Addict (Hunter #2)(86)

“I get it.” Matthew’s tone had taken on a distinctly irritated air. “You want to start a war for the Earth plane. You think if you have an army of drugged out werebeasts and shifters, it tilts the balance to our favor.”

“That’s what I don’t get,” Bellamy stated with a shake of his ginger hair. “Demons are like the strongest things I’ve ever seen. How can a vampire compare?”

“Oh, but we aren’t particularly strong on this plane. Vampires belong here. Demons aren’t native to this plane with the exception of the halflings, but our culture negates them for the most part,” Matthew continued. “So if Winter wants his war, wants to wipe out the vampires who are actually quite an effective guardian for the humans, he’ll bring in native creatures he can control.”

It all sounded pretty shitty to me. Vampires are the single most powerful creatures in the supernatural world, but again nature had found a balance. Vampires are rare. Wolves and shifters had numbers. If the wolves and shifters became the demon’s meat puppets, it could be a very quick and bloody war.

“We’re forbidden from breaking our contracts with the vampires,” Gray argued. His hand was on my neck. It was odd, but I could feel the heat coming off him.

I glanced up and he was sweating a little. It wasn’t hot in the room. Or it hadn’t been a moment before. I felt a wave of heat roll over my skin, making me the tiniest bit nauseous.

“He thinks if the wolves kill the vampires, he can argue he wasn’t the one who broke the contract,” Matthew explained with a sigh of disgust. “He’s wrong. That contract is ironclad. Our glorious leader will likely cut off your head for it. I don’t see how you get out of this with your brains intact. Everyone knows the only thing Lucifer would give up his precious balance for is…” Matthew stood up suddenly. “Grayson, we’re leaving. Right bloody now. They’ve been after you the whole time.”

My vision began to waver, and the glass I’d been holding fell to the floor with a crash.

But I definitely fared better than Matt’s boy toy. He sat up, turned a brutal shade of purple, and died right there before my eyes.

We were f*cked.





Chapter Eighteen



“Eww, that’s what it does to humans? That’s awful.” I could barely hear Bellamy over the roaring sound in my ears. “Is the girl going to end up like that? That would be a shame. She’s kind of hot.”

I glanced down and saw that Tristan’s skin was rapidly decaying.

God, I hoped I didn’t do that. It was nasty.

“Only if she’s actually human. Which it appears she’s not. Someone is lying,” Winter agreed. “Mr. Sloane, I wouldn’t try that if I were you.”

Gray had his pistol out and he was trying to aim. The trouble was his arm kept twitching. The gun fell to the ground.

Matthew picked it up. He wasn’t having the same trouble Gray did. He stepped over Tristan’s rapidly deteriorating body and pointed the gun at Winter like it would actually do something to him. “What did you give him?”

Gray hit his knees. My mind was fuzzy. I reached for him, trying to hold on to something.

Gray’s face turned up, his eyes going a dark violet. They widened. “Who the hell are you?”

I hadn’t even noticed the new guy. One minute the space was empty and the next there was a young man standing beside me dressed in jeans and a concert T-shirt. He had thick dark hair and even through my haze, I could see his blue eyes. Unlike Winter’s, they were warm and seemed infinite.

Winter seemed delighted at the newcomer. He slapped his hands together and stood up before waving a hand Matthew’s way. There was a horrible crunching sound and Matt’s neck snapped around in a way no neck ever should. He fell to the ground beside Tristan.

It didn’t seem to bother Winter at all. He smiled at the newcomer. “Welcome, Jacob. You’re here to bear witness and that can only mean that I’m going to be successful.”

The young man, who couldn’t be more than nineteen if he was human, slowly nodded. “I am. I’m the last of my kind. The final one my father made. There was a reason for that, demon.”

I struggled to my feet because Gray had curled in on himself. “What is happening?”

“Sit down, you whore,” the duke said. “Actually, I don’t care what you are. I don’t need you anymore.” He raised a hand.

The young man stepped in front of me. “I don’t think you want to do that. If you kill her, your new toy will be extremely angry. Better to keep her around and use her as incentive.” He looked down at Gray. “If he survives the transition.”

“Who is that guy and why isn’t the girl dead?” Bellamy asked. “At that dosage, even a shifter should have died.”

“She’s far more interesting than a shifter and this man is named Jacob,” the duke explained. “He’s been walking this plane since before humans. He’s a prophet. He felt the birth of his brother.”

“I felt a sickening hole open in the universe as we know it. What have you done? He’s a demon.” Jacob stared down at Gray, and for a second, I was worried something awful was going to happen.

I moved over Gray, protecting his body with my own. The stupid, tiny skirt I’d been given to wear was riding up my hips and the corset wasn’t doing me any favors. I didn’t bother trying to get the gun. It wouldn’t do a damn thing to Winter. I needed to find a way out of here and now.