Page 53 of Facet

“Why didn’t I know she was pregnant?” Séamus stared at her like she had lost her mind.

“Because I’ve been watching and waiting. The second she knew—I knew. The witch I’ve been working with wanted Maribelle dead so she could take over. It was a win-win situation, because she couldn’t do it without breaking the sacred oath of the White Witch Coven. Once I killed Maribelle, the witch would give me everything I needed to kill the demon I hated for than anything. All I had to do was keep that little witchy whore locked up until she was ready to have your bastard child—and then I killed her when I cut him from her body.”

The ache in my chest for a mother I never knew was nearly debilitating. My disgust for the woman before me knew no bounds. The keening of grief that escaped Séamus was the final straw and my heart cracked.

“So that’s it? You’re just going to kill us all? For revenge?” I asked her with a curl of my lip.

“Oh, I’m not going to killyou. At least not right away. After I use you to kill Séamus, I plan to keep you around for a while. As the son of a demon and an extremely powerful witch, you will give me immense power when I fuck you,” she purred as she ran her lascivious gaze over me. “I figure it’s payment for having to raise you and pretend to be your mother. Then, when I’m done with you, I will eat your heart, just like I will your pretty little mate, and your father’s.”

Nausea and fury roiled in my stomach at the thought, and I shot a glance toward my father to see if he had any ideas. He stood glaring, with his hand braced on the barrier, but he seemed as confused as I was.

“How will you use me to kill Séamus? If you can’t do it alone, surely I can’t. Unless, because I’m a demon, I’m strong enough if you forced me?” I still didn’t see how she could make me do something I didn’t want to do.

“Oh, sweetheart, you aren’t an actual demon. You’re the by-blow of a demon and a witch—a demi-demon at best. You have a lesser degree of Séamus’s powers, but that’s not what I desire from you for this,” she said with a sneer.

I wanted to lash out and rip her head off. But before I could do anything, I had an insane and unstoppable desire to go to her—to be close to her.

“That’s right, Damien. Come to me. Only you can give me what I need, my precious boy,” she crooned in a sultry tone that shouldn’t be used by a woman who raised me.

“Damien! Don’t listen to her!” Séamus shouted as he beat helplessly on the wall that divided us. Every direction he went, he hit the same thing, until we both realized she hadn’t just put up a wall, she had boxed him in. The rage in his eyes was enough to make a lesser man piss himself as he continued to try to break free.

I heard his insistent cries, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself. No matter how strong I thought my mind was, I found my body wanting to do as she hinted. Step by painful step, I grew closer. Where the glass-like divide was before, I was able to pass through without pause.

When I stopped in front of her, her malicious grin bloomed. Using a single fingernail, she traced my lower lip, then down my neck, and to my chest. “You were always too pretty for your own good. You have no idea how many times I had to hold myself back from taking you. I couldn’t reveal my end game. Personally, I think I exercised award-winning patience. Now that you know the truth, there’s nothing stopping me from tasting a little of you before we finish what I set out to do.”

“No,” I ground out as I shook my head. “I don’t understand how you can do this. You raised me my whole life.” It wasn’t a lie. I truly didn’t understand how someone could do that. Regardless of the quality with which she raised me, she still raised me as herchild.

“Yes, I did, but only because I had that light at the end of a very dark tunnel in sight. When you have a goal, it’s amazing how patient one can be. Besides, twenty-eight years was a drop in the bucket for me. Demon, remember?” she sarcastically explained. Despite my anger, a part of me was deeply hurt to hear that from her. Foolishly, I hoped that she cared a little bit.

“Then what purpose could I possible serve? You obviously have Séamus powerless and contained. Why do you need me?” As I continued my best to delay her, I tried to draw from the darkness coiling through me. No matter how hard I tried, it remained elusive.

“My sweet, sweet, Damien. I don’t ask for much from you. Just a little taste of your blood. Now come to me,” she breathed. Black bled out of her pupils until the entirety of her eyes were dark as midnight. The wind picked up and her dark hair blew around her like a nest of snakes ready to strike.

“No,” I firmly stated as my flesh sparked painfully. It was like a thousand volts of electricity were being shot through every inch of me.

She moved closer and wrapped her hand around my throat.

“Such commendable willpower you have. Too bad it’s not enough,” she finished in a seductive whisper against my lips. “Take off your shirt.”

Unable to stop myself through the increasing agony, I did as she told me.

“Now move back until I tell you to stop,” she instructed with a shooing motion.

“You fucking bitch! Leave him the fuck alone!” Séamus yelled as he beat on the invisible prison. “I’m going to kill you!”

“He wishes,” she murmured as I walked backward, and she closed in on me. Through it all, Séamus was roaring his threats at her.

My back painfully hit the bark of a tree.

“Stop. Arms up,” she instructed in a sing-song voice, and I immediately did as she said. Using barbwire, she repeatedly wrapped it around the tree and my up-stretched arms. The pain of the spikes as they tore my flesh wasn’t enough to clear the haze in my head.

Once she had me secured, she pressed her lips to my chest. I wanted to yell at her, but lust washed through me at her touch. She hummed as she stepped back and licked her lips.

“Mmm, look at all of this.” Her long nail trailed down my chest to my abs and her heated breath feathered over my neck. “Shall I play before we get down to business? I was such a good girl for so long and it would be a waste to not be able to finally enjoy you.”

My chest heaved to bring oxygen in, and need, unlike anything I’d experienced before, burned through me. As she ran her splayed hand over my abdomen and teased the waistband of my jeans, I hardened in anticipation.

A knowing smirk twisted her lips, and she unfastened the button to slip her hand in them. When she curled it around my length, I was so desperate, I almost came.

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