I do not trust her.
I wouldn’t drink her blood if I were starving.
“And have you found one?” he asks, clutching her pale hands in his rich brown ones. “Did you bring me a cure?”
“As a matter of fact, I did!” She kisses his fingers and stands up. “While our sons were off chasing a myth, I found someone with enough magic to excise the curse without harming either of us.”
“Impossible!” I snap. “Whoever promised you that is a liar. It has been left to fester for too long. They are intrinsically linked.”
She makes a dismissive noise and turns her back to me. Hans touches my shoulder, and Flint bumps up against my knee. My chest warms at their support.
Gerrit takes a step closer to his mother. “Mother, Briar is possibly the most magical being on this plane. I believe her when she says that the risk is too high without weakening the curse.”
His stepmother spins around, hands on her chest. Her eyes are lined with silvery tears. “You would let her kill me?” she whines. “Your mother? You’d choose that creature over your mother?”
Silently, I beg that he not take the bait. That he does not grow agitated. She is trying to sew discord between us. I do not believe her sweet act one bit, but the Duke seems to buy it readily. He has not taken his eyes off his wife.
“She’s not a creature,” Gerrit says, crossing his massive arms over his chest.
But I am, aren’t I?
A succubus. A demon.
“She is ours,” Hans says, sliding his hand down my arm and clasping mine. “Just like we are hers.”
“Miss Briar!”Flint’s voice is frantic in my head. Hans must hear it, too, because he freezes at the sound.“Run, Briar. Run.”The fear in Flint’s voice is unlike anything I’ve ever heard, and as soon as I register the words, I take several steps backward toward the window.
I don’t know why he wants me to run, but he wouldn’t steer me wrong.
“I…” I whisper, looking at Gerrit. He couldn’t hear Flint. “I have to go.”
Scrambling towards the window, to the disparaging words about my worth from Gerrit’s mother, my mind is reeling.
What could be so dire that Flint would encourage me to run?
The wolf is behind me, nose under my ass, trying to push me out of the window when the door to the bedroom explodes open.
Wood shards go flying, and smoke fills the room, making me cough. A firm hand grabs the back of my dress, hurling me back into the room and onto the floor. My teeth crash together with the impact, and my body aches.
And standing above me is the man of my nightmares.
My Banisher.
He’s dressed as he always is, in head-to-toe black with his face obscured. His hands, pale peach with copious amounts of scarring, are clasped in front of his waist. I don’t have to see his eyes to know the venom he glares at me with.
I can’t look away from him, but I hear shouts from Hans and Gerrit and barks from Flint, but they sound as if they’re underwater.
“Oh, my little demon, you have made a mistake leaving your home,” he purrs. “Did you not learn your lesson on taking on a Complement last time?”
“Last time?”
He laughs loudly, but it is hollow and chilling. “Right, you don’t remember. No matter. It’s time to go home, demon.”
I scramble backward, pressing myself against the wall under the window. “I’m never going back there. I served my time for whatever crime you think I committed. I deserve to live!”
Looking over the Banisher’s shoulder, I see Hans and Gerrit banging on an invisible bubble surrounding us. They’re still yelling, and Flint is snarling. His snout is pointed at Gerrit’s mother, keeping her trapped on the bed.
He follows my line of sight. “Oh yes, your two Complements. Only you could manage to find not one but two willing partners while trapped in the middle of the woods. I’m almost impressed. And I am so benevolent that I will let them live with their memories altered.” He grabs my chin, wrenching my gaze to him. “Aren’t I generous?”
