Page 109 of The Devil and His Goddess

LET ME IN, TOO.

The words played over and over in my head. She believed I had shut her out, but that was where she was mistaken. She’d been inside this entire time.

If I had a soul, she’d be carved into it, and I’d spend everyday memorizing those fine etchings. She was a part of me, wrapped up in my very making like two halves of the same whole, two pieces of a scattered puzzle, two wings of the same butterfly. She was my peace, my breath, my heart, and when asked what the point of life was, I’d forever point to her.

It was because I cared so deeply for her that I couldn’t push the matter of my own needs, not until I knew she was truly okay. If I had perished before then, so be it. I’d rather die than to cause her more suffering. Though, it didn’t seem that was likely anymore.

That blinding kiss had certainly been a sign that she was getting comfortable with me again, but I hadn’t pushed for more since then. I wanted to let her decide when she was ready for more in her own time, at her own pace.

While I waited, I kept myself busy by helping her with dance—putting on my artistic director hat when needed and my pas de deux partner hat when she asked it of me. When she went to sleep, I’d lie with her to ensure the nightmares didn’t return, and then I’d go pay a much needed visit to the one who’d caused all of her torment.

Which was exactly what I prepared to do now.

I started to pull my hand out of Harper’s when her fingers tightened around mine, and her eyes fluttered open. Even through the darkness of the room, I could see her clearly as she sleepily searched for me in the dark.

“Are you leaving again?” she murmured.

I squeezed her hand and rubbed the back of it with my thumb. “Unless you need me. He can wait, if so.”

She shifted on the bed, pulling the blanket closer to her face. After a pregnant pause, she softly asked, “Is today the day?”

Harper knew that I had Drake locked away somewhere, just as she knew my ultimate plan for him. She never asked for the details, just as she never brought the bastard up at all. Despite all the progress she’d made in her mental health, thinking too much or talking about that night or the man involved was something she didn’t do. When she tried opening up or when the memories swooped in at seemingly random moments, she’d take many steps back in her healing journey and have to make those strides all over again.

I studied her outline in the dark. I wasn’t sure what to do for her when it came to dealing with those memories and the man who saturated them.

“Do you want to come?” I asked, wondering if unleashing all of her anger and hurt on him in the act of revenge would help.

“No,” she quickly shot out. She shook her head and squeezed my hand tighter. “No, I never want to see that monster again.” Her eyes glistened with unshed tears while her voice cracked. She took a deep breath before whispering, “Can you promise me one thing, though?”

“Anything, Goddess.”

Through the dark night, her eyes, which glowed with fury, met mine. “Make it hurt. Make him rot. Make himbreak.”

I smiled. “I promise.”

MY FIST SMASHED INTO DRAKE’S face, hurtling him across the room. Spit and a tooth flew from his bloody mouth as he sagged in a crying heap on Dante’s cellar floor.

I shook out my fist, admiring the crimson painting the knuckles.

“Damn good hit, Pers,” Xander praised with a chuckle.

I smirked. “Thanks.”

Xander and Zagan leaned against the wall behind me. The three of us had been taking turns beating on the loser, and it was currently my round. Dante wasn’t here right now. The human woman he’d met had become his priority lately, which I was happy to see. The demon needed a human companion to soften some of his hard edges, and from what I’d seen, Serenity was just the human for the job. He was with her at the moment, but he assured us that we could go ahead without him. He’d fucked with Drake plenty during the human’s time at his home.

“Please!” Drake begged, sending more blood and spit rolling down his chin. He looked up at me through swollen black eyes. Snot dripped from his nose to his bruised lips. “Please let me go! Have mercy!”

“Let you go?” I snarled, coming to stand over top of him. “Let yougo? Did you letHarpergo? Did you showHarpermercy?”

At the mention of her name, Drake giggled. A wide grin stretched his cracked mouth, exposing the multiple missing teeth. “She liked it just as she loved me.”

“Fucking asshole,” Zagan seethed behind me while Xander snarled at the disgusting sentiment.

I gritted my teeth and stomped on Drake’s fingers, relishing in the crunch beneath my heel and the howl of pain he let out. Fury nearly made what little control I had snap. I needed to get this done before I lost my head entirely and killed the fucker myself.

Drake glared at me—as much as he could given how swollen his face was— and spat at my foot, which still pinned his broken hand in place. “You won’t get away with this! You’ll go to jail for doing this to me!”

“What a threat,” I laughed darkly and clapped my ringed hands. “Go on. Threaten me some more. Let’s hear it.”

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