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“You call terrorizing a young girl a gift?” Riley growled.
Halak produced a blade, shifting it from the shadows. Black smoke whispered off the blade. It wasn’t blessed steel, but looked just as deadly as he put it to the whimpering girl’s throat. “I believe you owe the General an answer.”
Her heart cracked as she met the young girl’s watery gaze, but there was no outcome in which they survived. She understood violence. She’d been a victim before and Deruthel was incapable of mercy. “I told you...”
She turned as several demons entered the throne room. They lined the walls, their eyes flickering in the dark as venom dripped from their fangs. Whatever was about to happen, they were excited about it.
Deruthel clicked his claws together.
A jackal demon brought the bag of blood Halak had taken from Riley. He squished the bag, causing blood to squirt out of the plastic tube at the top and into a clay cup, before passing it to Halak.
Halak held the cup out to the girl. “Drink.”
She shook her head, sniffling through her tears.
Halak yanked her hair back hard, exposing her throat. “Drink or I’ll kill you.”
The girl grabbed a cup and gulped it down, before putting her hand over her mouth to stay her gag reflex.
Ice slithered along Riley’s spine. “What are you doing?”
Deruthel smiled. “Making you a new sister.”
Her chains rattled as she held up her hand. “No.”
Halak exposed his serrated teeth as his fangs lengthened. He pulled the girl’s head back slowly, arcing her neck forward, before sinking his fangs into the soft flesh.
The girl’s hand shot out, but there was no escape. Her scream echoed in the room before Halak dropped her to the floor. She curled into the fetal position, crying softly as her long blond hair covered her face. A veil of misery surrounded by red eyes and anticipation.
Deruthel smiled at Riley. “How many more shall I drop at your feet, before you agree to be my first wife?”
“You can force me, but you need me to accept you. I won’t. I’m not stupid. You will continue your experiments and create your breeders, regardless of what I say.”
“I admire intelligence in my breeders. You’re right, of course. Nothing will alter the destiny of my species, or yours.” He flicked his arm towards a demon standing by the throne room entrance. The demon ducked out of the room.
“Then why keep asking me?”
“Every breeder has a breaking point.” He pointed to the demon escorting Colton into the room. “I believe this is yours.”
Colton’s face was barely recognizable. Large scratches marred his cheeks and throat. His hair was matted with blood as he stumbled into the room. It was obvious he put up a fight, and she was curious how many he had killed before they took him down. Still, black veins ran beneath the skin of his chest and the stain had spread to his neck. There was no doubt what the outcome for Colton would be. “Riley,” he whispered through cracked lips.
Deruthel turned to her. “Now we will have this conversation again. What will you do to save him? Are you ready to watch him die?”
Tears welled in her eyes before tracking down her cheeks.
Colton’s gaze met hers, and she knew what he would say before he opened his lips. “Let me die.”
Riley held out her cuffs. “Release me. I won’t leave this room without him.”
Deruthel smiled. “No. I don’t believe you would. He is currently too weak to travel the pathway.” He put a claw tip to the small hole in the cuffs and they fell from her wrists.
She went to Colton and put her arms around his neck. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t do it, Riley. Whatever he wants, our death is preferable.”
She whispered in his ear. “I know, but I need you to trust me.”
His eyes met hers. “I do.”
