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“Yeah, their fucking laws. We’re demons; we shouldn’t be forced to live like humans.

Tarrant’s worked hard to make this a successful venture, to make it something the demons in this city could trust, not just by maintaining their anonymity but making sure we don’t draw attention from those who want to control and stifle what is only natural.

” He leaned close again. “Tarrant won’t be able to doubt your loyalty after this. ”

After what? My nerves shot higher, and I had to focus really hard on my breathing.

A voice filled the room through speakers, telling everyone things were about to begin.

The cage in the middle of the room, that I’d seen last time, was gone, but then the floor began to rise, the top of the cage coming into view. It rose slowly—and I choked down my horror when I saw what was in it.

It took everything in me not to jump to my feet, not to do something .

A naked female stood there. She was drugged, no doubt from the ones I’d made, and having trouble holding up her head when the demon standing just outside the cage barked at her to show her face.

The female couldn’t lift her head, though, and he shoved the long staff he held through the bars and jabbed it against her hip. It buzzed, shocking her, and she cried out in pain. Excitement filled the room as she slumped to the side. The demon shoved the staff back through the bars to do it again.

Without thought, I fired magic at him, coiling it around the demon’s calf and gripping the muscle tight. Cramp was a bitch. He howled, dropping the cattle prod so he could grip his leg.

“Lot number one: This human female is twenty-seven years old. Healthy with optimal fat-to-flesh ratios, and no damage from birthing or previous illness.”

The bidding started, and I called my magic back, releasing the demon’s leg.

As soon as the highest bidder was announced, the cage descended.

The room was electric, and when the cage rose again, there was a male inside.

He wore a steel cuff around his throat, and his head was dipped, eyes shadowed as he scanned the crowd.

His fingers were curled into fists, and I could feel power wash from him, over and over, as it battered against the obviously warded cuff he wore, stopping him from hurting anyone in the room.

He was a demi-demon. Was this James? The male the knights mentioned?

“Lot number two. This male demi is twenty-nine years old. Healthy, physically fit, virile, in case any of the females are wondering.” Laughter rumbled through the room.

“He’s powerful, but those powers are unknown.

You could say, this lot is a bit of a mystery.

We were unable to coax information from him, without damaging him.

” There was more mumbling, this time sounds of interest of another kind.

The mystery seemed to make him more exciting.

The bidding was frenzied, then one after another, humans and demi were displayed for their powers or as a delicacy for the wealthy demons in the room.

“We have one more auction before our showstopper for the evening,” the announcer said.

The cage came up, and Poe grabbed the back of my neck, forcing me to stay seated. Luke stood in the cage, trying to cover himself, shivering. He was bruised, gods, he looked broken.

Fury pulsed through me, but I forced myself not to react. Luke would be okay. This was almost over. The hounds and knights would be here any minute.

Poe’s grip tightened. “This is how you prove yourself to Tarrant. This is how we can be together. You giving up your friend for me.” He’d lost his fucking mind. I hated his guts.

The announcer started talking about him, and several demons in the room sat taller, looking at him more closely. I wanted to scratch their eyes out.

I doubted Tarrant would usually go after a witch and risk the witch’s council coming down on them, but because of Luke’s mixed blood, they obviously thought they could do whatever the fuck they wanted. They more than likely assumed the council wouldn’t care, and they were probably right.

I willed my friend to look my way, to see me. I wanted to give him a sign, anything to let him know I wouldn’t let this happen, that we had a plan to save him and everyone else they were holding, but he kept his gaze lowered.

Finally, the cage descended, and I had to bite back the sob trying to crawl its way up my throat—and fight the panic rising.

“We have one more lot tonight, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and something you don’t want to miss out on. You won’t believe what we have for you,” the voice said over the speakers. “It’s going to take us a few minutes to prepare him, so take the time to refresh your drinks.”

A hellhound, or maybe two. They were going to auction off Brick.

That’s when I spotted Lars easing back slowly. The prick was getting ready to run. Any minute now, all hell was about to break loose, and he was planning on running the fuck away. Coward.

“We need to talk,” Poe gritted out.

Shit.

His hand curled around my arm, tight, and he dragged me to my feet, pulling me toward the tunnel Jagger and I had explored. He pulled me behind the curtain and yanked off his mask. “What the fuck was that back there?” he said and grabbed my throat.

“What do you mean?” I rasped past his tight hold.

He had an odd look on his face. “You were upset when you saw your little friend up there, you tried to hide it, but I saw.”

“He’s a coven mate. It was a shock seeing him, that’s all.” I had to be careful what I said. I had to play into his delusion. “But I see now that you’re right. This will prove to Tarrant that he can trust me, with Luke gone, he won’t have anything to hold over me.”

Poe nodded. “That’s right. He’ll see that you’re working for him because you want to.” He gripped my jaw and shoved my mask up, then swiped his tongue over my chin and across my mouth. “I want to fucking take a bite out of you, Sutton, you have no idea how badly.”

I wanted to wretch and shove him away, but I smiled instead. “Hopefully, just a little one.” I forced a laugh. That was the second time he’d talked about biting me.

Poe didn’t laugh, though, he looked at me with so much hunger in his black eyes that I trembled with fear, because it wasn’t just lust I saw, it was real hunger, and I got an awful feeling when he said he wanted to take a bite of me, he meant it—literally.

A roar came from the main room, then there were screams and commotion. The hounds, and the knights, they were here and swarming into the tunnel.

Poe looked around the curtain. “What the fuck?” Then he grabbed my arm. “Run.” He dragged me with him, and I yanked hard, trying to get free of his grasp. He turned on me, a look of confusion on his face that quickly shifted to betrayal. He dug his claws into my arm. “What have you done?”

