“Don’t—“ I gasp out. “Please. Let me go. I’ll hurt you. I’ll kill you too. I’ll kill you!”
He exhales a sharp breath through his nostrils and cocks his head. “Will you? Good fucking luck with that pet.”
“No, I don’t—“
He clamps a hand over my mouth, muffling my sobs. He turns his head, body tensing. I hear it too. The sound of footsteps in the distance.
The daemon killed someone. I killed someone. I killed Sitri’s aunt. I’m dangerous.My sobs turn into a shrill squeal deep in my chest.
“Shut up,” he hisses.
I’m powerless against the wracking sobs. When I don’t obey, he dips a hand under my chin. “Sleep.”
The world goes black.
“Wake up.”
The voicescreams insideof my head, and I jolt up with a gasp as icy water splashes across my face. My hands are bound. I struggle against them, using my feet to scramble up into a sitting position.
I’m in Sitri’s chambers. In his bed. My wrists are locked to each other by an invisible force. Magic. I swipe awkwardly at the water dripping down my face with my bound hands.
Sitri.
He hovers near the bed. It only takes one glimpse for it all to crash back down around me. I almost don’t recognize him. The blood is gone from him and me, but there’s no sign of the man who pressed me against the wall last night or pleaded with me to confide in him only an hour ago. There’s only brutal fury etched across his face, chest expanding with each sharp breath he lugs in his chest.
The monster I always expected to be given to.
But, no, he’s not that.
I am.
It was me this whole time. I was the evil lying in wait. Insidious.
“Talk,” he demands, waving a hand impatiently, movements jerky with aggravation.
My mind races. My heart races. My breathing quickens.I killed her.Made her fucking implode. Just like I had a million things before. Now I have to answer for it. A sob tears up my throat, and then another and another.
“Stop-- fucking-- crying,” he snarls.
Those words carry with his power and reverberate around the room. Scream inside my skull. I cringe, lifting my bound hands to shield my ears, fighting down the waves of emotion shaking my chest.
“Talk.”
“I…Please…” I bawl.
“Who are you?”
I wince again as those words tear at my eardrums. The daemon jolts in response, and I squeeze my bound hands over my abdomen, clamping around it with a quiet groan.
“Who the fuck are you?”he roars.
“You know me,” I gasp out, mind spinning. Because how can I even begin to explain?
“No, I don’t know you,pet,” he sneers darkly. He starts pacing at the end of the bed. “I want to know who sent you here. Was it Soren…or Kaius? I swear to the fucking Gods, if you’re one of Morin’s—“ He breaks off, angrily pursing his lips. “No wonder you didn’t want my fucking magic in you. You’re not a nought. You were never a nought.”
His glare travels over me turning more disgusted with every beat. “Look at you. So innocent,” he snorts. “The perfect fucking spy.” He starts pacing again. “I should’ve known. When Div took you as his master and…the Rite…is this why you were so eager for my trust? Well, you didn’t get much from me, did you?”
I shake my head vigorously, sobs tearing up my throat.
