Page 42 of Their Lethal Pet

“It’s exactly what it sounds like,” the haunting one—Reaper—tells me. “Orcus was using it to check out this reality before we ventured into it. However, it seems that’s not all he was checking out.” He gives the man holding me a knowing look.

Orcus, I think, committing the name to memory along withReaper.

“She’s an Omega,” Orcus says, causing my frown to return.

A what?

“Yes, I’ve gathered that from your purring,” Reaper drawls, his inky strands whirling around him as though dancing with his words. Except, the smoke slowly starts to disappear into his skin, etching dark swirls into his arms.

Wow,I think, temporarily mystified by the phenomenon.That’s… so pretty.I have the strangest urge to reach out and touch the tattoos.Are they smooth? Warm? Will they move beneath my fingertips?

But the source of my admiration steps away from me and back toward the two dead men, firmly returning me to the present.

He killed them.

He’s a monster.

They’reallmonsters.

“Let’s see,” Reaper muses, squatting by the bodies. “You planned to zip-tie her wrists and shove a ball gag into her mouth. How unoriginal.”

“What were they planning to do with her after that?” Orcus asks, his vibrations morphing into a growl that elicits a shiver from deep within.

And it’s not a shiver born of fear, but of something else entirely.

What is happening to me?I wonder, dizzy all over again.Why do I like that sound? It should be terrifying, notenticing.

“Take her on the train and give her to someone…” Reaper trails off as he fishes something out from the pile of death, his head cocking to the side. “The Viscount?”

Orcus releases another deep rumble, causing me to squirm. He instantly stills, his purring reigniting as he says, “Sorry, little one. I’m not trying to excite you, just comfort you.”

Excite me?I gape at him.What the hell doesthatmean?

And what does he mean bylittle one? I’m short, yes. And, well, a lot smaller than him. But I amnotlittle.

I’m about to say as much when Reaper throws something over my head.

“Catch,” he says with the motion, causing the one by the wall to instantly reach for whatever it is that’s heading his way. “Might as well do to him what they planned to do to her.”

“I’ve always enjoyed your brand of punishment,” the dark-haired one says, amusement coloring his tone. His accent is similar to Reaper’s, making them both easy to understand.

However, Orcus… his lilt reminds me of the Duke. Although, that’s the only similarity between them. Orcus is much taller and wider, and he’s dressed in jeans and a leather jacket rather than an embroidered vest and slacks.

Because he’s a monster, not a man,I remind myself once more.

He certainlylookslike a man, though, another part of me argues.He smells nice, too. Like clean, fresh air. I inhale deeply, feeling like I can really breathe for the first time in my life.

It’s… strange. Alarming. Oddly soothing. And just soconfusing.

I want to nuzzle into his broad chest and beg him to deepen that rumble of his, all while breathing him in and losing myself to his embrace.

He must be hypnotizing me,I realize.Seducing me with his monster… something. Prowess?

I try to pull away from him, but my body literally refuses. For the first time in my life, I feel safe, and I appear to be clinging to that sensation.

It’s a lie, I tell myself as Reaper moves across the room, his sleeveless black shirt allowing me to see all the beautiful tattoos swirling along his muscular arms.It’s… it’s a trick. I need to run. I need to?—

“Don’t forget the zip ties,” he says, interrupting my thoughts as he hands some string-like plastic things to his friend. “And make them tight. Because that was their plan for Alina.”