Page 25 of All the Devils are Here

The last twenty-four hours had been hell, not knowing what Meg was feeling or experiencing and feeling guilty for not knowing who was behind it. I hadn’t even had aninklingProspero was looking for me again, and Meg had paid the price.

He’d never been so subtle before in reminding me that he was lingering at the edges of my life and waiting for me to make a mistake. But now? Rage surged through me and I forced it deep down where it needed to wait.

Not just Meg had paid the price, but seventy people on the yacht which sank, and countless destroyed homes and businesses along the coast because of unexpected flooding. All because of me.

“I will bring her back, Christine.”

“Why does it have to be you?” It wasn’t a sarcastic question, it was a genuine one. “After everything, I’m not sure Meg wantsyouto come rescue her.”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” I heard Marius’s voice on the other end of the phone.

“It means I was foolish,” I said. “In more ways than one. But I need to go now. Your Majesties, I don’t care how long it takes. If Meg comes back without me, you are to leave me there.”

“Laurent—”

“You know why. Promise me.”

I hoped it wouldn’t come to it, but in the end, I would fix this. One way or another.

A long silence before Alex spoke. “Fine. But it is a grudging promise.”

“I don’t care if it’s grudging, as long as it is kept.”

Another painful silence. “Good luck, Laurent.”

“Thank you.”

Ending the call, I grabbed the bag I’d prepared and left the hotel room. The small boat I’d purchased yesterday from an aging fisherman was waiting for me at the marina. Small, but it had a motor. Prospero might see me coming, but it wouldn’t matter. It was what he wanted in the first place—me back toMíann.

The last time I’d sailed about alone, I’d been fleeing the very place I was heading to now. I’d taken pains not to do anything similar in all this time. Even though it was necessary, sickness roiled in my gut.

I took another breath and readied myself. I’d been a damn fool when it came to Meg, and I wasn’t going to let her pay for my mistakes. Or my past. Prospero had crossed a lot of lines in his life, and I’d hoped being stuck on the island would be enough to contain him. Or finally destroy him.

I was wrong.

But he wasn’t going to harm Meg. He would not use me to torture her. Because with every second that passed, Meg was becoming a need I couldn’t deny. She wasn’t my mate, but she wasmine, and it was time everyone knew it.

CHAPTER TWELVE

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MEGHAN

This wasn’t the same room I woke up in when I was throwing up water. For one thing, it wasn’t at the top of this strange cave mansion we were in. But it was slightly better equipped than the other room. It had a real bed and a slab of rock with a hole in the corner that I didn’t even want to think about.

Another glowing pool was in the corner, big enough for me to get into it if I wanted to.

Considering Prospero seemed like a massive perv, I wasn’t going to be doing that anytime soon.

The chains around my wrists had plenty of length. I wasn’t restricted in any way because there was so much length between the two, and the piece that was sunken into the wall still allowed me to reach every corner of the room. The single place where it yanked me backwards was when I got to the door. I couldn’t manage to reach for it, let alone go outside it. I didn’t even think it was locked.

Arrogant bastard.

After exploring everything and drinking from the pool—pleasantly surprised by how cool and clean it tasted—I retreated to the bed to think about what he’d said and what the fuck was happening here.

If I was interpreting everything correctly, and I wasn’t dead or hallucinating—which I hadn’t entirely ruled out yet—this was wild.

Prospero thought I was something to Laurent. I wasn’t even going to try to figure out why he called him Khalas. Something about the way he’d said it made me think he was under a very different impression of the man I knew.

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