Page 7 of Hellfire to Come
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to split up,” Echo murmured, barely audible, like that would somehow stop us from hearing her.
“I don’t need an escort, Echo.” Brooklyn’s voice was so tired that it cleaved through me like a blade. “I won’t do anything impulsive to jeopardize Alice’s life.”
A week ago, I would’ve called that madness. Brooklyn, not acting on impulse.
But now? Now I believed her.
There was something behind her eyes, quiet and sharp and terrifying. It should have scared me. Hell, it should have scared all of us.
But I trusted it to protect her. Trusted her to take calculated risks.
Brooklyn’s fury was a wildfire; Consuming, blood-chilling…but this?
This was something else.
Something colder.
Something that didn’t burn…
It froze.
My thoughts churned, and I nearly flinched as a shiver crept down my spine. We’d already reached the garage, rows of Samir’s vehicles resting in stillness beneath their pristine covers. The air inside pressed in, heavy and expectant.
The silence noticed me. And I, foolishly, noticed it back.
The air thickened more, breathless, until ghostly fingers traced the nape of my neck. My body tensed, instinct coiling tight, every nerve whispering run.
I turned, slowly, unwilling to shatter the moment and found her eyes waiting.
Brooklyn watched me, her focus so absolute it stripped everything away. It was just the two of us.
Her gaze pinned me in place, sharp and intimate, and for the first time in a long while, something primal within me stirred—fear, ancient and bone-deep, whispering that I wouldn’t survive this.
She arched a brow, her lips curling into a half-smile that had broken lesser men.
“What?” she asked, velvet over steel. “Nothing to say to that?”
I blinked, once, twice, trying to shake the weight of her presence. But she carried gravity now—pulling, inevitable and relentless—I was helpless to resist.
Brooklyn had always been beautiful, dangerously so. The kind of beautiful that drew glances, then stares, then hearts. But this was something more. A shimmering, electric hum beneath her skin. An enchantment I could feel in my teeth.
And it wasn’t just me.
The male demon, eyes wide and vacant, began to sway toward her, hypnotized. He moved as if lulled by music only he could hear, a snake lured by the piper’s spell. Echo looked dazedas well. The wolf whined miserably, curling in on himself, tail tucked under his trembling body.
And in that moment, I understood.
Whatever this was, whatever she was becoming, it was no longer just mine.
It was still my mate, I could feel her heartbeat in my chest, just as mine echoed in hers.
But there was something more now.
Something darker.
Something ancient.
And, strangely, I accepted it… even as it terrified me.
