Page 56 of These Deadly Dreams

“Gods dammit,” I mutter, gritting my teeth and letting go of the grasp I have on my thrall. The glow from my eyes is reflected back at me from Ellis’s, and I take a step forward, making sure she’s caught in my gaze. When her amber eyes are sufficiently glazed over, I say, “You will come with me back to the cabin.” I almost end it at that, but then think better of it. “Right now,” I add. I have no doubt she’d find a way around it if I didn’t add that last bit.

When her mind clears, she shakes her head like she’s shaking herself out of a daze. She stares at me so intently, and with so much emotion I have to clutch at my chest and bend over. Rage. Hate. Disgust. Disbelief. It all swirls and collides, battering me until I’m panting.

“I can’t believe you did that,” she whispers harshly.

When I get myself under control, I glance up and double over again. Tears glisten on her lashes and they’re there because of me. “Fuuck,” I breathe, rubbing my chest and adding to her emotions with my own. I hurt her. My beloved. The one person I’m supposed to protect and care for above everyone else, and I hurt her. My self-loathing far outweighs any emotions she feels toward me at the moment. Shoving everything way down deep to deal with later, I stand up and harden myself. I need to safely get us out of here and back to the cabin. Then I can try and fix this. “Let’s go.”

She jerks her arm away when I try to take her hand and glares at me. I sigh, but head for the door. Outside, the moon provides enough light for her to see by. The streetlamps are all broken in this part of town, and without the moon, it would be complete darkness. I parked the Charger in an alley behind the office building, and covered it with a tarp I keep in the trunk, hoping to keep people from noticing it.

Ellis waits as I tug the tarp off, a thundercloud behind me that actually makes my shoulder blades itch as my instincts tell me there’s an enemy behind me. I wouldn’t be surprised if she shoved a knife into my back. I’d deserve it. When the tarp is off, she climbs in the front seat, slamming the door behind her. I wince as I shove the tarp into the trunk, not bothering to fold it, before climbing in the driver’s seat.

The silence is heavy as we head back to the cabin. Ellis stares out the window and refuses to look at me. Her emotions are still pummeling me. So many that it’s hard to sift through them. All I know is that she’s hurting and she’s mad. And I’m the reason for it. I open my mouth to say something, but end up closing it. There is nothing I can say to her right now that wouldn’t just make things worse.

When we get back to the cabin, Ellis throws herself out of the car before I come to a complete stop. Again, she slams the door behind her, and my anger sparks to life. I can’t help it. With her rage fueling my own, it’s out of my control. I know I should keep my mouth shut. I know if I say something right now, it will only make her madder, which in turn will flood over to me and make me madder. But, do I listen to myself? Hell no.

“Really, Ellis? Is that necessary?” I shut my own door, much calmer than she did, and follow her up the front steps.

“Fuck off, Malakai.” She throws me the bird over her shoulder, and shuts the front door in my face.

I stand there for a second with my mouth hanging open in disbelief. What the fuck? All rational thought evaporates, and I grind my teeth together as the rage steadily burns higher. The monster inside of me isn’t used to being treated like that, and he is not happy. I slowly blink and when I open my eyes, I know they’ve turned red.

I push through the door and my gaze lands on Ellis with one foot on the bottom step. “That was the wrong thing to do, little bird,” I growl low in my throat. “You pissed off the monster.”

She whirls around with her hand on her throat. Her eyes are wide, but I quickly realize it’s not with fear. She is furious. “You’re pissed off?” Her voice raises an octave, and her words tremble with barely restrained rage. “You have no right to be pissed off. So go fuck yourself, Malakai.”

I laugh darkly, unable to contain myself. Her words are true but she’s so angry and it’s feeding into my own anger, there is no way to stop this. The monster is out of his cage. There’s no putting him back now. I grab her wrist before she can take one more step and she freezes.

“Get. Off. Me,” she growls. “You fucking compelled me, asshole. You went against my wishes and made me do something I didn’t want to do! I can’t believe you did that!”

I tighten my fingers around her wrist and tug her closer so she’s pressed against my chest. “You refused to listen to me,” I growl back. “If you would have done what I asked, I wouldn’t have had to compel you. Maybe this will teach you a lesson to listen to me in the future.” As soon as the words are out, I wince inwardly. That was the wrong thing to say.

Ellis’s eyes narrow and it’s the only warning I have before she slams her head forward and smashes it into my mouth. My fang pierces my lower lip and pain explodes in my skull. “Fuck!” I yell, rearing back. My hand grips her wrist even tighter now, the monster not wanting to let her go after that. I lick the blood from my lip and watch as her eyes drop to my mouth. A new emotion bubbles in my gut as her eyes dilate and her chest rises sharply on an inhale.

“I hate you.” The venom in her words is tempered by the breathy quality of her voice and the way she pulls her lower lip between her teeth.

A slow grin spreads across my face, causing more blood to well. “Do you, now?” I sniff, making the movement more exaggerated than necessary, reminding her of the predator I am. I know she’s aroused right now. Even without the blown pupils and flushed cheeks, her scent would tell me the truth.

She bares her teeth, and if I weren’t so pissed and horny, I’d think it was adorable. “Bite me, Malakai.”

My fangs descend further and I grin. “With pleasure, little bird.”

She yanks her arm away, and I let her go. “Don’t even think about it.” She points a shaky finger at my chest, to my heart pumping at the same exact rapid rhythm as her own. “You’re a disgusting bastard. If you think you’re going to fuck me now, you are sorely mistaken.”

I step closer to her, my chest brushing against hers. Looking down at her, I grip her chin with my fingers and she gasps. “We’ll see about that.” I lean down and run my nose up the side of her neck, inhaling her scent that shoots desire straight to my cock. When I lift my head, her lips are parted and her eyes are fluttering. “Run, little bird.”

22. Sterling

Blood pools in my mouth as I bite my tongue so hard I’m pretty sure I bit all the way through it. But I refuse to make a sound. I won’t give Sam that satisfaction. My breath hisses from between my clenched teeth as fire spreads across my upper back. Not literal fire, but pretty damn close. The scent of burning skin fills my nose. A disgusting combination of something sweet and nauseating. My mouth waters as bile climbs up my throat.

After his first attempts of whipping me with some kind of ancient torture device failed, Sam has decided whipping me with a hot iron rod is the way to get information out of me instead. He should know better. I’d never give him anything to use against my mate. He can do whatever he wants to me, but I will never betray Ellis.

Sam grunts and his next hit lands along my left hip. The pain flares, but I suppress it. I can handle this. I’ve been through worse. Knowing my mate is out there and I haven’t been able to claim her, knowing I hurt her, it’s worse torture than anything Sam can do to me.

“I will get you to talk, shifter.” He’s breathing heavily. It must be hard work to torture someone. “Maybe this will do the trick.”

This time, Sam places the iron rod across my back and leaves it there. Burning—so hot it’s almost cold—sears through my skin. I grit my teeth until I’m scared they’ll crack and breathe through the excruciating pain. The tendons and muscles of my neck go taut. When Sam finally pulls the iron away, black edges my vision. I let my head drop, too exhausted to hold it up anymore.

Sam curses, and a needle is shoved into my neck. The prick of pain is nothing compared to what I just went through. Burning fills my veins as whatever was in the needle spreads through my body.

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