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“I should have known it was Jeremiah. I should haveknown, the sick fuck!”
I was raging, but I couldn’t stop. Pacing up and down the living room, fists clenched so tight it hurt. I wanted to punch something. The fact that Jeremiah had not only killed Marcus, butgloatedabout it to his friends, kept mementos of it, thought it was something to be proud of — God, it made me sick.
Zane was perched up on the back of the couch, legs spread, letting me yell it out. He looked too big to be up there, as if he should have toppled the couch backward. But I guess gravity didn’t work the same for demons.
“He’s a fool that likes to run his mouth,” he said. “And he controls others through fear and false bravado. It’s pathetic.”
I stopped pacing, forcing myself through a few deep breaths to make my heart stop pounding. “He’s adeadfool. Fuck.” I squatted down, rubbing my hands over my eyes. “Okay, I gotta focus. Following Victoria got me nothing. But it sounds like Jeremiah spilled all the beans. So now we know Everly is missing.”
“Sounds like she ran away. You said she never seemed comfortable with the Hadleighs anyway. Maybe she finally had enough.”
“She could be in Australia by now, for all we know.” I shook my head. “And no information on her mother. I don’t like it.”
I could make the call to go after the Hadleighs anyway, even without knowing where the witches were. But rushing into things wouldn’t help. I had to take it slow. I had to make sure I was considering this from every angle.
If I went to kill Kent, and he had even one of the witches with him, it could be the end of everything.
But the Hadleighs already had their next sacrifice nearly in their clutches. The last thing I needed was for the God to grow even more powerful. The Gollums were awake, and Zane had warned me they’d crawl out of the mine soon enough. Eldbeasts were swarming the forests, and I could hear them howling almost every night. What else would come crawling out of the dark if another sacrifice was made?
“I’ll try to track the witch,” Zane said. “Witches and their magic have a distinct scent. Everly’s will be easier to find since she’s younger, less experienced. But it’ll take time. I’ll have to explore the area, see if I can catch a hint of her scent anywhere nearby. If we find the daughter, we’ll likely find the mother.”
I nodded. “I’ll keep an eye on Victoria and Jeremiah. That girl, Raelynn...I’ll try to figure out what her deal is. Hopefully she’s cautious. The last thing we need is for some happy-go-lucky girl with no sense of danger to get close to them.”
Zane snickered. “Look, this girl has a thing for Leon. I guarantee you her sense of danger is skewed...or completely non-existent.”
“Well, if he’s so interested in her, tell him to make himself useful and keep her away from the Hadleighs.”
We had a plan, and that made me feel a little better. I stood, cracking my knuckles. “Once the witches are taken care of, it’s time to come down on the Hadleighs, hard. I swear I’m buying a bottle of champagne on the day I get to gut Jeremiah.”
“I like it when you get all murderous,” Zane said, watching me keenly, a familiar hunger in his eyes.
“Oh, it’ll be more than murder.” I walked over to him, and leaned over the couch so I could rest my arms on either side of the cushions beside his perch. He still had his shirt on, for once. It was a little annoying, actually. “It’ll be a massacre. It will be a work of fucking bloodyart.”
There was something about those sharp teeth when he smiled that raised my body temperature and made my heart start thumping harder. “Yeah? Tell me more, little wolf.”
It still felt dangerous to be so close to him. He was a beast that could bite at the slightest provocation, but his bite didn’t scare me. To me, his danger was a toy. He could mold it to fit my fantasies or wield it to save my life.
This freak had pounded his fist straight through my protective walls and offered a way out, a crack in my otherwise formidable defenses against vulnerability.DidI trust him? I wasn’t sure. But I’d sooner put my life in his hands than anyone else’s.
“I’ll use that knife he’s so proud of to carve his intestines out,” I said, and Zane eagerly licked his tongue over his lips. “I used to think I’d kill Victoria last, but I’ve changed my mind. I want to kill Jeremiah last. I want to take my time with him.”
“As you should, love.” He ran his claws along my cheek, brushing my hair back behind my ear. His hand lingered there, cupped against my head. “I can hear him screaming already.”
“He’ll do more than scream,” I said. “I want him tobeg. I want him to cry for mercy.”
When Zane moved, it was quick, like a predator striking. He kept his hand cupped around my head, and the other hand squeezed against the side of my neck as he got up from the couch, pushing me back several steps as he held me, towering over me. “Yeah? And will you give him mercy?”
I reached down, and squeezed the hardness in his jeans. “Never. I just want to hear him cry while I bleed him out.”
My words finally unleashed that feral energy. He captured my mouth, his kiss deep and hungry, his grip on me tightening as he backed me up until I was pressed to the large windows that looked out on the lake. I grasped at him, clawing his back and tugging up his shirt. I pulled it over his head and dragged my nails down his bare chest, before I wrapped my arms around his neck and he lifted me, my legs wrapping around his waist as he gripped my ass.
He kissed my throat, right where my pulse beat, and he groaned when I bit him in return. I couldn’t hurt him, not really, but he liked it when I tried. I bit hard and left my marks on his skin before he pinned my head back by the throat.
“Oh, my little wolf wants it rough, doesn’t she?” he growled, and I barely nodded before he slapped my cheek and made me gasp. The sting blossomed beautifully across my skin, tingling, igniting some desperate desire that craved more — more pain, more pleasure, more of his overwhelming desire.
No one had ever looked at my rage and refused to shrink away from it. I was used to being seen as intimidating, threatening, unpleasant: an angry bitch. But it kept me safe, it kept people from getting too close.
Except Zane. He’d never pulled away, no, he’d kept pushing even when I pushed back. What kind of madman looked at my murderous rage and wanted more? What kind of freak didn’t find the deep hatred I held to be repulsive?
