Page 108 of Perilous

I sigh again.

Just thinking about me being passed out and Peri touching me…

God, that’s so hot.

His hand finds comfort at my throat. He presses. Grips. But not too hard.

“I’m not going to ask you if you’re okay, Annika. You have to be okay. There’s no other choice. This is now your life. From here on out.”

“I understand,” I say.

“You know what happens next. It won’t be the same though. It’s a little bit more complex than slitting that worthless cunt’s throat. But it has to happen.”

I want to sayI know… but the words can’t escape my throat.

I really do understand what has to happen and why. Even still, I need a moment to process the reality of it.

The man I love is going to kill my father.

ChapterThirty-Three

PERILOUS

The official meetingof Annika and Serafina happens. Definitely not something I really had planned on having happen, but it was time.

Annika is mine. My claimed. My forever.

The same for Serafina to Tyrant.

Serafina also understands this dark world of ours a little better.

And quite honestly, Annika is in need of a new best friend. One who won’t stab her in the back the way Molly did. Believe me, I wish I could resurrect Molly from the dead just to kill her again. And keep doing it over and over, so she knew what would happen each time. That should be her eternal punishment if any of that heaven and hell shit is real.

“They seem to be getting along,” Tyrant says to me. “You know I’ll protect them with my life. I hope you didn’t just want me to bring Serafina here knowing I’d die for her which means your girl would be safe.”

“With your life,” I say to Tyrant, bypassing his comments.

We exchange a quick hug and I exit the apartment where Demonic is waiting, tree trunk arms folded. He nods. I nod.

Outside the building, Vicious and I meet up and we travel together in complete silence.

The deeper we get into the back part ofSinners Academythe more macabre it looks. For some reason I never really have taken in the sights of this place like I am now. The cathedrals and their haunted looking arches and points. Old black stone scarred with moss and vines. Trees that are a thick forest that could definitely play into the notion that something is wrong with this place.

Which there is.

This is where the most powerful meet and decide fate. Where money is not the essential factor but to exist you must possess it. A very complicated place.

And I have to go alone. Vicious knows this. He doesn’t protest when I start to walk by myself.

All that matters is the safety of Annika. She’s my claimed and my promise to her is to protect her using my life. If I can’t keep her safe, then I die. It’s that simple.

As for right now, I have to meet with Luc and tell him everything that’s been going on. And I have to hope he believes me.

And I have to hope I walk out of here alive.

* * *

I tellmyself not to take a deep breath but it’s hard to fight off instinct. I gasp for a breath and the black cloth over my face sucks into my mouth. I thrash my head and growl, knowing if I don’t settle myself, I’m going to suffocate.

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