Page 6 of Cruel Devotion

“Please. Humans go in but can’t come out.” While that’s probably because the monsters don’t leave their victims alive, it could also be that the barrier keeps us out. The monster chuckled. Actually chuckled.

“Nothing about this situation is funny,” I spat.

Still, he ignored me. My surroundings blurred as we slammed into and pushed through an invisible wall. Nausea hit me but he kept on like it was nothing.

“The boy, did you kill the little boy? He was in the room next to mine,” I whispered. The wind tossed my hair, but I knew he heard me with his wolfish ears.

“Please,” I begged. The monster chuffed.

“As long as they stay out of my way, I don’t kill children.” I didn’t care if he was offended. He killed my family.

“And did he?” I held my breath as I waited for his answer. When he nodded, I felt it against my side. His large furry head bobbed once. A sob of relief wracked my body and I choked ontears as the weight pushing down on my chest lifted. When I saw what he’d done to my parents, I was sure there was no way he could have survived.

Archie was alive.

“I can’t leave him there alone. If yo—”

“Is this the part where you beg me to free you?” the monster growled. His question was almost human. Up to this point he’d given short answers that seemed to be broken and strung together.

Of course I want to get away from you.

“No. I just want to make sure he’s okay. If you could just let m—” He snarled at my words.

“I’m no fool. We aren’t turning around.”

I should be afraid of scaring the monster who could tear me to shreds. But now that I knew Archie was alive, all I felt was anger. Our parents were dead and I was abandoning him. He wouldn’t understand that I was kidnapped. He’d wake up and find what no child should see. Tears filled my eyes as I thought of him calling out for me. He’d be traumatized and alone. And I would become another person in his life who didn’t take care of him.

“Let me go. My fiance has connections to the other side. Once he finds out what happened, everyone will know it was the paranormal realm. He’ll come for me. He’ll make you pay,” I threatened. I was lying through my teeth but if Cohen’s family had connections to his realm, maybe this would scare him.

“No.” One word was all I got. He feared nothing. As the monster threw his head back and laughed, I couldn’t stand it.

I need to get the hell away from him.

He has to have a weak spot.

And I am going to find it.

I scratched, tore, and ripped hair. Digging my nails into his neck, I finally got a reaction out of him. He cried out. His holdloosened, and I rolled off him, throwing myself to the ground. I hit it running and didn’t bother glancing back at him. He’d come after me. I didn’t make it five feet before a flash of black fur materialized in front of me. Slamming into his abdomen face first, he caught me as I stumbled back. I trembled in his grasp as he leaned down. His blood soaked fur was matted and stiff, dark in patches where it had dried. The coppery scent hit my nose as I stared into the face of a monster.

“You’re lucky I’ve fed, or I would have hunted you.”

The warning was clear and I shivered. I’d seen what he was capable of. That one word is popular in the book community. But it was actually fucking scary knowing my life was on the line.

I don’t want to be hunted by him.

“I can’t leave him. You don’t understand. He’s my baby brother,” I begged.

Something like understanding flashed in his eyes.

“Legends and stories originate from truth. Only pure virgins were sent to the forest. And I’m no virgin.”

My body flew back as I was thrown to the ground. I cried out as he flipped me around, face down in the grass. A monstrous paw pinned me down by the neck. My flailing confined by his large, heavy body as it pressed down on me.

“What did you say?” His jaws snapped by my ear. I was scared out of my mind. One bite and I’d die.

“I’m not a virgin.”

He threw his head back and howled. The trees shook as birds scattered. Monster or man, they were all the same—dramatic when it came to women not being pure. Entitlement didn’t discriminate between species. It was one of life’s greatest disappointments.

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