Page 24 of Villainous Greed

I hated that I didn’t know what he meant, and my cheeks burned. Nothing about those words sounded nice. I stopped assuming August was cruel because he had never been punishing to me.

“I don’t care if you help us after you take off the bands,” I lied, thrusting out my arms. “But at least do what you said.”

“No.”

“No?” I echoed. That… Couldn’t be happening. August’s face had been so clear the day before, so earnest in the depth of his black orbs. As I stared at him then, I noticed his mouth appeared crooked, warped, and shadowy.I blinked and rubbed my face. August was still there. Not a monster, but that’s what he felt like. Did he really play such a wicked game with me? Dangle hope, then snatch it away?

“Nice knowing ya.” August tossed his hand up and turned.

Really? That couldn’t be the last thing he said to me.

The kids were waiting. We couldn’t go back to the camp.Deathawaited us.

“Please,please,” I begged him. “If you don’t free me, I don’t know what awaits us. We might die.”

He glanced over his shoulder and quirked a brow. “And?”

My shoulders drooped, and it was like a bubble popped inside my head.How could he fool me so easily?I gripped my chest. Hades, no amount of pain could ever prepare me for August’s indifference. It hurt more than my bruised eye. More than anything I’d experienced. Stumbling back, August disappeared. My lungs closed as if it refused to accept my next breath. No… What? He wouldn’t—but why?

Jerking around, I started running back. Everything blurred. I wiped the tears away, but they kept returning. We had to get back before Derrick realized we were gone. I screamed when someone snatched me by the hair and pulled me to their chest. “Ah, now that you said your farewell, I think it’s time for you to come with me.”

Tilting my head, I glimpsed over my shoulder. The first thing I saw was the flames on the pale man’s head. His terrifying face loomed over me. “Let go of me!” I kicked and thrashed.

That made him laugh. “So, I guess you know why I’m here.”

I stopped and acknowledged his words. Was he Harvest? He must be. Why else would he grab me?

“Why are you here?” I asked.

“Nova!” Odin yelled.

My heart lurched as I stared ahead. Odin bit his captor’s arm, and the captor backhanded him. The others were in the same shape, kicking and thrashing in a demon’s arms. I didn’t recognize the species. They looked so… dead. Stitched and woven in such a way that had chills running up my arms. One had tentacles sown on his shoulders while the one holding Sofia seemed stuck between werewolf and man. One side of him was wolfish, the other was human.

“Let them go!” I lunged for them, but Harvest petted my hair and held me in place.

“Let’s go find Derrick, shall we?” was all he said before pushing me to walk.

____

“See what happens when you try to hide something from me?” Harvest scowled at Derrick, who was on his knees before the entity. Derrick’s lips bled, and his left eye swelled shut.In any other situation, I would have reveled in Derrick’s torture, but the immortal between us might be a scarier monster than him. Harvest could subdue and punish Derrick. Harvest must have known Derrick planned to pretend someone else was me. “I would have let you keep her until I needed her.”

My chest hurt with how hard my heart continued to thump rapidly. What did Harvest need me for? Derrick said Harvest wanted to start an apocalypse, but what did that have to do with me?

As soon as I locked eyes with Derrick, he lowered his head and said, “You wanted her dead. I couldn’t let that happen.”

Sofia’s whimpering filled the room. She and the boys stood crowded in a corner of Derrick’s cottage, flanked by two of Harvest’s demons. Derrick’s demons were dead. They had scattered the corpses of the demons around the camp.

The flames on Harvest’s head flickered as he ran his fingers through it. “You’re lucky I’m in a good mood now that I have the missing puzzle piece.”

Panic set in my bones when he turned to me.

“Let the kids go. I’ll do whatever you want.” It was the truth. I’d do anything to protect them.

“It seems you believe you have a choice. You don’t. You’ll do what I want, whether or not I kill them.” Harvest stepped forward and grabbed my chin. “Did Derrick tell you what you are?”

“Some sort of key,” I mumbled, glancing behind Harvest briefly. The demons guarding the kids weren’t paying attention, too busy watching Harvest. Odin said something to others, then pointed. Acid filled my stomach.Please don’t run. Harvest and I blocked the only door.

“Yes, you’re the key to the Armageddon.” When I said nothing, Harvest grunted. “Would you mind opening the door for me? It is necessary for me to secure what rightfully belongs to me by walking through first.” My body jerked in response to his hand encircling my neck. The other grabbed my hand.

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