Her blood will be on my hands. I’ll be responsible for her death.
Dimitri gently kissed me. “Then I’ll talk to her, sunshine, but I swear the baby isn’t mine.”
I swallowed around the lump in my throat and nodded as I nervously played with strands of his hair. “I believe you.”
He smiled against my mouth before he pecked another kiss on my lips and leaned away from me. I dropped my arms to my sides and stared at him with tears in my eyes as he gave me a warning look before he reached for the door handle. I moved out of the way as he stepped past the doorway.
“I love you,” I whispered. My intention in telling him this wasn’t to manipulate him, but I couldn’t hold it back anymore. I feared something awful would happen to him as he “talked” to Mia. What if he got shot? What about the demon hunters he’d told me about?
Dimitri froze; his shoulders tensed, and his spine straightened. I assumed he’d walk away, saying nothing in return, but he whirled around and caught my face between his hands. He kissed me like it was the first time again. Our tongues tangled briefly before he sucked my bottom lip into his mouth, then returned to kissing me like he couldn’t get enough. He stole my every breath, only to breathe back into me when I couldn’t fill my lungs with the needed air. It was a control thing. Nothing about Dimitri screamed “submissive.” He’d allow me to breathe if he wanted, and when I did, he filled my body with the breath he allowed me to have. Every orgasm I had was because he allowed me to have it. I loved it so much, just like I loved him.
“You are the sun on my darkest days,” he murmured against my mouth. Then he stepped away, his darkened amber eyes on me. Looking into them, I knew everything would be all right. After one last longing look, he left and shut the door behind him.
“We all have a hell, sunshine. If you let me, I’ll be your moon on your darkest nights. Because you are my sun on my darkest days.”
I rapidly blinked at the memory of his confession. We were on a plane heading back to the States after visiting somewhere. I couldn’t remember where, though. But it was Dimitri’s soft voice filled with love as he told me in his way that he loved me.
Footsteps echoed in the hallway and grew louder until they stopped outside the door.
“Dimitri?” I asked as I reached for the doorknob.
The person on the other side slowly opened the door, and I bunched my eyebrows together. “What are you doing here?”
Inavigated through the throng of people in the cramped building. Ignoring the weird looks sent my way, I continued searching for Mia. I knew the little bitch was there because I’d seen her earlier that evening.
A man who looked to be in his thirties approached me, and I stopped short as he smirked. “Mr. Volkov. Great show you put on.”
I stared at him blankly.
He shifted his weight from one leg to the other. “I knew you were close to Emma, but I didn’t realizehowclose you two were.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Is there a reason why you’re talking to me?”
The man glanced away and swallowed so hard that I could see his Adam’s apple move. “Sir, there are families here for this celebration, and some of them saw what you and your assistant were doing. They’re not happy.”
I couldn’t have cared less. There weren’t children here because I’d made sure my employees couldn’t bring them. This location wouldn’t allow anyone under twenty-one because their liquor license could be at stake. So I didn’t care about their wives, mothers, fathers, and whoever else saw me claim Emma. I intended for everyone—especially Mia—to know I had no interest in anyone else. Emma was mine andminealone.
The young mortal waited for me to say something—to apologize or go off on him. I stared at him with a frown, imagining every way I could kill him. Although I had a human mate, my hatred of them never stopped. I saw my father hanging from a tree when I looked long enough at them. The once-feared warlord hung from a sturdy branch with despicable things carved into him like he was a fucking pumpkin. Humans did that to him, and I would always punish the humans for it.
The human male stepped away from me, finally realizing I didn’t want to talk to him. He held his palms up to placate me before he turned and walked away. I slowly blinked and looked through the crowd again, searching for Mia. When I didn’t see her in this room, I moved on to the next until I’d searched every room and come up with nothing. I went outside and inhaled, searching through the thousands of scents for Mia’s nauseating perfume.
Nothing.
I gritted my teeth together and glared at the cloud-covered sky. Tiny flakes of snow floated down and kissed the white-dusted ground. My mind immediately went to Emma the evening of the car accident and how she stood outside, shivering and red nosed as she watched the snow fall from the sky with a little smile.
Long tendrils of my hair danced in the gust of wind that came out of nowhere. I tucked a few pieces behind my ear and glanced around the area, hoping to find the woman who’d tried to destroy my relationship with Emma.
My inner demon tensed inside my mind, and a low growl rumbled from him.“Magic. There are demon hunters here.”
I narrowed my eyes and took one step toward the porch but stopped short. My eyes widened by a fraction.
Emma.
I spun around and rushed back inside. Too many people were in my way, like they knew I had somewhere to be and purposely blocked my path. I snarled and shoved them aside to get upstairs. When I got to the second floor, the scent of magic became stronger. My demon bared his teeth and rose closer to the surface.
I ran to the room where I’d left Emma and thrust the door open, finding it empty. My demon roared in my head, his anger surging through my veins like waves in a turbulent ocean. I kept my icy mask of indifference as I strode through the room, then stopped when I noticed the drops of blood on the wooden floor. My nails lengthened and pricked into my palms as I fisted my hands. I crouched, swiped my finger through the blood, and brought it to my nose. I knew it was Emma’s, but I needed to make sure. Sniffing, another wave of my demon’s rage swept through my body.
“Let me out. I can find her,”Daimon snarled.
