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“Maybe, maybe not. I imagine it takes a bit more than typical fanfare to frighten you.”
She nodded in agreement. “Have you been trying to frighten me then?”
“Not intentionally,” I said. “Although, I have been testing how brave you are.”
She snorted and stabbed a particularly big piece of pancake, dunking it in the butter syrup. “Well, if you knew who my brother-in-law was, you’d understand there’s little that frightens me anymore.”
What the fuck did that mean? A flurry of images attacked my mind, forcing me to picture what she meant. I knew the horrors a man could inflict on a woman, but for her brother-in-law to do it?
“What the fuck did he do?” A growl grew in my chest, reverberating across the room. My anger encouraged my fangs to protrude threateningly. God help whoever he was if we ever ran into one another, I’d rip him apart and eat every piece whole.
She looked up in surprise at the noises I was still making. “No, nothing like that.” She held up a hand. “Don’t let your imagination get carried away.” She tilted her head. “Although I have to admit, that is a very human response … to think the worst of a human as opposed to the worst of a monster?” She smirked knowingly. “My brother-in-law is a demon,” she said simply.
“A demon?” I repeated. Admittedly, my existence made it more likely that there were other beings like me. In fact, since Screaming Woods had become the safe haven it was for monsters, other creatures had made their way to our borders. But I hadn’t considered the possibility of what that meant.
“Not just any demon either. My brother-in-law is Satan,” she said drolly as if she wasn’t admitting she knew a prince of hell.
“Satan.” I sounded like I was on repeat, but this new information boggled my mind. “Is that why you’re here?”
I mean, I couldn’t blame her. I’m not sure I could live with the idea of being married into a family of demons. Although, I also didn’t thinkhidingfrom demons was possible. The seed of protectiveness planted inside me blossomed. They’d have to tear her from my cold, dead hands if they came for her.
“I mean, sorta. It’s a long story.” She blew out a breath.
“I’d like to hear it.”
Her expression changed when she thought about her past.“Well, last year, not long after my eighteenth birthday, my dad owed the mafia a lot of money. He ended up at their casino and blew through the money they loaned him. When they pulled him in to discuss ‘repayment,’ he offered my hand in marriage to clear his debts. When my sister found out, she chased us down and exchanged herself for me. It turns out the man she was to marry was Santino De Luca, who was actually Satan. I don’t know what happened, but my sister fell in love with him, and now they’re happily married with a baby on the way. But Reina caught wind that the brothers were trying to bring the Devil himself back from Hell, so she arranged to have me sent away. She didn’t want me anywhere near Chicago when he returned, and she thought the safest place for me was a nunnery.” She snorted, stabbing another pancake. “I stole from the donation box, escaped in the night, and ran until I found this place.”
“Nunnery,” I repeated in shock, trying to resist the laughter inside me. The idea that my queen could be confined to a life of dedication like that? Hardly.
“Yeah, it’s like she doesn’t know me.” She laughed, so I laughed too, the moment warming me.
“Well, if they’re looking for you … I promise I will never let you go.”
Irina
We spent all day together,and I still didn’t know his name. And he refused to come out of the shadows. Despite my brother-in-law being Satan, he was convinced I would be too scared of him.
So, I made a plan. That evening, I said good night to Jake and curled under my duvet, pretending to close my eyes and sleep. Concentrating on my breathing, I let it grow deep and focused on keeping my heart rate steady. Then, I waited.
He had to come to me at some point. He’d come the other two nights. When he did, I would open my eyes. All day, I’d been picturing what could scare me.Although I hadn’t seen Santino’s demon form, knowing he existed was frightening enough, and I was fine with that. So, I pictured other things based on what I’d seen in town. Could he be oozing slime? Have massive fangs or claws? Nothing was frightening enough to me, and it would hardly make me run away when I knew with all my heart that the man living underneath the “monster” was kind, loving, and loyal.
The floor creaked as he moved toward me, and it took everything in my power to keep my heart steady so he didn’t know I was awake and anticipating his arrival.
A soft, excited hiss echoed around the room, and I bit my lip, counting to three in my head before my eyes fluttered open. The room was dark and didn’t give away too much, but there was enough light for me to see what he was trying to hide.
Golden brown and black diamond scales lined his hips and painted his ribs. His broad chest was heavy with muscle and decorated with coarse black hair. My eyes lifted to his face, and my breath was stolen from me.
It was my Jakari. My eyes flipped to the portrait and back again, confirming this was the same man. His waist tapered into a long, coiling tail. Half of his body was a snake.
I gasped as I took in this reality and sat straighter as he recoiled.“No.” I held out my hand. “I’m not scared.” I shook my head. “I’m just surprised. This isn’t anything like I imagined, yet it seems fitting.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “You find it fitting that I’m part cobra?”
I laughed. “No, I mean it’s fitting because now I understand how you moved around so silently. Here I was, picturing the swamp creature, and I couldn’t understand how I hadn’t caught onto you yet. Something like that would’ve left a trail, but this—it makes perfect sense.”
He frowned as he stared at me. “Do I frighten you?”
I shook my head. “Not at all. You’re still you. You just don’t have legs.”
