Page 20 of Bound By Darkness

“I would have every right to hate her! She’s a fucking demon! A manipulative, powerful demon who’s probably been draining every one of us this whole time! Fucking fuck, Dragan! I shouldn’t have to explain that to you, of all fucking people!” I inhale deeply and notice he hasn’t responded. “How could you possibly still trust her after learning she’s fuckingSuccubus?”

“I don’t trust her,” he tells me. His voice is low, a growl. I know I’m entering dangerous territory, but I can’t stop myself. Fury is consuming me.

“Don’t fucking lie to me, you piece of shit.”

“I’m not lying to you.” He takes a breath as his hands fist and his jaw grows even tighter. “I don’t trust her.”

“But you’re fighting it,” I insist while I study him. “You’re still as attached to her as the day you came to me in Geldingstock, asking for my help to get her off theAtacomite.”

“We’re all fighting it. You just won’t fucking admit it,” he rails back at me.

“You led me down this fucking path once before and I won’t go down it again,” I spit at him. “I won’t risk my life a second time to watch you fuck it all up for some… for some… demon whore!”

“I won’t make the same mistake again!” Dragan yells back at me. “And you’re forgetting that even if Eilish is part Succubus, she’s also still part angel!” I glare at him, but when he speaks again, his voice is softer. “I know it’s my fault we lost the war, Cambion. I know that. I was charmed by one of those…things.Lamia took over my mind and I didn’t even know it was happening. But I promise you, I’m stronger now. I won’t make the same mistake twice.”

“You already have.”

“How?” he demands.

I roll my eyes. “Because you’re fucking in love with her, you stupid asshole!”

“Bullshit.” He shakes his head resolutely and his eyes burn. “That’s fucking bullshit!”

“Tell me you wouldn’t cave to her will in an instant if given the chance,” I press before I start shaking my head. “You’d cave, just like you did with Lamia. And no one would be able to blame you, because that’s what they do—they charm you, and then they manipulate you. You’ve already been compromised. I trust you as little as I do her.”

“It’s not like that this time,” he growls.

“And I’m supposed to believe you? After what you did when Lamia was manipulating you?”

“Then don’t fucking believe me, I don’t care.” He takes a breath. “Regardless, what do we do now?”

“I want the Succubus gone.”

“Gone? What the fuck do you mean?” he asks with the expression of a bad taste in his mouth.

“Gone as in we leave her somewhere.”

“Where?”

I throw up my hands in anger. “Leave her in the forest to die, for fuck’s sake! I don’t fucking care! The sooner we get rid of her, the better as far as I’m concerned.”

“She won’t be safe on her own.”

“And we care why?” I demand.

“Because she’s still angel which means Variant will still be after her.”

“Unless she’s been working for Variant all along and we were just too fucking stupid to realize it until now.”

“I don’t believe that.”

“But you also can’t deny it with any certainty. The point is, we don’t know what we’re fucking dealing with.”

“I can’t argue that, but I also can’t agree to leaving Eilish to her doom.”

He forgets I was there, all those years ago. Our attack plan was ready; we’d united our allies against the false king. We were prepared. And then Lamia, queen of the Succubae, entered the scene. She convinced Dragan she wanted to fight with us, she and her daughters. Not long after, she seduced Dragan, manipulated him into believing that he, alone, could defeat Variant. And he turned his back on our plan and on us.

He turned his back on me.

---