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Father sneered at me, wrenching the glass back to slam it to the cement floor as I darted my eyes around the room to see where we might be.
“You care about the baby now? You attack me, and suddenly you expect me to think that you’re worried about the child's well-being?”
I bit on my lower lip and gazed toward the steps behind him. This was the basement. Of a house. But whose house, and why did I recognize it?
My head was too cloudy for rational thought, and Father moved to jam the cloth back in my mouth, but I whipped my head back and forth, not permitting him access.
“Stop your fussing!” he snarled. “You’ve fooled me for the last time. That demon taught you all his tricks, didn’t he?”
“Please, Father, there’s no need for the gag!” I begged him. “I won’t scream!”
“Just like you wouldn’t try to escape?” he snapped. “Shut your lying whore mouth, Briar. The sooner I’m rid of you, the better off we’ll all be.”
He jammed the cloth back through my lips and turned away as I blinked at the tears in my eyes. But when he moved back toward me, my eyes bugged to see the syringe.
“NO!” I tried to yell. “No more!”
“You did this to yourself,” he rasped. “And frankly, you’re becoming immune to it at this level, waking up faster than you were before, so I have to up your dose or give you something stronger going forward. These next few months are going to be most unpleasant for you, Briar. Enjoy the bed you’ve made for yourself.”
A low moan welled from deep inside me as the needle plunged into my arm. Father withdrew it and rose, shaking his head in disgust.
“After all the work I put into you,” he barked. “And all you’ve done is brought me suffering. That’s the gratitude I get.”
The familiar haziness began to take me over, blackness creeping in from the corners of my vision even as I fought to remain awake.
He doesn’t care if he hurts the baby. He just wants to get rid of me as soon as possible. He’s trying to induce an early delivery!
The thought was the last, terrifying one I had as the world went completely black, and Father disappeared up the steps, leaving me to rot in the basement all alone.
Chapter31
Ash
Demons possess many skills, but speed is not one of them. Coupled with the fact that I preferred to be chauffeured around, I didn’t often find myself in the position of having to drive. This evening, the sleek, red showpiece I’d acquired for an asset found me behind the wheel and pushing its speedometer to its breaking point.
Taking curves with reckless abandon, I found myself zooming through Madison’s street in half the time it should have taken from my estate.
Draven and his team poured through the house still, searching every room as I’d instructed, and I met him upstairs.
“Show me,” I growled, my chest tightening.
Briar’s fear lingered all through the walls. She had been there, not long ago, and she had been scared. I cursed Rachel silently for not trying harder to find her. She had been here all along.
But Rachel was not connected to Briar like I was. It was on me for not having come sooner. And not having dealt with Barney Madison.
“Here are the blood drops, sir,” Draven said, pointing to a few spots on the floor, but they didn’t amount to much. “I had them tested; they’re male and from a snake shifter.”
Relief flooded through me. It was likely Barney’s blood.
“And this appears to be the culprit.” The dragon shifter held up a brass lamp, red splatter on the edges of the base.
A surge of pride rushed through me, but it was twined with worry.
“She hit him and escaped,” I thought hopefully. “Check the area for cameras. Go door-to-door and do a canvas. Call the hospital and put out an APB on Barney, but he isnotto be contained by authorities. He is mine. Is that clear?”
“Yes, sir.”
Draven waved for his team to follow him as I stared around the room, trying to piece together what had happened since Briar had left my estate.
