Page 82 of Touched By Death

Chapter Twenty-Eight

DAEMON

He shoots up from the seat with his hands held out in front of him, but that’s the only sign of distress. Everything else about him is calm, as though he’s resigned to his fate.

He’s dead.

That’s what he is.

Fisting his T-shirt, I haul him close. “Cover yourself,” I growl at Aurelia, keeping my eyes locked on my cousin. To Dmitriy, I say, “See the cum on her face? See how she’s covered in my brothers?”

When his brown eyes slide in her direction, I jostle him. “Don’t fucking look at her.”

“Daemon.” Aurelia speaks up from her spot near the fire where she’s putting her dress back on. “Don’t hurt him.”

A snarl rips from my lips, and I bare my teeth at Dmitriy. But then the little witch adds, “Please,” in a soft, vulnerable voice that gives me pause. Looking in her direction, I’m met with her big eyes and ruined perfection. “You don’t have to accept him, but please don’t hurt him.”

My gaze sweeps over her face and body—the majestic black wings that seem to frame the fireplace behind her. “If you think I’ll ever let him lay a single finger on you, you’re wrong, little angel.”

“He’s been there for me,” she says, slowly rising to her feet while keeping her gaze locked on mine. Her voice is stronger now and more determined. Behind her, the flames seem to grow taller in response to the strong emotion that pours from her. She takes a step closer, and I snarl in response, tightening my grip on Dmitriy’s T-shirt.

“Careful, little angel. I will hurt him.”

“Please, don’t.”

“Why?”

“He’s my friend.”

“Friend…” I chuckle humorlessly before shoving Dmitriy with enough force to send him flying across the room. He knocks over a couch, causing Aurelia to startle at the loud crash.

Walking over and grabbing her in a chokehold, I snarl in her face, “You think my cousin wants to be your friend?” I spit the word. “Wrong! Can’t you see that he wants to feast on your sweet pussy until you come all over his tongue?”

Her defiant eyes stare up at me, glassy with cock-stirring tears and attitude, but she keeps her lips pressed shut. It doesn’t matter. That look in her gaze speaks a thousand words.

“Let her the fuck go!” At the sound of my cousin’s deadly threat, I stiffen. “I won’t warn you again.”

Aurelia’s teary eyes fall shut as I slowly release her to turn around. “Daemon,” she whispers, sniffling pathetically.

Ignoring her unspoken pleas for me to not hurt him, I level him with a murderous look that’d bring a lesser man to his knees. When I feel my little angel peer at him from behind me, hellfire ignites at my fingertips. The concern that oozes off of her pisses me the fuck off. “Are you challenging me?”

A muscle clenches in his jaw as he stands tall in front of me with his wings carefully tucked. It doesn’t matter; the challenge is clear as day in his eyes and the defiant tilt to his chin.

I cock my head to the side, studying him closer. “I’m the devil’s son.”

“I’m his nephew.”

Silence settles in the room. We stay locked in a stare-down, each measuring the other as the seconds tick by.

Dariana shifts somewhere to my right while Ronan and Alaric watch the scene unfold with bated breath. One wrong move on Dmitriy’s side, and they’ll tear him to pieces at my command—contract or no contract.

“What exactly is it that you want?” I ask, fisting my hands at my sides.

Dmitriy never takes his eyes off me as a small smile spreads across his lips. “You know exactly what I want.”

“Just let us kill him,” Alaric growls, and I hold my hand up to silence him.

I take a single step closer to Dmitriy, and he notices, tracking my every move with eyes that miss nothing. “I’m intrigued enough to let you live for a few precious seconds longer. Tell me, cousin, what do you want with my little angel?”

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