AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"My father loves a game," I said simply. "Games only work if everyone plays by the rules—at least until the last round."
Remy raised an eyebrow. "And what are the rules of this little game?"
I shrugged. "Kill or be killed, I suppose."
Cain nodded slowly. "So you're planning on luring Carnage into a trap?"
"Something like that." I leaned back in my chair, feeling a thrill of excitement that almost drowned out my despair. I had something to focus on now besides my mother's face of agony. "Carnage is arrogant. He thinks he's unbeatable. I'm going to use that against him."
"How?" Remy leaned forward, his eyes bright.
"Carnage would love to take me out," I said. "Because of what I mean to the Demon."
"Because the Demon wants you dead or because you're the Demon's daughter?"
"Both." There were other reasons too, swirling at the back of my mind; Carnage hated me deeply. I remembered the horrible sneer on his face when he looked at me, deep in the forest, with the scent of blood hanging in the air.
I could barely remember some of the things that had happened to me, and sometimes it wasn’t worth trying.
"So instead of offering yourself up to the Demon," Cain drawled the words as if I were an idiot, "you plan to offer yourself up to Carnage."
"I'm not offering myself up to anyone. I'm setting a trap."
Remington glanced between Cain and me. The air seemed tinged with tension, though I wasn't sure why Cain was looking at me with that terrifying yet hot level of intensity.
"Aurora and I will find some weapons." Cain wrapped his hand around the nape of my neck and guided me out of the room ahead of him.
Remy threw up his hands. “What the…alright. Whatever.”
I usually liked Cain’s demanding touch on my body, but I shrugged his hand off–or rather, tried to–once we were in the hall. His fingers tightened on the nape of my neck in response, then he pulled me backward, his other hand dropping to my waist to steady me.
“What are you–”
His lips descended on mine, kissing me hard. His dark and expensive cologne, and the scent that was Cain’s alone, wrapped around me like a deep summer night. His hands were steel against my body, but his lips were soft even as he kissed me breathless. After a shocked second, my hand slid up his broad shoulders, his powerful neck, to tangle in his blond hair.
Then suddenly, he released me. He kept studying me as I tried to remember how to breathe.Focus.Sometimes that was hard around Cain.
"Why did you want to get me alone?"
His thumb glided over my lower lip, then dragged it down gently. He studied me as if he could look right through me to my soul, and sometimes Cain’s piercing gaze seemed like he really might. Quietly, he asked, "What the hell are you doing?"
"I'm trying to keep my mother alive! To buy us time to rescue her."
Cain's gaze burned through me, as if he knew that wasn't the whole truth. That expression made me want to slap him, so I did–gently, because I wasn’t an idiot–reaching up to pat his clean-shaven, hard-angled cheek.
He gripped my wrist and gave me a look; Cain always had a dominant aura that made even strangers respond, but the stern look he gave me was all daddy dom for the first time.
Maybe I shouldn’t have been turned on, but I was."You're being too careless with your own life."
"I'm a giver."
He scoffed. "You're mine. And I don't appreciate anyone endangering my property."
"I'm not your property."
"Oh? Is that so? I want to remind you of something."
"What's that?"
