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Chapter Twelve

Sutton

My breath misted in front of me as I approached the huge multistory building. It was old and terrifying, and the last place I wanted to be, but I was out of options.

I glanced over my shoulder again. Walking around Seventh Circle at night by myself wasn’t the cleverest thing I’d ever done, which was why I’d left Boo at home, but I needed help and taking my car was too risky.

For obvious reasons, I couldn’t go to the hounds or my coven.

I couldn’t go to anyone who Tarrant or Poe would expect—or could be watching.

If I wanted help, and I did, I needed to go to someone as equally as scary as Tarrant.

People were getting hurt, and I couldn’t take Poe’s revolting attentions much longer.

Evil kept coming into my life, over and over again. I was trapped in a twisted game of pass the parcel, except it was a scalpel being passed from one monster to the next, all desperate for their pound of flesh. I didn’t want to play anymore.

I needed it to stop.

I took in the nearly two-hundred-year-old building. Dark moss had overtaken the stone walls of the massive gothic-style building. I looked up at its arched windows. The place filled me with a horrible awe, every time. It looked like something from medieval England.

Back in the 1800s, it was known as the Sunnydale Insane Asylum.

The place had been decommissioned in the early 1980s and was now occupied by demons—and home to the head demon.

Rune had been appointed by Lucifer to oversee the demons living in Roxburgh.

He’d made this part of the city, now known as Seventh Circle, home.

Rushing through the gate, I jogged past the large shadowy garden, up the main stairs, and stopped outside the wide, heavy doors. Taking a deep breath to steady my nerves, I knocked.

Heavy footfalls sounded on the other side of the door.

I really didn’t want to have to come here.

I’d always made a concerted effort to avoid Rune.

He was terrifying, saw too much, was crazy powerful and gave me seriously weird vibes.

I always felt as if I wasn’t completely in control around him.

People dropped their filters, sometimes their inhibitions, when he was in the room.

He didn’t take control or manipulate you, as such, he just muted the little voice of reason that talked you out of doing questionable things.

I always imagined a mini angel and devil on my shoulders when I was near him, only the angel was gagged, leaving the little devil to whisper unchallenged.

But since I had demon blood, I had every right to be in Seventh Circle, and every right to ask for a meeting with Rune.

The door opened and a demon, a very large one, looked down at me, then his gaze darted behind me and back down. He frowned. “What do you want?”

I glanced over my shoulder, confused, then back and smiled brightly. “I’m sorry for coming so late, but I was really hoping I could see Rune.”

He grunted a humorless laugh. “Like you said, you’re too late.”

“Is he not here? Too late for what?”

He all but rolled his eyes. “For a place in his bed. The spot was filled. You’ll need to get here earlier next time.” He started to shut the door.

I threw out a hand, stopping it.

The demon scowled, jerking it open. “What the fuck?”

“I’m not here for that. I need help. I need to talk to Rune.”

He looked me up and down. “What kind of help?”

“It wouldn’t be in my best interest to divulge that information to anyone but him.

” I gripped the strap of my bag tighter.

“It’s something he’ll want to know,” I lied.

Whether or not he cared enough to help was a crapshoot, but it was a gamble I was willing to take.

“And if he finds out I came here and you sent me away?—”

“Fine,” he grunted and opened the door wider. “But you’ll have to wait until he’s finished.”

Finished with all the sex he was having I assumed. Awesome.

He closed the door, shutting me inside. “Down the hall, take a left at the end, then take the elevator to the top floor. Wait outside. I’ll let him know you’re here. Whether or not he lets you in is up to him.”

“Thank you,” I said and headed down the hall, my boots thudding on the cracked and stained linoleum.

“And I wouldn’t advise you to get off on any of the other floors. You do, that shit’s on you,” he said after me.

That didn’t sound ominous at all.

My nerves shot higher as I rushed down the hall. The vibes in this place were cold, eerie…gods, spooky, and the smell? There was still a background scent of hospital, but there were other, seriously horrendous things mixed in.

I rushed past a lot of closed doors, then finally rounded a corner and got into the ancient elevator. When the doors slid closed, I made sure I hit the button for the top floor, and it shot up, finally bouncing to a stop when I reached the top.

