Page 78 of The Devil and His Goddess

There was no way I was bringing the fucking prick back to my house. He’d never exist in the same space as Harper again. Xander lived in a penthouse of a highrise, so there was nowhere to hide someone. Zagan’s place was secluded, but Iyla lived there, too. I didn’t want to bring a rapist around her. Dante’s large home with its basement was the only option in my hate-clouded mind.

“What’s going on, man?” Dante looked sideways at the human I’d brought with me before meeting my stare again. “Who is that, and why’d you bring him here?”

My jaw worked as I tried to find the words. Xander’s hand squeezed my shoulder like he was trying to imbue me with the strength to speak.

Zagan’s narrowed gaze locked on the unconscious human. “He smells.”

My lips peeled back in a sneer, knowing Zagan wasn’t talking about his physical smell, but the one that only Incubi could pick up on.

“He raped Harper,” I snarled through clenched teeth.

Xander reared back in shock. Dante and Zagan’s faces contorted with anger as their eyes lost their human color to morph into the same black voids broken up by a red slit. Both horned heads snapped in Drake’s direction. The air around us thickened with acrimony, though it was no longer solely my own.

Sex was a big deal for Incubi like me, Dante, and Zagan. It wasn’t just our food source but also an act we took pride in. Sex was meant to be pleasurable, beautiful, and empowering. For our kind, people who twisted it into sick, disgusting acts were the most loathed of all humans. To us, there was no greater atrocity than rape—the denial of someone’s choice, the forcing of your pleasure on someone who didn’t want it.

“You gonna kill him?” Zagan hissed, baring his now fanged canines.

“Death isn’t good enough,” I growled as my own black-and-red eyes found the good-for-nothing on the floor. “Death is too easy of a punishment for him.”

“We can make him a soul slave like Leo,” Dante mused darkly, referring to our manager.

The man served all of us due to his raping women in life. He was unable to get any sexual satisfaction for the rest of his never-ending existence. We also purposely put him through Hell to make him extra miserable. It was what he deserved.

But that wasn’t good enough, either.

Not for the man who’d violated my human.

“No. I have a better idea,” Xander stated calmly.

His pale face was perfectly neutral as he walked over to the human, who was starting to stir. Xander’s eyes glowed as they turned gold, and his tall horns sprouted from his black hair.

The mistake of a human blearily looked up at Xander, who immediately kicked him in the face. Blood spurted from Drake’s nose, which crunched under Xander’s foot. The human flopped onto his back, growing still once more.

“What a little bitch,” Xander chuckled above the piece of shit. He cocked his head and continued, “The demon’s on a job for the big man right now, but that’s fine. That’ll give us time to play with this fucker in the meantime.”

For the first time tonight, eager satisfaction warmed my furious blood. Dark chuckles from Dante and Zagan filled the room as they also caught onto what Xander was saying.

The Mischief demon, truly one for creating terror, looked up from the unconscious body at his feet to smile wickedly at us. “We’ll give him to Coldin.”

Chapter 29

Harper

I SLOWLY PEELED MY EYES open. It was the only part of my body that I could move as I lay on my side. The white comforter should’ve been warm, but all I felt deep into my bones wascold. Iced over from the inside out with brittle pain.

My eyes burned from all the crying I’d done, but I forced them to stay open as I caught sight of the figure beside me. Perseus sat in a chair right by the bed. Long golden hair haloed his head and stood out starkly against the black shirt and sweats he wore. His elbows were braced on his knees, and his head rested in his ring-free hands. He didn’t even seem to be breathing, just as frozen on the outside as I was on the inside.

Something was gripped tightly in my hand, and I barely managed to lift my hand enough to see the pink leotard in my grasp. My gift. My lifeline.

Perseus immediately dropped his hands and looked up at the sound of me moving. His handsome face was completely blank, revealing nothing of what was happening inside of his head as he scooted to the edge of his chair and fixed his rapt attention on me.

My mouth dried, and I had to swallow multiple times before I could whisper, “Please tell me it was all a nightmare.”

His calm mask fell, unable to disguise the pain any longer.

I didn’t need to see his crestfallen expression to know the truth. The raw ache between my legs, the dull pain of bruises on my thighs, and the hollow misery claiming my heart were enough to know.

I squeezed my eyes shut as tears rolled down my face, and anguish filled my insides. My body curled in on itself. Despite my efforts to keep them back, the memories of that moment played on repeat in my head.

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