Page 74 of All Your Deadly Truths (The Filthy Duet #2)

Xeraphine

Hours before

“ T hen you have yourself a deal,” Belial says, crossing his arms and leaning in closer to Proserpina. She has her soft eyes on me, a sense of understanding for my struggles written in her expression. It doesn’t escape me, our likeness, that we are both a mixture of sins.

“Understood.”

I look at Alaric, who keeps his gaze fixed on me. I’d have expected him to be excited about this little arrangement, but there’s nothing but indecision.

This is what you wanted .

I bite my tongue from saying it. It isn’t exactly what he asked for, but he still gains something in the end. As does Belial.

The ones that lose, are the Vayl… the mortal world, and me.

I can’t help but ask myself: Am I trading one set of chains for another?

A knock comes at the door to Belial’s office, and I extend my hand out. “Give me the blade, so that we can leave.”

Belial steps to me, and I tilt my head back to keep him in my sights.

“It won’t kill her, as I’ve said, our kind cannot be killed.

” He places something into my palm, and I drop my gaze to it.

It’s all black, the only color is the worn cloth around the handle.

The edges are jagged, but the tip is fine and sharp—I don’t even need to touch it to know that even a minor prick will slice through skin.

“As this is forged here in the Beyond, it cannot be destroyed over time. Corrosion will not occur. It will cease the heart from restarting if placed through it when the host is deceased.”

The soft patter of feet approaches, and Belial steps aside, allowing Proserpina to move in front of me. Tearing my gaze from the blade, I look at her. She says nothing as she lifts a hand, gently pushing my hair behind my ear.

We both know what I have to do, but I fear I don’t have the strength to do it.

“Like revenge, fear is exhausting,” she says through a sigh.

Tali won’t come here willingly, I am very much aware of that, and I know I’ll never be able to do what I need to do to get her here.

Another knock sounds, and I step away from Proserpina to Alaric. He grabs my forearm, and I take one last look at my extended… mother? Calling her my great-grandmother feels odd, considering she looks just as young as I do. The words of ‘thank you’ linger on my lips, but I don’t say them aloud.

They’ve given me the information I need to at least stop my mother from breeding me—for now. If I can get Archer out of the picture, she’ll be left without an Incubus to do her bidding, forcing her to seek another.

When she nods, I know she understands my gratitude. Even if I had to give so much of myself for this, without her stepping in, I would’ve faced a punishment all too familiar.

The Fallen drags me from the room. I could walk on my own, but the weight of everything makes my legs feel heavier than they are. As the door swings open, I nearly slam into someone standing just behind it.

His bright indigo eyes are foreign and I swear there are specks of gold in them. He has short, black hair, and is damned gorgeous. Incubus, without a doubt, and surprisingly has his Vigoro pulled back to showcase his pale complexion.

We are an inch from one another, and he narrows his gaze as though confused as to why I’m here.

After a few seconds of awkwardness, Alaric drags me around and continues us out of the lobby. I turn my head over my shoulder, watching as the Incubus stares at me. It’s only when Belial shouts, “Son, did you gather what I asked for?” that he turns and enters the room, closing the door behind him.

Son… Lucifer?

The information given to me for the deal worked, thankfully.

Did I truly believe Belial wouldn’t trick me?

Not really. But I put my trust in Proserpina, believing she wouldn’t let him get away with lying to me.

For someone like me, who barely trusts even sturdy stairs, that’s a lot to come to terms with.

Watching Archer turn his back to me and stroll toward Alaric, it takes everything not to send him off with a parting gift: my fist up his ass.

Rubbing my hand across my cheek, feeling the skin pulling and stitching itself together, I move to Chase, who is being thrown down to the dirt.

“Nope, get up.” I bend down, grabbing the back of his neck and hoisting him to his feet. He stumbles back, hitting a tree and leaning his head against the bark. His teeth are bloody as he smiles, a laugh gurgling out of his throat.

As his lips part, about to fully revel in his mirth, I slip my bloodied fingers into his mouth. I’m not at all surprised when he sucks them in, swallowing my blood and sealing his fate. He knows he’s dead, and there’s no point in fighting it.

Good . At this point, I’m tired and I want to save my energy. He is nothing compared to Lars and Tali.

After he opens his mouth, I drag my fingers out and take a deep breath.

“For so long…” I step into him, my hand coming to the point where his missing arm and shoulder should meet, and press my nails into the muscle. He hisses, but I continue over his sounds of discomfort. “Pain and suffering is all I’ve knew.”

