Page 15 of Touched By Death

His conflicted eyes skate past me to Dmitriy on the bench and then back. “If you think this is over, you’re wrong.”

“Run along now,” Dmitriy taunts behind me, and I fight the urge to growl at him.

Snarling, Alaric bares his teeth. “Watch it!” Then he’s gone, walking back across the cafeteria. I’m left a weak, panting mess that’s two seconds away from collapsing in a heap.

I somehow manage to sit back down and grip the edge of the seat. “You’re right,” I say to Dmitriy. “I need to feed.”

His warm touch strokes soothing circles on the spot between my wings. “What do you need?”

My eyes find his over my shoulder. “I need to visit the human world.”

It’s bad news to go there. I should stay in Hell and not entertain the darkness inside me. If I feed, I’ll not only nourish myself, but the monster, too. It’s growing restless, and the only way to keep it leashed is to keep myself weak.

But if I’m weak, I can’t keep up my defenses against them. And as I lift my gaze to find Alaric and Ronan watching me, I know I have no other choice. I must protect my fragile heart.

RONAN

“I hate this,” Dariana mutters, looking over her shoulder at the little witch across the cafeteria where she sits with Dmitriy. “I hate that he thinks he can just piss all over our territory like that.”

“I thought you didn’t trust her,” I point out lazily as I straighten up and fish a packet of cigarettes from my pocket. It’s frowned upon to smoke in here, but it’s not like anyone can tell us off. I light one up and blow out a cloud of smoke.

Dariana wafts it away with her dainty hand. “I didn’t. But that was before Lucifer kidnapped his own son to teach him a lesson.”

“What changed?” Alaric asks, hands in his pockets and his gaze locked on Aurelia.

As I bring the filter to my lips and inhale a deep breath, she says, “Everything.”

Smoke pours from my lips as I chuckle. “Everything?”

She jumps up next to me on the table and pulls her skirt down to cover more of her bare thighs before snatching the cigarette from between my lips. She takes a drag and blows the smoke right in my face, then responds, “If she’d been working with Amenadiel like we thought, she wouldn’t avoid us like the plague after finding out about the betrothal.”

I mull over her words, then shrug when she hands the cigarette back. “It’s a little too late now.”

A disbelieving sound escapes her plump lips and then she turns away from me to face the little witch. “It’s never too fucking late. Besides, whether she likes it or not, she belongs to us. If she doesn’t want to be ours, well…” Her cruel smile coaxes mine out to dance with hers. “Then we’ll just have to steal her choice and break her down, little by little, until she begs us to touch her.”

Nudging her with my shoulder, I smirk. “I like your evil side.”

“Screw that,” Alaric mutters. “She doesn’t have a choice to begin with. If she thinks she can hide behind Dmitriy, she’s in for a rude awakening.”

“We need Daemon back,” Dariana mumbles, resting her head on my shoulder. “I’m so fucking worried about him.”

“Don’t be.”

She ignores me. “He was always larger than life. To see him dragged away to the cellars… the blood left behind on the marble floor…”

“He’ll be fine,” I say reassuringly. “Daemon will always bounce back. It’s what he does.”

I wish I could believe my own words. While I know Lucifer won’t kill his own son, he’s a psychopath who singlehandedly birthed Hell and the separation from God. There’s not a kind bone in his body. If Daemon doesn’t willingly submit to his father, then Lucifer will break him until he’s in pieces before putting him together like a patchwork quilt. It may look pretty, but the pieces will never fit right again.

“Daemon will be back soon,” I murmur, bringing the filter to my lips. The embers crackle in the silence as I nod to myself. “He will.”

“The hell?” Alaric straightens, watching the little witch and Dmitriy exit the cafeteria. “Where are they going?”

“Beats me.” I jump down from the table, crush the cigarette beneath my boot, and set off after them. “But I’m finding out.”

We keep a safe distance away, too intrigued to let ourselves be known just yet. The little angel weaves through bodies ahead of Dmitriy, who follows behind like a lazy cat while making no secret of checking her out. It makes my fucking blood boil.

They exit the academy and set off into the sky, their impressive wings slicing through the silvery moonlight.

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