Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 54626 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 273(@200wpm)___ 219(@250wpm)___ 182(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54626 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 273(@200wpm)___ 219(@250wpm)___ 182(@300wpm)
With reason, Pet never wanted to come back here.
These men had to pay. They could not be allowed to get away with this.
The rage and anger began to build. Damien’s blood suddenly turned icy, and his heart began thumping like a loud drum.
Shit. It was happening—the darkness deep inside was rising to the surface, sliding under his warm skin like a freezing hand filling a leather glove. The gentlemanly costume he’d sworn never to remove began to crack as an unrelenting rage saturated his body. The urge to kill filled Damien like an old familiar friend.
He groaned, unable to resist what was begging to be let out.
Hello, tailor. I’m back, the toxic voice inside rumbled with deep satisfaction. First, I want to skin these people alive. I want to hear them scream. Then I want to hear them beg.
Damien cleared his throat. “Welcome back.”
Miss me?
“No.” But what did it matter now? The beast was back, and Damien had no one to blame but himself. His rage caused this. His anger had reopened the door. Now he had no choice but to deal with it.
Later. I’ll deal with it later, he thought. First, these depraved motherfucking Browns needed to be punished.
He marched toward the staircase, ready to track them down and wage war.
A tiny cough sounded from one of the cages on the bottom row. From the corner of his eye, Damien noted a twitch.
He walked over and looked inside. It was a small brown pig. No, not a pig. A little Chihuahua. He opened the cage and pulled it out. The thing immediately started rubbing its soiled, emaciated body against his chest.
I don’t believe it. She’s a love-sucking demon. He tucked her under his coat, knowing he’d have to be careful, or the hungry thing would drain him.
He quickly checked the other cages. No survivors. He wondered what he’d tell Pet.
Damien slid his lockpick from his jacket and jabbed the wall near the stairwell, chipping out a sample of plaster.
Disappointing. As far as he could tell, there was nothing unique about this bunker. No special panels or materials. No reason the creatures down here would have been insulated against the blast. Unless they weren’t here when it happened. It was a dead end, just as he’d predicted.
Damien decided it was time to go and went upstairs, immediately bumping into Pet.
“Gack! Damien!”
“What?”
“Sky says some shady men just pulled up with a big radio!” she spouted.
Wonderful. “We’ll have to go out the back door.” It was just off the kitchen.
Damien took two steps and tipped his nose to the air. Funny. He noted a strange odor coming from the garage door.
His eyes went wide. “Pet! That is not nail polish!”
He grabbed the pest and sprinted for the kitchen.
Five seconds too late.
The house exploded.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“Damien? Can you hear me,” a soft voice whispered. “Damien? Wake up.”
Damien was greeted by a familiar pair of warm brown eyes.
“Sky?” He stared at the curvature of her cheekbones and the elegant arches of her black brows, convinced he was in a dream. Everything around them was dark, and the ground was cold beneath him.
“Yes. It’s me.” She placed a hand on his shoulder and gently squeezed. Her touch felt amazing. Warm, like her eyes.
“Where am I?”
“You’re in the Underworld, but K’ak says you can’t stay.”
“K’ak?”
“He says he’s the new God of the Underworld? Apparently, he took over for Cimil. But he says you have to go back to your body; you need to wake up. The house is on fire, and Pet and Gorgonzolina need you. They’re trapped, and it’s not their time yet.”
Huh? Time? “Gorgonzol-what?”
“The creature you saved, the one nobody is supposed to know about. Just like Bonbon?”
She means illegal demons. Damien sat up, rubbing the back of his head and taking in the dark empty space around them. “So this is the Underworld.”
“K’ak says you’ve been here before, but you wouldn’t remember. This is some sort of waiting room.” Sky pointed to a doorway. “The poker tables are just through there if you want to see. Pretty amazing. They go on forever.”
He did not want to look at anything but her—the full lips, the long black lashes, and those soulful eyes.
Stunning.
He didn’t know if this conversation was real, but on the off chance it was, he did not want to miss this opportunity. “Sky, I need you to know that I never meant to run you over. It was—”
“K’ak explained about your curse.” She looked at the ground.
“He did?” Did the entire world know about it?
Sky nodded. “He also said you felt something for me—an attraction.” Sky took his hand. “For what it’s worth, I think you’re very attractive, too.”
That was unfortunate, because nothing would ever come of it. Not then. Not now. “I am very sorry. It was inexcusable, Sky. I-I don’t know what else to say.”