Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

RELIC

MINE .

She was mine.

Her door closed, shutting me out, and a snarl erupted from me, echoing along the dark street. Her scent was branded on my senses, swimming in my head. The sound of her heart beating—I’d fucking felt it. I wanted to strip her down and rub my scent all over her. Mark her, brand her, claim her. I wanted to snatch her from that store, plant her ass on my bike, and take her home with me.

I wanted her in my den.

In my bed.

My fangs in her throat while I was deep inside her, marking her as mine. And I wanted her to bury those cute little fangs of hers into me. I wanted to feed her until she was satisfied. I wanted to be the one to satisfy her in every single fucking way.

The little demon was mine.

My mate.

How had I not seen it?

I shook my head, trying to clear it.

I’d never expected to find her, not fucking yet. It wasn’t my turn. I had brothers almost twice my age, still waiting to find their mates. I hadn’t believed it—that she could be mine. I hadn’t let myself believe it. I was undeserving. Jagger, Roman, Fender, Lothar—they were all more deserving than me.

But she was here, and she was mine. Until that piece of shit at the feeding club had bared his throat, offering his vein to her, I’d had my head lodged up my own fucking ass. Then, she touched his neck, and it all clicked into place, sharp and with force. Honestly, if he hadn’t gotten up and walked away from her, if she hadn’t walked out of the feeding club when she had, if she’d let anyone else feed her, that place would have been even more of a bloodbath because I would have torn anyone that tried, limb from limb.

My feet had me moving to her door without thought, and I pressed my hand to it. Power vibrated through my palm from her ward. At least she had that.

My lips peeled back, and I bared my teeth. I wanted to be in there with her, upstairs in her apartment. I wanted to pick up my Tinker Bell and feel her pressed against me while I nuzzled her pretty neck and tasted her skin. I wanted her naked and draped over me in bed while she fed and I made her come until she collapsed with exhaustion, then snuggled up against me all night, warm and soft.

My growls were constant now, every indrawn breath and every exhale, because I’d have to wait. For some reason, she wasn’t feeling it, not yet. She should want me close, but she’d told me to leave her alone. Her pussy should be weeping for me, but she didn’t smell of arousal; she smelled of fear. I didn’t know what to do. How to make her see who I was, how to make her want me like I did her.

I shoved my fingers through my hair. I’d never had to work at making a female want me. The ones who hung around the clubhouse were always ready, always willing. My fingers curled around the door handle, and I tested it. Locked. Of course it was. I could break it easily—one hard twist and it would snap right off.

Power from her ward hammered into me, pain slamming through my arm, knocking me back a step. If I were anyone else, I would have been thrown across the street. The ward was strong, but it would be nothing for me to get through. A little pain wasn’t enough to bar me from my female.

Not when she was right there, on the other side.

If you break in, you’ll only scare her more.

I cursed. She wouldn’t like it, would she, if I let myself in? Tensing every muscle in my body, I battled for control, resisting the urge to force my way inside.

I gripped the door handle again. “Fuck.”

* * *

FERN

I paced my apartment. He was still down there. I walked to the window and looked out. I couldn’t see him, but I could hear him. Hunger gnawed at my belly, and I couldn’t stop shaking.

Because of him, I was down two thousand dollars, and I still hadn’t fucking fed.

The door handle rattled downstairs again.

Fuck .

Relic was growling and cursing. Every now and then, the handle rattled; he’d be hit by a blast of power from my ward, and he’d curse again. He should be unconscious, flat on his back on the other side of the street by now. The male wasn’t only insane; he was strong . Stronger than anyone I’d ever met. I guessed it shouldn’t be surprising; he was a motherfucking hellhound.

He growled again, and I startled, then cursed under my breath. I needed to do something. He wasn’t going to leave me alone—that much had become obvious.

My phone rang, and I yanked it out of my pocket but didn’t recognize the number. Shit, it was probably Relic. Ignoring it, I paced away from the window and back. My phone started ringing again.

How had he gotten my freaking number?

Fucking hell.

