Page 35 of Demon's Heart

Ollie remained limp in Dante’s arms. Why was it taking so long? Maybe it was a mercy Ollie wasn’t conscious and had been spared the pain, but he’d wake eventually, right?Please. It had worked, hadn’t it?

At last, through the agony, Dante felt Ollie’s body healing, stitching back together.

Dante’s heavy lungs cleared and he drew in a choked breath. The numbness in his limbs faded and the weight of Ollie in his arms became solid. Dante brushed Ollie’s hair from his forehead, leaving a smear of blood behind.

The sight made Dante’s battered throat close. Ollie’s whole body, from the neck down, was drenched in blood. Flecks of red marred his cheeks. Dante wiped them away, but his hands were so bloody he made it worse.

Irrational anger at dirtying his mate’s face burned inside him.This wasn’t right.

Ollie’s body was healing, but Dante’s mind wasn’t. It broke over the rocks and sand. Red filled his vision, burning his eyes. He’d crumble into nothing.

Dante brushed the healing gash on Ollie’s throat. His world had been bled dry. He couldn’t do this. It wasn’t fair.

But Ollie needed him to get through this.

Dante focused on their shared heartbeats, letting the sound hold him steady. Ollie would wake. He would be okay.

“Is he really…?” A choked sound cut through the thudding of Dante’s and Ollie’s twin heartbeats. “He…he…?”

Dante looked up, surprised to find Lucifer standing before him, splattered with his mate’s blood.

He hadn’t fled? The Devil’s miserable face had the audacity to twist in horror as he gazed down at Ollie like he hadn’t been the one to do this.

“I will kill you,” Dante vowed, so much venom in his tone he didn’t recognize his own voice.

Lucifer turned a hollow gaze on Dante. He opened his mouth as if to speak, then blinked out of existence.

Fine. Dante could wait. There was nowhere Luc could go to be safe now. Dante would hunt Luc to the ends of the known universe. He would punish Luc for this, but he was fucking busy right now. He had Ollie to take care of. His mate was more important than vengeance. More important than anything.

And after today, nothing would ever be the same.

10

OLLIE

Ollie choked.Pain tore through him like glass, severing his throat. He screamed, but no sound came. Everything was black—agony—his whole body pulsing. This couldn’t be real.

The throbbing in his neck grew, turning into a loud rhythmic beat.

Ollie’s eyes flew open to a light so blinding he couldn’t see. His head spun. Was he falling? Was he moving at all?

The pain faded, replaced by a hollow sensation as memories assaulted him.

The beach.

That…man.

Ollie’s hands flew to his throat. It had been ripped out. A whimper fell from his lips as phantom fingers dug into his neck, pulling him apart.

He gagged, nerves crawling at the gross violation, but the skin beneath his fingers was smooth, not torn open.

Ollie’s vision cleared. The beach was gone. There was no sky overhead. He was inside somewhere. Where the fuck was he? His heart clattered against his sternum, sweat coating his body. What happened?

“Ollie,” a soft, broken whisper reached him.

Ollie swung his head around. Dante kneeled beside him. Ollie’s hand shot out of its own accord, grabbing for Dante like he could save him. From what, Ollie didn’t even know.

Dante’s hand closed around his. “I’m here, Ollie. You’re okay.”