Page 86 of From Hell

Why have you brought the little bird here?I ignore the voice and knock back a shot of White Heart, letting the warm fizz of the alcohol blur the edges of reality.To play?I meant what I said when I told her to shoot me. Hunting always draws the darkness out. It feeds on the blood I spill, soaking up the retribution I deliver in the name of the Divine.

The Devil inside me is aware of her now, like the flicker of a candle in the pitch black. She’ll be safe if I don’t let it out, as long as I feed it what it wants—destruction, carnage, death.

Starting with the fucker staring at Laine like a starved man.

Like clockwork, she downs her drink and, with a question in her eyes at me, heads to the private dance floor on my signal. I asked her to distract him, and it’s working. Only a little too well. As I lean against the bar, I can’t keep my eyes off her. She sashays like the vixen she is on to the stage area where there are poles. Knowing her rank sits above them, a few girls make room for her. If I brought her here, she’s the pièce de résistance.

Then she dances.

I stare at her, stunned at how fucking beautiful she is, before coming to my senses. I’m here to work, not get my dick wet. True to form, Christian can’t tear his eyes away from her, either. He’s fucking drooling.

“Fuck, Cuz, I’m going to fucking enjoy this.”

I slide a look at him. “Do you want to fuck her?”

“Fuck her? I want to come all over that sweet face and then pound raw every hole that tight little body has to offer.” He grins.

Rage so intense it slices me in half, burns in my chest. I flex my fingers, trying not to rip him a fucking new one. “Are you willing to die for it?”

He shoots me a look. “Are you fucking with me? I was promised an offering.” He turns to me and drills my chest with the finger of his bandaged hand. “You’re supposed to bring me your fucking whore to screw.”

To make up for beating Christian to a pulp, I assured the Archkey, after a meeting with him and my uncle, to smooth things over and hand-deliver my cousin an offering according to our laws.

A muscle in my jaw tics. “You want her? Send the rest away.”

Christian snaps his fingers and the girls trail out until we’re alone. I make a come hither gesture, not bothering to look at Laine. I know she’s beside me. Her scent of vanilla and jasmine breaks through the turmoil clouding my senses. I let it anchor me. You’re just going to give her to him. She’s ours,the voice snarls inside my head.Ours? That’s new.

I don’t have time to pander to the voice. I take Laine’s hand and offer her to Christian as I should, with a cock of my head. “She’s all yours.”

“That’s more like it.”

Laine looks at me, utterly terrified, as Christian sneers and takes her. He drags her toward him, hands on her ass. The only fucking blessing is that he can’t grope her, given his injuries.

“Come on, sweet thing, let’s go somewhere a little more intimate.” He glances at me, teeth bared in a shit-eating grin. “Or shall I fuck her right here? That way, you can watch me make your cunt scream.”

Thunder drowns out every sound.

Red pulses across my vision in time with the beating of my heart.

Christian thinks he’s won.

“Fuck him, do me right here,” Laine drawls. “Make me scream, Christian.”

He turns to Laine as she looks me in the eye and bites her lip. And nods. Despite being uncertain about killing him, she’s not backing down. A carnal smile spreads slowly across my face as I step behind him, sliding the knife out of Laine’s purse and closing the trap we’ve spun for our prey. I slice his jugular in half. Blood sprays all over Laine as he gurgles, unable to call for help.

He drops to his knees in front of Laine like he’s worshiping her, his bandaged hand clutching his mangled throat.

He fucking should.

The prick isn’t fit to lick the floor she’s stood on.

But he bleeds all over her, covering her sweet flesh from top to toe in bright red, leaving only the whites of her blue eyes staring into mine.

She looks like a damned goddess.

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