Page 16 of Demonic Division

Cyprien lets out another animalistic growl, clenching his fist at his side when it looks like he wants nothing more than to slam it through the bars. “The bars.They won’t let me touch you. Not like I want to.”

He shakes his head, a smile tugging at his mouth despite his outburst just a second ago. “That’s okay. I thinkI like you better this way. My little bunny rabbit in her cage. This way I know where you are, what you’re doing…” His eyes glint with something akin to hunger. “Because now you’remine. My little human.Mybunny rabbit.” He reaches through the bars, brushing my bottom lip roughly with the pad of his thumb. “You like the sound of that, don’t you? When he lets you out of your cage, you’ll be so grateful, you’ll?—”

“Shut the fuck up, Cotton Tail.”

I jump, all thoughts of Cyprien’s plans fading as my eyes search the dark for the origin of the unfamiliar voice. It’s deep—raw and cracking in a way that makes me think he hasn’t used it in years. But above all else, it’s… sexy. Even with the malice dripping from his words, I can’t help but love the way it cuts me like a knife. It’s wrong, and dark, and downright sinful, but it’s everything I never knew I craved and more.

“Cyprien, who was that?”

Before he can answer, that jagged voice fills the dungeon once more. “You shouldn’t ask questions you’re not prepared for,little bunny.”

The way he spits Cyprien’s nickname for me sends a chill down my spine, and I take an unwitting step back from the bars. “I’m not a fuckingbunny.I’m a human being, and I don’t appreciate being referred to as anythingbut.” I draw my shoulders back despite the shake in my voice, hoping it’s not as obvious as it seems.

"Oooh." The sound slinks into the air with fiendish delight as a single red eye blinks through the shadows of the darkened cell. "Did the sweet little bunny just roar like a lion?"

My spine stiffens as Cyprien’s vicious snarl pierces the air.

“And just what is that supposed to mean?” he demands, turning his glare onto the prisoner.

Instead of responding to Cyprien, the red-eyed demon shuffles closer to the bars, just out of reach of the light. And though I can’t see his face, something tells me he’s smiling at me.

“It seems we’ll have plenty of time to get acquainted. I’m sure I’ll be able to come up with something more appropriate thanbunny.” There’s a scuffle, then a sound like claws scraping stone. I’m about to ask what it was when that voice interrupts. “I think I’m actually looking forward to it.”

I wait for him to say more but am met with stifling silence. I look toward Cyprien, hoping to find one of his signature grins, but that’s not the case. His face is pale, eyes darting about the room like he’s waiting for a monster to spring from the shadows. And when I open my mouth to ask what his problem is, he just shakes his head.

“I need to go. I need to talk to Kaebl…” He turns on his heel, stopping halfway to the doorway to look back at me. “You should keep to yourself down here. Real monsters lurk in the shadows.”

And with that, he’s gone. Leaving me with what is definitely a dangerous, psychotic, antagonistic demon.

8

Cyprien

“I want her out of there,”I growl. I pace the stone floors of the throne room, my claws digging into the fragile skin on my palms, staining the cool gray with dark red liquid. The image of M leering at her through the dark replays in my mind, heating my blood and causing the beast within me to rise.She’smine. Not his—mine.

“Her body is fragile—she won’t survive much longer down there. She almost died twice on the trip here, for God’s sake!”

Perhaps that would have been better,Kaebl says.It would have solved this problem.

Rage ignites in my veins, and I lunge toward the golden-eyed demon. Lir tackles me midair, intercepting my attack and sending us both to the stone ground.

Kaebl stares down his nose at my snarling face, absent of emotion.If she’s caused you to unravel this drastically already, there’s no way I’m letting her out. The risk of the bond strengthening and affecting the other pieces is too high.

“She’s going todie! That’s worth any risk!”

Kaebl’s eyes flicker with shadows as he grips the armsof the throne, his pointed claws chipping off pieces of stone with each nervous twitch. He’s affected by the thought of her demise, too—I know it in my bones—but he’ll die before he admits it.

She stays there, his voice growls in my head.Her being in the dungeon is the logical solution.

“I don’t care about fucking logic!” I snap. “I’m going fucking crazy, knowing that she’s down there, in the cold and dark. In pain.”

It’s merely the byproduct of the bond,he deadpans.One you need to do a better job of overcoming. Your thoughts concerning the human are quickly becoming intolerable.

“Yeah? You try being bonded to her. See how well you fare.” I give Kaebl a relaxed smile, though my tone betrays the facade. “See how well you resist thinking about her. Wanting her. Needing?—”

I would not have—nor would I ever—allow myself to be bonded to someone soweak.Kaebl stands from the throne, his chest heaving.Youwillresist, and youwillstay away from her. I do not want the bond strengthening more than it has already,he growls.

Kaebl’s sigh fills the room, followed by the soft brush of his familiar slithering across the stone floor. It weaves between my legs, wrapping its tail around my ankle and squeezing, causing a cold shiver to run the length of my spine.

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