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I whack his muscular arm away and wince. The bone-hard denseness of his bulging bicep is like hitting my hand against a concrete wall. The pain doesn’t stop me from doing it again. I will not make anything easy for this asshole, but especially when it comes to this twisted game of take my clothes off or else.
“Don’t you dare touch me!” I yell, raising my voice even louder. Maybe the neighbors sharing a wall will hear and call the cops. If not out of concern, then hopefully out of annoyance. “I swear to God, Dante. You will regret it!”
His whole body shudders, and he bares two sharp fangs with a hiss. “Then fucking obey me and get changed! Now!”
Hot air blows in my face with his holler, and I scramble back, hitting the side of the tub. Fear stops me from arguing. I slowly reach behind me and unhook my bra but don’t pull it off my boobs. Dante only watches me until he’s sure I’ll do as he says before he spins on his feet and strides out of the bathroom. I swallow the pain and exhaustion inside me and force myself back to my feet. I keep my bra firmly in place with my hand, shuffling across the room to grab the robe hanging behind the door.
Voices drift into the bathroom from the living room, and I wonder which of the bedrooms has the backdoor slider. The layout is different than Joel’s place, two bedrooms instead of one, but every ground level apartment has a patio. If I can pick the right room, I can make a run for it.
I hook my bra back on and shrug into the robe to cover up. The last thing I want is for another man to see me in this state of undress, and if I don’t make it, I know whoever this fucker Lucian is will get a look as well.
Gathering my nerves, I focus on the low voices coming to me from down the hall. The gross rotting smell still permeates the air, consuming the warm scents of Dante and Kase, and I pinch my nose, praying I don’t gag and make noise. I peek my head from the bathroom and get a clear view of the living room from my spot. My mouth dries at the sight of a towering beast with a sleek, shiny red body and a long black tail. Three thick horns protrude from its forehead, jutting out several inches in a crown. It stalks forward on two legs like a human. The unsettling sight worsens as I watch its long claws penetrate the wood floors, sending flames shooting around each talon. And that’s not the freakiest part. The monster doesn’t leave a single mark behind. No scratches or anything. It makes me question reality.
This can’t possibly be real. Maybe I’ll wake up at any second, hungover and tripping on whatever pills Joel had been drugging me with. If I didn’t bang my elbow on the doorframe, sending a jolt of pain ricocheting through me, I might’ve just attempted to run to see what would happen.
I cover my mouth with my hand, muffling any noise I can make. “Oh, God. Help me. Please let this be a bad trip.”
I immediately regret the prayer, hearing the vicious roar of the beast rumble through the air. Instead of retreating back into the bathroom to lock myself in, I rush toward the end of the hall and the bedrooms. I whip my head from one to the other, spotting the slider in the one on the left.
I bolt into it and slam the door closed, turning the tiny lock. It’s no deadbolt, but I don’t think it matters. There is no way the door will keep a determined beast of that monstrous size out, but it will hopefully slow it down. Rushing across the room, I grab a desk chair and roll it towards the door, using it to block my path. I fling the blinds open, ripping a few down in the process. My heart hammers against my ribcage, and I flick the lock open on the slider, gasping as cool air engulfs me. I can’t believe I’m going to make it...or not.
An arm blocks my exit, stopping me from running outside. How the fuck did this asshole know what I would do? Has he been waiting for me to try to escape?
“Where do you think you’re going, angel-girl?” Kase’s hulking form startles me, and I trip backwards and fall onto the bed. He steps through the back slider and closes it behind him, slowly shaking his head in annoyance. Narrowing his eyes on me, he strolls closer, clicking his tongue like I’m some sort of disobedient pet needing correction.
I grab the pillow and throw it at him, trying to get him to stay the hell away from me. He looks even more determined to grab at me than Dante was to rip my bra off. It strikes a nerve, his handsome features leering like he hungers to punish me. A psycho like him shouldn’t be so attractive. It makes it harder to see him as a threat. It’s in this moment that I understand just a little how some women can fall for serial killers. Because he looks so damn hot, it makes me hope a little bit that maybe I’ll be different and not his victim. Maybe he’ll be the type to kill for the sake of love like some psychotic romance...fuck. I need to take a long look at my taste in men—if I can even call him that.
“You shouldn’t stare at me on my bed like that. Don’t you know I’m a devil and can sense your darkest desires?” he says, mapping his gaze over my body. “You want me even though I scare you. Isn’t that right?”
