Whisper to a Scream (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #6.5)(20)

“You already work for me, Willow. Eventually, you’ll accept that. Why else would one of the highest ranking angels abandon everything for the love of a whore? You belong to the darkness now.” More laughter. His eyes glittered with amusement. Shya was finding true joy in my predicament.

I burned with a rage that was foreign to my kind. As unnatural as it was, it felt good. The need to inflict my pain upon another was strong, promising a temporary release.

“You don’t know a damn thing about my love for Christina. She is a woman, a child of God like any other. Don’t speak of her again.” My fists clenched and unclenched. It was all I could do not to smack that smug smile from Shya’s face. I didn’t want a fight; I just wanted to be rid of him.

“It’s incredibly difficult, isn’t it? To love a woman that will always belong to another.” He continued to flip pages, almost absently as he stared at me. “I understand quite well. I, too, have felt the bitter sting of jealousy. Someone should have warned you. Never fall in love with a whore. It will drive you to the depths of madness, from which there is no return.”

“Get out,” I said again, wishing he would just go. Every moment in his presence was suffocating, crushing my remaining strength.

“Do you not see? I am here to help you, to set you free from that which holds you bound to this earthly world. You don’t belong here. You belong with us.”

“Get out!” My shout echoed throughout the apartment. I used my meager power to slap the book out of his hands. It hit the floor with a thump that kicked up a small puff of dust.

There was a tense moment where we stared at one another, me with daggers in my eyes and Shya with the narrowed intrigue of a true monster. The tables had been turned. He now commanded greater power; I no longer outranked him. Only if I were to become full demon would that change, but I would never sink that revoltingly low.

Shya advanced on me slowly. Malice distorted his face into something sinister. I hated him and everything he stood for, and he was hell bent on making me regret that.

“I anticipated great resistance from you. I’ve got to admit, it’s nice to be presented with a challenge every now and again.” He got intrusively close, leaning in like a lover until we were almost touching. “Because I still actually respect you, I’m going to offer you a choice.”

I barely nodded, unwilling to get any closer. My apprehension rose along with my displeasure. “I reserve the right to reject your choices and send you on your merry way.”

Shya’s snake-like pupils dilated with excitement. This was a creature that enjoyed every second of misery it inflicted upon another. He was about to deliver some of that misery to me.

“What means more to you? Your duty or your love?” Husky and sensual, Shya spoke with a calm malevolence that demanded my full attention. “Two lives, the wolf and the whore. You can spare only one. Who do you choose?”

Hatred flowed through me like poison in my veins. It bonded to my being, becoming a part of me. I shoved him backwards, needing him out of my face. I followed that act of aggression with an attack of power.

With a loud bang, a spark of light flashed between us. Shya hit the opposite wall hard, rattling the cross and sconces that hung on that wall. Laughter poured from the demon. My meager attack had done little other than remind me who I was now.

“So, there is still some fight left in you,” Shya cackled, unfurling his black wings like a living shadow. “Maybe you haven’t fallen all that far yet. Make your choice, Willow. Or, I will gladly make it for you.”

“You have no right. I won’t be controlled by you, demon.”

I fought unsuccessfully to resist the sudden panic that weakened my knees. I couldn’t make sense of this. I had fallen and lost Christina in the process. Wasn’t that enough punishment for now?

Pressure slammed into my chest, like a hand punching inside to crush what was left of my heart. I went down hard on the floor. The weight of Shya’s power was too heavy. My anguished cry could barely escape between my clenched teeth.

The demon stood over me, a ghost of a smile causing his lips to twitch. “Wrong answer. That’s alright. You’ll know better next time.”

He was gone. I had no time to decide where to go. It was my duty to go to Alexa. If she wasn’t safe, if Shya hurt her, then it would be my fault. She would not pay for my sins; I couldn’t allow it.

As she was no longer officially my charge, I couldn’t instantly be at her side as I once had. I had to visit a few different places before I found her, safe and alive in the nightclub near her house.

There was no sign of Shya. The taint of evil did not linger in the noisy establishment. He had never come here, though he had known I would.

I prayed hard. The precious moments it took me to make the jump to Christina’s were the longest of my existence. I didn’t waste time, appearing in the middle of her apartment instead of at her door.

Shya stood there grinning. In his arms, Christina trembled as the demon held a dagger to her throat.

“Willow?” Her voice cracked, and she dissolved into sobs.

“I’m impressed,” Shya said, tightening his hold on Christina so that she yelped in pain. “You chose the wolf. Smart choice. She certainly is one to watch, isn’t she? And, I will kill her. Just not today. Today, I show you why it’s dangerous to refuse me.”