Addict (Hunter #2)(92)

Matthew. Gray’s brother had possessed my brother’s body. Jamie was still inside there. Somewhere deep inside his own body, Jamie was likely screaming and trying to get out.

“Please,” I said.

Gray held me close. “I’ll get us out of this. I won’t let him kill Jamie. I promise.”

I shook my head but before I could protest, Gray looked to his brother.

“You know what I want,” Matthew said.

Gray went still. “I want a contract.”

And just like that Gray decided to become their prophet.





Chapter Nineteen



I couldn’t help but watch my brother. Matthew. It was still hard to think of him as Matthew. Jamie was sitting right there. He was dressed like a refugee from the nineties in a flannel shirt and faded jeans. I wanted to reach out and touch him, to assure myself that my brother was alive.

Then he would turn the right way and the light would catch his eyes. They would flash a nasty red and I would remember.

I couldn’t lose Jamie. Not like this.

Gray studied the contract, his head shaking. He’d been provided with a pair of slacks and a new dress shirt since he’d ripped up his clothes during his change. He hadn’t utterly destroyed them, but he’d definitely had a Hulky vibe with the rips and tears. Now he was back to looking sleek and in control. Yeah, appearances can be deceiving. “Simpler. I told you. I’m not signing anything that has duties or rules concerning my life here on the Earth plane.”

His father stared down at us. “You’ll sign whatever I want you to sign or the boy dies.”

Jamie…Jamie’s body stood up. “No, he won’t, Father. Gray has agreed to take the drug and try to transition. He won’t agree to anything beyond that and he doesn’t have to.”

“Do you forget who is in charge here?” Winter asked.

Matthew shook Jamie’s head. “Not at all, Your Grace, but I still have to watch out for my brother’s interests. I agreed to do this because it puts him in a position of power. You seek to take not only his power away, but his life here on the Earth plane. Have you thought about that, Father? If Gray spends all his time in Hell, how will he give you the grandson you require?”

Sloane’s eyes pinned me for a second before looking back at his elder son with a sigh. “It’s a nice word I call rape, son. Ms. Owens’s consent isn’t needed. Despite what certain politicians will have the idiotic public believing, a woman’s uterus doesn’t give a f*ck if she welcomed the sperm or not. She can come with us willingly or not.”

“Then kill Jamie now. Kill me now. Kill Kelsey now,” Gray said, his voice bleak. “I won’t rape her. I won’t force her to go to Hell.”

“Then we’re at a standstill, son.” Gray’s father was completely unmoving.

Gray’s head dropped. “If I consent to go with you, Kelsey and her family must be left alone.”

“No.” I couldn’t let them change Gray and then haul him back to Hell for me.

Before we could argue, Jacob chuckled. “How little you people know. You’re all fools. Has no one asked why I’ve walked this plane for millennia? I must. My powers draw from this plane. You could force the dark prophet to go to Hell, but good luck with getting any sort of reliable prophecy out of him once he’s there.”

“Why are you still here?” Winter snarled.

Jacob’s eyes turned grim. “To bear witness, as I always do to the world’s great events. Tonight is a turning point. The trouble with a prophet is you can’t control him. You can set him loose and hope for the best, but he will do as he wishes. Lucifer is insane if he thinks simply creating a thing means he controls it. After all, he rather started that trend.”

“He’s my son and I can control him,” Sloane shot back.

“Really? It doesn’t seem like you can control the other one. Perhaps if I kill his host, we can clear things up,” Winter said.

Sloane’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t you touch him. My son is right. We’ll only kill the boy if an arrangement can’t be made. Grayson, I agree to your terms. Kelsey and her family are off limits if you sign this agreement and accept your place. You’ll still have the years left to you. I can’t promise you anything after that. Prophet or no prophet.”

My mind was running through the possibilities. If Gray couldn’t work this mojo they wanted in Hell, it would be hard for them to enforce his contract. This could work in our favor.

His favor. Not mine. But I had been trying to find a way to get him out of that stupid contract. It wasn’t something Gray had signed. It had basically been written into his DNA. His mother had signed over his soul before he’d even been born. Talk about shitty parents.

I looked over at Jamie’s body. “Can he hear me?”

Matthew frowned. “Yes.”

“Jamie, I’ll call Mom as soon as I get us out of this. And Nate. I love you and I forgive Mom and Nate.” It was totally easy in the face of Gray’s family sins. I wasn’t sure I would talk to Jamie again. I wasn’t sure he would be here with us. He could die or be rendered insane from Matthew’s use of his body, and I needed him to know that I’d been foolish. “I forgive them all. I love you.”