If you told me a few months ago that I would be waiting outside the apartment of the most powerful demon I knew, while he had sex with some random female, I would have called you a stinking liar.

But here I was.

I stepped into the foyer. There was just the one door, so at least there wasn’t any confusion. With a groan, I rubbed my tired eyes. Gods, I’d rather be literally anywhere but here.

I had no idea how long a wait I’d have, so I sat on the floor across from the door and tried to make myself comfortable.

I wrapped my jacket more firmly around me, to fight off the chill that always lingered in this place.

It was like a too-tight icy embrace that you couldn’t escape.

I shivered, and tried not to think about it.

Taking my phone from my bag, I opened Nightscape and, masochist that I’d become, searched desperate demon gets brutally rejected, to see if the views had slowed down.

They had, a little. At least that was something, I guess, but considering it had been seen by thousands of Nightscape subscribers from all over the world, I wasn’t about to start celebrating.

There was also a message from Jagger.

Sorry about last night.

That was all it said. That probably meant he’d left again, that he’d returned to Hell.

Good. I hope he stayed there this time. Maybe he’d finally gotten it through his head that what he’d done last night was a massive overstep.

That him showing up like he had, telling me what to do, like he had a right to, acting like protecting me was so important to him, like he cared, when I knew for a fact he didn’t, was not okay.

My face heated. Maybe my moment of temporary insanity last night, cutting off his shirt and throwing it at him, had done the trick?

Still, my heart hurt just from the thought of him leaving. Gods, a sense of loss filled me to overflowing. My body and mind were at complete odds, and I couldn’t take it anymore. Shove it down.

Popping in my earbuds, I hit play on my feminine rage playlist, rested my head against the wall, and closed my eyes.

I jolted awake—then shrieked at the massive male-shaped shadow towering over me.

My hand flew to my pounding heart, and I sucked in a breath.

Rune.

He stood there, wearing only a pair of dark pants. His chest was inked and scarred and muscled. He’d been branded in several places—then I realized I was ogling and quickly lifted my gaze, and it locked on to his. His eyes were otherworldly, the color somewhere between yellow and green.

“Sutton, my apologies,” he said, his voice resonating all around us. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

I had no idea how he remembered my name, but he knew everyone’s names, at least those of us who were demon, or in my case, part demon, like some kind of demonic Santa. He could have woken me with kitten licks or butterfly kisses and I still would’ve jumped out of my freaking skin when I saw him.

“Yes…uh, sorry to, um, loiter outside your apartment.”

The elevator dinged, and I turned to see two females, flushed and giggling, getting in.

I turned back to him, taking a steadying breath to withstand how much power flowed from him.

Gods, it was heavy and thick and made me hot and cold and trembly inside.

I knew showing weakness to this male was dumb, but I honestly didn’t have the energy to be strong right then.

Which was stupid. This male was Lucifer’s sidekick; I doubted he had much empathy to spare, if he had any at all.

He held out his hand, those pale, terrifying eyes sliding over me. “You’ve been waiting a long time. I’m sure you’d rather talk somewhere more comfortable?”

Reluctantly, I took his hand and scrambled to my feet. He didn’t release me, no, he curled his fingers around mine and led me into his apartment. I didn’t dare pull away.

His place was the entire top floor of the old asylum and set up as one huge open space, apart from the bedroom and bathroom which were walled off.

There were lots of windows, and the night sky twinkled with stars all around us.

I’d heard this used to be a rooftop garden that was walled in during the 1950s.

It was pretty cool. Definitely not as creepy as the rest of the building.

“It’s nice in here. Warm.” Unlike the rest of the building.

“Thank you. I like it.”

He led me across the room, and I smiled brightly up at him, feeling fully at ease all of a sudden. He lifted my hand and dipped his head, then breathed deep. Scenting me? He made an appreciative sound, all rough and velvety. I liked it.

“Why did you do that?” I asked, and knew somewhere deep inside, I would never have asked that usually, but again, I felt safe right then, relaxed.

Rune grinned, flashing a set of vampy-looking fangs. He wasn’t a vampire, though, he was another kind of blood drinker, soul collector, like Fern. “I wondered if you were taken. It seems you’re not.”

“How do I smell?” I asked and again, somewhere deep inside, I was screaming at myself to shut the hell up, but I wasn’t going to, I couldn’t.