I stick close to Thing, chattering about room layouts and furniture placement, anything to keep my brain from spiraling into the absolute clusterfuck my life has become in the span of like... what, a week? Two weeks? Time has zero meaning in this place.
After a few hours of Thing exploring his new territory, he finally stops bouncing around long enough to address his lurking brother.
“Why are you still here?” Thing’s voice is getting stronger and more confident with every conversation we have. “You swore if ever free, you’d leave us in your dust and never look back.”
Remus flashes that nightmare grin again, all teeth and predator energy. “It’s suddenly gotten interesting here.”
His eyes slide to me with an intensity that makes every alarm bell in my head start screaming. I’m not stupid. Well, okay, standing in a monster castle while pregnant with a demon baby might suggest otherwise, but I can recognize a predator when I see one.
Thing obviously senses it too because he immediately steps between us, a low warning rumble coming from his chest.
Remus’s grin somehow gets even more disturbing, and he runs his tongue along teeth that are definitely too sharp for my peace of mind. “Please tell me you guys don’t have some vampire situation going on, too,” I mutter. “Because I’m really at my limit for supernatural bullshit right now.”
But this whole interaction is making something click in my brain. I’ve been accepting vague answers about their mysterious father and how they all ended up here, but that was before I found out I’m carrying what very well could be the antichrist.
My hand drifts to my stomach again. “Has this ever happened before?” My voice comes out sharper than I intended, echoing off the stone walls.
Thing whips around, eyes wide. Remus looks excited, which is somehow worse than his predatory stare.
“Never,” Remus answers, practically vibrating with enthusiasm. “We didn’t think it was possible.”
Great. Just fucking great.
“Why not?” I ask, though I’m not sure I actually want to know.
That’s when Remus decides personal space is just a suggestion and gets right up in my face like I’m some fascinating lab specimen. I try to back up, but he just follows, crowding me.
“It’s truly magnificent,” he says, studying my face like I’m a particularly interesting bug. When he reaches out to examine my teeth, I yank away.
“What the hell, dude!”
But he’s already turning back to Thing like I didn’t just speak. “It’s the obvious solution to our dilemma. A consort to not only slake our sexual thirsts but bear us offspring as well.”
My mouth drops open. “Excuse me? Women aren’t just walking sex dolls and baby factories, you psychopath! We’re actual people with thoughts and feelings and?—”
“I want one,” Remus interrupts, still talking to Thing like I’m not even here.
“Did you literally hear nothing I just said?” I’m sputtering now.
“Well, you can’t have this one,” comes a voice from the doorway, and my whole body tenses as Abaddon fills the entrance. His eyes are almost completely black, pupils swallowing up all the gold as he stares Remus down.
My chest floods with a mix of fury and something that might be relief, which just pisses me off more. I don’t want to feel anything but anger toward him right now.
“Why not?” Remus starts circling me like a shark. “I like the smell of her, and she’s clearly not fond of you at the moment.”
“Back off. She made a deal with me. She’s mine. For forever.”
And that’s when I completely lose my shit.
“I belong to NO ONE!” I shove past Remus to get right up in Abaddon’s face, even though he towers over me by like fourfeet. Thing tries to intercept, but I’m done being protected from conversations I need to have.
“Stop it!” I yell when Abaddon starts that threatening growl he does. “Just STOP!”
The silence that follows is deafening, but now that I’ve started, I can’t stop. All the rage and hurt and terror I’ve been swallowing down come pouring out.
“My entire life, people have looked at me and decided what I could and could not do, what I was worth, and who I was allowed to be.” I’m jabbing my finger at his chest now, not caring that he could probably snap me in half. “So don’t you dare think that because I made a deal to save my life, I ever agreed to be yourproperty. You don’t own me, and you never will.”
His mouth opens, but I cut him off.
