CHAPTER TWO - MARY
I LOVED THE smell of this mansion.
So much history here, so much blood staining the walls, the tapestries, the furniture.
I’d drained an idiot college boy on the same chair my new hunter was lounging so handsomely in. And a handsome thing, he was.
His dark brown hair was swept back, a thick, yet short beard lined his jaw and wrapped over his top lip. Blue eyes cut through the darkness, the firelight reflecting off his golden skin. He looked so cross sitting there, his thick brows furrowed, causing the vein in his forehead to show itself. I’d never seen a man dressed up as he was—white button-down, black slacks, black boots. The dirt on his boots made me smile. So uncharacteristic of the put-together facade showing on the rest of him. Every time he tightened his large hands around the poker, the veins in his exposed forearms popped.
If I could get him to let me out…
Oh, the fun I could have with him.
How long had it been since I’d had a true challenge call my name? A demon hunter… I nearly laughed as I took a turn around the cute little circle he’d drawn.
“I want a lot of things,” he replied to my previous question. “Right now—” he twirled something in his hand, and I took a step back as he revealed the ruby jewel and gold necklace in his palm. “Right now, I want to know the story behind this before I kill you.”
I scoffed at his request. “Do you think that is enough to get me to beg for my life?”
Though just the sight of that thing made me squirm.
It had belonged to me when I was alive—given by my favored lover. It was the only possession of mine that I gave a damn about, and the thing had been my downfall.
A smile rose on his lips then, and I knew I’d made the mistake of letting him see that brief moment of vulnerability, but he didn’t say anything. I hugged my arms around my chest.
“Give me your name, let me out of this circle, and I’ll tell you whatever you want,” I bargained, hating being confined to such a small space. It was as horrible as my mirror. My legs begged to stretch; my body yearned for touch.
“What do you want with my name?” he asked.
“You know mine,” I replied. “Why shouldn’t I know the name of the hunter who will ultimately be my true demise?”
He considered me again, twisting that poker in his lap. “Damon,” he finally said.
My lips twisted in satisfaction. Five minutes and he was already responding like the good little hunter I knew he was capable of becoming. “You must be scared, Damon,” I said. “To want to hear a silly story instead of giving me a chance to run or killing me outright.”
“I’m curious,” he said.
“I’m sure you know what curiosity does to a person,” I replied. “Especially ones daring enough to ask for stories from demons.”
“It’s a chance I’m willing to take,” Damon said.
I stepped to the very edge of the circle, watching as he braced himself slightly. “Let me out,” I said, my voice quieter. “I’ll tell you everything your little heart desires.”
“If I let you out—”
“If you let me out, I’d still be trapped to this mansion,” I said. “To this mirror at sunrise…” My gaze flickered behind me to the monstrous gold mirror—my tomb, my prison. Doomed to walk behind that glass until summoned, or one day set free.
Wouldn’t that be the dream?
“Be a good boy and let a girl play,” I taunted him. “I know you want to. I can see it. Big man like yourself isn’t afraid of a challenge, is he?”
“Get out of my head, demon,” he snarled.
I moved a touch too far over the line on the floor. The tip of my nail burned as I drew back. He caught the suck of air I took, his satisfied, darkened gaze trickling over me in response.
I took another survey of him on the chair—the black pants and boots, the button-down shirt, the top of his chest exposed, that necklace between his fingers… The more I stared at him, the more appealing the thought of him touching me sounded. True, I did just want out to play, to run… I wanted to feel the air running through my hair, the wall behind my back, his hands on my wrists or pulling my hair just like I desired.
I wanted to tame this big man. I wanted the challenge of seeing him subdued just for me. I wanted to grant him freedom from this dominant prison he wore so well, to release him upon the world as my own.
