A Throne of Ruin (Deliciously Dark Fairytales #2)(66)

Lust sparked down deep, because now I was thinking the same thing. Soon the feeling turned into an uncomfortable knot of longing as I remembered him earlier, all snuggly on the lounger, reading. He’d looked content in a way that bespoke many hours in that exact spot, his little reading nook. And now, because of me, he was reading a new genre, a genre I hadn’t known many men to enjoy. Not even Hannon read my books. It was so…sweet, a word I wouldn’t normally associate with him.

I missed the letters we’d exchanged when we were apart. If we could just communicate that way, maybe things would smooth out a little.

Then again, I missed touching him, also. Kissing him. Letters wouldn’t be enough. It had only been a day, and the longing ate through my middle. His very presence was an aphrodisiac, and being at odds with him dampened my spirits.

Stupid brooding, moody men prone to hysterics. He was messing with my mojo.

A hoarse scream rang through the night. I paused halfway to the workroom with the tray in hand, tilting my head to listen. Another scream, followed by a shout to stop.

I set down the tray and jogged back out, listening. At the next shout, I was running. It sounded like Hadriel, and it was not because of pleasure.

“No, no, no, no, please!” he yelled, blind terror in his voice.

Around the corner, I saw the issue. Hadriel was leaning backward out of a third-story window, held by someone. If that someone let go, he’d fall. Given he’d be falling headfirst or near enough, he wouldn’t survive.

“No, please! I’m just taking a night off. I’ll be back to shame-fucking tomorrow, I promise,” Hadriel said in a clumsy string of words, fear slurring his speech.

Demons, then, not pleased about the change in status quo.

Fire rolled through me. I increased my speed to a sprint for the back door. Once inside, I ran through the castle, straight for the stairs and up. I’d never been to Hadriel’s room, but I could gauge his location from where I’d seen the window. Down the hall and around the corner, though, and his shouts were all I needed.

Two men and three women crowded the hall outside his room, looking frightened and wringing their hands. Their faces were vaguely familiar, but I hadn’t officially met them. They clearly didn’t plan on helping.

I slowed to a stop just outside of the room, breathing heavily.

Protect him, my animal growled, dumping power into my body.

No shit. But I can’t just barge in or they might let him go.

I assumed a casual air and walked in, pushing the door open wider as I did so. A male and female demon had their hands on Hadriel, holding him outside of the window. Another male stood close by with a big grin on his face. He snuffled, soaking up Hadriel’s terror.

Recognition unfurled within me as I registered their scent.

The demon from the other night, my animal said, meaning the creature on the other side of my door. The other two were the ones from the grounds.

“What’s going on in here?” I asked in an unaffected tone.

The demon that had been outside of my door startled and looked my way. He hadn’t heard or smelled me come in.

Red eyes in a waxy oval face gave him an inhuman quality. His nose was mostly flat and his hair resembled a bird’s undercoat of feathers.

“Your human shell needs work, buddy. You look a mess,” I said.

The other demons slowly pulled Hadriel back into the room. His chest rose and fell quickly, his face incredibly pale and his eyes rounded. They didn’t give up their hold on him, and my animal coiled in rage.

I sauntered in farther. If they tried to flip Hadriel out, I wanted to be close enough to grab him.

“I know your smell…” Feathers snuffed the air, his smile resulting in pointed teeth.

“Yuck. You’re ugly.” I stopped and looked around the quaint interior. “Not much to this room, huh, Hadriel? Not even a fitting reading chair.”

Feathers kept his eyes on me as he crossed to the door. He closed it, his eyes gleaming.

“I smelled your fear the other night, little girl,” he said, and a spark of pain flared in my middle.

My animal answered with a gush of power. She snarled just below the surface. Shit was about to go down, and if I didn’t rise to the challenge, she would.

I had no problem rising to the challenge.

“You might want to lock it, too.” I winked at him. “I wouldn’t want you escaping.”

“You wouldn’t want us escaping…” he repeated, apparently thinking that was just hilarious. He twisted the lock on the door. “I will feed on your fear and your pain as you slowly die.”

“Promises, promises.”





Fifteen





I pointed at the other two, their faces both square with the same dark brown eyes, the same points at the tips of their long noses—they looked like identical twins with different-length hair. One male, one female. “You two, let him go.”

They offered me the same sort of smile, delighted and condescending. They thought they were at the top of the hierarchy in this room.

“I don’t think we will,” Male Twin said. “He is giving us just the right amount of terror.”

“Hadriel, if you get access to your animal, will it make you stronger?” I asked.

“I think I do have access…” he answered in a quavering voice. “I feel him.”