“Bye, Uncle Shay! Bye, Aunt Cara!”The door closed, shutting off the kids’ voices and their franticwaves.Cool night air stroked over Cara’s skin as she and Huxley descended the front steps to the sidewalk. Twining her fingers with Hux, she stole a glance at her mate—mate—and smiled, her heart ready to burst. She’d never get used to thisfeeling.“So,” she said, “howdidyou get to be scared of spiders? You never told me thestory.”He shot her a look from behind narrowed eyes, the silver in them catching the moonlight. “Won’t let it go, willyou?”“Like a dog with a bone. Nowspill.”He grumbled something incoherent, and she nudged him with herelbow.“Come on, Mr. Quire-orgy.”“Agastopia.” His smile made her belly fl
Sounds and lightfiltered through the darkness blanketing Huxley mind. His thoughts disentangling from a web of images and sensations, he became aware of his current surroundings. A pillow beneath his head, a mattress underneath his back, a soft sheet coveringhim.And two warm bodies pressed against hisown.Eyes flying open to semi-darkness, he looked to his legs, where Max snored softly, snuggled up to him. Hux turned his head, silky black curls brushing against his jaw. The scent of lush flowers and rain teased his nose, let him draw in a breath that threatened to burst hislungs.Cara.Her head resting on his shoulder, hands tucked between their bodies, she lay curled against him, one leg thrown over his. Eyes closed, her black lashes fanned out over her cheeks. Even though he hated to disturb her sleep, he couldn’t help brushing a lock of her midnight hair from her face, his fingers
“Huxley. Look at me.”Her vision swam, her throatraw.His aura had faded to all but anember.She stroked his cheeks, her lips trembling. “I love you. I’ll mate with you, quire-griffin style and all. I’ll fucking mate with you. But only if you holdon.”Her breath hurt, going in, going out, from her aching throat all the way down to her chest, to the epicenter of a pain so cutting it might annihilateher.“Please,” shewhispered.His lips parted. Silver-gold shimmered as he opened his eyes just a slit. Breath rattling in his throat, he met her anguished stare. “Holding…on.”She choked on a sob of relief. Her fingers tender on his skin, she caressed his jaw, histemples.Raising his hand, he touched her lips. “Tell me…” he rasped. “Need to…hear&helli
“Cara, no.” Venina cowered against the door, her face tear-streaked. “I’m not worth it. Don’t let—” Jacob’s raised arm silenced her without evenstriking.Trembling, Cara met Venina’s red-rimmed eyes. And saw something she hadn’t noticed before. There was steel in that emerald green, a courage Cara hadn’t reckoned with—no one had reckoned with, judging by how carelessly Jacob turned his back on Venina, his focus on Cara.Away from a threat he’d clearlyunderestimated.It showed in the surprise in his icy eyes when Venina wrenched the dagger from his hand. In the moment of shock when his features slackened after the young witch-turned-demon slit her own throat. In his gasp when she managed to slice through both femoral arteries on her thighs as well before she collapsed. Her blood gushed onto the floor, ruby red on the whitecarpet.
Forcedinto a glittering black and red nightmare of a dress that was as tacky as it was ridiculous, Cara walked down the hall in front of Jacob, otherwise known as Leading Asshole, her hands tied again, this time behind herback.“Tell me,” she said, flicking a glance over her shoulder and indicating the hideous dress, “did you ask Mira’s permission before you raided her 80swardrobe?”Jacob shoved her, making her stumble and crash down face-first on the carpeted floor. It still hurt like hell, since she couldn’t break her fall with her hands, and the recent wound from when he’d slashed her with his dagger started stinging again.Cara should have kept her mouth shut, but when it came to sadist bastards like him, she couldn’t resist the compulsion to poke athim.“How’s your side?” he asked with a sweet smile while she struggled to her
They should be herebynow.Staring at the digital clock on the nightstand, Cara clenched her jaw, her heart pounding in her chest. Her hands and feet were tied, the rope also fastened to the headboard of the bed the brutes had thrown her on after dragging her into the house, so Cara had no way to get free. It had surprised her how normal the house seemed, with nice if bland-looking furniture straight out of a catalog, and a level of cleanliness suggesting that either whoever lived here had some OCD going on, or this was a model home in a newcommunity.She tried—again—to loosen her bonds. To noavail.Honestly, where were Marga and the others? They shouldn’t need this long to trackher.Sounds of movement in the hall. She snapped her head up, her body tensing for whatever—whoever—was coming. The door to the room opened, and two demons slipped inside—fem
Shakingthe water from his hair, Hux jogged back to his truck, the cool night air seeping through his soaked clothes, his wet skin. When he reached his vehicle, he set the tanzaniteon the pickup’s bed, opened the tool box, and pulled out the towel and change of clothing he always kept there for visits to Lucas. With speedy efficiency he stripped, dried himself, and put on the fresh set ofclothes.Tanzanite securely tucked in his jeans pocket, he hopped into the driver’s seat and checked his phone, which he’d stored in the glove compartment for his audience with the Demon Lord. His heart jumped into his throat. There were several missed calls from Cara as well as Hunter, and text messages from both, asking him where hewas.Cara’s face before he left flashed through his mind, the utter despair, the tears glistening in her eyes, the hurt confusion when she saw him back out the door. She&rsquo
An audiencewith the Demon Lord always involved some form of humiliation. Like being forced to take the scenic lake route, and then showing up before Lucas dripping wet and chilled to thebone.Huxley waded out of the lake and trudged up onto the shore. Pausing for a moment, he shook his head, then peeled off his soaked tee and wrung it hard. Water hit the sand with a muffled splash.Ten years.Ten damn years of working for the son of a bitch, and he’d never figured out another way to reach Lucas lair. And there were other ways. Those closer to the Demon Lord traveled back and forth without arriving soakingwet.He eyed the crumpled, soggy lump in his hands and grimaced. He’d rather have the cool night air assaulting his bare skin than put that dripping wet T-shirt back on, but appearing topless before the Demon Lord was not an option. Not that Hux had any problem with showing some skin, no. Lucas s
The stenchof fear permeated the air, so acrid it turned Draco’s stomach. Never mind that it was hisown.Above him, the single bare bulb hung from the basement’s ceiling, every now and then swinging with the vibrations of the people walking on the upper floor. Sometimes, when someone banged a door above, fine dust would drizzle down on his sweat-slick, blood-encrustedskin.I’m fucked.That realization should have been a given when Seth’s men grabbed him, but he’d held on to the sliver of hope that maybe he’d be able to escape later. He looked again at the magic-infused manacles shackling his arms and legs to the metal table.Yeah, not verylikely.The door to the basement opened, and warm light spilled in, before a shadow blocked the view of the hall beyond. The agastopiamale closed the door, and his heavy footsteps thudded on the stairs while he desce