Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 127527 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 638(@200wpm)___ 510(@250wpm)___ 425(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127527 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 638(@200wpm)___ 510(@250wpm)___ 425(@300wpm)
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Fuuuuuuck.
Teague pressed his lips tight. Had it been naïve of him to think that it would never come to this? Maybe. But he hadn’t expected her to ever show up here—least of all at a time when a very telling event would go down.
Yes, Larkin was incredibly protective of those inside her circle. But despite that he’d failed to telepathically convince her that all was fine, he hadn’t for one moment thought she’d hurry to his side. Granted, he wasn’t entirely outside her circle anymore. But nor was he in it. It was more like he hovered on its border. Evidently, he’d been wrong to think that that would mean little to her.
As she steadily met his gaze, Teague instantly dismissed the idea of spouting denials. He had no clue what she’d seen while on his land, but it had clearly been enough for her to make all the right conclusions—her utter certainty was lined into her face. There would be no making her doubt herself.
See, this was why he’d kept his distance from her all these years. It was why he should have continued to keep his distance. But he hadn’t, and now he and his clan were fucked.
He understood why she’d feel compelled to relay what she’d learned to Knox—he was not merely her Prime, but her family. Nonetheless, for Teague, it would feel like a betrayal. Like she’d chosen Knox over him.
“That’s why I can’t find any record of your past,” Larkin continued. “There is no record. You’re all hell-born. You spent the prior portion of your lives in that realm.”
Tucker blew out a quiet breath. “Knew this was gonna happen sooner or later,” he muttered to himself, solemn. “Just knew it.”
Ignoring the sting of his injuries, Teague began pulling on his clothes, and the others followed suit.
“I get why you got yourselves some dogs and seem to have tamed some local ravens,” Larkin added. “You’re used to having animals.”
Humans had strong misconceptions about the Wild Hunt. In truth, it was a unit of hell’s army. A unit that tracked down and returned any souls who escaped from hell, which wasn’t an easy feat, considering those souls might have sought refuge in any number of realms. It was much like looking for a needle in a whole bundle of haystacks.
In that sense, they were the Dark Host’s bounty hunters. Their performance reflected on its strength, so every member had to be beyond good at what they did. As such, training was brutal, and mistakes were unacceptable.
Members of the unit—which always consisted of seven hellhorses, five bloodhounds, and five carrions birds—would serve for six whole centuries before retiring. At that point, they could do whatever they wished. Including making a home in another realm.
Larkin shook her head, her gaze still locked on Teague. “No wonder you glossed over any mention I made of how I’d like to meet your clan. You never intended to introduce me to them or to bring me here. Never intended to let me fully into your life.”
His gut clenched at the pinch of hurt in her eyes. Now fully dressed, he set his hands on his hips. “Why did you come here?”
Her brow flicked up. “That’s what you want to focus on?” A scathing snort popped out of her. “You’re not going to distract me this time, Teague.”
Yeah, he could see that. “You have to know why we keep our pasts to ourselves.”
She dipped her chin. “No one in this realm much likes having hell-born demons around. You grew up with a different set of rules, a different set of ethics, a different idea of priorities. As such, you’re often . . . problematic.”
Even Teague could admit that that was something of an understatement.
“You also tend to pull all kinds of crap and think you’re entitled to get away with it; that you shouldn’t have to answer to ‘lesser demons’.”
“That doesn’t apply to us. We don’t view Earth-born demons as less.”
“I know that. I know you. And I would have thought you knew me well enough to know that I wouldn’t hold where you were born against you.” That pinch of hurt in her eyes was back.
“I never thought for a second that you would.”
“And yet, you kept me in the dark. More, you had no intention of ever telling me the truth of your past.”
“I knew you’d feel obliged to inform Knox. That will lead to a shitshow, Larkin. He’s not going to like that hell-born demons are around. Because anything born in hell will take one look at him and know what he is.” Teague took a slow step toward her. “It’s something he strives to keep secret—and for good reason. As such, he’ll want us gone. And by gone, I mean dead.” He shouldn’t have to spell all this out.