Page 25

I don’t know how long I sat there with Sutton clinging to me, hours, long enough that her familiar had gone to sleep, and I could now see faint sunlight below the curtains—and when she did finally release me with a sigh and rolled to her back, I was fucking panting.

My skin was scalding hot and prickled with sweat.

I was a hellhound, I thrived on the heat, I walked through hellfire and felt nothing, yet this little female had me sitting here sweating like a mortal.

Blowing out an unsteady breath, I forced myself off the floor and strode to the table. I needed to know what she was up to. There was some mail and a grocery list on the table, but not much else. I worked my way around the small room, searching for—fuck knows what, but something wasn’t right.

I opened her drawers and shoved her clothes aside, looking for anything she might have hidden.

Nothing. I yanked open the smaller top drawer and stilled.

Pretty lace, soft cotton, so many delicate scraps of fabric overflowed the small space.

My mind immediately threw up images of Sutton wearing them.

I shook my head, trying to shake them away, but they weren’t going anywhere.

I shoved the drawer closed and turned to the laundry basket.

My stomach clenched when I tilted my head back and breathed deep.

I could smell her pussy. Before I knew what I was doing, I picked up the blue pair of panties tucked in beside some jeans, pressed them to my nose, and breathed deeply. I groaned as my cock thickened, straining against the front of my jeans?—

“What are you doing?” Sutton said stiltedly behind me.

I spun around, and fuck, her underwear was still balled in my fist, like some fucking panty-sniffing weirdo. You literally just sniffed them, fuckhead. Heat washed over me, but different than before. My face was hot. What the fuck was that?

Sutton’s eyes widened. “Were you…sniffing my underwear?”

“No.”

“You were. I saw you.”

I shoved the panties back in the laundry basket. “That’s not what I was doing.” I crossed my arms. “Something’s wrong with you. Something’s off, and I?—”

“Thought the answer was among my dirty laundry? That sniffing my undies would provide you with all the answers you desperately needed?”

I growled, feeling like a fucking fool, another thing I wasn’t accustomed to. “You moved here, you cut your fucking hair, you went to Rune when you needed help and not?—”

“You?”

I ground my teeth but gave her a sharp nod because, yes, that’s what I wanted. Despite not believing her, then pushing her away, yes, that’s exactly what I wanted.

Her brows lifted and she shook her head as she pushed herself up in her bed. “Are you serious?”

There was no anger in her voice. It wasn’t raised.

I didn’t know what she was feeling, I couldn’t name it, and that frustrated the hell out of me.

When Sutton walked into a room, it warmed, as if the sun followed her around.

Looking at her now, that was gone. The warmth was all gone.

It made my stomach hurt. I didn’t know how to respond to her question after coming to that realization, and I barely resisted rubbing at the ache in my chest.

“I don’t know what you want from me, Jagger. I really don’t. What are you even doing here right now? How did I get here?”

“Rune texted me you were with him. He used his powers on you, doped you up.” His scent hadn’t been strong on her, but I wouldn’t be satisfied until I heard the truth of what happened from her. “Did he force himself on you?”

“What? No. He didn’t harm me.” She shoved back the covers and climbed out of bed, then pulled off her shirt, leaving her in only a small tank top that exposed her belly and arms, and I couldn’t stop myself from eating up the sight of her bare skin.

“The witch’s council prefers not to deal with hybrids like me, and since I have demon blood and Rune has never turned me away, or made me feel less than because I’m not a pure-blooded demon, he’s the person I decided to go to.

” She pulled a clean shirt from her drawer and yanked it on, then her gaze slid to me. “He is the only person I could go to.”

“That’s bullshit.” A growl slipped free.

She huffed out a laugh, but it held no real humor. “Whatever. Look, I have to get to work. You need to leave.”

“I can take you. My bike’s downstairs?—”

“Nope.” She turned her back on me, carrying on getting ready as if I wasn’t there. “You know the way out,” she said, then walked into the bathroom and shut the door.

I didn’t want to leave. Striding to the door she’d shut herself behind, I lifted my hand to the flimsy piece of wood between us and curled my fingers into a tight fist, then yanked it back.

