Page 92 of Demon's Mate

He’d be cooked alive.

“Do as you’re told and stay still,” his father growled, slamming on the brakes and twisting around in his seat.

The burning stopped abruptly, but the pain didn’t. Harper’s breaths came in harsh, rapid pants, yet no air seemed to reach his lungs. He needed to move. Get out of here, but his back seized. Could he even walk?

It hurt, fuck, it hurt.

His father began chanting, and magic swirled around Harper. No, not a spell. He hated his father’s spells.

“Please,” Harper begged. He didn’t want to, but he hurt too much already.

Every muscle in Harper’s body was locked in place.

He couldn’t move.He really couldn’t move. His eyes were frozen open. He couldn’t blink. What the ever-loving fuck? Even his eyeballs were locked in a forward-facing position.

Harper wanted to scream and couldn’t. His mouth was sealed shut, breaths coming in and out of his nose of their own accord. He couldn’t even suck in more air or hold his breath.

His body wasn’t his.

No.

Harper was trapped. Helpless. He had no control. No choice. He couldn’t even cry. Couldn’t react. Fuck, it was like he didn’t even exist.

Hatred burned in Arthur Nightingale’s eyes. Had his father ever had another emotion toward him, or had he been hated since he was born?

“You’re coming home with me, son, and things will be different this time. Forget marrying Miss Thornfield. You ruined that alliance. You’re useless, so you might as well be nothing. I mean, you couldn’t even find the Hounds. What have you ever accomplished in your life?” Arthur paused as if waiting for Harper to answer.

He tutted disapprovingly, gaze shining bright, promising violence. “You better get used to this feeling, Harper, because you’ll never have control of your body again. Once we’re back at the compound, I’m hooking you up to a bunch of new toys. We have a new coven member, a doctor who promises he can keep you alive while brain-dead. That way, I can finally take your blood without having to deal with you.”

No.No, no, no-no-no-no. The world seemed to drop out from under Harper, his stomach swooping as he went into freefall. The car and his father disappeared. His vision blacked out. There was no sound.

No.

His eyes burned and the car rushed back into focus, moving once again. He was still here. Still trapped. Not even terror could take him away from this. He couldn’t even faint.No, no, no, no!He screamed inside his head, ears ringing, his head spinning as his insides ripped themselves to shreds.

He should have asked Ash to kill his father. Regret almost swallowed him whole. Why couldn’t he go back in time and do this all over?

This couldn’t be his destiny. He was Ash’s mate.

Ash! Ash, please!Harper called for his mate inside his mind, the impulse overriding all logic.Please, Ash!Ash!But Ash couldn’t hear him, his call as silent as the dead.

Ash, please come find me! Track me!But Ash wouldn’t be looking. Not when he thought Harper was safely on his way home.

Where was his father taking him? How were they getting back to the compound? Would he hurt Harper before they left the city? Harper’s soul screamed with the agony of his confinement.

How long until Ash realized something was wrong? Too long.

No. Ash! Please, I need you. I don’t want to lose you. Come find me. Don’t let him do this to me.Ash!

Even if his father got him out of the city, there was no way he’d get Harper all the way back to Colorado and to that evil doctor before Ash caught up with them. Right? But what if his father didn’t wait? He could render Harper brain-dead now.

Lifeless and left to molder in a bed while his blood drained.

Pain vibrated deep within Harper, eating him from the inside out. This wasn’t meant to be his fate. But what if Ash never found him? What if Arthur worse than killed him in this car?

Harper saw no end but his own.

Ash!