Page 68 of Fated to Monsters

“Whatever,” I repeat.

We sit there in silence, my heart pattering in my chest the only sound I can make out.

I lie down on the table and stare at the ceiling of this unfamiliar yet sterile room.

How long will Sydney keep us in here? I can only imagine he did it on purpose, but why? Did he know something was going on between me and Bo? Or maybe it was Willow that could sense our tension based on what happened when we visited Balial’s hell?

I recall the fear that coursed through me when I woke up and Bo wasn’t in that room. He was there, his body, but not him, his soul. The part of him that matters the most. I had no way to get back to him and I was terrified that something had happened in those fleeting moments.

“I was worried about you,” I admit.

“When?”

I chuckle. “Always. But I’m referring to when you stayed behind.”

“Oh.”

“What took you so long?”

Bo sighs. “Balial propositioned me.”

I rise onto my elbows. “Sounds kinky.”

“Pretty sure he’s into Willow, not me.”

“Pretty sure he’sobsessedwith Willow. But what did he want with you?”

Bo walks over, drags a chair across the floor, and sits in it backward, facing me. "He offered to remove the mark on your neck."

I sit completely up and return my legs over the edge of the table. “What?”

“Yep.” Bo nods.

“I don’t get it. Why do you act like that’s a bad thing?” That’s when it hits me. “What did he want in return?”

“My eternal allegiance.”

“What does that mean?”

“He said he would do it in exchange for me staying in his realm. Permanently.”

“That’s not fucking happening,” I tell him.

“It would get the beacon off your neck.”

"And what good would that do me if you're stuck in fucking hell? I said no. It’s my body, my choice. I’d rather keep the dreaded thing. Besides, didn’t you say you can remove it yourself?”

Bo rubs his hand over his jaw. “It’s worse than me being in hell, Birdie.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.”

“No.”

"Bo, so help me, Angels,…if you don't tell me what it is." I climb off the table and stand in front of him. "How bad could it be? No one has to die. You don’t have to spend eternity with that creep of a man. And I wouldn’t have the beacon anymore. I see zero downsides.”

Bo looks up at me, his lip quivering in the slightest. “I won’t do it to you, Birdie.”

I grab his face and force him to keep his gaze on mine. “Tell me what it is, Bo. Tell me what you’re afraid of.”

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