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“Boy, you better adjust your fucking tone when you speak to me,” Loth said, his voice so gravelly it lifted goose bumps across my arms.

Poe was a demon, Lothar was a hellhound.Demon’s did not fuck with hounds, not if they wanted to stay above ground.Poe scowled, but sadly shut his mouth.I would have loved to see him get dragged away screaming and bleeding.

Lothar dismissed him, looking back down at me.“You need anything, babe, you got my number, yeah?”

I nodded, then watched as he gave Poe a menacing look before walking back the way he’d come.I wanted to run after him, to tell him what was happening, to beg for his help, but I couldn’t.I was stuck.

“What the fuck was that?”Poe bit out.

“My friend, she’s mated to a hound,” I said.“He just came over to say hi.If I told him to leave, he would’ve known something was up.”

He grunted and, with his arm still around me, dragged me away and down the main hall to make the exchange.Lars followed along behind us.“You tell that fucking hound anything and Luke dies, screaming, understand?”

Bastard.“I understand.”

We walked into a room, and Lars shut us in.Poe held out his blood-covered hand and motioned for the bag.I handed it over, and he yanked down the zipper, checking it was all there.I’d adjusted Luke’s recipe, making it more stable, but none of it had been easy.Just knowing I could be causing harm was making me physically ill.

He looked up.“Looks good.We want another delivery in two weeks, but this time double.”

“Double?That’s impossible.The ingredients are expensive.I can’t do it.”

He held his hand out to Lars, and the other demon handed him a roll of cash.“Tarrant is aware of the cost to you, and because of your good work, going forward you’ll be paid.”

“Which means Luke’s debt is paid, right?So this can end.”

“Wrong.It’s over when Tarrant says it is.He does understand that Luke left you in a difficult position, though, so he’s offering to be more accommodating, out of the kindness of his heart.”

Bullshit.He just wanted to make sure he got his drugs.“I don’t want your dirty money,” I fired back at him, even as fear made my knees weak.

“Either you take it, or you don’t, that’s totally up to you.But you will be required to fulfill your delivery either way or…do you really need me to spell it out again?”

No, I did not.Reluctantly, I snatched the cash from him, counted out the amount I would need for ingredients, and handed back the rest.

Poe grinned.“You’re adorable when you’re being all righteous and stubborn.”

“Are we done here?”

His gaze slid over me.“For now.”

I spun and all but ran from the room.I fought my way through the crowd, avoiding the area where I’d seen Lothar, and finally made it back outside.I wasn’t sure I took a full breath until I’d locked myself in my car and was headed back to my tiny studio apartment in the city.

I couldn’t keep doing this, and I knew they had no plans of letting me off.I was making them too much money.

I had to find a way out.Somehow, I had to find a way to make this stop.

Jagger

Maddox swung.I ducked, nailing him in the side.

He grunted and returned with one of his own, forcing the air from my lungs.

Maddox commanded our brothers here in Hell for our alpha.War made regular visits, and all of us, except Mad, took shifts spending time between here and the compound.

We’d been sparring for a while, both of us needing to blow off steam.Mad always wanted to fight.Since the loss of his mate, my brother had been carrying around more aggression than he knew what to do with.She’d been taken from him in the most horrific of ways, and he’d come back to Hell afterward with no intention of returning aboveground.His pain had formed a hard shell around him, calcifying to protect him from the truth of what had happened, which was for the best honestly, but now all that remained was rage.

He slammed his fist into my stomach, and I returned with a blow of my own?—

“Jag!Phone,” Gus called.