Page 3 of Make Me Queen

I nodded.

He stared down at the body, tilting his head to one side. “She’s not quite dead yet, Delilah. I’ll carry her downstairs, and then I’m going to tell you what she did. And you can help me finish her, to get revenge on her for all the little kids like you she hurt.”

“Yes, Daddy.”

He wrapped his arm around me. “You look so pretty when you smile like that, Delilah.”

I grinned back, unable to help my delight when he was happy with me.

He carried her downstairs, and when he came back, he held his hand out to me. There was blood caked around his fingernails.

But there was blood on my hands too, so I didn’t hesitate to reach for his.

1

CAIN

Aurora stared at the screen, reaching out her shaking fingers as if she could call back the Demon and save her mother.

She seemed distraught. I always wanted to fix things when Aurora was upset, to be her hero, but part of me studied her abstractly. It was the way I always had when people were in distress, seeking the best ways to mimic their emotions...or arouse them.

It was normal to be upset by a parent’s death or imminent dismemberment.

It wouldn’t have bothered me much, though. Alexander could rot in hell for all I cared after hurting Pax’s mom, and therefore Pax.

"I'm on it," Remington said, his fingers flying over the keyboard. "I'll track them down if it's possible."

Her lips parted, as if she were struggling to form words. Then she managed, "Thank you, Remy."

That asshole always made her happy.

But the solace was only for a moment.

Unless the Demon had conveniently set up his killing area within a twenty-mile radius of the lake house, there was no chance we'd get to Aurora's mother before she was killed.

Though, perhaps it was possible he was still close. The Demon was obsessed with her in his own way. He might kill her mother to punish her...but he didn't really care about anyone but her. He needed to hurt her. Needed to fix her. Needed her.

I could understand the sentiment.

"Aurora," I asked her. "Is there anything you could offer the Demon? Besides yourself?"

She looked up at me, her lips parting. For a second, her eyes were glassy and distant. Like a victim.

But that was never Aurora.

She blinked, and the sheen of tears in her eyes vanished, replaced with sudden clarity.

"Remington," she said, instead of answering me. "Can you get the connection reestablished? Make him talk to me?"

Remington looked thoughtful, raking his hand through his hair. Then he nodded. "Yeah. If he still has the webcam on, I can probably get into it. But that means diverting my attention..."

"Do it, please," Aurora said. "We're not going to get there in time anyway unless we have a miracle, and I don't think we've got any miracles coming to us."

Remington worked his magic, his fingers tapping away at the keyboard with lightning speed. It was almost impressive, the way he could manipulate technology.

But the way I could manipulate people was even more impressive.

As he worked, Aurora turned to me. "You asked if there was anything I could offer the Demon besides myself," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "What if I'm the only thing he'll accept?"

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