Page 80 of Make Me Lie (Rich Demons of Darkwood 1)

“Wrong,” he growled into my ear. “And I’ll teach you better one day.”

“Stellan, Stellan, Stellan.” Remington shook his head mournfully. “You know Pax is gonna move in on you and teach your girl how to fight so she can knock your head off.”

“She's not my girl,” Stellan said.

At almost the same time, Pax winked at me and said, “She doesn't need me to teach her anything.”

I was beginning to really like Pax. Lord help me.

“Yeah, of course she's not your girl,” Remington said. “Not when you act the fool. Or maybe it’s not an act.”

“All right, leave Stellan alone,” I interrupted. Something in me did feel sorry for him, even though he didn’t deserve it. He was so messed up from losing Sophia…and so was I. How did I hate him for that? “His brain probably short circuited when he realized that he treated me like I was an actual human being for fifteen seconds.”

“Are we really having this conversation?” Stellan demanded. “We're just bringing all of our shit out into the open now.”

Cain scoffed. “Stellan, all your shit has been on clear display all this time.”

Stellan’s jaw set. “You guys are taking her side. You don’t realize how fucked up that is?”

Cain laughed as if it were ridiculous. I felt that laugh like a rumble through his chest and my back, like a lion’s purr. But even if the guys played Stellan’s protest off as if it were ridiculous, it had kind of felt that way for a moment.

When I saw the four of them teasing each other, when I saw them actinghuman,it made me want to be around them more. It was the thing that made me feel some of the same desire for them that every other woman on this campus seemed to feel constantly.

“Are we going to talk to the frat boys about staying out of the tunnel?” Stellan asked, as if he were trying to change the subject. “That’s our territory. Doesn’t matter if there’s a door into their house.”

Pax, Remington, and Cain shared a quick glance.

“What did you do?” I demanded.

Remington leaned over the table, propping his chin on his hand. “Why? Did you have big vengeance plans?”

“I don’t need any. I already showed them the error of fucking with me.” I offered Remington a bright smile, hoping they’d all taken notes.

When we’d eaten and Cain released me from his lap, Stellan lingered as I headed toward the door.

“Can we talk?” he asked.

“I don't want to,” I answered. He'd hurt me, and as much as it was in my nature to forgive Stellan—because of all the history we shared, because of how strong my feelings were for him. I was not doing it this time. Not this morning at least. Let him suffer. Let him grovel. I was pretty sure Stellan had never groveled in his life, and the man needed to get some experience.

Just then, Remington got a text on his phone. The look on his face was relaxed as he pulled it up, then shifted. He whistled, a short, sharp sound that got everyone’s attention. “Nobody leaves. Something interesting just came in. I think you all might want to see this.”

He rose and picked up a remote from the sideboard, then keyed something in which made a picture on the wall recede, replaced by a television screen. He cast something from his phone to the wall.

I drew in a breath as a familiar setting came up. The Demon’s torture chambers had looked much the same as often as we'd moved. He'd always found a way to recreate his happy place everywhere we went. Now the place that had haunted my dreams was frozen in a still frame on the screen.

“Where did this come from?” My voice came out in a whisper.

He’d recorded everything.

And I’d destroyed it all.

But he must have made backups.

“It's all over the internet, all over the news. Apparently, someone released some footage to the police and to the news simultaneously—just ten minutes of video from your father's collection.”

Bile crawled up my throat and I pressed my fingertips to my mouth. I didn't want to see this again. Seeing it once had been enough. One of The Demon’s friends must have the footage. Why had he sent out ten minutes, when there had to be days and days worth of video? Would they want me to buy the footage from them?

Remington hitplay.I shook my head no, but there was no stopping them.

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