Page 29

M y feet were still dripping pool water as I scrambled to stand beside Aldaine, my heart hammering against my ribs.

The demon, Blackwood, towered over us both, his midnight skin seeming to absorb the sunlight around him.

Unlike Aldaine's magenta coloring in his demon form, Blackwood was like a void given shape, darkness made flesh.

"Rosie, stay behind me," Aldaine murmured, his voice low and commanding. The gentle man who'd held me moments ago had vanished, replaced by something ancient and dangerous.

I obeyed without thinking, my legs trembling as I moved behind his protective stance. The air around us felt electric, charged with power that made the hair on my arms stand on end.

"Really, Aldaine?" Blackwood's voice rumbled like distant thunder.

"Still playing the gallant protector? How quaint.

" His burning gaze shifted to me, and I felt it like a physical touch, invasive and cold.

"Though I must admit, I see the appeal. She's always been delicious, I always thought it was a shame that my contract wouldn't be going to her instead of Stephany. "

Aldaine snarled, the sound so inhuman it sent shivers down my spine. "Touch her and it will be the last thing you ever do."

"So territorial," Blackwood laughed, the sound like breaking glass. "And over a human, no less. How the mighty have fallen."

Stephany watched our exchange with obvious delight, her eyes gleaming with malicious satisfaction. "He's right, you know. It's pathetic." Her gaze raked over me dismissively. "Using magic to get a man, or should I say a demon, because you couldn't manage it on your own merits."

Blackwood's massive hand came to rest on Stephany's shoulder, possessive and familiar. "Now, now, sweet one. Let's not be hypocritical." His razor-toothed smile widened. "After all, your family has been enjoying my services for generations."

"What is he talking about?" I demanded, finding my voice at last. I directed the question at both Stephany and Aldaine, my mind racing to make sense of what was happening.

Aldaine's shoulders tensed further. "He's a contract demon, like me. But his methods are different."

"Different?" Blackwood scoffed. "More efficient, you mean. More profitable." He gestured to the sprawling estate around us. "Your precious human family didn't build all this through hard work and honest means, did they, Stephany dear?"

Stephany's expression hardened. "That's none of her business."

"Oh, but it is now," Blackwood countered, his burning eyes fixed on me. "Since she's gone and tied herself to my old friend Aldaine. Practically family now, aren't we all? "

Aldaine took a step forward, and though he remained in his human form, something about him seemed to grow larger, more imposing. The air around him shimmered with heat.

"Enough games, Blackwood. State your business and be gone. You have no claim here."

"No claim?" Blackwood's laughter boomed across the pool area, echoing unnaturally. "I've had a contract with the women of this family for seven generations. I'm practically a Thompson myself."

I looked at Stephany, who was watching the exchange with a mixture of smugness and something else, fear, maybe? "Is that true?"

Before she could answer, Aldaine cut in. "His contract isn't with Stephany. It would be with Jan."

"Smart boy," Blackwood purred. "Always were the clever one.

Yes, the delightful Jan was my benefactor.

" He leaned down, his massive face coming uncomfortably close to mine despite Aldaine's protective stance.

"Passed down from mother to daughter, a family tradition.

Jan received me from her mother, who received me from hers, and so on.

All very touching, truly. Now the contract has moved to Stephany once she marries a man worthy of the estate. "

"And what exactly do you offer them?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady despite the fear coursing through my body.

"Wealth. Influence. Success." Blackwood straightened to his full, imposing height. "Everything humans crave. Everything they aren't worthy of but desire anyway."

"And in exchange?" I pressed, though I suspected I already knew the answer.

"I feed," his reply simple. "Their greed, their ambition, their petty hatreds, such delicious sustenance." He inhaled deeply, as if savoring a fine aroma. "This family's capacity for spite and malice has kept me well-fed for generations. "

The pieces clicked into place. "So that's why," I looked at Stephany, understanding dawning. "That's why you've always hated me. Why Jan did too, until recently. He's been feeding on your negative emotions, encouraging them."

