I clamped my mouth closed.
“Very well.” She pressed the knife to my skin.
As soon as she did, Lothar lost his mind. I couldn’t hear his roars through the orb, but his chest kept expanding and his mouth was wide open, the veins and tendons in his throat bulging from the force of it.
Sera sliced then, and I gritted my teeth as she dragged the blade across my skin just below my collarbone. Blood immediately bubbled to the surface and slid down my chest.
“Lick it up,” she said to Beelzebub.
He chuckled and leaned in, swiping his tongue over my bare flesh, licking up my blood. I thought Lothar had lost control before. Not even close. More fur burst across his shoulders, and vicious claws punched through, replacing his fingernails.
He gripped his head as his eyes flashed between gold and red repeatedly, then finally—stopped.
The gold was gone. Bloodred irises remained, staring back at me.
The beast was in control.
“Come now, beast,” Sera said and flicked her hand carelessly.
As soon as she did, Lothar’s head spun to the door. He tilted his head back, and I didn’t need to hear him to see he was howling, then he was gone.
Oh fuck. Sera had freed him.
He was coming for me.
I was naked and filthy, and instead of the rack, I had been shoved into a cell below her fortress, iron bars holding me helpless.
Sera wanted to destroy Lothar and me both, for what she saw as a betrayal. She wanted Lothar to tear me to shreds, and if he managed to regain control, she wanted him to live with the knowledge of what he’d done. She wanted us to suffer, but mostly, the person she wanted to punish was Lucifer.
I wouldn’t let that happen. I wouldn’t let her hurt Lothar or Lucifer—whatever it took.
A howl echoed in the distance.
Lothar was close, and quickly closing in. My scent was all he’d need to find me, and he’d been locked in my room for days, with nothing but my scent surrounding him. He would’ve known exactly where I was before Sera even released him from the tower.
I pulled myself to my feet, ignoring the aches and pains throbbing through me as Sera walked into the room and strode up to the bars separating us.
“Are you excited? You and Lothar are about to be reunited.” Her eyes sparkled with twisted pleasure. “He’s got those big claws, and those really long fangs, what do you think he’ll use on you first? I can’t wait to see.”
Another howl came. Closer.
The sound of splintering wood echoed from upstairs.
“He’s here.” Excitement burned in Sera’s eyes. “Have fun, won’t you,” she said, then she strode across the room and through a door. As soon as she shut it, it vanished, blending seamlessly with the walls.
Nerves throbbed through me. I was injured, but I was still strong. I could take it, whatever happened next. I could withstand it.
A loud, hollow boom had me gripping the bars, bracing, a moment before the steel door across the room buckled. There was another boom, the steel giving some more—then it exploded open.
I sucked in a ragged breath, goose bumps lifting all over me when I finally saw him in the flesh. He was huge. His body looked a lot like it usually did, strong, heavily muscled, but now there was fur on his shoulders, thighs, and forearms. His face was the one I loved, but his brow was heavier, and his fangs were longer.
His gaze locked on me, then he leaped across the room and thrust a hand thought the bars, trying to grab me.
I stumbled back. “Lothar?”
He snarled and swiped at me wildly.
“I know you’re in there,” I said. “I know you don’t want to hurt me. I need you to fight. I need you to fight for me. Come back to me.”
