“Ask yourfuckingquestion, vampire.”
He placed the gun down on the altar next to her with a click before cupping her cheek in his hand. He rested his thumb against the hollow of her chin, the point of his nail just pricking the skin of her lower lip. His cologne, all spices and roses, washed over her.
“All the time we’ve spent together…when we’ve fucked. When we’ve laughed. When we’ve touched. What we’veshared,you and I. All that we’ve exchanged.” He tilted his head to the side just slightly, studying her face.
With a slow, creeping and purely evil smile, the Serpent asked his question. “Tell me, little fae…how much of your heart belongs to me?”
TWO
It felt like the world itself had dropped away. Like Nadi was in free fall. But all too quickly, the world came rushing up to meet her and she was slammed unforgivingly into it.
“Howdareyou!” She slapped his hand away from her before using both palms to shove him back a step. Going for the gun, she aimed it at him and pulled the trigger.
It clicked. Harmlessly.
She pulled it three more times.
Nothing.
“Fuck—”It wasn’t loaded.It hadn’t been loaded the whole time.
The laugh that left Raziel was pure evil. He didn’t need the gun anymore, did he? Maybe he never needed it at all. “You’ve come so far, Nadi. You killed Hank. You risked everything. You killed your ownunclefor this. Would you really throw it all away now?”
With a snarl, she threw the gun to the side of the room. It clattered against the wall.
“That is not an answer, little fae. To either of my questions.” He grinned in triumph. He’d laid a trap. Baited it. And she’dstepped right in. “Yes or no. Have you ever felt somethingrealbetween us? Answer me truthfully.”
Adrenaline rushed through her. The sort of panic that hit when she was suddenly caught red-handed sneaking through someone’s house, preparing to murder them or their family member.
She could walk out the door. She could just leave. She could. Sheshould.But that was admitting something, wasn’t it? That was admitting that shecouldn’tgive him an answer.
The trap he’d laid was brilliant. Simple.Flawless.And superbly, wonderfully cruel.
She couldn’t answer “no.”
It would be a lie, wouldn’t it?And it hadn’t occurred to her until right then and there. The little bit of rot, of mold, that had been growing in the corner of her soul since who knew when.
To her absolute horror…some of ithadfelt real.
But likefuckshe was going to tell him “yes.”
Likefuckshe was going to give that smugly smiling piece of bloodsuckingshitexactly what he wanted to hear.
So instead, she growled, and launched herself at him, intending to claw his face off with her fingernails if she had to.“Youfucking bastard!”
Raziel laughed, seemingly delighted by her answer. “What’s wrong? Hm? Why can’t you give me an answer? Isn’t it a simple question? You despise me and you want me dead more than anything in the world, don’t you?” He grabbed her by the wrists, yanking her off balance, nearly sending her crashing to the ground.
He outclassed her as a fighter on a good day, and she was too angry, too upset to focus on strategy.
He’d won the fight before she’d even started.
She knew it.
And he knew it.
But that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to try to take a chunk out of him. “Shut thefuck up!”She stomped on his foot as hard as she could, using her heeled shoes to her advantage.
He snarled in pain, throwing her forward and away from him. Her back hit the altar hard enough that it knocked the wind out of her for a moment.