"Don't be ridiculous," Stephany snapped, but her voice lacked conviction. "I dislike you because you've always been an embarrassment. The fat, awkward barnacle clinging to our family."

Aldaine growled, a sound so predatory it made both Stephany and Blackwood pause. "Watch your tongue when you speak to her."

"Why?" Stephany challenged, stepping forward despite Blackwood's restraining hand on her shoulder. "Because you've got some supernatural claim on her now? That's the only way she'd ever get someone like you to look at her twice."

I felt Aldaine's rage building like a physical force, the air around us growing hotter.

"What contract do you have with her, anyway?" Stephany pressed, her voice dripping venom. "Did she sell her soul for a week of decent sex? Seems like a poor bargain."

"That's enough!" Aldaine's voice thundered, deep and resonant with power. Though he remained in human form, his eyes flashed with inhuman light.

I placed my hand on his arm, feeling the coiled tension in his muscles. "It's okay," my voice steady. "She can't hurt me."

His gaze flickered to mine, fierce and protective, before returning to our adversaries.

I stepped out from behind him, not completely, but enough to face Stephany directly. "Why do you hate me so much?" I asked quietly. "What did I ever do to you that was so terrible it justifies years of cruelty?"

Stephany's perfectly made-up face twisted with disdain. "You existed. You were always there, a constant reminder that Dad had a life before Mom. A reminder that she wasn't his first choice. So you needed to pay for her suffering."

"I was a child," I reminded her, feeling a surge of anger override my fear. "I had no control over any of that."

"You were loved," she spat. "Dad adored you before you drove him away with your neediness after your mother died."

The accusation hit like a physical blow. "Is that what you think happened? That I drove him away?"

"Oh, I know you did. Mom told me all about it, how you clung to him, demanded all his attention, made him resent having to be your parent instead of just living his life."

I felt sick, hearing Jan's old lies spilling from Stephany's mouth. Lies that even Jan herself had apparently abandoned, given our earlier conversation in the library.

"And that wasn't enough for you," Stephany continued, building steam. "You had to come back here, insinuate yourself back into his life right when everything was perfect. When I'm finally getting everything I deserve."

"Everything you deserve," I repeated, the pieces falling into place. "That's what this is really about, isn't it? You're afraid I'll take something away from you, inheritance, attention, love. That there won't be enough for you if I'm in the picture."

I felt pity for Stephany. Sure, I was angry with her confession after years of torture for something so minuscule, but I also pitied her because it seemed underneath it all, she wanted my father's love and Jan's approval.

Blackwood's smile widened, his burning gaze flicking between us with obvious relish. "Delicious," he murmured. "The fear, the anger, the envy, simply exquisite."

Stephany shot him an annoyed glance before refocusing on me. "I want you gone from our lives," her voice was flat and devoid of emotion. "Back to whatever sad little existence you were living before you decided to crash my engagement and ruin everything. "

"With a demon on your arm, no less," Blackwood added, almost conversationally. "Quite the desperation move, little human."

Aldaine remained tense beside me, his presence an anchor in the storm of emotions. "Rosie made a fair contract. Unlike what you've done with this family, Blackwood."

"Fair?" Blackwood laughed. "Since when do you care about fair? We're demons, Aldaine. We take what we want."

"Not anymore," Aldaine replied, cold and final.

I gathered my courage, bolstered by Aldaine's unwavering support.

"Stephany, I never wanted to take anything from you.

I just wanted to belong somewhere, to have family.

" I took a step toward her, ignoring Aldaine's subtle attempt to keep me behind him.

"But I'm done apologizing for existing. I'm done being the family scapegoat.

Whatever twisted deal your mother made with Blackwood, that's between them. It has nothing to do with me."

Stephany's eyes narrowed. "It has everything to do with you. You're the threat. You're the one who could ruin everything."

"How? By having a relationship with my father?

By having him realize that he worked too much and pushed me away?

By being treated with basic decency?" I shook my head, a strange calm settled over me.

"That's what's bothering you, isn't it? That suddenly, I'm not being treated as less-than. That I might be accepted."

"You don't deserve it," she hissed. "You've done nothing to earn any of it."