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He was like my own personal Jiminy Cricket whispering in my ear about conscious and all that Disney magic bullshit.

“Out of all the minds I’ve encountered, yours is definitely one of the most fun.”

Fuck me. As much as I hated to admit it, I loved hearing his voice in my head. While not as deep as Rowen’s, Archer’s voice was rich and smooth. It was like the smooth velvety burn after a top shelf glass of scotch.

“Just listen to him. That’s all I ask.”Archer's hand landed on my shoulder and I almost jolted out of my skin at the suddenly contact. His other palm curled over my mouth as he bent close. So close I felt his breath fan over the side of my neck.

I never wanted to admit out loud that I had a secret crush on Archer. Rowen might have killed him when we were ‘together’ so I pushed it to the back of my mind.

“Oh, darling. If you only knew,”he purred into my mind. “But you’ll find out soon enough. Now, let’s go have a conversation and leave the boys to their pissing contest.”

Before I could voice a protest, darkness surrounded me as Archer flashed us out of the forest.

4

Archer

In all of my centuries of existence, I'd never met a creature as fascinating and as infuriating as Sierra Grant. I was bound to Rowen from birth, a present from my parents to the demon lord.

Present was too strong a word.

I was payment for my father's bargain years earlier. My father was a lower demon, with barely enough power to go into the mortal realm. My mother on the other hand…was a different entity entirely. Way more powerful than my father deserved in a mate. The angelic blood that flowed through her veins—blood that now tainted mine—made her a prize beyond his station. A prize he'd schemed and lied to obtain.

Dear old Mum had no clue the bargain my dad made in order to fool her into mating with him. The first-born child—me—traded away like livestock before I even existed. Sometimes I wondered if she ever regretted it, if she ever looked for me after I was taken. I doubted it.

I shook my head, clearing my thoughts as we rematerialized in my private area of Rowen's dominion in Hell. The familiar scent of brimstone and incense filled my nostrils, a strange comfort after the chaos we'd left behind.

Sierra sputtered and cursed as I set her down on the edge of the bed and worked at her bindings. Her silver hair fell across her face as she glared up at me, those fierce eyes promising retribution. Examining the enchanted ties, I whispered a quick counter spell and pulled a dagger from its sheath beneath the leg of my pants. The familiar weight of the blade against my palm centered me, as it always did.

"You just have daggers everywhere, don't you?" Sierra lifted a brow and eyed the silver metal in my hands as I easily sliced through her bindings. There was a hint of reluctant admiration in her voice that pleased me more than it should have.

"Pretty much," I replied with a smirk on my face, twirling the blade between my fingers before returning it to its sheath. Gods knew how much we obsessed over this woman—this omega—over the past decade. The way she moved, the way she challenged everything and everyone around her. The raw power that simmered beneath her surface, still untapped.

And no, it wasn't just Rowen. I'd watched her grow from afar, feeling something shift inside me with each passing year.

She sighed and rubbed at her wrists for a moment before I pushed her hands away and drew my own fingers over her flesh. Was it an excuse to touch her? Of fucking course it was. I'd waited long enough.

Her skin was so soft. Smooth. Utter perfection, just like the rest of the spitfire sitting before me. I took in the piercings in her lower lip and nose, the way they caught the dim light of my quarters. Then her natural silver hair that hung perfectly straight to just below her breasts, unusual and alluring—much like the woman herself.

Fuck, she'd grown into her curves and had a body that I couldn't wait to sink my cock into. The thought alone made my ice-blue eyes darken with desire. A desire I'd been tamping down for far too long.

Rowen was going to blow his load when he finally got a good look at her in her entirety. The thought amused me—his obsession had been building for far longer than mine, and I knew exactly what effect Sierra would have on him.

"So are you going to tell me what the deal with Callum is and why you whisked me away while they faced off?" Her voice carried that edge I'd come to anticipate—part curiosity, part demand.

"Maybe." I continued to massage her wrists and fingers, working the blood back into her circulation while secretly reveling in the simple pleasure of touching her skin. Each swirl of my thumb against her pulse point sent electricity through my fingertips.

"Stop it," she whispered to herself, a flush creeping up her neck. Probably to get her wayward thoughts under control.

They were glorious thoughts. Positively dirty and making me hard just viewing all the possibilities she was imagining. The benefits of being partially demonic—I could catch glimpses of fantasies when touching someone, and hers were deliciously explicit. Me pinning her against the wall. My mouth on places that made her squirm just thinking about it.

I stopped my motions and simply held her hands between mine, enjoying how her nails were immaculate with a sleek black polish over them. Small details I'd missed from a distance. While I'd watched over her from afar, I had no idea she'd become such a beautiful creature. The photographs and surveillance never captured the electricity that crackled around her, the way her scent—jasmine and honey, with a hint of something wild—filled a room.

And her powers were growing at an exponential rate. The cloaking spell I'd cast over her when we left had been doing its job. I could feel it humming around her like a second skin, invisible to most but practically tangible to me.

Although it wouldn't for long. Magic this powerful never stayed hidden.

Fuck, Rowen needed to get back here quickly so we could figure out our next plan of attack. I'd followed orders for centuries, but this situation was spiraling beyond our control.