Page 79 of Demon Heart: The Complete Series

ROMAN

I got up, my head spinning, calling up some Synth to blast Butterfly with.

“Stay down.”

I went back on my arse, teeth rattling on impact.

“What…”

The demon approached, grabbing my left sleeve. He tore it off as if it were paper. “There. Gaze upon the mark, witch.”

Healed. No more tainted tattoo, shimmering as it did the first time it appeared.

“It’s—”

“I offered you kindness, you rejected me,” he said.

“You offered me shit! Your mark was?—”

“Silence!”

His order slammed my lips together.

“While I cannot force you to submit to the power of the device, I will teach you a lesson. I will push you in a direction of yielding. Do you understand?”

I couldn’t speak, so shot him my best searing scowl.

“Come here.”

I got up and walked over to him, standing there like a puppet.

“Good, witch.” He grabbed my arm painfully. “I am in control. Things are as they should be. Now, take us back to my time.”

My lips were given the freedom to move. “What? Why?” The magic began to rise despite my question.

“Because I said so.”

I took him back to his time.