. Are you going to do that, Bale?”
“You want me to take a weapon from you while you’re armed and I’m not? How is that fair?”
“All’s fair in love and war.”
My teeth grated together as I restrained myself from attacking him. I wasn’t worried about taking him on unarmed, I’d won many battles after losing my weapon, but I was worried about touching him again.
“Where are the other horsemen?” I asked.
“I don’t know, and I don’t care.”
This response surprised me. I’d always considered them a close-knit unit bent on destroying everything in their way. “Not on good terms with your fellow monsters?”
There was a prolonged silence, but when he spoke again, it was from directly in front of me. I managed to keep myself from jumping at the revelation of his proximity, but I couldn’t stop my heart from doubling in rhythm.
“Demons, humans, and angels are all monsters, Bale. Every one of us possesses the ability to do the most monstrous things. Just because you think you’re on the right side, doesn’t mean you’re any less of a monster than me.”
Perhaps he was right about my capability to be a monster, but he waswrongabout one thing. “I don’tthinkI’m on the right side; IknowI am.”
“What makes you so sure?”
“I only have to look at all the good Kobal has done and all the improvements made to our lives and the lives of the humans who follow him to know, toknowhe is the right one to lead us through all this.”
“Because he is the varcolac.”
“It is more than he is the varcolac, more than we were all born to follow the varcolac; he is a good and just ruler. So is his Chosen.”
“Just demons and men have committed monstrous atrocities under the pretense of doing good.”
“True, but he isnotone of them. You can believe what you want and keep telling yourself these lies, so you feel like you have a reason to try to destroy what has become our new world. However, you’re seeking vengeance against a man who didnothingto you because what you really seek is the power you think will come from taking him down.”
Waves of anger emanated from him as another prolonged silence stretched between us.
