Page 16 of All Your Deadly Truths (The Filthy Duet #2)

Xeraphine

T he taste in my mouth is unpleasant, bitter, almost metallic.

It feels like I haven’t moved my lips in years.

As I part my jaw, my mouth is bone-dry and my tongue sticks to the roof like glue.

The piercing tugs at the raw skin there and I’m certain that as it separates, I’m tearing some of it away with me.

I’m not sure how long it’s been since I was killed.

The act of my death was so swift that it just confirms that I lost my head.

As odd as it is to say, this isn’t a new one I’ve grown—my piercings on my tongue wouldn’t be here.

I’d have a new everything, including hair.

Some sick fuck probably sewed my head onto my neck and let the healing commence.

Trying to swallow is impossible, and although I don’t want to groan, one slips from my throat.

“She’s waking up…” I don’t need to see to know that it’s Lars talking. A gentle caress across my forehead draws my hair away from my cheek. “My sweet Xeraphine, I figured you would be asleep for longer, but how delightful we get a moment together while your eyes are open.”

As I move my head, I feel something cushioning me, but it’s not a mattress or pillow. Not all of my senses are functioning properly, because when I breathe in through my nose, I don’t smell anything.

“Can you speak?” His tender tone pisses me off. I’d rather him be screaming at me, not this gentle bullshit.

A pressure is applied to my shoulder, and it’s only now do I realize I’ve been resting on my side. My back thumps against the hard surface, my head slightly elevated.

His hand delicately cups my cheek, giving it a light pat. “Hello? ”

I can hear you, you fucking asshole.

Peeling my eyes open, the crust that had built between them pulls at my eyelashes, tearing a few free. When I’m finally able to see, I recognize I’m resting in his lap, and heat rises in my throat. I’m staring up at the head I want to separate from its owner’s shoulders.

“D—” It doesn’t feel like my throat has fully healed; the sharp pain that slices through my vocal cords makes my body tremble.

“I don’t think I’m daddy material, sweetie.”

My teeth clench and I feel my molars crack. “F—” This pain as I try to form a single word makes my toes pinch.

He draws his fingers across the space between my lips, and I open to try to bite down. I’m too slow to even get it between my teeth before he clicks his tongue and moves his hand.

“Fuck…” I don’t care, pain is pain and it will go away. So even as it tears through my body like an erupting volcano, I push through. “Off.”

“I’ve missed you.” He ignores me, drawing his touch across my shoulder, down my arm, and to my wrist. It causes me to twitch, and that simple movement has me trying to raise my arm. “Your mother says we aren’t compatible, but I beg to differ.”

He leans closer, slipping his fingers through mine. His features come into focus—brown hair falling slightly over his face, and blue eyes that are patronizingly gentle. It all just pisses me off.

I need to stay angry because if I don’t, I’ll think beyond this moment. I’ll think about them, and I can’t afford to worry about where they are or how close they are to finding me. It’s crucial that I only focus on myself. That’s the only way I’ll make it out of here and get back to them.

Sydni… Mister… Kairhyse…

“Look how perfect our hands fit together, my Gods. I didn’t want to talk to your mother about how perfect your pussy takes my cock, but that alone writes of marriage. Like it was made for me.” He hums, and as he leans down further, I know he’s coming in to kiss me.

I don’t mean to do it, but I have no real control. So when I try to simply bite down on the tip of my tongue, I accidentally bite straight through it. It slips to the back of my throat, and I stifle the gag, forcing down the cough that threatens to escape.

When his lips meet mine, I open up, and he’s eager to oblige my invite.

“Oh—” It isn’t surprise that laces his tone when he pulls his tongue back. “How did you remember?” The hand that isn’t tightening around mine, moves and grabs my throat. “I love everything about you, including your blood. Do you remember when you’d piss, I’d?—”

I scream through clenched teeth, drowning out his words.

The moment my mouth opens to try and speak, he tightens his fingers, cutting off my oxygen. “I would love to have you control me. I’m into that freaky shit. Gag me, put me on my knees for you, but baby, we both know you’d kill me instead of putting us through pleasure.”

All of my muscles flex as the feeling of lightheadedness begins to creep in; A fog-like sensation fluttering over my eyes, heat building up toward my temples as he simply smiles.

My hand is in my field of view—I hadn’t even felt the sensation of lifting it, yet here it is, gripping his neck awkwardly. My thumb presses against his Adam’s apple, my nails trying to dig into the back of his neck, but it’s no use. I can’t even see the imprint of force on his skin.

He leans back away from me, and tilts his head to the side to kiss my wrist.

Dots begin to blanket my vision, and just as my eyes involuntarily roll upward, the pressure ceases.

