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My mind whirls with a dozen thoughts. Why am I not terrified? My heart should feel as if it wants to explode from my chest. But the only thing I feel is the inviting electricity between us. I can’t take my eyes from his, the darkness in the depths far more intense than the glowing green of his irises. He’s strikingly handsome—too handsome—even in this weird half-beast state. It’s enough that the vain part of me can overlook his monstrous features trying to frighten me.
His brows furrow at my lack of response, and he gets so close that I can feel the soft touch of his tongue caress my lip but not in a sexual way. It’s almost like he’s sensing me in the same way some animals do.
“Tell me you’re afraid of me, broken soul,” Dante repeats, revealing his two long fangs from beneath his lips.
It snaps me out of the dizzying haze entrancing me. “No!”
I try to thrash on Kase’s shoulder to throw myself off, but a weird-ass rope slides out from beneath his jacket and wraps around me, restraining me to him. Fuck. It literally might be an ass rope and not just extremely weird. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. So I shriek and struggle.
Dante tears his shirt sleeve off like the cotton is made of tissue paper and shoves it in my mouth, silencing my screams. “Fuck, we gotta get her inside. She can resist my influence,” Dante says, releasing another hiss.
The two men stride back into the complex without glancing around. Nothing I do affects them or gets them to let me go. Panic turns me wild, and I buck and thrash, knowing if they take me inside their apartment, I’m going to die. They’ll kill me and finish what Joel couldn’t.
Kase kicks an apartment door open, sending it clattering against the wall. Warm air engulfs me along with the collection of fragrances lingering on the two of them. It’s their apartment for sure. I try to look around, but Dante blocks my view, and I can only stare at the dark wood of the floors far nicer than the ones in Joel’s place.
“Take her to the bathroom. Make her get cleaned up. I’m summoning Lucian.” The strange black rope uncurls from my body, and Kase flips me into Dante’s arms. “Be quick. The saviors might’ve picked up on her calls if she is what I think she is. I need him to verify.”
Verify? I use my tongue to push the balled up fabric from my mouth, spitting it on the floor. “I’m no o-one and n-nothing.” I wish my voice would stop stuttering and cracking. “Please, let me leave. I won’t tell anyone. I won’t ever come back. Please. I don’t understand what you want from me.”
“We might not want anything, so shut up before I make you. It’ll be far less pleasant than a gag,” Kase says, pointing his finger at me. His eyes glow red with his scowl and he turns to Dante. “Go now. We need to hurry. Our window to put things in place shrinks by the second.”
Tears burn my eyes. “Just let me go. Please.” I’ve never begged someone so much in my life, not even Joel when I crawled back to him in desperation.
But begging doesn’t work. Neither does praying.
Without arguing, Dante stomps his way down the hall and to the first door on the left. I spot a display case of strange weapons and trinkets at the end of the hall situated between two open doors that face each other. Knocking open the cracked bathroom door with his knuckles, he carries me into the bathroom and drops me in the tub. I flail, trying to orient myself to what’s happening. Going from his arms and into the bath freaks me out even more.
I sit up and grab ahold of the washcloth rack on the wall, trying to pull myself up. Dante latches his fingers to my shoulder and stops me from getting to my feet, touching his hot fingers to the center of my back over my bra clasp.
“Hold still,” he commands, hissing under his breath. “Don’t make me burn it off you.”
I stiffen as he goes to unhook my bra and swing my hand, slapping him across the face. “Don’t you dare fucking touch me!” I scream, fisting my hand to fight like hell against him. I don’t care if he’s a foot taller and twice as heavy. I’ve had e-fucking-nough of assholes treating me any way they want.
Dante groans and takes a step back, raising his hands in surrender. “You think I want to touch your filth? That I want to fuck you in this tub? You look like that nasty thing might be the only one you have. You should appreciate my thoughtfulness. I was trying to help you.”
“Help me by taking off my damn bra? You kidnapped me, you psycho!” I heave a few breaths, angry tears branding hot streaks through the sticky blood staining my cheeks. “Just stay away. I didn’t ask for your help. I asked you to let me go.”
Dante curls his fingers into his palms at his side, his muscles rippling with the movements. It’s the first time I notice the half-sleeve tattoo of snakeskin decorating his bicep on the side with his missing sleeve. I can’t take my eyes away from the mesmerizing pattern, sheening with gold on the scales, as he glowers at me in silence like he doesn’t know what to do besides gawk at me.
“Dante, please. You said it yourself that you were pissed that Joel just abandoned me to die and you didn’t want to clean up his mess. You don’t have to. I can handle myself,” I say, keeping my voice low to keep it from shaking. “Please. You can just forget about me.”
He grumbles under his breath. “Why do mortals always beg when they think they’re going to die? It’s pointless. If you fucking say please one more time—”
The world rumbles around us, the strange vibrations dancing across my skin. It kicks my heart into overdrive. I grab a hold of the rack again and hoist myself up, taking advantage of the fact that Dante shifts to look at the door.
Scooping up the bottle of shampoo, I clutch it in my hand. It’s not exactly my weapon of choice, not that I know how to use anything in particular, but I’ve been using what I’ve been given my whole life. I can’t exactly kill a monster with tea-tree and mint soap, but damn it if I won’t try anyway.
The soft rumbling shaking the room turns more frantic, and I nearly lose my footing at the floor quaking. Dante still keeps his back toward me, staring at the door, and I half expect him to leave.
Untwisting the cap, I squeeze shampoo into my palm and whisper a quiet prayer that this works.
Dante jerks around like he can sense what I’m about to do. I scream and chuck the bottle of shampoo at him, clocking him in the chest. It does nothing to stop him from rushing me. I try to swing my hand out to slap the soap into his eyes, but he catches my wrist. Yanking my hand over my head, he forces me to wipe the shampoo on my hair before flicking on the faucet. Cool water sprays on me, shocking me. I scream and fight, slipping on the soap I spilled everywhere. I land on my back, the air knocking from my lungs.
Fangs flash from beneath Dante’s lips and he strikes his hand forward, lacing it around my neck to pin me to the tub. “Get cleaned up, pretty broken soul. You can wear the robe hanging on the door. If you pray again, it will be the last thing you ever do, and not one fucking savior will hear. Got it?”
My bottom lip trembles as I nod my head.
“Good. Now be an obedient little mortal, and you might get something you want in return. Lucian is coming. He will decide your worth.” Dante releases my neck and adjusts the water temperature, changing it from cold to warm with a flick of his fingers. Turning his back on me, he exits the bathroom and slams the door shut behind him.
