Page 67 of These Monstrous Ties
Lucifer looks angrier than I’ve ever seen him. Which, considering I haven’t seen him much shouldn’t be saying something, but it is. The vein in his neck seems to throb and he grips the cigarette so hard between his thumb and index finger that I think he’s accidentally put it out.
“What.” It isn’t a question.
I meet his glare. This is his fucking fault. “Don’t act so surprised,” I snarl. “You should have figured out how it works by now.”
His gaze doesn’t falter. He tosses the cigarette to the ground and stomps on it. “You were pregnant.”
I want to drag this out. I want to fuck him where it hurts. Because it seems like it might hurt. But I shake my head.
“No,” I spit at him. “But I could have been.”
“Fucking psycho bitch,” someone says behind me. I think it’s Cain.
Lucifer snaps his gaze to him, and his lip curls. Cain doesn’t say anything else.
“You fucking left me,” I hiss. I swallow, biting back tears. Slowly, I stand to my feet, very aware that five Unsaints circle me right now and I’m screaming at the guy who seems to be their leader. “You fucking left me!” I scream at him, lurching across the space between us, my hands flying to his chest. He just stands there, solid as a rock. “You left me in the middle of the goddamn woods, in a fucking insane asylum. You piece of fucking shit!” I’m screaming at the top of my lungs, all the pain from the past year coming out in a rush. My hands are shaking against his chest, my fists are clenched so hard. I make myself unclench one, point a finger in his face. “You raped me—”
One of the guys whistles.
Lucifer reaches for my wrist, gripping me so tightly I feel the bones rub together. Anger gleams in his eyes; his brow furrows as he clenches his jaw.
“Who is Jeremiah?” he asks me.
I suck in a breath and try to jerk my wrist out of his grip. It’s fruitless. He holds tight. “You fucking asshole. You can’t stand it, can you?” I sneer, the anger still coming in waves. Still pouring through my broken heart. “You can’t stand to hear what you did. You can’t stand to see me. See this.”
“Who. Is. Jeremiah?” he repeats. “To you?”
“I told you we should have never trusted that fucker,” Atlas says through clenched teeth.
I try to pull my wrist away from Lucifer again, and again, he holds firm.
“Fuck you.”
Someone sighs. “If you don’t fucking tell her, bro, I will.” Cain.
Lucifer looks like he wants to say something to Cain, but he forces his gaze back to me. He bites his lip, and I remember biting it before, too. I remember his blood. How it tasted on my tongue. How being with him felt.
He lets me go, shoving me away. I stumble back, and into someone’s lean arms. This is Mayhem. He’s built similar to Lucifer. He holds me against him, and I see his inked arms.
“You wanted to play with us,Lilith?”Mayhem teases. I wonder how much they’ve talked about since that night. How much they’ve laughed at my pain. How much they know about me. Not enough, apparently, if they don’t know Jeremiah is my brother. “You might not make it out of this alive, Angel.”
“Mayhem,” Lucifer snaps, voice cold. “Get her in the fucking car and then get the fuck out of here.”
There’re some grumbles among the group, but no one argues. This is the Unsaints at work. Mayhem takes me by the elbow and drags me to the M5, opens the door, and shoves me into the leather seat, doing up my seatbelt, too.
“Don’t run, Angel. You’ll only make it worse.” His baby blue eyes bore into mine and then when Lucifer slides into the driver seat, Mayhem slams the door closed and walks to the Range Rover.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Present
There’sa dirt path surrounded by trees that Lucifer cruises down, the boys in the Range Rover behind us. We make a few turns once we’re out on the main road. We don’t speak. He doesn’t smoke. I try not to think. The tears I’ve felt coming behind my eyes have dried up. I’m done crying over him. I’m done with him. I’ve spent a year hating him, but I don’t care anymore.
Let them kill me. Let them cut my body into pieces.
Fuck it.
Minutes pass, and then he turns down a long driveway, which seems to be all the rage in Acid City or wherever the fuck we are. I haven’t seen any sign of civilization since we left Julie’s house.
