Page 46 of Unholy Fate

Ian tapped his temple. “Dreamwalking. My body might be locked away, but my mind and spirit are free to reach you.”

A strange, unfamiliar warmth bloomed in my chest, a sudden, intense heat that faded as quickly as it appeared. “You... came to see me?”

He tilted his head, studying my reaction closely. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I? You’re important to me, Evelyn.”

My heart leaped at his admission, a nervous flutter that made me hastily look away. Why did I care? He was ademon.

Ian’s gaze sharpened. “But you’re keeping something from me.”

“What are you talking about? I’m not keeping anything from you.”

His lips curved, but with a dangerous edge. “Don’t lie to me, Evelyn. There’s something buried in that pretty head of yours, and it’s been nagging at me since we first met.”

I shook my head vehemently, strands of my hair escaping the neat bun at the nape of my neck. “I’m not lying. Honestly, I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

What could this demon possibly think I was hiding? I had nothing to hide... did I?

The unearthly light in Ian’s brown eyes blazed. His corded neck muscles strained, the veins bulging like angry snakes beneath his skin. Ian’s patience appeared to reach its breaking point.

His chest heaved with a guttural growl. “Enough!” he roared, raw with barely contained fury. “Let’s find out for ourselves, shall we?”

Before I could protest, his hand shot out, icy tendrils of dark energy snaking into my mind, the impact a searing physical blow that left my head ringing. Clutching my head, my fingernails digging into my skin, fragmented memories, long-forgotten and deeply buried, flooded back in a jumbled, confusing torrent.

Recollections of my Uncle James Neff. His leering face as he’d corner me in empty rooms or darkened areas where nobody could hear my cries. His ragged breath, thick with the cloying stench of liquor, caressed my tear-streaked cheek then clenched my hair as his callused fingers shoved into my underwear, into me. My younger self, paralyzed with betrayal and terror, could only gasp out pleas for him to stop.

The onslaught left me gasping for air, my face burning like fire, hot tears streaming down, blurring my vision and choking me with grief.

“No,” I said brokenly. “No, no, no...”`

My knees buckled, and I collapsed to the floor, a shudder wracking my body as the horrific memories played out in vivid detail, each one a fresh, searing wound on my soul. The pain was a visceral all-consuming agony, as if it were unfolding right now, not a vision from my childhood.

A burning fury, hot and sharp like shards of glass, erupted at my uncle’s violation of my innocence, while a deeper, bitter resentment, cold and heavy like a stone in my gut, festered toward my parents for their inaction, their failure to protect me.

“They were always wonderful parents, before this,” I sobbed, my whole body shaking with the injustice of it all. “I begged them to listen, but they were so focused on appearances they refused to believe me. They didn’t stop him, he came to the house again and again. He got away with it because they protectedhim, notme!”

Ian’s handsome face darkened with rage, his fists clenching at his sides until his knuckles whitened. “Where is he now?” he asked in a guttural rumble.

I looked up at him through the blur of tears, my gut twisting with suspicion even through the maelstrom of emotions. “Why? What are you going to do? Kill him?”

The demon didn’t hesitate. “Of course. What else would you expect me to do? Hug him?”

My own anger flared white-hot, meeting his on even ground. “You basically raped me, so how is it any different?”

Ian growled, a deep, resonant snarl. “The difference is that you belong to me. And he touched what’s mine.”

Something inside me snapped at his arrogant claim of ownership, the same as Levi’s. I rose unsteadily to my feet, my hands curling into trembling fists at my sides.

“You arrogant, self-righteous bastard,” I screamed, my voice raw and hoarse.

Forgetting that this was all just a horrific dream, I lunged at Ian. With a wild, frantic energy, I hammered my fists against his unyielding chest, the raw power of my fury unleashed in a brutal, desperate assault, each punch a tremor of rage.

The only sounds were the dull thud of my fists against his flesh and my ragged breathing as he stood impassively, his body unmoving, absorbing my blows like a solid wall.

My wild gaze landed on a massive wooden cross adorning the office wall, a sick mockery of sanctuary. Without thinking, I ripped it down and swung it at Ian with every ounce of my strength.

With a sickening crack, the heavy, ornate cross smashed into his flawless body, showering him with splinters. I couldn’t stop, driven on by rage. I snatched the biggest piece, its rough surfacescraping my palm, and let out a bloodcurdling scream, burying the jagged end in Ian’s chest.

He staggered back, his brown eyes wide with shock as the crimson blood blossomed across his shirt, a sticky, wet stain spreading from the grisly wound. For a shocked second, he simply stared at me in stunned disbelief.

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