I was about to turn away when something moved on the roof of the building across the street. I moved closer as a dark figure stepped out of the shadows and into the moonlight. A male. I couldn’t see his face. He wore a hooded sweatshirt and lifted an arm, holding up a phone. Not Relic. The male tapped at the screen and put it to his ear. Mine started ringing again a moment later.

He was one of the demons who’d been watching me—he had to be. Why was some lowlife breeder scout calling me?

Was I some kind of psycho magnet? First, this asshole standing on a roof across the street and his buddies, and now the hound. Though I hadn’t actually seen anyone hanging around my place this last week.

My phone stopped ringing, and the male on the roof took the phone from his ear, tapped the screen, and lifted it again. Mine instantly started up.

Shit .

Stepping back from the window, I stared down at my phone. He wasn’t going to stop, not until I talked to him. Gritting my teeth and my hand shaking, I answered. “Who are you? What the fuck do you want?”

“Come back to the window, and I’ll show you,” a distorted voice said down the line.

Fear dug its hooks deep into my flesh. That voice—the clipped tone, the pauses at odd places was horrifyingly familiar.

I didn’t want to go back to the window. No. He was dead. I’d killed him. He burned to ashes. No one came out of that building. No one. He’d fucking burned.

I didn’t want to see the truth, but my feet obeyed his order as if I were still under his power. I stood there and looked across the distance between us, watching in horror as he lifted his other hand and shoved back the hood, revealing a face I’d prayed to Lucifer that I’d never see again.

Grady.

And if Grady knew where I was, that meant … The Chemist had sent him.

No. No, no, no .

I couldn’t speak, couldn’t move.

They were dead. They were supposed to be dead.

“Hello, Estelle. It’s been a long time.”

I shook my head. This had been my deepest fear for the last five years. I’d told myself it couldn’t happen, that I was safe. I’d convinced myself that the demons watching me had been sent by someone else, but of course, it was The Chemist. Of course it was.

He hadn’t burned to death in that fire and neither had Grady. No, they were like roaches. Nothing could kill them. I should have stayed longer after I lit it. After I barricaded them in that building and set it alight, I should have stayed. I should have made sure there was nothing left, that they were nothing but ashes.

The Chemist said he’d find me if I ever left, and he meant what he said—always.

“You’re going to get rid of the hound, Estelle, and then you’re going to let me in.”

It was as if my soul left my body at his order; my physical form locked solid, but everything else in me jerked to obey, to do as I’d been told.

“Do it,” he hissed. “Now.”

It physically hurt to ignore him. My body and mind had been conditioned to do as I was told, reminding me what disobeying would mean—all the awful, horrific, degrading things he had done to me, the things they’d both done to me.

“What d-do you w-want?” I hated the terror in my voice.

“You didn’t think we’d just let you leave and never come for you, that we’d let you get away with what you did? It’s over, Essie. It’s time to come home.”

I shook my head and stumbled back from the window.

“Get rid of the hound, Essie, right the fuck now,” he hissed.

The sound of his voice was low, hushed. He was worried about something. Grady never spoke in hushed tones. Ever.

He was afraid the hound would hear him.

He’s afraid of the hound .

Of course he was. Any demon with half a brain cell would be.

Adrenaline jolted through me, and it was incredibly hard to disobey him—it was so fucking hard. But I would never go back. Never.

The shock of seeing him, though, of hearing his voice had my defenses dropping, and the past rushed forward like it was yesterday.

The door to the surgery opened, and a young male—a demon—was dragged in. He was crying, beaten bloody, and shaking.

“Please, let my brother go. Please.”

Grady ignored him and dragged him over to me. “I told you, you just need to fuck her, and we’ll let your brother go.”

He cried harder, shaking his head. “I won’t do it.”

The front of his track pants was tented, and he was trying desperately to cover himself.

Grady noticed as well. “Excellent. The potion’s finally worked. It’s time.”

The male tried to fight him off, but Grady was stronger and much older. A scream came from down the hall.

“Did you hear that? I don’t think your brother’s having fun here.”

The male cried out, “Stop it! Don’t hurt him. Please.”

“Then do what you’re told.”

He looked down at me. “I’m sorry,” he choked out. “It’s … it’s my brother.”