I wanted to stay here with her, to touch her again so badly, which was why I had to get the hell out of here now.

Somehow, I managed to make myself leave her apartment, but it wasn’t easy. I should go back to Hell, that would be the right thing to do, the sensible thing.

But I couldn’t do it.

I’d fought as hard as I could. I couldn’t fight this pull between us any longer.

I realized I didn’t want to. Sutton had little by little stripped my resolve, and she hadn’t even tried. Her mere existence had so easily unraveled me.

And honestly, I just wanted her.

I wanted my mate.

Maddox was right. Having her for however long that was, was worth the pain I’d feel when I lost her. But there was a solution for that as well, wasn’t there?

The idea solidified as I headed for the door, then someone banged on it, hard. My hackles instantly lifted. They pounded on it again, and I yanked the door open.

A small female stood there, staring up at me with an alarmed expression on her face.

She quickly got it together, though, and going by how similar her features were to Sutton’s, I guessed I was looking at her mother.

She was nowhere near as beautiful, though.

Her narrowed eyes and pinched mouth made her look mean.

The bitch who had thrown Sutton out, tossing her aside like garbage when she was too young to be out on her own without protection, was scowling up at me.

She had two witches with her, both I knew were on the witch’s council.

“Who are you?” Sutton’s mother fired at me.

I crossed my arms. “No, you’re the one who rolled up to Sutton’s door, and since I know who you are and what you did to her, I know it was without an invitation, which means I’ll be asking the questions. What the fuck do you want?”

She flinched, then puffed up like an angry hen. “Sutton trespassed on our cemetery. She’s been stealing from us, the goddess knows how long she’s been doing it, and she will answer to the council for it.”

I lifted my gaze to the council members, knowing dismissing her would piss her off. “You got proof?”

The female bit her lip. I’d met the male before. Nathan Trotman. I knew him as honest and a friend to Willow’s family. He held my gaze as he replied, and it was weighted. “Mrs. Ellis says she saw her.” He didn’t like the bitch either.

“You saw her? When? What time?” I asked.

“Yes, I saw her. Two nights ago, around eight thirty,” she said, looking smug.

“You saw her face?”

“Well…it was dark, but it was her. I know it was,” she said, those lips so fucking tight now it looked like she was sucking on a lemon.

“No,” I said. “Sutton was with me.”

“You’re lying!” she squawked.

“You got no proof she was even there, and I’m telling you she was with me. Couldn’t have been her. So you need to back the fuck up, and get the fuck gone. That’s the fucking end of it.” I looked at Trotman. “Anything else, or are we done?”

“We’re done. Thank you for clearing that up for us, Jagger.”

I gave him a chin lift.

Sutton’s mother kept firing accusations as the council members led her away. I watched, not willing to leave until I was sure they’d gone and weren’t coming back to ambush Sutton as soon as I left.

“You didn’t need to do that.”

I turned and found Sutton standing halfway up the stairs.

“Yeah, I did. Your mother’s a bitch.”

“There were herbs I needed, and I?—”

“Don’t need to explain to me.”

She hugged herself. “Well, thanks…for covering for me.” She still wasn’t willing to give me an inch, but I got it, especially after just coming face to face with her mother.

“No problem, sunshine. They come back, let me know.”

She smiled, like she always did when she was in pain. Trying to hide it from the world. “I told you I can take care of myself.”

Yeah, she wasn’t ready to give in, and I got that too. My sunshine had been hurt too much in her short life, by too many people, and that included me.

I nodded, then forced myself to leave, giving her the space she wanted, even though all I wanted to do was climb those stairs, pull her into my arms, and tell her I’d always have her back, no matter what.

As soon as I shut the door behind me, I hit Lucifer’s number.

“Jag, my man,” he answered after a few rings.

I stopped by my bike. “I have a follow-up to our last conversation.”

“I’m listening,” he said without pause.

“Will you grant Sutton immortality?”

He was silent a beat. “If I do that for you, then I’ll have to?—”

“You did it for Willow and her sisters. You won’t do it for me? I’ve been loyal to you for over a thousand years, Lucifer.”

