His Adam’s apple dipped with a swallow. “You mean after my psychotic father sacrificed her, the mother of his own child, to another devil? She killed herself.”
His words were sobering, like a punch to the gut.
“She was one of the few to understand what had happened to her, on some level at least. Ran herself through on a sharpened tree branch.”
I wanted to hold him, to pull him into my arms and keep him close. But I couldn’t move. It was as if I was going into shock. “I’m sorry…”
“Me too,” he said with a humorless laugh. “If I’d just opened my eyes to the cult’s evil, I could have saved her. I knew she was human, and why she’d been brought here in the first place. But I was stupid to think my father might have loved her enough to keep her safe. That, maybe, he’d love me enough to spare my mother.” He literally spat the words, obvious rage shooting through him like lightning.
“So, I’m going to kill him, Lorelei. That’s my only purpose now. I’m going to betray him and give him the death he deserves. I’ll choose justice for my mother over keeping you safe, little lamb. That’s why you have to leave. I’m going to kill my father. And if it comes down to killing him or keeping you alive, I’ll choose his death. His death over your life.”
I wasn’t sure how, but something deep in my bones told me that Titus was lying.
He’d known me for basically no time at all, but I’d bet money—hell, my whole life with my soul included—that his hunger for me outweighed his hatred for his father.
I prayed to whatever god was listening that I was right.
Chapter Ten
Titus
Thewalkbacktotown was painfully quiet. I’d told her almost everything. Why? I didn’t have any reason to trust that she’d keep her mouth shut and not blow my cover. If my father caught even the faintest whiff of betrayal, I’d be dead.
Maybe I was full of shit. Maybe I cared more about her survival than my lust for vengeance.
But even after I’d told her almost everything, she didn’t seem the least bit afraid. Definitely sad and pissed. Maybe she even felt a little sorry for me, which was annoying. I hadn’t told her about my mom to rack up sympathy points.
I wanted her to get the fuck out of Bishop.
“Now that you know what’s happening, you have to leave.”
At first, she didn’t react. She walked silently beside me, looking ahead like she hadn’t heard me.
I snagged her wrist, jerking her to a stop. “Lorelei!”
Her gaze dropped to where I held her. Her wrist looked so delicate in my crushing grip. She lifted her chin, glaring. “Get your hands off me.”
My lip curled. If she wanted to act the brat, fine. I’d handle her accordingly. “Funny. You didn’t seem to have a problem with me touching you an hour ago when you were flat on your back, legs spread and my cock buried in that pretty little cunt of yours.”
She moved fast for a human. The sound of her palm striking my face rang through the treetops.
I hissed through clenched teeth, slowly veering my glower back in her direction.
She took a step back, gasping at the sight of the serrated teeth of my devil form.
Fuck. She was lucky that was the only part of me that shifted. If I lost control over my darker side…If she kept pushing my buttons, I might not be so inclined to keep my darkest urges in the confines of my mind.
“What the fuck is your problem? I told you the truth! What else do you want from me?” I was yelling now. My rage was instantly doused when I registered the angry tears streaming down her cheeks.
“I want you, Titus. If you want to leave so badly, leave with me. Forget about the grand death you have planned out for your dad. He’s not worth all the pain and anguish you’ve poured into this.”
What was wrong with this girl? I’d told her the story. She knew I wasn’t normal—knew I wasn’thuman, at least not enough to be with someone like her. Lore didn’t want me. She wanted the parts of me I’d inherited from my mother.
The words the Jersey Devil said to me on my eighteenth birthday echoed through my mind.
Your human blood doesn’t make you any less of the monster you are. You have no place in their world.
The one secret I’d kept from Lorelei was that devils had a secondary form with wings, tails and horns. As a half-blood, mine looked mostly human. But I was still a monster.
