Page 54 of All Your Deadly Truths (The Filthy Duet #2)

“Pfft, whatever. Niyla is with that Fallen, and you just unfortunately walked in when the thought came about.”

“Then do it, command me.” He crosses his arms over his broad chest. All Werewolves, males and females alike, are built as if Serynne carved every muscle with precision when creating them.

It’s the result of constant running, their torsos just as strong as their legs, creating a frame that’s powerful.

Xera hisses, “Don’t you think I’ve been trying for the past five minutes! You think I’m just saying” —her voice deepens, mocking him— “‘Hey, pick up the glass’, for fucking fun?!”

When she leans back, she drops her chin, eyes focused on him. “Brice…” I can feel her Amoro, smell it as though I’m standing right beside her. That cherry blossom scent fluttering around my nose, a velvet-like texture rubbing against my brain.

Does he feel that, too ?

“Pick up the glass and drink it.”

He doesn’t even twitch, move, or blink.

When her hand quickly slams against the marble, I hear the crack under her force.

“Shit…” She takes a step back and growls.

One of her hands rushes up, fingers threading through her hair, causing my shirt—the one she’s wearing—to ride up just enough to reveal the black elastic shorts hugging her thighs.

Good little demon… I’d hate to kill the Werewolf for seeing again what he isn’t meant to.

“You said you did it once before?” he asks her, grabbing the glass and pouring out the liquid into the sink.

My girl gathers her hair with both hands, lifting it up as her wrists cross over the top of her head. She leans back slightly, exposing the graceful curve of her neck. “Yes, with a Vampire named Molly.”

Now it’s making a bit more sense why she asked him for help.

She hadn’t given Brice her blood, and was trying to use her Amoro to control him without it.

It’s why Sydni and I can’t help her; her blood runs through us and it could hinder her.

She needs someone without it, so there’s no intervention in any way.

“Replicate the feelings you had.”

“I was under duress,” she remarks dryly. “At this point, there is really only one person that could put me into that state of mind, and I am not going to invite her over for fucking tea to help train me.”

I’m about to step out, when Brice asks, “Speaking of that woman.” Bringing my foot back quietly, I wait. “How was she in bed?”

My eyes widen in utter shock.

“E-Excuse me?” Her voice shakes.

“I heard you telling Kairhyse that she also raped you.”

When my fists clench tightly, I’m about to rush out there and completely snap his neck when a tight grip on my wrist ceases me. Jerking my head around, I have to look down, but it’s my little butterfly, standing there shaking her head.

“How was she?” Brice continues, and even though I can see the hurt in Sydni’s eyes from the comment, she stays steadfast. It’s like I can read what she’s thinking. ‘Nothing breaks her…’

That is, until it does break my girl.

“You want to go there?” Xera laughs, and I can tell it’s strained, nearly forced. “Great, you know, apple doesn’t fall far from the tree right? I’m incredible in bed.”

She’s hurting . Oh no.

“I bet, how did she taste?” He’s going to lose his head if he isn’t careful. When I look back, she’s slowly moving around the kitchen island. Brice has now stood up. “Heard she forced you to eat her out.”

She only told me that. This son of a bitch was eavesdropping on our conversations.

“I imagine as good as you do.” Sydni’s hand tightens around my elbow at his furtherment of the comments.

“Shut up.” Xera’s voice is but a deadly whisper.

Brice keeps a solid distance away. “Make me,” he says through a laugh before continuing. “Did you enjoy it? I imagine a Succubus, no matter where it comes from, has to enjoy sex.”

I may actually kill him if she doesn’t.

“I’ll take your fucking head, dog .”

When he grins, I watch her cross quickly the space to him, and when she grabs hold of his throat, it’s now Sydni that tries to intervene.

Grabbing her quickly, I toss her back.

I know that Werewolves are strong, but I didn’t realize how much so. He is grabbing her hand and tearing it from around him, and as their arms shake for dominance, his smile grows. “Make me shut up. Sensitive whore.”

I would classify this sudden feeling like a storm showing up out of nowhere, sucking a clear day away and drowning the tropical weather into a hurricane. Dread, pain, and death envelop my home in seconds as a black pulse emanates off of Xera.

Sydni shakes so bad that I can feel the ground tremble from it. Even I, who knows Xera would never hurt me, am fearful in this moment.

“Brice…” Her tone vibrates with intensity, and its sharp ring shatters any sense of calm we might have had. “Stop breathing.”

At first, the Werewolf just smiles, but it only takes a second for not only me, but Sydni, to realize what’s happening.

He isn’t breathing.

I don’t hold Sydni as she rushes over, just as Brice falls to his knees. “Phiny!!” He grabs at his throat, and as his face begins to turn pale, his gaze jerks to hers.

I walk slowly, just watching as Xera stares down at him while her princess shoots her gaze up to her best friend. “Stop! Okay, okay, you did it! He was only pushing you to help?—”

“Be quiet, Sydni.” Xeraphine’s tone is gentle, but a command, because I can feel it.

“I’m so sick of everyone’s fucking voice. Maybe I preferred the silence of being alone.” I know she isn’t meaning to intentionally hurt me, but damn, that stings. “I could tell your heart to stop, end you in seconds. But this… I like to see the suffering in your dying eyes.”

