Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 144404 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144404 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
He took a step back, and I immediately regretted the words. I wanted him close, but I didn’t want to want him close. We were on the Hell plane. The fucker should take what he wanted but no, that academic had to torture me.
“When you’re ready I’ll be the one beside you in bed. Don’t try to go to Gray and protest. Despite the fact that Donovan doesn’t have a contract with the demons, Vampire rules are still in play here. You belong to me, Olivia.”
He was wrong about that. “I haven’t taken your blood in years.”
“That is the claim a warrior makes. I am not a warrior,” he pointed out needlessly.
An academic claimed a different bond, though the blood bond would work. “It’s been years.”
“And yet I know you ate oatmeal this morning with a hint of brown sugar, and for lunch you ate a brown bread and ham sandwich and an apple that wasn’t as ripe as it should have been. Really, my love, you can send that back. Eddie would find you a sweet one,” he said.
The world seemed to stop. He could still taste what I ate? That bond should have broken years before. Years. Distance alone should have broken that bond. How could he…
“I can prove my claim on you.” Casey was talking like this was a casual thing and not my whole existence. “While Donovan won’t enforce it, I assure you Grayson will. He won’t want a vampire going to the demon council complaining that the rules aren’t being followed.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“I would,” he assured me. “You’ll find me changed in certain ways. I’m more ruthless than I was before, and I will use any law I need to in order to keep you close to me. I’ll use my place in the rebellion to further my pursuit. The only thing I want more than my king back on his throne is you.”
I hadn’t thought about the claims he could make on me, hadn’t thought he would even want one. “You can’t have me.”
“On that we will have to agree to disagree. So what will it be, Liv?” He stood across the room from me, but I could feel his hands. I could remember every time he’d touched me, every brush of his fingers over my skin.
We’d first made love when I was weak and vulnerable. How would it feel now? How would it feel when I was the powerful one? I could ask the question because no matter how fast they bound my magic, I was still powerful. I was a predator waiting to break her leash. Why shouldn’t I enjoy myself while I was here?
It wasn’t like he could break me. I simply wouldn’t let his lies trick me.
Maybe I would take him with me when I left and then he would know what it meant to be my captive.
My whole body suddenly felt alive and then…
A scream split the air and I looked out the window to see a massive beast about to tear my best friend apart.
Chapter Six
Kelsey
I really hated the fact that I screamed as the big cat leapt my way. It’s not like it was a new experience for me. I’ve had lots of weird creatures try to kill me. I always meet them with my usual calm, stoic demeanor.
But this thing was drooling, and not like clear mucous, which would be gross enough. Nope. The Hell plane version of Cocaine Cat drooled something black and icky, and I remembered I was pregnant.
Fighting while pregnant, while necessary in some cases, also sucks because it’s impossible to not be worried about the tiny baby growing inside me.
So I did what I always do. My arm changed, skin going a demonic red complete with a nasty set of talons I did not use on the thing. Nope. I reared back and punched the fucker with everything I had.
I was surprised when the giant snarling cat flew back a hundred yards. I’m strong. I’ve got supernatural strength when I call on that arm, but this was something different.
Still, the cat was back on its feet in an instant, and Gray was moving in front of me.
“Get in the house, Kelsey,” Gray ordered.
Like I was doing that. That cat looked tough, and I wasn’t having Gray lose a limb even if it would grow back. I was sure he had some insane healing powers on this plane, but I had plans for him while we were here, and they did not include me playing nursemaid.
I moved beside him, taking the semiautomatic out of its holster and pointing it the cat’s way. I’d been forced to send Gladys with Sasha to protect her. I couldn’t bring her with me to the Hell plane, so here I was with human weapons up against a Hell beast.