Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 131708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
Dice’s psyche bumped his. You think he knew they were close enough to overhear him?
It’s possible. He knew the sisters were here; would have guessed it was them on the way to the office—and I find it hard to believe he didn’t notice them.
Viper had been mindful of each step he took with Ella. It was a precarious dance that required him to get the timing, moves, and balance just right. And Prophet might have just fucked it all up.
Viper hadn’t intended to tell her about his ‘diet’ yet. His original plan had been to wait until she was firmly attached to him before he told her anything. He’d decided to spoon-feed her the things he needed to reveal as he established his place in her life. Spacing it all out, giving her time to process each reveal before moving onto another, would make it easier for her to digest it all.
She’d begun to care for him. He knew that; felt it. But she didn’t yet love him, so he couldn’t be sure that his upcoming confession—he really had no choice but to make it or he’d lose her—wouldn’t scare her off. He couldn’t predict her reaction.
Ella was, by nature, a compassionate and accepting person. The qualities were stamped on her soul. She didn’t judge unless it was deserved. And his entity felt confident that she wouldn’t hold their diet against them. Viper? He wasn’t so confident. Because it was a fuck of a lot to accept—and it was only the tip of the iceberg.
At least she hadn’t walked out. Or, as it were, tried to. No amount of magick would open the door now that his entity had locked it.
She hadn’t tried, though. She wasn’t announcing an intention to leave. And she didn’t appear to have closed her mind to whatever Viper might say.
He took a slow step toward her, pleased she didn’t tense or back away. “You’re sure about the geas?”
She gave a decisive nod. “Positive.”
It was a good thing for them all, since his entity had been bluffing when it said she could either agree or walk out of his life—it wouldn’t let her go. Neither would Viper. Not for anything.
He held out his hand, relieved when she took it without hesitation. “You swear not to repeat what Dice and I tell you?”
“I swear,” she replied, her pulse beating fast in her neck.
Viper let a burst of his power blast into her system in a cold, electric wave that made her suck in a breath. The power writhed and glowed beneath the skin of her hand as it bound her to the vow she’d just made. And then it settled, the glow fading.
He released Ella’s hand, watching her carefully. She idly rubbed at her palm, staring at him in a sort of awed caution. Not fear, though, thankfully—he couldn’t have hacked that.
He arched a questioning brow at Mia, who dipped her chin and stuck out her own hand. He pressed his palm to hers and demanded the same promise of her. Mia gave it easily, and he then used his power to hold her to her word, much as he’d done with Ella.
As he dropped her hand, Mia flinched back with a blink. “Your power is, like, wow.”
Viper leaned back against his desk. “Try not to judge me and my brothers too harshly for choosing to fall even knowing what the cost to us would be.”
Ella’s brow creased. “Cost?”
Slanting his head, he said, “Your entity is a sort of inner darkness, isn’t it? Mine was once an inner light. But that changed.”
“Changed how?” Ella asked.
“What lives in me, in Dice, in my brothers … those entities feel no joy. No contentment. No peace. Their emotional spectrum ranges from dark to darker. The nearest thing they feel to happiness is a shallow sense of satisfaction, which they usually only experience at the expense of someone else’s pain or discomfort or humiliation.”
Damn, thought Ella. Her demon was an utter psychopath. It felt no remorse, empathy, or love. But it could experience some positive emotions, and not all were shallow.
“One feeling overrules all others for us and our inner entities.” He fixed his gaze with hers, demanding her focus. “Thirst.”
Ella’s scalp tingled as wariness danced in her veins. “Thirst for what?”
He waited a few beats. “Blood.”
She stared at him numbly, aware of her sister drawing in a shocked breath.
“The Fallen are cursed—quite literally—to subsist on blood as well as food and water,” said Viper, his expression carefully blank. “We go from virtuous beings to decadent creatures. It’s why they call it a fall from grace. This is our punishment.”
Well, shit. Nothing could have prepared her for this revelation. There’d been no clues, no hints, no rumors. And who would ever think that freaking angels would be doomed in such a way, fallen or not?