Page 45 of All the Devils are Here

I raised both eyebrows and Laurent’s eyes were dancing with laughter. Considering the men with me right now…

“He is human,” Ariel said. “Or he was when he came here.”

Laurent’s gaze watched where Trin’s hands were on my waist, eyes filled with the same heat I’d seen before. Now, I knew it was real. I wasn’t finished arguing with him—keeping himself from me for three years? We were going to talk about that.

But first I was going to fuck him.

Trin noticed his gaze too and tightened his grip possessively. I didn’t sense any animosity between them, and they clearly knew each other. It was hard to think about that when Trin’s lips were on my hair.

As soon as the truth sank in, it was like a piece of me clicked into place. No matter if I couldn’t feel it like they could,somethinginside me recognized them.

I wanted to feel them. Everything Christine said about her mating bonds? Could I have that?

“Prospero was a human king a very long time ago,” Laurent said. “Deposed by his people, for good reason. Back then, humans knew magic and could utilize it. They still can, but it’s rarer.

“This island isn’t the only place of power in this world, but Prospero sought it out, wanting revenge. And he got it. Those who’d deposed him died terrible deaths. But there’s always a price, and Prospero’s was his life. He was bound to the island. The island offered him a way to leave. Hearts, for his life. Four hearts, the way Prospero tells it. A vision of four hearts, each tinged with the energy of a domain. Lives, for a life.”

“That doesn’t seem fair.”

“It doesn’t have to be. Magic like the kind ofMíannisn’t benevolent. It’s neutral. It takes, even if it gives. To free himself, Prospero needed to offer the hearts of four beings. We don’t fully know why. Maybe the number of lives he’d taken with the power. Maybe because of the elements the vision seemed to be infused with. But that’s what it required.”

What would this magic take from me?

I looked down at my hands where they rested on the stone and wondered. Would I be able to get rid of it before it did something I couldn’t give back? Until now, I hadn’t been truly afraid of it. But suddenly I felt like I was a prisoner in my own skin.

“No one, neither human nor creature, would give their heart willingly,” Ariel said. “So he created his. Or he tried. Kidnapped sailors off passing boats.”

“Seems like a theme,” I muttered.

Laurent smiled, but it faded quickly. “He made beings and cut out their hearts, offering them to the island in exchange for his freedom, and at the same time wanting a slave to send into the world to do his bidding. But it didn’t work the way he planned.

“A spirit so formed of the magic of the island he cannot leave for long. A shifter who is not human enough to not be noticed.” His gaze shifted to Ban. “Another shifter who cannot be away from water. And finally, me.”

Ban had said something about being created. That was what he meant.

“I—”

My gargoyle kept talking, like he needed to get it out, standing and pacing across the space with restless energy. “When Prospero brought me to life he used so much magic it untethered his humanity. Creating life from other life is easy. Creating life from nothing but rock takes much more power. So he took as much as he needed. But it burned his mortality away.

“And after he recovered, he carved out my heart. I did everything he ordered me to.” The look on his face had me climbing out of the water and going to him. Trin immediately released me.

Laurent didn’t flinch at my soaked dress as I wrapped myself around him. His arms came around me like a reflex, holding me, but he still spoke evenly. “You need to know this about me, Meg. Another reason I wanted you to be free of me. I wasn’t always a doctor, and I’m very sure I don’t deserve you.”

“Don’t say that,” I mumbled into his shoulder.

Pulling away, he looked at me. “I’m a murderer, Meg. Prospero’s revenge started with four, but it didn’t end there. And it wasn’t all he wanted after he realized my creation bound him here further. All four hearts had been offered, but he still wasn’t free because he wasn’t human.”

“I don’t care,” I said. “I don’t.”

“I wasn’t able to say no.”

My eyes drifted to Ariel for a moment. He hadn’t been able to say no either, and I felt for them. Not being able to stop something like that?

Laurent let his fingers drift down my cheek. “I have killed many, many people. Humans. Like you.”

“Well, you can’t hurt me,” I said. “Right?”

“No.” The words were a whispered prayer. “And I never would.”

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