I said nothing. There was no stopping this. There was no fighting it. I was strapped down, sick from The Chemist’s virus and weak from blood loss after Ghoul almost drained me.

Shaking and crying, the male climbed on top of me. I turned my head away while he apologized over and over again as he forced himself inside me.

When it was done, he climbed off the bed and threw up. Grady grabbed him and dragged him from the room.

I lay there in silence for several moments, numb. Every part of me felt disconnected.

A slow thump reached me, a repetitive sound over and over again. I turned my head. The door to the other room was open. He’d done it on purpose—it wasn’t the first time. The Chemist wanted me to see him.

He was on his favorite gurney, fucking his medical mannequin while he stared at me, his gaze locked between my thighs.

I turned away again as his grunts grew louder, flinching when he finally groaned my name.

My phone started ringing again, and I jumped. I quickly hit End, put it on silent, and shoved the phone into my pocket.

I clenched my teeth. Grady was scared of the hound. Relic was the only thing standing between me and a fate worse than even Hell itself.

Rushing out of my apartment, I took the stairs back down to the shop and peeked around the doorframe. Relic stood with his face so close to the door at the front of the shop that his breath was fogging up the glass.

He growled suddenly, so loud that I startled.

Was Grady still on the roof across the street? Without a doubt. If he’d been told to come for me, he wouldn’t leave until he did just that. The demons who’d been hanging around, they’d stopped, and now I had a feeling I knew why.

I hurried back upstairs and grabbed my laptop. I logged in to my security software and opened the files from the last week.

I hadn’t really been checking the footage; all I’d had to do was look out the window, and I’d see them. The demons had stood just a few shops down, and either they were terrible at stealth operations, or they hadn’t really been trying to hide because they were constantly looking this way. Every night, they got closer, getting bolder. Now, I knew they’d wanted me to see them so I knew he was coming for me. They’d been toying with me at Grady’s order.

I clicked around, searching through the footage.

One night, they were out there, and the next, they weren’t, as if … as if something or someone had scared them off. I opened the next file, fast-forwarding to after closing time, and froze.

There.

Relic.

Standing across the street. Then, later, outside my freaking shop door, like a giant sentry.

It was him. He was the reason they were staying away. He was the reason Grady had come himself and why even he was too scared to come closer.

Then I remembered what he said in the forest, about the demons I’d planned to bring to Agatheena, well, when he asked if I’d seen the them following me, and I said I hadn’t.

“Because I strongly encouraged them to fuck off.”

Holy shit .

My giant stalker had inadvertently saved my ass—at least for now. Like a humongous, deranged bodyguard that I had absolutely no control over.

I chewed my lip. Now, I knew The Chemist was alive, and I knew he wouldn’t stop. Now that he’d finally found me, he wouldn’t leave, not until he had me at his mercy again. The demons, now Grady—they were waiting for Relic to leave. And as soon as my stalker hound got bored and left, I’d be screwed. I could leave, I could try and run, but where would I go?

I chewed my lip. If I had control over him though—over that big, powerful male—I could make sure he didn’t leave.

You’ve lost your fucking mind.

Ten minutes ago, I’d wanted him gone. Now, I was trying to think of ways to make him stay—and fetch, and sit, and beg like a good boy. Was I really contemplating this? What choice did I have?

Agatheena still didn’t have any information for me on what a threeling was and, more importantly, how to unleash all the power she’d said I had.

I needed protection, and the hellhound could give me that.

There was only one way to make sure he couldn’t leave my side.

The demon blood that ran through my veins was ancient and powerful—a soul collector, according to Agatheena. It was the only way to ensure I had control over him, but Relic wouldn’t just sign away his soul to me because I asked him to. He was a hellhound; he’d know what that meant more than most. I didn’t like tricking people or deceiving them, but this was life and death—mine.

I needed to get him to drop his guard, to convince him this was a good idea—his idea. But to do that, I’d have to let him in. This was insane. I guessed I only had a fifty percent chance of this working. He could absolutely turn on me. He’d said hounds were protective of females though, and he’d seemed genuinely unhappy that I was scared of him. So, maybe my odds were fractionally better. Maybe around a sixty-five percent chance of success. Compared to the alternative, which was a one hundred percent chance of losing everything and suffering horror and agony for the rest of my life—then sixty-five percent didn’t seem that bad at all.