Shit. His words prod at my human rationale, reminding me that he might be hot, but I’m not an exception to his brand of torment. If I were, he wouldn’t push me. He wouldn’t tease and taunt me. He wouldn’t look ready to climb into bed with me and pin me down...
I’m so fucking twisted. My vagina clenches in anticipation, loving the idea of being beneath him.
“We’ll have time to discover how dark you truly can be soon enough, but for now, it’s time to meet Lucian.” Kase holds his hand out. “Be a naughty girl. I dare you.”
I spot a weird curved blade on the nightstand and reach for it, holding it out in front of me protectively. Did I take him up on his dare? Fuck yeah, I did. But what exactly am I going to do? Can I brave stabbing him? I guess I’ll find out. “I don’t want to hurt you, but I will. You can’t keep me here.”
Kase surprises me with a bellow of a laugh, his broad shoulders shaking as if I’ve said the funniest thing he’s ever heard. “Hurt me? You think that’s a threat, angel-girl?”
He’s trying to get to me. I know it.
I swing the blade at him, expecting him to jump out of the way. He remains stiffly in place, staring down as the blade slices across his shirt. The fabric droops with the gaping hole I leave behind, showing off his tight six-pack and the edge of some sort of black tattoo hugging his side. Before I can react, Kase lunges at me and grabs my hand gripping the blade. I flinch away, shielding my head and throat, waiting for him to rip the weapon from my fingers. I expect for agony to burn through me with his stab, but he doesn’t hurt me.
Instead, he bends my arm and forces me to shove the blade right into his gut. I screech as it sinks in and his blood pours down and soaks the fabric of the robe. A cocky smile lights up his features as he lets my hand go. I automatically yank the blade out and drop it on the bed next to me.
I open my mouth to scream, but Kase covers my lips with his hand and leans in. His warm breath tickles my skin as we breathe in the same space. The intoxicating scent of woody vetiver and warm vanilla overpowers my senses, and I can’t stop inhaling shallow breaths through my nose. My emotions wage a war with my insides. A part of me fears his all-consuming presence, but another weaker, whispering part of me begs me to remain calm. That the darkness rolling over me is from Joel, and while this monstrous man has scared me with his threats, he hasn’t actually hurt me.
Screw that rationale. Just because he hasn’t done anything yet doesn’t mean he won’t. It’s taken Joel years to show this violent side of him. I talked myself out of the possibility with him too, and look where it has left me.
I blink my eyes a dozen times, trying to stop the tears from spilling. This is so fucked up. What is wrong with me? I know it’s crazy to rationalize any of this, but it’s like a part of me doesn’t care. A part of me wants to ignore the fact that a terrifying creature waits in the living room and that Kase and Dante aren’t human. They can’t be.
Tears splash my cheeks as my wild, hurricane of emotions wreak havoc inside me. It doesn’t even matter what I think about this situation because nothing will change. The fight in me dwindles the longer Kase stares at me in silence, like he knows if he doesn’t do anything, my body will accept that he’s somehow not a threat and I won’t fight back. And then he’ll get me.
Bringing his hand up to my cheek, Kase gently smears away my tears with the pad of his thumb. “Fighting is pointless,” he says, stroking his warm thumb across my other cheek. Damn. I was right. “So is praying and trying to escape. Finders keepers, pretty angel-girl. You belong to Lucian now.”
My lip quivers with his words, and I think of a thousand horrible scenarios about what his comment could possibly mean. I don’t know what’s worse. Dying in a dumpster or being what sounds like a slave to a monster. With dying, at least there would be some sort of reprieve from this screwy world. But with being someone’s slave? There’s a chance I can escape and fight back. I sniffle and close my eyes, wanting to shut out the world. Either option doesn’t work for me, but what else am I supposed to do?
“I won’t ask you to be a good girl, because that’s not my thing, but you really need to fucking stop with this shit. You’re not going to die yet, and the only thing you should be afraid of is what will happen if you try to escape,” Kase says, easing away from me. He pats the top of my head like a pet. “We didn’t go through all this trouble tonight just to see you slip from our fingers. You are a tricky soul. It took some prodding to distinguish what you were. I bet you don’t even know, do you? Did the asshole? Where has the bastard mortal been keeping you? I haven’t seen you around the apartment complex. If I had, we’d have taken you much sooner.”
