“Selene, thank you for coming.” Is he serious? He smiles politely, and that’s when I see it—the spark of madness in his dark eyes.
“Not like I had a choice.”
He frowns, straightening his tie. “There’s no need to be rude.”
“You abducted me and killed my mate. What did you expect?”
“Oh, Jared? He’s not dead. Yet. He needs to suffer first.” Hope flares in my chest. Jared’s alive. But how? Then it hits me. This psychopath is a fear demon. He used his powers to plant the nightmare of my mate’s death in my head.
“Why Jared? You let him go before, why go after him again now?”
“That wasn’t supposed to happen.” He scowls, tugging at the cuffs of his shirtsleeves. “I thought he was just another worthless human. Then I saw the amulet. I’ve been searching for it for so long…” he trails off wistfully. “He surprised me. I needed time to think, to plan the perfect revenge.”
I debate which question to ask first. I want to know what he has against Jared, but the amulet has links to Jared’s birth parents—I have to find out how it’s connected to The Raven.
“What do you want with the amulet?”
“It belonged to his mother. Did you know that?” I tug at the rope around my wrists again, feeling it loosen slightly. This is good. If I can keep him talking, I can buy myself time to escape.
“No. All Jared knows is his birth parents left him with it—he didn’t know it was his mother’s first.” Why did she need such a powerful dampening amulet?
He sneers. “Raised by humans. Disgusting, just like his mother.”
“Why did she have the amulet?”
“Thatbitchfell in love with ahuman,” he spits. Jared’s father was human? It’s possible, but extremely unusual. His mother’s supernatural genes would have been dominant but, considering how powerful Jared turned out, the news is even more surprising. “One of the strongest insight demons the world has ever seen, and she used that trinket to lock away her magic all so she could be with a pathetic human. She was supposed to be my mate, mine! Our power levels were perfectly matched, but fate paired her with a weak human. She should have chosen me, instead she used that amulet to hide from me.”
Gee, I wonder why? Jared’s mum had the right idea if you ask me—I’d run like hell too if this monster were my mate. The rope binding my right wrist finally gives enough for me to slide that hand free.
“But I found her anyway,” he says smugly. “She was so afraid of me tracking her and her precious husband down her delicious nightmares led me right to her.” Shit, if he could track her through her nightmares, he must be incredibly powerful—most fear demons can’t do that.
“What happened when you found them?” I ask, needing him to keep talking so I can get my other hand free.
“She was already pregnant, the slut. Breeding with a filthy human. But I was willing to forgive her. I told her that once she gave birth to the abomination, I’d kill it and the human, then everything could go back to normal.” He smiles magnanimously, and my gut churns. He’s completely deranged. “Then she tried to run from me again.” He shakes his head like a disappointed schoolteacher.
My raw fingertips slide against the rope, but I hold in the whimper that tries to escape. Almost there.
“Don’t worry. I found them again. The moment she took off the dampener and gave it to that child, I could feel her again.” His smile sends fear slithering down my spine, and he inhales deeply. “Your fear is delicious, Selene. If only you hadn’t let the abomination touch you, I could have kept you.”
“I’d rather die.”
“Don’t worry, you will. Soon.” He stalks closer.
Shit. My left hand’s almost free, but I need to keep him talking a little longer.
“What happened? When you found Jared’s mum?”
Pausing, he licks his lips as if savouring the taste of my fear. Enjoy it while you can, you sick fuck.
“I forced her to watch as I killed her precious little human. Even then, I was willing to forgive her if she told me where the human’s spawn was, but she refused.” He shrugs with a sigh. “So I killed her too. While the life drained from her eyes, I promised I would find her child and destroy it. I didn’t expect the amulet to keep it hidden from me for so long.”
How dare he talk about my mate as if he’s athing. My left hand finally comes free. I keep a tight grip on the rope for now, needing to know how he ended up tracking Jared down.
“Then a new reporter came to work at The Ledger. He looked so much like my mate I thought he had to be her son, but he registered as fully human and showed no sign of sensing what I am. I kept him close over the years, watching for any indication he was more than he seemed.”
“Wait.You’reCorbin? You’re Jared’s old boss?” No, Jared respects Corbin, looks up to him. This news will destroy him.
“Aw, he’s mentioned me?” Corbin’s smirk is sickening. “He was always so eager to please, so easy to manipulate. When he came back to work I was certain he’d realise I was the one who took him, tortured him with his greatest fears. But the fool had no idea. So, I decided to have a little fun.”
