Fucking psycho.
I stand and run my hand over my neck—it’s going to leave a bruise. Looking back at the house, I can’t help the worry and fear that’s now running through me. Part of me wants to go back into the house so I can hide in my room; the other part wants to findthis book and find out exactly why Drake and everyone else want it.
My hand lifts to my necklace, and I touch the gold stone. “Drake won’t get the book,” I whisper. And he won’t, I’ll make sure of it.
Chapter 20
GAELAN
My hands fist as I pull on the chains that hold me to the wall. My body aches from the welts the whip left, and blood drips down my neck from being fed on. After I dropped Ari off, Macy was waiting for me in my hotel room. She’d killed the hotel staff and any guest who came out to see what all the noise was about. I wondered, after the altercation at the restaurant with Jade and Mist, when she would come for me. She used some kind of potion to kidnap me and bring me to the cells under the palace in Evilie, deep in the underworld.
“You know, Gaelan.” Macy’s sickly-sweet voice breaks into my thoughts as she enters the cell, her black and green hair landing between her shoulder blades. Objectively speaking, she’s stunning with a body any man would dream of. Still, her eyes tell a different story—red eyes so evil that many quake at her feet in fear. My head lifts, and I smile at her; she’ll get nothing from me.
“You not speaking makes this much less fun. When did you become so boring?” She pouts before lifting her hand, her fingers curling as my neck tightens as if she’s strangling me. I’m a powerful daemon, but I’m no match for the Princess of Hell—not while I’m in chains anyway.
She walks closer and squeezes a little tighter, cutting off more of my air; I gag, fighting for my next breath. She smiles and licks her lips. “You know, when a man dies from hanging, blood pools in his dick, making him hard. I could fuck you all I want then.” She leans forward. “They call itAngel Lust, sounds naughty,” she groans as she licks the blood from my neck. “Fuck I’ve missed that taste.” Her fangs sink into my flesh, and she drinks deeply from me. I try to keep my body from moving, but I bow off the wall. She pulls back, releasing her hold on me, my head drops forward, and I watch as blood now flows from me onto the floor.
“Where is she, Gaelan?” She reaches for my hair and pulls it, making my head lift and look at her. “I know you found her; I smelled her all over that hotel room.”
I spit blood into her face and smile. She growls and slams my head into the wall. Seeing spots behind my eyes for a second, I close them to prevent passing out. I must stay awake for now.
“Where is the Book Reader, Gaelan?” she demands, whipping my blood from her face. “You know, I’ve never in my life enjoyed killing someone so much, some of them you were not even there for. Once, I even let Michael have a taste of that sweet cunt of hers. She hated every second of it; I remember how she screamed and cried, begging me to make him stop. He did not, of course. He made her drink his cum, she swallowed down every drop, then for shits and giggles he fucked her again. Though that time he did kill her,” she muses. “I did tell him not to strangle her at the same time, but he wouldn’t listen.” She shrugs and gives me her trademark evil grin. “I watched as that little light in her eyes went out; it was quite beautiful.”
Her words ignite a feeling so intense that I can’t help but growl, “Fuck you.”
“Ahhhh, he speaks! Good.” She slams my head against the wall again; this time harder in her frustration, making blood rush to my ears. “Whereisshe, Gaelan?” My eyes roll back in myhead, blackness threatening to take over. “You know I am going to find her anyway. If you tell me I will make her death quick, I might even keep her alive. Daddy would love that witch-bitch and her book.” She’s talking, but the words are lost on me.
I don’t knowhow long I was unconscious, but I woke up in the same dark and musty cell. I’m still chained to the wall, weak from blood loss. Being a daemon, I’ll heal, but without any blood, it’s going to take some time. My eyes are swollen from Macy’s beating, but I try my best to look around and find a way out of here. The handcuffs Macy put on me mean I can’t shimmer. I don’t know how she got them. They have been missing for centuries. Arianna made them with her powers from the book, hoping to catch the Blood Bringer with them. They were never used. My hands are frozen, and I try to move a little to get the blood to flow back into them, ignoring the fear in my heart. The longer I’m here, the more danger my Rose is in.
“Well, well, well… Gaelan, my old friend. Macy said she had a visitor.” My nostrils flare with anger when Aamon appears as if out of nowhere and speaks. I didn’t notice him before, so I’m wondering how long he has been cloaking himself from me. Sitting there like some perverted bastard watching me. I look up to find him sitting on a stool, grinning at me. His face is covered in scars, and his left eye is slightly lower than the other—he’s an ugly little daemon. Aamon is one of Macy’s henchmen, someone she enjoys working with, but I would call him more of an acquaintance. He’s a smaller daemon, but not one to be messed with. His power of illusion can make you see whatever he wantsyou to. He can thrust you into any world he desires. Making you believe what he chooses morphine your reality.
Spitting blood onto the floor, I go to speak, my voice hoarse from the pain. “She got you doing her dirty work?”
He laughs. “No, I offered when I heard it was you. A lord of the underworld for the taking? How could I say no?” His white eyes flash with glee. Aamon has been trying for a rematch between us since he came to my realm to start some trouble and met with an end that was almost close to death. Other than Ari, the other thing I’m protective of is my realm and people. We fought, and I won.
“As you can see, I’m a little tied up, but please… by all means, let me down.” The last words come out in a growl, and I can feel Trelor pulsing against my skin—he’s drained, the same as me, but he will fight if I need him to.
“I will let you down, Gaelan. Of course, where are my manners?” he says sarcastically.
My body falls to the floor, and my wounds heal. I laugh out loud and shake my head, a tingle like pins and needles coats my skin, and I know this is the start of an illusion. He must think I’m stupid to not know what he is doing to me. “You must think me stupid. Stop with your games.”
He appears in front of me and offers his hand, helping me stand. “I do not think you anything, my lord.Run.”
The smell of roses hits my nose, causing me to nearly groan with pleasure. I’ve smelt nothing but piss and shit for I don’t know how long, my Rose’s scent is a welcome smell, even if it isn’t real.Remember, Gaelan, it’s not real.
“Gaelan?”
Even as I hear her voice, it isn’t real.
She’s not here.
I turn around when I hear footsteps, and Ari appears at the cell door looking scared and confused.
“Gaelan, what am I doing here?”
“Rose.” It’s a plea on my lips, I’ve missed her beautiful face, her amber eyes, but this is not my Rose. This is Aamon.
“Take me home, Gaelan. Please.” She reaches out to me and smiles when I take her hand.