Grabbing a piece of his meat , I pluck it out as if it were nothing but a layer of fat on a piece of chicken. It stretches, and the moment it separates, his hand comes up on instinct to attack me.

I would have taken the blow, but a sharp smack echoes, drawing my gaze to see Kai gripping Chase’s wrist.

“I don’t care, Xera,” the Shifter says while rolling his eyes and scoffing. “Ask me what you want to know, and then kill me.” He takes a steady breath, resting his head back against the tree once again.

“You don’t know anything worth keeping you alive for. I’d love to torture you, though. Take your teeth out and make a necklace for myself. Cut your fin off and feed it to my cat.”

A soft chuckle rolls from someone, but it’s not Kai or me—I’m far from finding anything funny.

I want to torture him, but I’ll save all of that rage for Lars.

“There are only two things that I care to know, and then you die.” Several sets of feet catch my attention, and I jerk my head to the side. Past my monster, I can see Niyla, Sydni, and a gigantic Werewolf approaching us. All of them, including my princess, are covered in blood nearly head to toe.

Syd’s eyes capture mine, and she smiles, giving me a nod that she’s okay. I knew she’d be a killer when she needed to be, and I hope those demons she kept locked tight had fun.

Bringing my attention back to Chase, I release a sigh through my nose. “First, how the fuck did you find us?”

“GPS,” he says through a filthy grin. “No, Xera, a certain snake got wind of a cat making its way to its master.”

Is he talking about Mister? What the fuck?

That answer is annoying and unhelpful, so it gets him a slap to the muscle in his arm, his blood splattering across my face with the action. He hisses, and I can easily see his teeth cracking under the pressure.

Suppose it doesn’t matter… we need to get going anyway. How they found us won’t do me any good.

“Fine… Next question. The Siren.” His brows pinch, a look of confusion etched over his face. “Did you kill her?”

“That’s it?” He chuckles nervously. “Not where is your mother? How can you kill her? What exactly she?—”

“Did you… kill the Siren, Chase?” I lean closer, delivering the words through my teeth.

There is a short moment of hesitation, before he says, “No.”

The moment the word comes from his mouth, I grab around his throat, and thrust him down onto his knees. My leg lifts, and I press it onto his shoulder. “You enjoyed choking me.” My words are monotone, void of pain or joy. “Choke on this.”

I punch through his teeth that bare as he smiles up at me, the pain it causes me vibrates throughout all the bones in my hand and arm. Every marrow that is in my way to his throat shatters, and I swear I black out because I don’t see anything but red.

Knowing what I’m going for drives me, my fingers expanding after getting through the back of his throat.

He gags and attempts to wrench away, but I keep him down with the pressure of my leg.

Feeling his throat contract before going still, I break through the tissue and muscle that separate me from the cervical.

Once I feel the smooth, hard, surface of his bones, I force my arm further down to grab hold of it.

He’s dead, I’m physically holding him up at this point, but I’ll get his fucking spine out.

With my foot pressing hard down onto his shoulder, I pull and let out a loud, angered scream that echoes for several seconds after I’ve lost all of my breath to keep going.

The tear and popping of his insides mute as the thumping of each vertebrae ladders through his throat .

As it comes free, I stumble backward, a strong arm wrapping around my waist to keep me from going too far.

My chest heaves as I struggle to steady myself, the only sound in the silent forest being the harsh rhythm of my breath.

I hate that I’m not satisfied. As I look at my shaking hand holding the spine of my victim, I just know it isn’t enough. I’ll never have enough, and maybe my destiny is to be that monster everyone fears.

Tossing the bones to the side, I release a heavy sigh, feeling Kai’s hand on me tighten.

“Xeraphine…”

When my glossy eyes meet his, I’m taken aback by what I see. I had expected pride, or perhaps the same relief from earlier that I was by his side. But no, that’s not what I find in his gaze.

I swear my heart drops to my stomach.

Anger. Is it directed at me?

Instinctually, I attempt to take a step away from him, but he holds me even tighter.

I swallow roughly, as though I have sandpaper lining the walls of my throat. “Kai? I…”

“Leave us.” I don’t think I’ve ever heard him sound like this. There is seething rage in his lowered tone.

No one here takes orders from anyone, but it’s as though they can feel it as I can, and no one argues. They all leave.

Murrow.