Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 144404 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144404 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
It was good that he had faith in me. I let him drag me back, but my eyes had caught on one of the photos on his desk. He had several, and a couple of them made my heart ache.
There was a picture of Fenrir, standing beside Lee and Rhys and Evan, and he was smiling the most adorable grin I’d ever seen. He held a fish up, obvious pride in his stance. “When was that taken?”
His expression softened. “I think Fen was twelve. It was one of the few times they came back from the outer planes. We were in Louisiana at the cabin. Trent and I taught the kids how to fish. I was…better then. More in control.”
I knew how badly he felt about not being as active as he wanted to be in Fen’s life. “You seem in control now.”
I knew why. He was calm, and he hadn’t been under Lucifer’s influence.
He sighed and rested his head against my shoulder. “I can handle it, Kelsey mine. I promise. I can’t let anything happen to Dean. If Dean dies, Lee dies. When they’re gone… I don’t want our son growing up in a world full of demons. He might be fine. He’ll be a royal demon, but I still dream of that little she-wolf, and that won’t be a world she can live in.”
Tears blurred my vision. “We’ll find another way.”
“Kelsey,” he began.
But I didn’t want to argue. I pointed to another picture, this one of a gorgeous woman with blonde hair. She looked serious standing in front of a big house with two older people at her side. Likely her mother and father. She wore a modest navy dress and sensible shoes. “Who’s that?”
He was quiet for a moment. “My mother. It’s the only picture I have of her. I don’t know why I have it out.”
“Because she was your mom.”
“I didn’t mean that. I meant because of what it represents. A sort of graduation. They took that picture an hour before she signed the contract with my father and became pregnant with me.”
And I ached all over again. This was something we’d never really talked about. I knew he’d grown up wealthy, and while he’d lived on the Earth plane, his family had a place in the supernatural world. They’d been a powerful witching family and well connected with the demonic houses. “You don’t have more pictures of her?”
“She died in a house fire shortly after I graduated from college. This was the only picture that survived the fire. Don’t worry. She’s still around,” he said with a sigh. “This place is Hell, after all. She’ll show up at some point. Now, let’s talk about why sex is a good thing for a pregnant lady.”
He started to kiss me, and all my questions faded away.
Chapter Fifteen
Liv
I stopped at the sound of Kelsey’s voice.
Was she standing outside my door? She’d walked out over an hour before and left me with all the stupid pastries that I’d eaten too much of, and now I was fairly certain I had not only a sugar high but a stomachache, neither of which explained why I could hear Kelsey talking like she was standing here in my room.
Have you followed Liv at all?
A bit. I wanted to make sure it was okay to have her around Dean. Most of the time someone’s with her, but when I find her alone, I do watch her. She’s struggling.
Lee. That was Lee’s voice.
I turned and tried to figure out where it was coming from. The mirror. I saw the slightest glow coming off the mirror over the dresser. It was magical. I hadn’t noticed it until now when it was in use. The question was who was using it and what did they want me to hear.
Lee was following me. That didn’t surprise me at all. I would be more shocked if he said he trusted me.
He said something about me struggling and then Casey was agreeing with him. Fuck, yeah I was struggling. I was a prisoner. It sucked to be a prisoner, and no one understood how horrible it was for me.
I mean it wasn’t like I enjoyed having a luxurious bathroom where the tub knew the perfect temperature and that I once enjoyed a good lavender bath bomb and a warm towel.
For Hell, it was disappointing on the self-torture front. Hell was supposed to make a girlie tough, and it seemed to be having the opposite effect on me. It reminded me of all the things I’d loved before the world had exploded.
What is the demon blood for? Kelsey was asking. There’s no way Evan simply decided to give it to her so she could slow her transition. That demon blood should make Liv strong.
The blood did make me strong. It was the fucking collar that took it away.