Page 79 of Touched By Darkness

I’m in a precarious situation. I need to put pressure on his wound to stop the bleeding, but unless he feeds, he won’t heal, and I can’t both put pressure on the wound and ensure he feeds. I’m not superwoman, no matter how much I wish that was the case right now.

Wait…

Coercion…

My eyes widen.

How have I been so stupid?

The only problem? I’ve never been taught how to use it effectively. Renting a room and saving someone’s life are not in the same ballpark. I was relaxed, curious even, when I put the lady at reception under a spell so she’d let me have this room, but now I’m panicked and two seconds away from losing myself to the darkness, unable to focus on anything besides ripping out her larynx.

“Please,” the woman begs as I follow the tears trailing down her cheeks. “Please, let me go. Let me phone an ambulance. We can get him help.”

My wings flare with agitation behind me. “You think human paramedics can help him?”

I inch closer and she turns her head, whimpering pathetically when I lean in close to breathe in her scent—blood, fear, terror.

Ah, heck. Why does she have to smell so good and tease me with her whimpers? She makes it impossible to keep the darkness leashed.

And then she does the last thing she should ever do.

The one thing that snaps my grip on reality.

She screams.

* * *

“You just can’t help yourself, can you?” Amenadiel whispers as he steps out from the shadows in the corner of the room. The moon sits high in the sky, and its silvery glow reflects off his teeth when he smiles coldly.

I scoot up in bed, careful not to wake Daemon, who snores softly beside me.

“I had to save him.”

He tuts, and a cruel, taunting smirk grazes his lips. “Don’t use that as an excuse. You enjoyed torturing the human and dragging out her fear until she was begging for death.”

“Please, stop,” I plead, shame coloring my cheeks.

“You enjoyed tearing her to bits, limb by limb. The monster inside of you is growing stronger every day.”

I press my hands to my ears as if I can shut out his taunts, but instead, it draws my attention to my trembling hands.

My very bloody, trembling hands.

Even in the moonlight, I can make out the congealed blood beneath my nails, between my fingers, and dried to the ends of my hair. The air reeks of copper and death.

Amenadiel crosses the floor while I inspect my hands. His fingers tangle in my hair, and his touch is almost soft, as if he’s trying to soothe me. “You don’t need to be ashamed of your darkness. Not around me. I welcome it.”

My throat jumps as I peer up at him from beneath my lashes. “Why?”

“Why, what?” He trails his touch down the curve of my jaw before cupping my chin and lifting it gently.

“Why do you welcome it?”

“Because no one else will. I once walked out of Eden too, remember? I know you struggle with the darkness. Especially now the light in you is gone. If anyone can sympathize, it’s me. Not Daemon, or any of your other friends.”

I draw in a shuddering breath as his thumb brushes over my bottom lip, back and forth, back and forth.

“Let the darkness in.” He leans down—slowly, so slowly—and I know I should stop him.

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