Hmm…
Grabbing one of the pictures, I run my finger along the edges, tracing what I assume is a high school photo of my girl. She has a gentle smile, her hair cascading over one shoulder, and those stunning moonlit eyes staring right at the camera.
I glance up and take the next one down, noting the same setup, but it's clear she's older now—maybe just a year or so. Her smile is smaller this time.
Thetrend continues in the next photo, and by the fourth one, there's no smile left on her beautiful face.
Tucking them into my jeans pocket, I glance over at Alaric, who is holding a small notebook. He taps it against his palm and turns to me.
“This is all that's in the desk. Maybe she talks about her late husband—if it’s hers.”
He opens it up and takes a step toward me. “Xeraphine Nora. Birthday, April 2nd. Born of a…” His eyes dart up to mine.
“What?”
“Born of a Succubus and marked Mundane.”
I open my mouth to respond, but before I can speak, a loud scream cuts through the air, instantly snapping me into action. Without a second thought, I race down the hall, heading straight back toward Sydni.
Chapter 9
Xeraphine
Iwoke up a bit ago, feeling slightly better than I did before my heart stopped. I don’t know how much time has passed, maybe a day or two, but I can’t confirm since I was quite literally dead.
Thankfully, my irrational response to Lars’sobviouslie about Kairhyse being dead is now a thing of the past. I’m smarter than that; for me to believe a fucking freak and manipulator like him is weak.
They walked me onto a ship not too long ago—I couldn’t see anything to confirm, but I could smell the sea and feel the slight sway beneath me.
Aside from that… nothing.
It doesn’t help that one of them hums constantly, grating on my nerves and distracting me from listening for anything else. Another one occasionally whistles, which is slightly less annoying, but it still gets under my skin.
Lars, thank fucking Belial himself, parted ways with me and while I’d rather forget his methods of saying goodbye, I’m grateful he’s gone. Sick prick.Thatis the wrong obsession. The kind that’ll give me nightmares and a few extra therapy sessions.
Why are men disgusting? I swore I’d seen it all,feltit all, but of course not. They always find a way to be even more grotesque. He couldn’t have just cut my thigh for blood to use as lube. No, never, because how fucking boring! He just had to fuck me with the blade first. Who knows what he did after I ‘died’.
Sick fuck!!!
I need to extract myself from what he did to me. This silence we are sitting in is pissing me off equally as the thoughts of Lars are. So, I ask notfor a true answer, but to break it, “Is the blindfold necessary?”
“Ah, she speaks.”
“Her voice is beautiful.”
A grunt is all I get from the third.
“No need for you to see, my darling daughter.” A hand grips my shoulder, and that strange, drug-like sensation that has been lingering on my skin shudders through me. I know it’s her Amoro—the sensation of numbness and loss of control pulls at every tendril of my brain, affecting my body’s functions.
Her nails dig into my shoulder, and I groan.
Great, I’m not numb,wonderful.
“We’re going to run some tests, then you’ll go for a long sleep, sweetheart.” She pauses, but not for long, because then she asks someone, “Is the room ready?”
“Yes,” a deep male voice responds to her question. I’ve not heard him yet, which makes me think he’s the grunter.
I need to find a way to break free from whatever control she has over my Amoro. I’m beating myself up for not doing more research on my own kind. If I had known even the slightest bit about us, maybe I’d have a better chance of suffering less.
