Addict (Hunter #2)(100)

I urged him back down. “Rest, babe. I’m tired and I only saw one piece of the tapestry. I can’t imagine what you saw.”

“I still see it. It’s running through my head. You have to get out of here. You have to get to Ether.”

“What’s happening?”

He shook his head. “I can’t…it’s too much. It’s all here and I can’t pick what I want to see.”

“Don’t.” I remembered what Jacob had said. There was too much information, and fighting it would only make things worse. Until Gray got control, he wouldn’t be very helpful. “Let it go. Can you try to focus on the here and now?”

His eyes had gone completely white. He reached for my hand. “Keep talking to me.”

“Okay.” I was willing to try anything. I needed Gray if we were going to get out of here. “We need to figure out how to bust out of this cell and get to Ether. I think your hot demon ass is going to have to make another appearance tonight.”

“You liked his demonic form?” Matthew chuckled. “Well, I knew you were the right woman for him.”

“She’s a little perverted, but she’s not ready for me.” Gray took a long, shuddering breath. “I saw bits and pieces of us. We can make so many mistakes, Kelsey. We can cause each other so much pain. It’s best you go with Marcus for now. We’re not ready.”

We weren’t. We might never be. I leaned over and kissed him, a soft brushing of lips that had nothing to do with sex and everything to do with the fact that I still loved this man. I couldn’t stop loving him. At every turn he made the right decision based on what was best for me.

“We’ll be okay, Gray. Someday, we’ll be okay.” I had to believe it because I wanted those children. I wanted them with all my being. I’d never wanted to be a mom before. God, I would have told anyone who asked that it wasn’t for me. I didn’t want some nameless, faceless thing taking over my life. I still didn’t.

I wanted them. My boy and my girl. I would fight for the right to bring them into the world.

“One day.” This time, he breathed deeply but with steady intent. His eyes were slowly going back to normal.

“We can’t use his strength to get us out of here,” Matthew said, getting to Jamie’s feet. He put his hands on the bars. “They’re reinforced, made specifically to stop demons. And there are plenty of wards to keep someone from using magic to locate us or get us out. I’ll find another vessel and try to find a way.”

So having a non-corporeal demon could be a plus. “You could go to the king. You could find him or Marcus and they’ll come and get us out.”

Matthew grimaced. “Not really possible.”

“Why?” The king didn’t like demons, but Marcus dealt with them when he had to. This was kind of a worst-case scenario thing.

“Or I could use this key and let you out,” a new voice offered. Brandon Bellamy stood at the cell door, key dangling from his hand. “But I’m going to need a few promises from you first.”

“I promise to kill you quickly.” I could be magnanimous. It really was a good deal since my original plan had been to slowly eviscerate him and force him to watch as I fed his entrails to a cat.

“You see, that’s what I was afraid of.” Bellamy stayed outside of my reach. “Do you think I want all this chaos crap? Do you know what it’s going to do to my stock?”

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. “I don’t give a crap about your stock. You knew what you were getting into.”

He grimaced. “Sort of. Look, all the demons I’d met before had next to no interest in this plane. They wanted to be left alone to do their thing. I built this company. You all think I signed a contract, but I haven’t. I’ve managed to make myself valuable enough that I haven’t been forced to sell my soul, and I’m not going to.”

“You won’t have to. You’ll be dead as soon as Winter and my father figure out what’s happening,” Matthew pointed out.

“Not if we kill them all.” Gray groaned as he rolled off the cot. “I think I have this under control for the time being. I have to concentrate, but I can stay in the now. I wish Jacob had hung around though.”

“He said he would come back for you. I would bet anything he’s wherever this thing is going down.” Apparently we were in the middle of something important, and watching was what Jacob liked to do.

“We can’t kill Father,” Matthew argued. “I agree that we need to slaughter Abbas Hiberna, but without Father, both Gray and I are vulnerable. Especially now.”

Without his father, Gray didn’t have to go to Hell, so I was kind of all for killing Papa Sloane. “I think we’ll worry about that later. I’m going to take out anyone who tries to disrupt the balance on this plane.”

“You don’t understand. All Father was trying to do was create his prophet. He wanted to give his son power and Abbas Hiberna was the only one who could help him. He’s already left this plane. You won’t be able to find him again. Abbas Hiberna, on the other hand, will be wherever the chaos is,” Matthew insisted.

“You give our dear old dad way too much credit,” Gray said, touching his forehead as though it pained him. “This was never about giving me power. It was about taking it for himself. He doesn’t care about us. He never has.”