The Devil In Disguise (Bad Things #1)(67)

Her tail…it was feeling funny, and not just because of the spear still in the side of it. She looked down and saw that her scales weren’t shining quite as brightly. “What’s happening?” She looked back up at the man. “Who are you?”

Surprise flashed on his face then. “You don’t know?”

She knew her instincts were screaming he was someone bad. But—

“I’m the man you love, Mina.” His smile was incredibly tender. “And the man you’d do anything for.”

He was a liar. “Help the woman in the box.”

He knelt next to Mina. “Will your legs come back, the longer you’re out of the water?”

Her legs?

“I can’t believe you held this wonderful secret from me.” His hand curled under her chin. “Mina, Mina, Mina…what else have you been holding back?”

Her lips trembled. “H-help the woman in the box.”

“Forget her. If she’s not already dead, she will be.”

Monster. The word burst into her head. He’s a monster. She shoved at his hand and tried to flee, but she couldn’t move with her tail. She could only flop there, trapped, while they all stared at her. The monster—he stared at her with lust in his eyes. The others stared at her as if she were some sort of freak. And the redheaded woman was even touching the gun at her side, as if she were thinking about shooting Mina.

“Help me,” Mina begged.

The monster smiled. “We’ll help each other, Mina. You’ll come back with me and together we will do amazing things.”

No. They wouldn’t. “Help me!” Mina screamed because she was trapped. Helpless. Afraid.

The monster laughed. “What? Do you think Luke Thorne is going to magically appear? Do you think he’ll hear your screams? He’s dead, Mina. I killed him. There’s no one left to care about what happens to you. No one, but me.”

Luke Thorne.

That one name pierced through her, driving far deeper than the spear had.

Who is Luke?

Luke.

Luke…

The sky seemed to darken overhead.

Her heart was hurting. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. I killed him. Mina shook her head and suddenly, some of the heavy fog that had seemed to fill her head—suddenly, it lifted.

In her mind, Mina saw a man sitting at an old, faded bar. He had dark hair and a face built for sin. He was drinking a dark amber liquid. His head turned toward her and a faint smile lifted his lips.

Luke.

She saw him again, only he was in the middle of some kind of cell. His face was furious as he yelled for her to run.

Luke.

And she saw him again. Dark hair mussed. Eyes bright with passion as he stared down at her. In that memory, they were in his bed. He was making love to her and she—

She’d been so happy. With Luke.

“He’s not dead,” Mina whispered. Luke. She kept repeating his name in her head like a mantra and every single time that she thought of him, the fog that had shrouded her memories dissipated a bit more.

I’m Mina and he’s Luke.

“Luke got blasted to bits, darling. Trust me. He’s gone.”

Mina looked up. She saw the shadows above them. Not shadows, though, not really. Just big, dark dragon wings. “You can’t kill the Lord of the Dark.” She glanced back at the monster. Garrick. I remember you now, too. “But he will kill you.”

Fear flashed on Garrick’s face. He looked up, too, and then she saw the terror race across his face.

That was good. He should be terrified. Because Luke was going to kick his ass.

“Fire at him!” Garrick bellowed at the agents around him. “Shoot that bastard out of the sky!”

They grabbed for their guns and started firing. Mina screamed, loud, lost, desperate—

And time seemed to freeze.

Glass burst all around her—every bit of glass on the ship just shattered. The men—and even the redheaded woman—screamed. They dropped their guns and immediately covered their ears.

Mina heard her own scream echoing around her. It seemed to linger in the air, hanging there as the others dropped to their knees in apparent suffering.

“Stop…her…” The redhead—Madeline. I remember you now. “Stop her from…screaming…her screams…hurt!”

Garrick put his hands around Mina’s throat. He started squeezing. Her screams were cut off as she choked. Her hands flew up, punching at him, but he just tightened his grip. “When you…pass out…” he rasped. “I’ll stop.”

What?

But then there were more screams. Only they weren’t coming from her this time. Over Garrick’s shoulder, she saw that the dragon had landed. In a flash, the beast vanished and Luke was in the form of a man. Julian was with him, and the shifter’s frantic gaze shot around the ship.

“Rose!” Julian bellowed. “Rose, where are you?”

Luke’s twin was behind them, and he was causing the humans to scream as he punched them and tossed them overboard.

Dark spots danced before Mina’s eyes.

“Welcome to hell.” Luke’s voice. Cold, brutal and—

Garrick was ripped away from her. In the same instant, a soft cloth wrapped around Mina’s body. She’d been naked, but now she was covered with some sort of shirt that dipped over her shoulders and fell to her—well, to mid-way down her tail.