Page 114 of Taken By Touch and Torment

My jaw ticked, imagining Brennan’s charming little head decorating my gardens.

“—and he’s intelligent, resourceful. He bought into Durian’s religion when it suited him and his interests. But now that I’ve grown those seeds of resentment toward Durian, along with Brennan’s own self-belief, Durian’s influence over him is waning. In fact, I’d bet anything he now blames Durian for my absence.” Scarlett winced, now avoiding my eyes. “Brennan thinks he’s in love with me, and he believes that Durian was ruining me just like he is ruining Valentin.”

The room darkened for a moment, the lights flickering. My shadows begged to reach for Scarlett, to wrap around her dainty neck and show the whole world who owns her.

“Kole feels similarly, in his own kind of way. In fact,” she said, swallowing, “all three men think I’m meant to be with them. And if I know anything about seduction, I’m certain that my escape has only deepened the divides I’d been digging. Their obsessions have only grown. I’ve weakened them, and if I make contact now, with discord in the born districts multiplying, after I’ve been silent for weeks… I can finish what I started.”

Dark magick coursed through the room. And it wasn’t mine, Mason’s, or Uriah’s. It wasn’t even Sadie’s.

It was darkly sweet, the divine unholy feminine. It was the deafening strike of lightning from a powerful storm, the unmistakable scent of violent sex, and the luxurious feel of soft, supple skin. It was the destruction and sensuality of the Dark Goddess and her beautifully deadly daughters.

We were held in suspended captivation as Scarlett told us more about what she’d heard during her time as Durian’s slave. She told us about those divisions, the weaknesses she’d used to her advantage. When she told us about her friend Rosalind, she remained strong even as a single tear fell from her piercing blue eyes. She spoke of this fellow succubus with the utmost respect. And I hated myself even more for my initial prejudices against sex demons, understanding now that Rosalind was one of the reasons Scarlett had survived that place and found her power.

“I can make each man bend. Brennan will turn against Durian and act on it,” she said fiercely, with all the wrathful conviction of Lillian herself. “This will divide the court and the elites, among whom I’ve already detected and nurtured a vast array of jealousies, vendettas, and dissatisfactions. Kole will be turned off by this level of discord, and he will see that the Valentin born are a danger to Earle’s legacy. He will also see that the born districts have succumbed to their own in-fighting between mortals and born alike, which will inevitably lead to a confused and divided army. We will expose Durian’s contempt for his own people and reveal his religion and visions for the manipulation that they are. We will show his treason to Earle, and we will find a way to ensure Kole’s recognition for a portion of our work. We can keep Kole in our back pocket, and each faction will have no other option but to submit to the rule of the turned if they hope to survive.”

She stood, placing her hands on the table. “After I work on these men from afar, I will be returning to Durian’s palace to ensure the final pieces fall as they should. One of those pieces being Durian’s head.”

46

SCARLETT

Rune’s eyes were infernos as I spoke my last words.

“Will you now?” he hissed.

Sadie watched me as she worked through her own mental puzzle, those long red nails softly tapping on her crossed arms.

“By yourself, with no protection, I presume?” Rune asked.

He knew it was coming. Everyone at this table knew it was coming. I’d watched him fight to stay calm on numerous occasions, but it would seem his restraint had finally worn thin.

“You’ve found yourself quite the force, Rune,” Sadie said. “Her intuition matches mine, and it matches yours, too. We can’t rid this island of the born. There are still civilians and born children on their side. This is our path forward. We must look to the future of how to prevent another born uprising. We will ensure an end to the slave trade, and we will need to make concessions in other areas to mend the borns’ ire. We are the lesser of two evils, and we must let each group come to that conclusion on their own, with our careful, guiding hand.”

“We’ll have the born burning down Durian’s palace themselves if we don’t get to it first,” Uriah said with a grin. “It’s the best-case scenario.”

“And what happens if the angry mob descends while you’re still trapped there, Scarlett?” Rune asked me. “Need I remind you how breakable—and flammable—your human shell is?”

I shrank at his tone, and Rune’s anger melted an inch. He shook his head and raked a hand through his dark hair.

“Rune,” I said softly. “I know you’re all hiding the full extent of the borns’ atrocities against mortals, to protect me and stop me from making rash moves. That’s what Snow wants me to know, right?”

Rune’s eyes flashed in confirmation. He was leaking shadow now, and Sadie was shooting daggers at him in response. Uriah was silent, but I could sense unsaid truths on his tongue. His loyalty to Rune was still his strongest desire.

“I know that we can keep Valentin safe. We have more than enough to work with,” I said, willing Rune to believe in me, to continue to allow me to make my life mean something. On my own terms. “If Durian’s psychopathic cruelty is only getting worse, then we have no time to waste. I’ll need access to the other half of Kole’s linked journal. I will also need access to Brennan. Any ideas?”

Rune steepled his fingers at his lips. He was suddenly eerily calm, eyes passing over his closest confidants. “We’re breaking. Leave us.”

“Rune,” Sadie said, irritated.

Uriah and Mason stood.

“We’ll finish this later.” Rune spoke to them, but he only stared at me. “As Scarlett said, we have plenty to work with, and we will begin any new directives right away. I want to speak with the other half of my soul alone.”

As I always did when Rune declared his love in front of others, I blushed. I wasn’t used to our connection being on full display. I once thought Rune would never broadcast his devotion to me, as if it made him weaker in the eyes of his clan. I couldn’t have been more wrong about him.

That was what gave me hope that Rune would come around about this, too. He had to see that just like it was my fate to be his, it was also my fate to be in service to Valentin. To protect this island and avenge myself and all other slaves.

Rune’s closest confidants headed toward the exit at the far end of the spacious room.

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