Page 94 of Sugar Rush

I took a furious step forward, the movement jerky and spat, "And while we're on the subject of things that aren't okay—you injected mewith demon blood?What the Hell is wrong with you?"

"I was—"

"If you saymaking you strongerI'm going to murder you."

He tilted his head, boring brown hair falling across his weak forehead. "Isn't that the plan anyway?"

I growled a breath, as if I was torn and conflicted.2"I tried that; it didn't work out so well for me. But standing by while you become the devil?Hell no.What happens to me when you're all-powerful? I'm your pawn? Yourpet?Or will you just suck all the magic from my body like a parasite?"

I was close enough now to see the flecks of amber in his brown eyes, and my stomach knotted into a mess of dread and acid.

"I understand I made a mistake in taking your mate," he said calmly, which was the wrong thing to say.

My nostrils flared. The reminder of why he had to die hit me like a brick.

"Yes," I hissed, fine hairs rising all across my body. Power should have been a ruthless cyclone inside me.

"But can't you see, Avie? They're holding you back. We could ruleHell."

"Youcould rule Hell," I argued, my voice going from hot to icy, like Arkan was here, infusing me with his strength. "There's nowe.There never has been; I deluded myself into thinking we were a family."

Slowly, so slowly, I grazed my fingertips over the invisible knife at my thigh. My heart beat so hard I was surprised it wasn't visible through my dark armour.

"Look at this army, Avie," he entreated, his eyes full of phoney emotion.

"I am looking," I muttered. They were big and ugly and spiky. I didn’t want to fight them but I would if I had to.

"This is forus,for our future. A hunt every few months isn't enough anymore—for meoryou. You know it's true. We need more. More blood, more violence, more death. You've become so beautifully bloodthirsty, and I couldn't be more proud of you."

He held out a hand, and my heart jumped in my chest. Fuck.

"Join me, and I'll forget the last month ever happened."

I bit my lip, letting all my hurt and distrust show as I carefully closed my fingers around the glass dagger.

"I know you don't trust—" he began.

But he choked on his words when I stabbed my glass dagger into my own stomach.

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As if I'd make the mistake of stabbinghimwith the orb. No fucking way. This thing was full of power, and able to make someone the ruler of Hell. Stabbing him could hand him that power. So like a true psychopath, I did the unexpected.

It was cool in theory.

In practice, my skin resisted the dagger for long enough to drench me in terror, and then my whole body exploded with pain when it sank deep.

A scream tore from my throat, but it blended with a laugh at the bleached horror on Eidolon's face.

Aww, did he still care if I lived or died? Well, tough shit. You can't almost kill someone fifty times and then be upset when they did it to themselves.

"What are youdoing,mad girl?" Maxine demanded, rushing up to me and catching me when I wavered on my feet. I wouldn't fall; I'd been raised too accustomed to pain to get weak at a little stab wound.

"Get—your double-crossing—handsoffme," I panted, teeth bared.

"Come here, darling," Dad—fuck,Eidolon—coaxed, giving Maxine a truly sickening smile.

Shit, Iknewthat smile. I received it enough times myself to know what it heralded.

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