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She shook her head.

Alexandru was grim. He remembered the autopsy reports he had received last night, compiled by both humans and otherworlders, and the picture had been grisly. Once the demon was able to sink its claws in a soul, a quick meal for it would be to drive the victim to suicide. That had happened with its first few victims. But lately, the demon had become stronger, smarter, more daring, and it had been able to manipulate its victims into committing a graver sin: murder, and all to hide guilt.

I need to tell you something, my pet.

Her eyes rose to his, anxiety darkening them almost to black.

There is a demon on the loose again, and it feeds on guilt.He didn’t speak right away, allowing the words to sink in. When she whitened, he knew that she had realized the truth.

That she was the next victim, and the demon had already sunk its claws into her soul.

“How did it happen?” she asked dully.

“That’s what I intend to find out. I’m betting the demon’s found a host. We kill the host, we end its hold on you.” Alexandru was grim. “But for now, I ask you again. What has it made you guilty of?”

“Something...I can never tell you about.”

He cursed under his breath. “Zari, dammit—-”

“I can’t.Just know that I won’t ever do it,ever.Even if it means I have to be another man’s—-”

Never.His tone was savage.Haven't I made myself clear enough?In an instant, he was on top of her, his weight imprisoning her but not overwhelming her. He pinned her arms over her head. “You are mine.”

His mouth crushed hers, and even as despair swamped her, she couldn’t stop herself from kissing him back. Soon, their mouths were no longer their only connection. He rose over her, and when he came back down, his cock slid into her. His mouth returned to her, and she moaned into his kiss even as her legs snaked around his waist and her body welcomed his possession.

With her arms still pinned over head, she could only moan and writhe under him, unable to satisfy her yearning to feel the hardness of his chest, the power in his body. “Master.”

He groaned at the plea in her voice, and with another groan, he pumped his seed into her. She screamed as his warmth flooded her, and arching to meet his frenzied thrusts, she rubbed her clit against him. Heeding her plea, he inserted his hand between their bodies. He flicked the nub of flesh – hard enough to have her vaginal muscles squeeze tightly.

She came, whimpering his name.Alexandru.

When she opened her eyes again, he was on top of her, bracing himself against his arms and his gaze on her face. “Zari, believe in me,” he whispered fiercely. “I will not let harm befall you.”

She shook her head. “You don’t understand.” And she couldn’t explain to him and have him possibly hating her. That was something she couldn’t ever handle.

Honor meant everything to Alexandru.Everything.If he did not have honor, he would have put his own desires above everything, would have gone after Katarina and convinced her to marry him. But he had not. Because he was honorable.

Nothing, however, was honorable about murder.

“I need to leave,” she whispered.

“You’re mine.”

“And I will be yours for as long as you want me to, but I need to leave. Will you let me go to Chalys?”

Chapter Seven

ZARI

“You are...odd.” Rhapsody shook her head at me when I finished telling her everything. Something about my friend made me feel at ease in letting her know the truth, something about her too-old eyes that told me she would be the last person in the world to judge.

However, she could still be pretty dense and tactless most times.

“I’m odd?”I repeated crossly. “I’m heartbroken, not odd.” We were in her hotel room, and it was again protected by the same spell to keep our conversation private. She had performed the ritual herself, which both stunned and impressed me. She must have had seriously kick-ass professors when she had been homeschooled. But then, her Master turned out to betheMarquis of Sangre. It figured.

Remembering that little fact had me shaking my head back at her. “I can’t believe you’re that man’s pet.” I considered her thoughtfully. “Or maybe I can. Based on what I've heard, you guys are cut from the same block.”

There was a flush in her cheeks, adding rare color to her normally pale face, when Rhapsody answered sharply, “We have nothing in common.”