Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 72056 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 360(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72056 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 360(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
“We do, but we also have blood lust. We can’t exist without blood once we hit a certain age. For every strength, there is a weakness.”
I hate to admit it, but my father’s words make sense.
“And wolves…” I begin.
“Have the power to shift, and then they have the power of the animal. The strong teeth, the feral nature.”
“What’s their weakness, then?”
“The same thing. Their animal natures. Their minds may stay—or at least remain close to—human, but their physical needs will win. A strength can also be a weakness.”
He’s not wrong.
“What is a demon’s weakness?” I ask. “How can I protect Larissa and Mom?”
“As I said, Richard broke his vow to me when he kidnapped you and then had you shot with one of his flaming arrows. Are you all right?”
Am I? I look down. Rogan has dressed my wound, and the pain… The pain is now minimal. How long has it been?
“I guess I’ll live,” I tell him. “But I swear, when that thing hit me, I thought my life was over.”
“Your life is far from over, Hannah. Richard will pay for this.”
“How?”
“I’m working on that.”
“You didn’t answer my question,” I say. “What is a demon’s weakness?”
“Evil, Hannah. Evil is a demon’s greatest weakness.”
“But they have incredible internal strength. They can suppress the evil.”
“True, and that is their strength. But Hannah, evil is evil. It will always win when a demon is cornered.”
“So what I witnessed…”
“You witnessed your stepfather’s evil. He’s the king, and he’s nearing seven centuries in age—”
“Are you kidding me? Seven centuries? I knew he was older than Mom, but my God.”
“Yes, he’s almost seven hundred years old, and he’s faced with what could become a mutiny.”
“They’re trying to dethrone him?”
“Think of it this way,” Dad says. “He needs to show his strength, and the best way to do that is to turn on his wife and stepdaughters. Especially his wife, whom he professes to love. If he shows that evil, he’ll be perceived as strong, and his subjects will continue to fear him.”
“He swore to me he wouldn’t hurt my mother.”
“That’s another thing about demons, Hannah. They lie.”
“So you don’t believe he loves her?”
“To the contrary. I do. But I don’t believe he loves you or Larissa.”
“There’s a shocker. I’ve known that since the beginning. He was horrible to us.”
“I know, and I’m sorry.”
I open my mouth and then close it. Is it really the time to mention that my father wasn’t much nicer to us?
Right now I need his help.
“Find out about Rogan, Hannah,” he continues. “I have a duty to our people. If Rogan is behind those murders—”
“He’s not.”
“And you know this how?”
“Rogan’s not a killer.”
“Fine. Then prove it. And do not give Richard the information. You bring it straight to me.”
I was going to anyway, but I don’t give my father the satisfaction of the reply.
“Anything else?” I say snidely.
“No. I’ll be in touch.”
I end the call and toss the burner phone onto the bed.
Rogan stands across the room, staring at me with those penetrating green eyes.
“Rogan,” I say.
“What?”
“I’m going to ask you this once, and I want the truth. As your mate.”
He walks toward me, sits down on the bed next to me.
I’m hyperaware of his presence. I need to find out how he healed me, why I’m not in pain, but that will wait.
“What is it?” he asks.
“Did you kill those two vampires?”
29
Silence.
Only silence.
When I’m quite sure Rogan isn’t going to answer my question, he finally opens his mouth.
“I can’t lie to you, Hannah.”
Already I know this is serious. He doesn’t often call me by my name. I wait, my lips parted. I wait for him to tell me that no, he did not kill those vamps.
He did not.
Except—
“I did.”
“You did what?” I gulp out.
“The teeth marks are mine.”
Yes. I already know that. We’ve proved that. But I thought… I hoped…that somehow Rogan had been set up. That someone had a cast of his bite and planted the evidence. Perhaps that’s still the case.
“I killed them, Hannah. But I had good reason.”
I curl my hands into fists. “What good reason did you have for murdering two vampires?” I grit out.
“It wasn’t murder.”
“You just said—”
“I said I killed them. I did not murder them. I was defending members of my pack.”
“Damn it, Rogan, their hearts were cut out. That’s fucking murder.”
He shakes his head vehemently. “That wasn’t me. I swear it. I killed them, yes, and I had good reason. But I did not cut out their hearts.”
His eyes are big and round, his irises pulsing as if he’s going to change. He’s not lying, and I know he’s not. I’ve known from the beginning when my father first brought it up. I replay the conversation in my mind.
“The lycan in question is an alpha named Victor Rogan,” my father says. “He’s been linked to two vamp slayings in the past month.”