Page 98 of Touched By Darkness

Dariana dislikes me. Even now, she’s openly glaring, as if the fire in her eyes alone is enough to frighten me off. Does she not realize that if I tried to leave, Daemon would take it as an open invitation to chase me? He has decided he wants to keep me—just like last time—and there’s nothing I can do to change it.

However, he hasn’t fucked me again. He just keeps me like a trophy for him to play with when boredom strikes.

One he is unwilling to part with.

I close the book and scoot my chair back. “I’m gonna see if I can find something else on the topic.”

Alaric narrows his eyes but says nothing. Daemon lifts his gaze and drawls, “Don’t try to run. It’s pointless.”

With an eye roll, I collect the book and push the chair back in with my hip. “You’ve told me this countless times.”

A muscle tics in his jaw. “And I will tell you countless more.”

“I won’t run.”

“Good.”

I hate how he makes my heart beat faster, even as I want to strangle him for being a possessive alphahole. But I say nothing, because the leash is longer now than it was a few days ago, when I wouldn’t have been allowed to walk down the book aisles on my own.

Now that a week has passed without a stalker incident, we’re all breathing a collective sigh. Well, they are. I’m still paranoid as hell, but I refuse to let it show.

I place the book back, then walk a few feet while perusing the spines. The library is one of my favorite places here in Hell. Eden didn’t have them. We relied solely on the stories told by the elders. Not only do I love the information contained within their pages, but I also adore the smell of old books and the silence that reigns in here. It’s a thick silence filled with wisdom and enchanted secrets I itch to unravel.

I start to pull out another book when my spine stiffens. Heat envelops my back, and a soft brush of fingers on my neck causes me to freeze.

“You seem to have abandoned me.”

It’s Amenadiel.

Breathing in a relieved sigh, I push the book back in before turning. “What are you doing here?”

He cages me in with his big body and pulls out an old book with a leather spine. His eyes scan the title as he replies in that casual tone of his. “I came to see my son.”

“In the library?”

He looks at me while placing the book back in its place. “Maybe I also came to check up on you. The mansion has been quiet since you disappeared.”

“I helped you out of my mind. I don’t owe you anything else.”

“You hurt my feelings.” He brushes my hair off my forehead before tucking the strands behind my ear. “Who says you owe me anything? If I remember correctly, I made a promise and I intend to keep it.”

“What are you doing, Amenadiel?” I ask when the pad of his thumb brushes over my lips.

Is it my imagination that the darkness in me responds to his touch? As he presses down on the swell of my lip, it stirs inside me.

“I’m simply saying hello. Haven’t you missed me at all? We shared some pleasant conversations.”

I start to speak—to say what, I don’t know—but the words die on my tongue when he cups my chin and leans down to press a kiss to the corner of my mouth.

“The monster in you is growing restless. I can sense it.”

I stiffen, and his grip tightens.

“You recently let someone feed on you.”

“It’s not your business,” I bite out, and he digs his fingers into my skin.

Strangely, I like it.

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