I screamed for help.

“What the fuck have you done?” he roared, then he was running, dragging me along with him, while I tried to fight him off.

My magic pulsed hard. “It’s over,” I said, trying to pull from his hold. “I’m not going anywhere with you.” I directed my growing magic at Poe and shoved my hand against his chest. He blocked it, then slammed his fist into the side of my head once, twice—and everything went dark.

I struggled, in and out of consciousness. Poe was running, and I was bouncing over his shoulder as he sprinted down tunnel after tunnel, the sounds of fighting echoing in the distance. I heard him on his phone, he was talking about a hound. Brick.

I tried to rally, to pull on my magic again, but I couldn’t stay awake. The next time I regained consciousness, it was from searing pain at my chest. Poe had yanked down my dress at the front and was carving something into my skin.

A sigil. I felt its dark power wrapping around me. I cried out, grasping for my magic again, but it was unreachable, locked behind the demon sigil he’d cut into me. He quickly tied my hands and feet together, then took something from his pocket. He held it up, an evil grin on his face.

The drugs I’d made.

He grabbed my jaw, forcing my mouth open, then shoved several of the pills to the back of my throat before holding my mouth and nose closed. I had no choice but to choke them down or suffocate. I wouldn’t overdose, but they would knock me out.

He hauled me off the ground again and tossed me back over his shoulder. Darkness surrounded us as Poe ran, carrying me away, away from Jagger.

I had no way to stop him. The sigil had bound my magic, and the drug was quickly taking effect, taking my fight along with it.

I hung there, limp, as Poe took several flights of stairs, climbing out of the sewer. He pulled me down from his shoulder and, holding me up against his side, walked out onto the street. I blinked several times. We were in a different part of the city.

A car sat waiting, a demon I’d never seen before behind the wheel.

Poe shoved me in the back and got in beside me, then we sped off. I continued to slide in and out of consciousness. When the car finally stopped, we were at Tarrant’s mansion. Bringing me here was stupid. Jagger, Lucifer, Rune, the hounds, they all knew this was where Tarrant lived.

Poe hauled me out of the car and rushed into the house.

“What is she doing here?” Tarrant said, eyes lit with fury.

“She’s mine,” Poe said, voice hard. “She comes with me.”

“After what just happened, everything we worked for fucking ruined, and this is what you’re most concerned about?” he all but roared.

Poe straightened. “I’m not leaving her behind.”

“Do you know who betrayed us?”

“Not yet,” Poe lied, covering for me for some reason.

“Could it be her?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

“On my life.”

Tarrant’s eyes narrowed, but that seemed to appease him. He was used to Poe’s unfailing loyalty, so he was buying the lie. “There will be a price if you’re wrong, for both of you,” he said, eyes red, his face a mask of horrors.

Poe lowered his gaze. “I understand.”

Tarrant snarled, then turned and strode off down the hall, and Poe followed, dragging me along with him. Tarrant stopped at the end and touched something high on the wall. It slid back. A hidden doorway revealing itself as well as a set of stairs going down.

The door slid closed behind us, and Poe half dragged, half carried me down to a small room. Tarrant pressed his hand to the wall, calling to lord Beelzebub, asking him to grant him entrance.

The wall began to swirl, giving flashes of something beyond it, then finally a portal opened, and dread gripped me, shuddering through my body.

The demon blood in me knew instantly where we were going, the knowledge searing through my bones, and gripped my trembling soul. I’d been here before with Jagger.

Hell.

Poe was taking me to Hell.

Jagger

War barked orders, and we surrounded the demons in the sewer.

Fender tore the cage from the stage where a naked and drugged female lay, then tugged off his shirt, covered her, and scooped her off the floor.

The knights closed in, tearing the platform out of the ground, then jumped down into the lower level to free the other prisoners—and stop any demons still down there from escaping.

I frantically scanned the room, scenting the air for Sutton. It was weaker now, but still tainted with Poe’s stench. I followed it, leading me out of the main room.

“Poe has Sutton,” I yelled to War and jerked my head in the direction they’d gone.

War signaled Roman to follow, and I burst through the curtain and sprinted into the tunnel. Her scent was much stronger now that it wasn’t diluted by others. Rome sprinted after me, our boots echoing off the concrete floor as we turned one corner, then another.

Something zinged over my skin, lifting the hair on my arms and the back of my neck. I stopped in my tracks, my arm shooting out to stop Rome from barreling straight through.

“What is it?” he growled.

“Demon ward.”

“Can we get through?”

I shook my head. “You need demon blood to pass unless we break it.” Lars had said we needed to destroy the parent sigil to do that. I fucking hoped it worked. I used my blade to gouge through it, attempting to break the seal.

“I can still feel it buzzing over my skin,” Rome said and lifted his hand to test it before I could stop him. The skin of his hand immediately bubbled, peeling back and exposing raw flesh.

He yanked his hand back with a roar.

It wasn’t the right sigil. I searched frantically but couldn’t find it.

“We can’t get through.”

I sucked in several breaths. Nothing would stop me. I might lose my skin, but I’d heal. “I’m going anyway.”

“No fucking way, brother,” Rome growled as Relic and Lothar pounded around the corner.

Rome dove on me as I ran for it.

“Stop him!” he roared.

I swung, fighting to get free as Relic and Lothar piled on as well, holding me down.

“You’ll be no fucking use to her if you’re that badly injured,” Rome bit out. “We’ll find her. We will find her, brother.”

If that motherfucker harmed her in any way, I would burn everything to the ground to find him and make him pay.