Bound by Blood (Bound #1)(19)

She kept drinking.

A white light entered hell. Small. Such a narrow opening. A man’s voice called. Chanting. Serving up blood sacrifices. Trading lives because he wanted power.

“Stop!” The demon bellowed.

She drank more.

More.

The doorway opened. She saw the bastard who’d unlocked that door. Fucking *. Betrayal.

The door opened in her mind, and fire raced out, burning, burning…

Morgan jerked away, screaming, as smoke rose from her mouth.

The demon laughed. “Told you, b-bitch…you’ll burn…”

She could feel the blisters in her throat. But…but she was already healing. Jace’s blood.

She blew the smoke into the demon’s face. “Time for you to go back home.”

He flinched.

“Tell me you know where the doorway is,” Jace growled the words behind her. She held the demon’s red stare a moment longer, long enough to see the fear flare in his eyes, then she faced Jace. “I know.” But first she had another matter to take care of. A little matter of a blood betrayal.

“Good.” Jace pulled her away. “Then it’s time to kill the bastard.”

The demon screamed in fury and surged against the wolves who’d grabbed him. Morgan slipped back a few steps. She caught Paul’s stare and inclined her head toward the door.

The demon’s screams rose.

She swallowed back the taste of ash. “Where’s Devon?” She whispered to Paul. Betrayal. She should have seen this coming. He’d always been such a power hungry *.

He hadn’t been testing her with that fire. He’d wanted to kill her. So she wouldn’t find out what he’d done.

You nearly killed us all.

Paul’s eyes narrowed. “What did you see?”

“Devon killing humans.” Not just killing. Torturing. Sacrificing. “He’s the one who opened the doorway.” It made sense, but she’d been too blind to see it before. Devon was over five hundred years old. He would know all the ancient legends and spells. He would know how to raise demons, how to open a doorway.

And to get power, he’d done it.

Only the demons he’d let out hadn’t exactly been keen on obeying him. You can’t cage some beasts.

“Bastard.” Paul’s hands fisted. The demon wasn’t screaming anymore. Out of time. “I haven’t seen him since the wolves came inside.”

“Because he’s running.” Dammit. “This is our mess to clean up.” Not for the wolves. Vampire business. “Get the others. Hunt him.” The order she’d never thought to give came from her as Morgan said, “Kill him.”

Paul nodded. He always followed her orders. Always.

Morgan rushed away from him, already heading to the winding tunnels that led beneath the house. Before she faced hell, she’d take care of her own nightmare. And she’d take full control of her vampire nest.

Morgan raced down the stairs. The others would come soon, spreading out. Searching. Rage fueled her blood. So many vampires had died at the hands of the demons. The demons hunted in heavy packs. Swooping in, preying when the vamps were weak— ripping us apart.

They’d tried to stop them for months. And Devon, he’d been the * to bring those monsters into the world.

She twisted to the left. Snaked down the tunnel to the right. The scent of blood hit her. Fresh blood.

Dammit, what had he done now?

A heavy metal door waited in front of her, open by a few precious inches. Open just enough to let the scent of blood spill out.

“Devon!” She called out as she shoved at the door. “What are you—”

Inside, a pool of blood soaked the floor. And in the middle of that pool…the broken body of the werewolf who’d attacked Jace at Howling Moon.

Footsteps thudded behind her. “Morgan!”

Jace’s rumbling voice. She swallowed and glanced around the room. Blood-stained footprints led to the left, to an escape tunnel. One that opened in the heart of the swamp.

“Fuck!” Jace’s shoulders brushed hers.

Paul came in behind him and scanned the room. Disgust tightened his face. “Looks like Devon was still experimenting.”

Right below them. Right damn below them. The other Council members had forbidden his work long ago. But the bastard must have liked his blood and pain too much. Jace’s nostrils flared. “He f*cking slaughtered a wolf.” And that’s what it was—a slaughter. The wolf’s flesh was a pale white, and Morgan knew that Devon had drained Mike’s blood. A fresh kill. While they’d been upstairs, this wolf had been dying. Jace’s dark eyes locked on her.

She swallowed back the bile that rose in her throat. “ Jace, I-I didn’t know.” Like that would make it better. She should have known. Her nest. Her responsibility. It was all… on me.

“Look, I was coming to kill Devon, okay? He’s the one who opened the doorway for the demons. When I drank that demon’s blood, I saw him!”

Jace stared at the footprints, following them with his eyes. His shoulders were tense, and she could nearly feel the fury roiling from him. “The vampires summoned the demons.”

Jace’s claws burst out. “The vampires have been capturing wolves…what other little secrets haven’t you told me, mate? ”