With a swift shift, he rolls us opposite of each other, his body now sandwiching me to the bed. My eyes widen, lips parting as he licks his. Now, as I’m looking at his features, it feels like I haven’t seen him in so long. Hadn’t I just gone to sleep with him last night?
His bright, crimson eyes soften, a slight veil dimming their intensity, the slant of them only enhancing his effortless allure. His flawless ebony skin glows under the light, and I remember him once telling me about the discoloration on his upper lip—the one that went away after the Vampiric Night took him.
Drawing my hand to his cheek, my thumb caresses against his lips.
“Endearing this morning. That’s odd of you.”
My breathing picks up, and I could swear my heart is rolling around in my stomach. Heat is building behind my eyes, and I can feel that something is wrong. Like I’m about to lose him. “Kai…”
“Little demon, what’s wrong?”
“I… miss you…” My bottom lip trembles. “I’m sorry…”
He leans down onto me, his hands shifting to cup my face. “Don’t be sorry. It’s okay to cry.”
Warm tears fall down my temples.
“It doesn’t make you weak, baby.”
“I—”
“Not here…” he whispers against my lips. And the moment my eyes close, they don’t reopen in a place I took for granted.
It wasn’t sleepI fell into—I’m pretty sure I blacked out.
A rough, dry groan escapes me, accompanied by the sound of cracking glass beneath my palm. Shifting is a struggle, but at least she allowed me the ability to move my limbs this time. It just gives me a false sense of hope that I have any freedom and power in this room.
However, I think I’ve finally destroyed her patience.
Bringing a hand up, I glance at the pieces of glass embedded into my palm. Blood pools and cascades down my wrist to my bare thighs. Warmth pours down my eyebrow and into my eye, the burning immediately making me close it. Tears build under my lid, trying to flush the feeling of iron and salt out.
The loud clatter of metal against the hollow wooden planks makes me turn my head. Out of one eye, I watch as my mother, consumed by her Amoro, raises her hand and slaps Archer—the guy with the snake-like attitude. Her hit is hard, and I can see the skin immediately peel back from his cheek. He, being an Incubus himself, heals the injury almost instantly.
Drawing my knees up to my chest, I rest my head against them. I can’t hear what she is saying—I’m certain the punch that knocked me out was directly against the ear closest to her. My body is so tired, exhausted of healing, and my Amoro that I’ve finally been able to connect with, is depleted. I’ve been fighting a losing battle.
Slowly, I open my eye, feeling the grittiness and irritation as the blood mixes further with my tears. I look once again at my palm and begin picking out the shards protruding from it.
“She’s angry…” I murmur, tearing them out one by one, like petals on a flower. “She’s not angry…. She’s furious… She’s not furious…”
I feel the floor below me shuddering, and I put my forehead against my knee. “She’s livid?—”
The grip on my hair tears me backward, dragging me across the floor. On instinct, I reach up and grab hold of her wrist and dig my nails hard into her. Feeling the puncture, I wiggle them further, looking to just cause her any sort of pain or discomfort at this point.
When I’m tossed, I’m given no chance this time to bring myself up as a foot presses roughly onto my stomach, keeping me flat on my back. “Xeraphine, you and that fucking Amoro are pissing me off.”
“You don’t… say…” I grit through an uncomfortable cough. “Could have fooled me…”
She shifts down to a crouched position, her heel digging harder into me. “Ahh!” I scream through clenched teeth. The feeling of her fingers entering my core has my body going cold.
“So fucking mouthy.” As she curls her fingers, those sharpened points of her nails slice through me and I vibrate under the agony it causes. “Your Amoro is killing your chances of sleeping. There is no point in this fight, Xeraphine!”
I have no idea how I’m doing it, but the Incubus she has under her thumb has been incapable of getting me pregnant. It isn’t for a lack of him trying, that’s for sure. I’m not going to question what is happening, because I’d rather suffer like this than ever carry a fucking baby, especially for thisbitch.
I tear my mind away from the sensation of her entire hand inside me, attempting to release a breath as I think of Sydni’s pretty pink nails. The sparkly ones that used to piss me off for being so girly—now, I just wish I could sprinkle a little of that shit around me for somegood.
“I’ll rip every part of you out, Daughter.”
There is no way for me to take a meaningful breath. “I’ll grow it all back.” My voice is strained under the pressure, and just as I’m sure she is about to grab whatever she can, Archer speaks.