“You know how this works,” he said, his voice hardening. “Immortality isn’t something I can give out willy-nilly, I can’t just hand it out when someone asks. There are checks and balances, Jag, you know this. There has to be good reason, and you haven’t provided me with one.”

I knew this, of course, but still I had to ask. “Will you end my life when Sutton dies? Will you take me out as well?”

There was a long pause. “So you’re going to mate her?”

“Yes.” I was done resisting. “So will you do it?”

“Are you sure you want that? I’d hate to lose you, Jag. You’re one of my children, you know that.”

“Yes, it’s what I want.”

Another pause. “If that’s what you truly want.”

“It is.” I would not live on without her. How I felt now was bad enough, and I hadn’t even claimed her in truth yet.

“Then the deal is done.”

Lucifer ended the call, and I shoved my phone back in my pocket.

Finally, I could breathe. For the first time in a long time, I could fucking breathe again.

Now I just had to get Sutton to forgive me.

Sutton

This is so stupid. You’re going to get yourself killed.

I’d agreed to Rune’s deal, but what choice did I have? I was out of options. Luke could already be dead, and if he wasn’t, he was probably wishing he was, and I couldn’t live like this any longer.

I hid among a large group of human females and, staying low, watched as Lars strode through the warehouse.

My only option was to get intel for Rune. He was the only one who could help me, the only one with the power to get me out of this nightmare. Luke and I wouldn’t be going home until we were free from Tarrant.

Which meant I was currently following Lars. He kept walking, weaving through the crowd, while retro house music throbbed through the room. A DJ stood on a stage at the front, and people danced all around me while lights flashed.

I watched as the demon checked out the room filled with both other and human.

Every now and then he’d stop, say something to someone dancing, and nine times out of ten, there was an exchange.

He was selling, and though I couldn’t see what he was handing over, I knew it was mine.

Guilt filled me. I’d made it, and it was as safe as I could get it without losing effectiveness, but if anyone got sick, or hurt, or worse because of me, I wasn’t sure I could live with it.

That’s when I spotted a group of demons standing against the wall not far from him. They were scoping out the room, paying special attention to the people Lars had just sold drugs to. What the hell were they doing? What were they waiting for?

A moment later, I saw a female veer to the side, stumbling, and like a well-choreographed dance, one of the demons swooped in, flung her arm around his shoulder, and, smiling and laughing like they were old friends, led her toward the exit.

Oh fuck.

They were with Lars, he drugged people, and they were taking them from the warehouse to gods only knew where.

Head down, I rushed up behind him, hooked my foot around the demon’s leg, and tripped him. They both went down, causing a commotion. I ducked and rushed for the exit, and not sure what else to do to stop them, I yanked my keys from my bag and used them to break the glass on the fire alarm.

The siren wailed a moment later, and the lights came on less than a minute after that.

The music stopped and everyone ran for the fire escape.

I scanned the room, watching the demons and their prey.

And, thankfully, people began to notice in the light that their friends were worse for wear, and they were helping them leave.

I couldn’t be sure if they were all human or not, but at least some of them were, I was sure of it.

If I wanted real proof, I probably should have let them take one and followed, but I couldn’t live with what might happen, especially if things went wrong.

That didn’t sit right with me, so instead I found a place to hide just outside the warehouse.

I ducked in among the overgrowth, along the tall fence surrounding the building, and waited so I could follow Lars and his demons.

The place emptied out quickly, and I searched for Lars.

I froze.

Jagger strode out, head and shoulders above everyone else.

You have got to be shitting me. I hadn’t seen him in there. I had no idea he was following me. But why else would he be here?

He stopped outside the door, tilted his head back and, eyes closed, scented the air. His head swiveled my way immediately, eyes narrowing on my exact location.

Fuck.

His massive body changed direction, turning and striding straight for me.

My cover was blown. Staying crouched in the bushes was pointless. What the hell was I going to tell him? Rune told me not to tell anyone what I was doing.

You don’t owe him an explanation.

No, I didn’t. I didn’t owe him anything.

He stood up to your mother, he covered for you.

I hadn’t asked him to do that, he’d taken it upon himself, and now he was apparently stalking me. With nothing else to do, I stepped out from my useless hiding place and straightened my spine as he closed the space between us.