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“Y-yes,” I choke. The dark ring around my vision is growing thicker, and my pulse is beating angrily against his hand on my throat.
“That’s not a threat,” he says, squeezing a little harder so that my knees go weak. “I promise I’ll have you begging for mercy.”
My eyes flutter closed just as he lets me go, and I crumple to my knees. I gently cup my hand around my throat, willing the pain away as I focus on breathing, and Rafe disappears through the door at the end of the hall.
Gasping, I scramble to my feet and take the stairs two at a time to the second floor before sprinting to the guest room I’ve decided to call my own. I close the door and lock it in a blur and take several deep breaths to calm my nerves.
“Holy shit,” I whisper, running my fingers carefully over my sore neck.
It would have been nice to know that the third floor was off limits before I decided to check it out.
My hands are shaking as I cross the room and collapse on the bed, the scene upstairs replaying over and over in my mind. When he said brutally punished, I immediately thought he meant torture—and to some extent that still might be true—but the more I consider it, I don’t think that’s what he was getting at.
He meant he’d punish me sexually.
It could be his terrifying demeanor, or his ruthless personality, but something in my bones tells me he’d do it.
And he’d do it well.
ChapterTen
Azarius
Elio should be out here doing a perimeter check, not me.
It’s true, I’m much faster on the ground—I haven’t met many monsters that can keep up with me—but making sure there is nothing suspicious near the outer edge of the woods would be even faster from the sky.
But what Rafe asks me to do, I do.
That was part of the deal when I came to work for him.
I’ve been running along the edge of the woods for what seems like an hour, my legs moving as fast as they can, my feet beating against the ground numbly. I’m tired, and we still have a long day ahead of us.
I stop where Elio and I are supposed to meet up—outside the abandoned village where we normally portal from—and scan the area.
He’s not here yet.
“Where the fuck—” The words come out between heavy breaths.
I did two complete rounds of the woods. That’s plenty of time for him to get his ass here from the mansion, and he’s typically punctual.
Maybe Rafe held him up.
Our cell phones don’t work in the monster realm—human technology doesn’t work when it goes through the portal—so I can’t call him to see where the hell he is and why he’s taking so long. That’s one convenience that I love about being on Earth. You can track down anyone anywhere with the click of a few buttons. Here, you have to literally track them down, and sometimes the person you’re looking for doesn’t want to be found.
I sling the backpack I’m carrying off my shoulder and unzip it, revealing the business clothes I brought to change into to, and debate changing forms while I wait for Elio. My human form puts me at a severe disadvantage in a fight. While I’m still fast and just as strong, I don’t have horns or claws or even a tail to help. All those things come in handy when taking on a Malev.
But since I just did a perimeter check and didn’t see anything out of the norm, I decide to chance it.
I tap into my ability to change my appearance and let the transformation take hold. A ripple rolls over my body as the black marks staining my skin fade, and my complexion darkens to a peachy flesh color. I lose several inches of height, and the weight of my tail disappears.
It doesn’t take long—a minute at most—before I’m a naked human body.
I grab the pair of slacks and button up out of my bag and get dressed.
Elio emerges from the woods as I’m finishing with the buttons on my shirt. He’s already transformed and dressed in his business attire.
“Took you long enough,” I shoot, cutting my eyes at him before bending to retrieve my empty bag.