Brice is beginning to convulse, and I can see the beginning of his shift to his natural form. The one that he was birthed into, not this foreign body they take on the first full moon of their life. It would be how he left this world, as the wolf his mother pushed out.

“I remember now why I never ask for help.” She turns her gaze over to me, her eyes shrouded in darkness. Her horns that had disappeared, begin to push up through her skin, drawing blood down her forehead and into her eyes.

Sydni screams through closed lips as a loud thud echoes, but I don’t tear my gaze away from my little demon.

“Do I kill him?” she asks, and I can hear my little butterfly shout through a sob.

Moving toward her, I take a deep breath. “Do you want to kill him?”

Thirty seconds… that’s all he has.

“Yes.” Her response is quick, but so is mine.

“Then why do you ask me?”

She hesitates, the vein in her neck pulsing, drawing my gaze down to see that her Amoro is peeling back her Mundane skin.

Fifteen seconds…

“Because you know me better than I think I know myself.”

Moving another few steps to her, I whisper, “A body… A shield… little demon.”

Five seconds…

Then she blinks, and commands, “Breathe, Brice.”

The wheezed breath he takes in makes me look down at Sydni, her body shaking so hard that she’s almost a blur. Tears streak down her cheeks as she clings to the Werewolf, whose beast form is slowly returning back to his Mundane body.

“Thanks for the lesson.” When Xera speaks, I gaze back up at her. I haven’t seen this cold stare since pulling her into the alleyway that day with Mathas. “A nice reminder, for you , that my kindness should be cherished.”

Her best friend stares up at her, not speaking, and I’m unsure if it’s because Xera hasn’t given her the command, or because she doesn’t know what to say.

“You know what I am, don’t give me that look, Syd.” When my girl steps to her, I wouldn’t have been surprised if she shrunk back, but her princess stays steadfast. “He used you! Hurt you ! Remember who would never, ever , fucking do that to you.”

Sydni’s eyes round, fresh tears pooling in them .

“Me. Do not see me allowing him to live for your sake. He serves a purpose, and it isn’t solely for your pussy.” Watching as she winces, I suck in a sharp breath. “This is my fault, I should’ve never asked for help. I’m always disappointed in the outcome.”

“You…” Brice wheezed out a cough. “You did it, didn’t you?”

“Yeah… So I need to be pissed every time? Angry? Fucking traumatized? Thinking of my mother grinding against my godsdamn face?!” she screams, and anger builds in my own chest. “No, dog . You didn’t help me.

You pissed me off. I knew I could likely do it under duress but I don’t want to do that. Now, all you’ve done is set me back…”

Set you back… What do you mean?

“Phiny, I’m…” Sydni begins to stand, but it’s my girl that steps away now.

“Yeah…” Xera draws a breath through her nose, dropping her head to the side. “What was that you said? Even if you got married, I’d always come first?”

My heart physically stops at seeing how that slaps Syd straight across the face.

I’ll always support my girl in everything , and this is no different.

While I don’t view what Sydni did as a betrayal of friendship, I understand her feelings.

My butterfly and I have been with Brice much longer than Xera, and seeing her best friend try to stop her from killing him after what he just said to her… I can understand this impulse.

“It’s fine.” Even as my little demon continues, Sydni’s shaking her head as tears stream from her eyes. “I get it. I’ll be here when he betrays you again, don’t worry.”

Brice growls, “I’m not going to betray anyone , Xeraphine. Especially not her.”

I’m slowly starting to realize what she meant… “Set me back . ”

“Yeah, well… I don’t trust you.” She shifts her gaze downward, and takes a deep breath, her chest expanding. When she takes a step away, I reach out and grab her wrist.

Her eyes, slow but steady, trail up my arm to my gaze.

“Sometimes,” she starts, that deep set frown of hers pulling a frustrated growl from my throat. I only want her smiling at me. This look, I’ve seen it so many times before. She wants to escape, to disappear, to run . “I wonder what you’re thinking.”

“Do you want me to tell you?”

“No,” she answers quickly. “But you should anyways. Let me hear exactly what I need to know.”

My grip tights on her wrist. “You’re fucking psychotic. ”

I don’t focus on the sharp breath Sydni takes, only on my little demon. “And I don’t know what it makes me, but I love that part of you as equally as I do your heart—and that tasty cunt, and tail.”

When her eyes narrow, I pull her to me, my hand taking the back of her neck and squeezing it.

“I’ve seen that look, Xera. You won’t run.

Not from me. I’ll help you. All you need to do is ask, and I’d rip apart this world to bring someone to you to tear apart.

Someone you can command to eat their cock, fuck themselves with their big toe—” her nose twitches, and I see the fight in her lip not to smile.

“—I don’t give a shit what you have them do.

Don’t go to anyone else because you’re right, they’ll only disappoint you. I won’t.”

She swallows as she pulls her arm from my grip, but doesn’t step away.

“I’ll take care of you.”

With an intake of air, I know I’ve calmed her. Her frantic heart that belongs to me begins to settle, and she gives me a gentle nod.

“Only you,” she murmurs.

I cradle her face in my hands, affirming with a nod. “Give me a couple days, and don’t be a moody little demon in the meantime… and” —I bring my voice down to below a whisper— “apologize to your best friend.”

She tries to drop her head but I keep her gaze upward. Even if she doesn’t nod or say anything, I have her back. She’s not falling anymore, and I’ve grounded her in place.