Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 58321 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 292(@200wpm)___ 233(@250wpm)___ 194(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58321 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 292(@200wpm)___ 233(@250wpm)___ 194(@300wpm)
Now only cruelty will do.
7
GRACE
I don’t know who this man is, but he’s not the nice, even awkward, gargoyle I shared dinner with. Bram stands in the shadows of the surrounding trees, his wings flared like a creature from a nightmare. I have to agree to his terms. The web is too sticky to escape from, and if the giant spider he killed is any indication . . . No, I can’t think about the spider. I hate them in their small form in the human realm. I can barely comprehend the scale of the thing at my feet. It’s got to be the size of a medium dog.
No, no, no, no, do not want, oh my gods, get me out of here.
There’s a scream building in the back of my throat, a traitor of a sound, and if it escapes, I don’t know if it’ll ever stop. What happens when you spend twenty-five years not showing a single ounce of fear and then it all comes rushing out in a single instance? I’m terrified that I’ll find out if Bram doesn’t get me out of here right this fucking second.
“No babies.” I don’t have a single bit of bargaining power, and I know it, but I refuse to cross this particular line. Maybe I’m giving in too easily . . . or maybe him turning the bedroom into a battlefield is all too familiar. It’s what I do, after all. Forcing this decision might be exactly what I need as an excuse to take what I want. It doesn’t matter. There there’s no way in hell I’m leaving a child behind in the demon realm.
“We’ll see.”
I ignore that. There’s no time to bargain, no leverage to use to get what I want. “Every time I try to escape, if you catch me, I will come to your bed.” I force myself to hold his gaze, or try to. His face is bathed in shadows. “But I’m not having your child.”
“For now.”
Something akin to pure heat flares inside me. This man is standing between me and the answers. The web is starting to vibrate with the movement of predators from above. I can’t make myself look up. If I do, the scream I’m currently battling will win the war.
“I already agreed. Cut me down.”
“Starting tonight.” There is no give in his rough voice. I don’t know if he really will stand here and watch me be eaten alive by giant spiders, but he looks pissed off enough to do it.
“Starting tonight.” I yank on my arm, but all it does is make my entire body shake as my movement transfers to the web. Motion at the edge of my vision makes my head whip around despite my best efforts. I can’t stop the whimper that slips from my lips. I would happily rather battle a rampaging minotaur with my bare hands than face what’s skittering toward me on the web. “Bram, please!”
Once again, he strikes so quickly that I barely see the movement. This time, it’s me that he cuts down. I barely have a second to attempt to brace myself before he catches me in his arms and launches us into the air. It’s not cowardice that makes me cling to him, it’s self-preservation. He might actually drop me.
He wings his way back to the castle and dives into one of the vertical shafts, using a speed that makes me breathless. Apparently we’re not taking the slow way this time. It’s hard to tell when everything looks exactly the same and I’m covered in web, but I think he takes me to a different part of the castle than my room is in. He lands with a grace that irritates me, and then he stalks to a massive double door at the end of the hallway. Inside is a room twice the size of mine and appointed just as luxuriously.
I tense, but he bypasses the bed without hesitation. Instead, he carries me into the bathroom and uses one of his wings to turn on the taps. He stands there in pained silence as water fills the tub. I open my mouth, but he silences me with a severe look. “I highly suggest you don’t argue with me right now.”
He’s furious. It’s written all over his aura, the starbursts of violent red. He might look like he hates me with his expression, but at least the sickly yellow-green-brown color is nowhere in evidence. I’m not about to examine why that absence fills me with relief.
For all Bram’s anger, he holds me carefully. It would’ve been very easy for him to crush me or hurt me in some way, but even when we were flying furiously, he kept his arms in a comfortable bracket. It’s more control than I would’ve been able to exhibit in his situation. I don’t know if I find that to be a relief . . . or even more terrifying.