prompted Kat gently, as she’d slipped away to her haunted past for a moment.
“He just slowly crept into my mind, then my heart. I’d get angry and scream at him that George would come for me. He’d give me this sad sigh and tell me George would never come. That George never loved me.”
This was the first time I’d ever heard her mention there was once love between them. Perhaps still was. I knew they’d shared a past, but love?
“After a while, I started to believe him and all his beautiful lies that followed. I was so alone, so desperate to feel anything but the aching emptiness. I longed for affection, for comfort. One day, he unchained me. I didn’t try to run. I never even left his bedroom. Then one night, he had a particular look in his eyes—an expression I’d seen often enough on men. Though up until that night, I’d only had two lovers, my then-deceased husband…and George.” She glanced up for my reaction. I kept my cool and let her spill her heart. “Damas told me I needed to be cuffed for my own good. He didn’t trust me. I cried and begged and told him I was completely devoted to him. He smiled when I said things like that. God, the thought makes me sick now.
“Once I was chained, he put his hands on me without asking for the first time. He whispered in my ear with his body pressed to mine. I’ll never forget his words. ‘I need to bind you, Katherine. Now, you will submit to me, because you have no choice. Now, you will let me fuck you the way you want me to, because you have no choice. Now, you will beg me to be your king, your lover and your master.’ And he was right.”
Two tears slipped down her pale cheeks. I reached over and grabbed one hand. She let me take it.
“I was weak, Gen. And I’ll never forgive myself.” She pulled her hand from mine and let out a soft sob into her napkin. I was thankful we were sitting in the secluded corner so she could have some privacy. She needed a minute or two to let it all out.
“How long were you kept there in captivity?” I asked.
She shrugged a shoulder. “Decades.”
“Decades?” For a second, I’d forgotten that she, like all Flamma, were ageless. But…decades? With a silver-tongued demon prince.
“When I went in, it was the early 1800s. When I left…when George came and took me away, the United States was on the verge of the Civil War.”
“And New York needed a demon hunter, didn’t it?”
“Yes. And I needed to be far away from my homeland and all memory of what I was before.”
I wouldn’t give Kat cheap or false words. She knew the truth of what had happened, and there was nothing I could say to erase or change it. But I sure knew of one way to make her feel better. Something I’d been itching to do myself.
“What do you say we scarf down this delicious Mexican food that you’re crying all over, then go kick some demon ass?”
She dropped her balled-up napkin and grinned at me through watery eyes.
“Hell yeah.”
Chapter Six
Mira refused to sift back to Arran when I told her she couldn’t go where we were going. Instead, she perched herself on top of the building as we crossed the street toward the basement-level club I knew too well. Stubborn bird. But I loved her.
The beefy bouncer at the door was the same guy I’d seen other times I’d visited Tartarus. One of those nights happened to be my twentieth birthday—the first time I’d laid eyes on the dark and beautiful Jude Delacroix and the first time I’d nearly been killed by a demon. Best and worst birthday ever.
“Long time, no see,” said the bouncer, eyeing my ID.
“You missed me, Sunshine?”
I have no idea why I found it fun to tease straight-faced behemoths like this guy, but I did. His chiseled features cracked into what was sort of a smile before he nodded me through the door. Kat followed. We beelined for the bar. I ordered a Killian’s Red, though I had no intention of drinking it. I needed a prop to fit in.
Music pumped a
“He just slowly crept into my mind, then my heart. I’d get angry and scream at him that George would come for me. He’d give me this sad sigh and tell me George would never come. That George never loved me.”
This was the first time I’d ever heard her mention there was once love between them. Perhaps still was. I knew they’d shared a past, but love?
“After a while, I started to believe him and all his beautiful lies that followed. I was so alone, so desperate to feel anything but the aching emptiness. I longed for affection, for comfort. One day, he unchained me. I didn’t try to run. I never even left his bedroom. Then one night, he had a particular look in his eyes—an expression I’d seen often enough on men. Though up until that night, I’d only had two lovers, my then-deceased husband…and George.” She glanced up for my reaction. I kept my cool and let her spill her heart. “Damas told me I needed to be cuffed for my own good. He didn’t trust me. I cried and begged and told him I was completely devoted to him. He smiled when I said things like that. God, the thought makes me sick now.
“Once I was chained, he put his hands on me without asking for the first time. He whispered in my ear with his body pressed to mine. I’ll never forget his words. ‘I need to bind you, Katherine. Now, you will submit to me, because you have no choice. Now, you will let me fuck you the way you want me to, because you have no choice. Now, you will beg me to be your king, your lover and your master.’ And he was right.”
Two tears slipped down her pale cheeks. I reached over and grabbed one hand. She let me take it.
“I was weak, Gen. And I’ll never forgive myself.” She pulled her hand from mine and let out a soft sob into her napkin. I was thankful we were sitting in the secluded corner so she could have some privacy. She needed a minute or two to let it all out.
“How long were you kept there in captivity?” I asked.
She shrugged a shoulder. “Decades.”
“Decades?” For a second, I’d forgotten that she, like all Flamma, were ageless. But…decades? With a silver-tongued demon prince.
“When I went in, it was the early 1800s. When I left…when George came and took me away, the United States was on the verge of the Civil War.”
“And New York needed a demon hunter, didn’t it?”
“Yes. And I needed to be far away from my homeland and all memory of what I was before.”
I wouldn’t give Kat cheap or false words. She knew the truth of what had happened, and there was nothing I could say to erase or change it. But I sure knew of one way to make her feel better. Something I’d been itching to do myself.
“What do you say we scarf down this delicious Mexican food that you’re crying all over, then go kick some demon ass?”
She dropped her balled-up napkin and grinned at me through watery eyes.
“Hell yeah.”
Chapter Six
Mira refused to sift back to Arran when I told her she couldn’t go where we were going. Instead, she perched herself on top of the building as we crossed the street toward the basement-level club I knew too well. Stubborn bird. But I loved her.
The beefy bouncer at the door was the same guy I’d seen other times I’d visited Tartarus. One of those nights happened to be my twentieth birthday—the first time I’d laid eyes on the dark and beautiful Jude Delacroix and the first time I’d nearly been killed by a demon. Best and worst birthday ever.
“Long time, no see,” said the bouncer, eyeing my ID.
“You missed me, Sunshine?”
I have no idea why I found it fun to tease straight-faced behemoths like this guy, but I did. His chiseled features cracked into what was sort of a smile before he nodded me through the door. Kat followed. We beelined for the bar. I ordered a Killian’s Red, though I had no intention of drinking it. I needed a prop to fit in.
Music pumped a
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