The gasp for air gets caught, and I begin choking on blood, or saliva, I’m not even sure. My mouth was so dry, but thanks to slicing the tip of my tongue off, I now at least have a means to wet my throat to say, “Release me, Lars.”

He begins chuckling.

Needles prick down my throat, straight to my chest, but I don’t care, I keep commanding, “Let me go!”

His mirth intensifies, causing my eyes to widen.

He’s… laughing at me…

“So, it does work. How lovely. Your Amoro, my love, is a bit chained up at the moment and can’t cleanse you. So, you can’t use that little blood trick of yours.”

I could swear the world cracks open and I simply fall through it.

“I was worried your mother lied about her venom’s effect on you.

But now that that’s settled, we’ve got a few more hours before I unfortunately have to let you go.

” I feel a soft bump, and as he leans over, the sensation of his fingers against my bare stomach makes me whimper.

No… “I have a Hause to run, and as much as I want to be your daddy , becoming that, well… the outcome of it just won’t do for me. ”

Squeezing my thighs as tight as possible does nothing, because I’m sure they’re as weak as the rest of my body feels.

“You enjoyed everything I did to you before in that shipping container.” His moan makes my stomach churn and I swear I taste acid. “Then it was all business, trying to bring out your Amoro. Now, though, I’ll have my way with you for just our pleasure.”

His hand moves between my legs, and he pushes his fingers between my slit.

“Stop,” I grit through my teeth. “No, no… don’t!”

I ignore him exploring, grateful that only after a moment he does as I begged, and stops. The loud breath I release is accompanied by my entire body shuddering. My teeth actually chatter as I shake my head back and forth.

“Cinnamon…”

Anyone but him…

No… no… no one but Kairhyse, please…

“You aren’t wet.”

The sudden drop of my head startles me enough to make me gasp, and jolts me into reopening my eyes. He had taken all of my vision before, but now that I can look around, I realize we’re in the back of a car—no, a van. There are no windows, only a single sliding door, and no one else in view.

“You know.” He speaks, and I roll my head to try to find him. He comes into my view just as he begins crawling down toward my feet.

As if I thought saying stop would do anything.

Fuck!

“Lars…” I bite down on my bottom lip, my sharp canine digging into the flesh. “You will die.”

He ignores me and continues, “There was a time I nearly took you from the container and became your ‘ savior’ .”

The moment my leg is lifted, I kick it out, driving it straight into his chest. He grabs my ankle to keep from falling back.

A half frustrated, half amused sigh escapes him.

“The day your Amoro surfaced was the same day I was planning on taking you. I knew it was fate, so I let it be.” He tosses my leg aside and quickly grabs my thighs with both hands.

I don’t look at him, just close my eyes and think of anything but what he is about to do.

“I sacrificed so much to have you, Xeraphine. I’m a man obsessed, and I deserve what I’ve killed for.”

“You will die,” I repeat, my hands finding their way down as if to shield me. “Stop.”

“You are mine right now, and I’ll have what was promised for all my trouble.” A painful fire erupts right at my pussy, and I don’t need to see it to know something sharp has penetrated me.

“I’m not yours!” I wish my scream was louder, my voice more forceful. I’m just exhausted, so it makes sense. Something is wrong. I don’t feel my Demon, but I know it’s there. It’s just… dormant.

“You’re right, unfortunately. You are your mother’s. ”

“No…” Tears prick at the edge of my eyes. “I’m no… no one’s but Kai?—”

“Yes, yes,” he sings. “You can’t belong to a dead man, sorry?—”

A high-pitched ringing blares in my head. “Huh?”

I look down at him, and it’s like the world around me is closing in. My heart rate that stays at a normal pace, even under duress, is thrashing and I can feel it against my chest. It physically hurts .

He’s saying something, but I’m unable to hear it.

All I hear is church bells.

A blaring alarm is going off in my brain, and I swear my ears are bleeding because they’re on fire.

Dead?

“Who?” I ask.

I disregard the blade he lifts and twirls around near his face. His lips are still moving, and the nonchalance of his demeanor is pissing me off.

I can’t hear him.

“Who…” I say again.

It’s like my brain wasn’t ready to hear anything other than his name, because the moment that Lars says “Kairhyse”, my body freezes.

My heart stops, and I am solely functioning on my brain.

He’s lying…

The world in front of me falls to half-mast, the rest just bleeds together. He isn’t dead. No…

No…

Is that why I can’t feel my Amoro?

It isn’t true… Lars is a liar, but even still, I can’t find the will to fix the beating heart inside of me to start again. It broke, and I have no willpower to put it back together.

As twilight creeps and overtakes the rest of the light, I can only hope that I won’t wake up. I don’t want to face a world without him in it.

He wouldn’t leave me.

He’s obsessed.

He promised to chase me to the ends of the world.

A stalker wouldn’t give up… He wouldn’t die…

Kai…