Page 1 of Prince of Wrath

Chapter 1

Sloane

It had been eight years since I’d sold my soul to a devil. And not just any devil. A prince of Hell.

Eight years of living a truly unbelievable life that I had wished into existence and had worked hard to maintain. Endless nights of partying and days traveling to the farthest reaches of the globe had brought me more happiness and adventure than I could have ever imagined. I had seen and experienced life in ways that most people wouldn’t have been prepared for.

What I hadn’t prepared for was doing it alone.

Millions of dollars in my bank account. Homes in three different countries. Stocks in companies whose CEOs would have turned their noses up at me ten years ago.

All testaments to how far I had come in this life, and all things that didn’t keep me warm at night.

The media would have the masses think that celebrity relationships were fleeting due to money or distance. But in my case, and several others I knew personally, relationships tended to end in volition due to the influence of Seere, Prince of Wrath.

My soul had been marked as his. That wasn’t the only reason for my inability to keep a healthy affair alive, but his uncanny desire to be near me had ended several potential loves. Seere always found me, no matter how far I ran or whom I’d invited into my bed. It didn’t matter how kind the person was when we started seeing each other. By the end, they were stark raving hellions.

It might have been eight years since I lost the only thing I’d ever truly owned to the demon, but it had only been two months since I’d last seen him. I thought I’d found a way to get him out of my life for good.

Yet there he was, watching me over the rim of his cup as a gorgeous man stared directly at my chest while telling me about his yacht and three Aston Martins.

A pool party raged around us, complete with a toxic, luxury drug scene.

The wealth of men hadn’t interested me in years, but letting them brag got them harder than my lingerie did.

I had stopped listening long before Seere’s dark green eyes had caught my attention from several yards away. Tonight, neither of us was alone. An otherworldly beautiful blond man was attempting to converse with Seere. His eyes pinged between me and the side of Seere’s jaw. If I had to guess, I would say that man was also a demon. I couldn’t think of a time when I had seen Seere speaking to anyone, and this stranger was comfortable with the intensity that radiated from Seere’s body.

Any hope that Seere’s companion would distract him long enough for me to slip away was smaller than the attention span I had for the human man burning holes through my dress with his eyes.

“So, what do you think, beautiful?” Todd’s voice broke the visual tether between Seere and me.

“Oh sorry. The music is so loud. What was the question?”

Todd didn’t skip a beat. Whatever he had planned clearly had more to do with my clothes coming off than with keeping my attention. “The dock is only down the hill. I’d love to take you out on the water for a moonlight tour. Then maybe we could lie out on the deck to look at the stars with some wine?”

I dared a quick glance back at Seere. Occupied, but not for long.

Leaving the pool party was a gamble, but one I was willing to take if it meant that I could escape a tongue lashing from my debtor prince.

“Sure. Lead the way.” I smiled up at Todd, who looked surprised that someone had finally taken his bait.

“Uh, great. Let me just tell my buddy we’re headed out. I was his ride.” He scanned the crowd, but I hooked my hand into the crook of his arm and pulled him back.

“Send him a text,” I said, sex laced through my words.

“Yes, ma’am.”

* * *

Todd’s yacht wasn’t the largest in the marina, but as far as oversized boats went, it was nice and far from the shore. Todd stood at the helm, steering the boat out into calmer waters so we could drift smoothly. I had taken to the living room on the main deck to wait out my initial sea sickness. Once we were anchored, my stomach and nerves would settle.

The tips of my fingers itched at the hem of my short cocktail dress where a thin line of scripture was inked. A ward given to me by a man in Italy who claimed to be a specialist in demonic possession and the exorcism of dark forces. I had thought the etchings on my skin had worked. For months, Seere had stayed far away. Until tonight.

It could have been a coincidence. He could have very well been there to collect on someone else. If he’d wanted to corner me, he would have.

I told this to myself with each passing yard we put between ourselves and the shoreline.

Todd came bounding down the stairs and shuffled over to a line of cabinets. He grabbed two glasses and a bottle of wine and motioned for me to follow him back to the upper deck. I obliged, but the chill of the air whipping around us had me rethinking my willingness to spend the night on a boat on the Pacific Ocean.