Page 49 of Sin and Salvation

“Next time we tell you to take cover, just do it, for the Devil’s sake,” he whispered. “The rest of us know how to handle this, but I don’t think I could stand losing you, Venus.”

The fact that he’d used my given name instead of calling me ‘sugar’ made it clear how serious he was. I was so used to Aeron’s joking that I almost didn’t know what to do.

“I’ll take cover, but I’ll be damned if I hide.” I looked up at him and saw a faint scratch across his cheek. “They were here for me, Aeron. No one else. And if any of our people died…”

“No one died.” His face split into a sudden smile, all traces of his determination from ten seconds ago vanishing. “But I see you’re now referring to the Black Hearts asyourpeople, too. I was wondering if you’d hold yourself apart from us forever.”

“I can’t—” I started to say, and cut myself off. Now that I’d been mated by an Alpha demon, I wasn’t going anywhere.

All thoughts of leaving Concordia were now off-limits. Even if I did leave, Crow would hunt me to the ends of the earth to get me back.

Now my goal could not be to escape. It would have to be utterly wiping Maxime from the face of the earth, and ensuring that I could remain here without bringing destruction down on my mate’s club.

But Aeron buried his face in my hair, taking a deep breath. “Oh, I know you can’t, sugar,” he said in my ear. “But now that you’re mated to Crow, we’re all your people now. And thanks to you, not a single one of our people will die. You sucked their power out and snuffed their lives, but you did it for your own.”

“I’ve never killed anyone before,” I said in a small voice. “I… I don’t know how to feel.”

The full enormity of it was beginning to dawn on me. I shook even harder, but it was no longer just adrenaline.

Twenty demons dead by my hand, within thirty seconds.

I was a murderer now.

“Come on, sugar. You killed about ten. The rest were already bleeding out and nothing was going to save them.” He gripped my chin, forcing me to look up at him. Once again, the joking light was gone from his eyes. “Sometimes, you have to make hard choices. No one in Concordia will ever say otherwise.”

I was about to respond, but Crow’s voice carried through the quiet club as clear as a bell. Aeron and I both looked toward the door, where Brody held Rastus, still unconscious, over his shoulder.

“Bring him down.” Crow looked at my brother with a terrifying mix of contempt and hatred. “It’s time for questioning.”

ChapterTwenty-Four

Brody carried Rastus like he weighed no more than a doll, stomping slowly towards the back exit of the club. I tried to push past Aeron to follow him, but the hellhound held me in place.

“Sugar. You’re not going to want to see this.” An unreadable expression was in his green eyes. “That’s your brother going down there, and this won’t be pretty.”

“That’s exactly why I should be allowed to see this,” I grumbled, still trying to extricate myself, but even at normal levels of power, he’d be much stronger than me.

Now that I’d super-charged him, it was completely impossible to break his grasp.

“I’m telling you—”

Crow walked past, giving orders to the other MC members. “Take them outside the city and dispose of them.” He gestured to the shriveled corpses on the floor. “Far outside the city. We don’t need Maxime getting wind of this or using it against us.”

“Crow!”

He turned to look at me, dark eyes still sparking with fire. “You’re not coming down, Venus.”

I struggled harder in Aeron’s grip. “Yes, I am.” I raised my chin. “Do you really think I can’t handle this? He sold me to Maxime. I have a right to know what he’s planning if it involves me, and obviously—” I let my tone drip sarcasm, tilting my head pointedly towards the nearest corpse. “—it does.”

Crow gazed at me for a long moment. “Fine.”

“Fine?” Aeron raised an eyebrow. “Prez… not a good idea.”

But Crow shook his head, reaching out for me. “She can come and watch. She’s one of us now.”

Zane fell in on my other side as Crow wrapped an arm around my waist, and the four of us followed Brody out into the hallway.

We took the elevator, but instead of going up this time, Crow hit the button for the basement. My heart squeezed in my chest, but I forced the emotion away.

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