Page 58 of His Eternal Temptation

Onyx swung the man around, his eyes glowing blue. “Do as I say and tell me why you’re here.”

Demons had their own hypnosis powers and, being the origin of magic on Earth, were inherently more powerful than any vampire or witch.

It worked.

The man stopped choking and sucked in a lungful of air. “Looking,” he gasped.

Onyx gripped him by the chin. “For what?”

The man’s free hand shot into his pocket, the movement almost mechanical. “I’m looking for—” He pulled his hand free and slapped it to his mouth.

Too late, Rowan realized he’d held something small. A pill?

He lunged, fingers delving into the man’s mouth, but the pill was gone. Whatever it was didn’t take long, as the man’s eyes rolled back and he collapsed. A few moments later, he was dead.

“Fuck!” Rowan ran furious hands through his hair.

“Did he just…” Lane looked stricken. “Why would he…? He didn’t even bargain for his life. Or anything.”

“He must have been under hypnosis.” Rowan cursed himself for not realizing. A contradicting command had caused their captive to choke when Rowan influenced him, and had been broken by Onyx’s superior power.

“He was hypnotized to keep quiet and then kill himself?” Lane asked. “That’s fucked.”

It was, but the robotic way he’d searched for the pill once his arm was free reeked of a predetermined command. Kill yourself if you’re forced into questioning. This Hillman business was more serious than Rowan realized. Not only had they attempted to kill Lane to keep him quiet, but they killed their own.

“You said the Hillmans were a coven of witches,” Rowan said to Lane.

“They are. At least as far as I know. If they lied to my father, I had no idea.”

“They could have hired a vampire to perform the hypnosis,” Onyx said.

True, but the Hillmans weren’t any less dangerous for it.

“What do you think he was looking for?” Lane stared at the dead man as if he might give away his secrets. “Do you think they were looking for me?”

Rowan forced himself to focus through his raging hunger. His skin crawled now that there was nowhere to direct his fury. “They couldn’t have been. He was shocked at the sight of you. No, they expected you to be dead. But if he was looking for something, why not sneak around unnoticed? He wanted attention.”

“It was a diversion,” Lane said. “There must be someone else here.”

“I’m checking on Nico.” Onyx rushed for the door.

Before he reached it, Jack appeared, grim-faced. His gaze landed on the man’s lifeless form. “He killed himself, too?”

Rowan’s heart sank. “What happened?”

“Kai and I cornered a witch in the stairwell. He popped a pill as soon as he had a hand free. I was focused on not letting him escape and didn’t realize what was happening in time.”

“It’s not your fault. It seems they were hypnotized to end their lives if captured.”

Jack’s face twisted. “I had the same impression. It’s fucking despicable. Who the hell does that?”

Rowan met Lane’s eye. “The Hillman Coven.”

FIFTEEN

ROWAN

After a thorough search, Rowan was confident there was no one else in the building who shouldn’t be. The casino closed early, and Rowan asked to be alerted to anyone magical who entered the club, but there weren’t any more issues by the time Arcadia closed, and the building was locked down for the night.