Page 40 of Tortured Soul
“Right. Explain.”
A chuckle managed to escape my throat. When my gaze met his mismatched eyes, he didn’t seem amused.
“I’mfine. Savi’s the one who got hurt. Didn’t you see the color of the blood? I’m a demon, my blood runs dark. Vampires have golden blood, like their Divine creators.” I pointed at the stains on my clothes and skin. “Your visions seem to lack accuracy, if you ask me…”
“What. Were. You. Doing—”
“Outside, yeah.” I rolled my eyes. “Did your vision not show you?”
He grit his teeth. “No.”
“My energy was getting low.Fast.” I paused, watching the information slowly hitting him. “I needed to recharge.”
The silence stretched. His eyes didn’t soften as he understood what it meant. I was expecting him to look away, embarrassed, just like when he left after the archives incident. Instead, his gaze dipped to my lips for a brief second before going back to my eyes.
“You’re an Original. Can’t you get your power from other Immortals? Why risk going out?”
I averted my gaze, clenching my teeth in annoyance. He was too close, his breath fanning over my cheekbone.
“The fact that I can doesn’t mean that I want to.”
He jolted back slightly but not enough for me to have the space to leave. I kept my focus on the side, the corridor partially hidden by his arm caging me between the door and his body.
“Itwouldbe safest,” he said, but there was an edge to his voice, something I couldn’t decipher.
Safest. No it wouldn’t. As old as I was, there were only two Immortals I had sex with who never made me feel threatened in some way. Two who did not take me for granted because of what I was. The others? Most of the time, they felt entitled. Felt like I somehow owed it to them.
Being a Succubus was hard. Dating as one, nearly impossible.
I gave him a dry scoff. “It’s not.”
My voice felt raw. My throat, clogged. The last time I felt truly safe and happy was in my short break of freedom in the early 2000s. It was only a few years and they ended badly, but I was happy back then. Withhim. Was it so bad that I thought it would be the same now that I was free?
“Why are you risking your life so carelessly? Humans—”
“Cannotforce themselves on me. It makes it my decision and just that simple fact makes them safer.”
The implications behind my words hit him hard. Hard enough that he physically jolted back, giving me some much needed space.
But it was short-lived.
Before I could even think of slipping under his arm and bolting away from here, he was back in my face.
“What do you meanforcethemselves? Did someone—”
I exhaled sharply, interrupting him again.
“What do you think?” I spat. “I’m a Succubus, right? Nothing but Lucifer’sbitch, as Carter kindly said. Why wouldn’t other Immortals take advantage of me? After all, that’s what I sold my soul for.”
Anger flashed in his mismatched eyes. Lips tight. Jaw twitching. A shiver ran down my spine when both his hands turned to fists on the door, right next to my head.
“If anyone here—”
“No.” I shook my head, turning my gaze away. “Not here.Not yet.”
“Notever,” he countered through gritted teeth.
“You can’t—”