Are you really going to do this?

I needed protection, and there was no one better—he’d been right about that. So, yes. Yes, I was.

I left my apartment, and jogged down the stairs. Then, taking a deep breath, I stepped out into the shop.

Relic straightened, his eyes narrowing on me as I walked up to the door.

“Are you planning on standing there all night?” I didn’t have to pretend I was shit-scared to play on his protective instincts because that’s exactly what I was.

“Yes,” he said in that deep, rumbling voice.

“Why?”

“Because your ward is flimsy.”

For some reason, the hound was fixated on me, had singled me out as the damsel he needed to protect, and I planned to use that to get what I needed.

“Well, then, if you’re not planning on leaving, can I get you a drink?”

His eyes narrowed again. “What are you doing?”

“Dude, you’re standing there with your nose pressed to the glass, like a sad dog that’s been kicked out in the rain. I could ask you the same thing.”

He licked his lips. “Will you drink with me?”

“Sure, but you’ll be out there, and I’ll be in here.”

He nodded, grinning wider. “Okay.”

That grin was way too freaking handsome for someone so deranged.

“Back in a sec.”

I headed out the back of the shop to my small break room. I grabbed two glasses and filled them both with bourbon, more in his than mine. I needed him a little loopy—tipsy, at the very least. Drunk would be even better. Going by the size of him though, that would take a lot more than a glass of bourbon, but that was fine because that wasn’t what the bourbon was for. I just needed something to mask the other things I was putting in it.

I kept my dangerous herbs and other ingredients back here, and I quickly pulled down the bottles I needed. Four drops of highly concentrated valerian—six would drop an elephant, so that was probably about right—a pinch of black oak root, a spoon of witch hazel elixir, and a small spoonful of my own personal healing tonic. It was slow release and should kick in after the other ingredients did their thing. It wouldn’t kill him—it couldn’t since he was immortal—but if I wasn’t careful, I could put him in a coma for a few weeks or even longer, and I definitely didn’t want to do that.

I sniffed the contents of his glass, then mine. Perfect.

I strode back out, and he tracked me the whole way. Placing the glasses on the counter, I braced and unlocked the door. He didn’t move when I opened it, staying just on the other side of my ward, like I’d told him to.

Picking up my glass, I took a sip, then handed him his. “I hope you like bourbon.”

“I like bourbon.” He took a sip. “Surprised you do though. Thought you’d be more into those fancy cocktails.”

“Me? Nah.” I stayed well back from the door so he couldn’t grab me if he decided to.

“So, why the change of heart, Tinker Bell? A little while ago, you were telling me to get lost, and now, you wanna have a drink.”

I shrugged. “A demon can change her mind, can’t she?”

He took a big gulp. “This is good.”

Valerian worked almost instantly and would kick in at any moment now. He grinned again, for no reason, but this time, it was a little goofy. The valerian was a go.

“How’re you doing over there, big guy?”

He flashed his teeth, and his eyes sparkled with humor. “Really fucking good. What was this stuff again?”

“Bourbon—my own special blend. Drink up.”

He downed the rest and swayed a little to the right. “Nice.”

“You know, I really appreciated you protecting me tonight.”

His brows lifted. “You did?”

“Oh, yeah. I’ve never felt so safe. It’s a pity you can’t be here all the time.”

He leaned in. “You want me here all the time, Tinker Bell? You got it.”

“That’s so nice of you. But I have to confess, I am a little scared of you,” I said, steering the conversation carefully.

“I’d never hurt you, Fern,” he said, slurring a little.

It was now or never. The size of him, he’d metabolize my sedative quickly and be back to his old window-licking self in mere minutes.

“Do you want to stay close to me, Relic?”

“Yeah, babe.” His eyes darkened. “I want that—really badly.”

“There’s a way you can. And you’d only have to do this tiny, teeny-weeny little thing. If you did it, you could come inside. You could come up to my place and stay as long as you’d like. Do you want that?”

The grin dropped, and he looked as serious as a heart attack. “Name it, and I’ll do it.”

“Will you make a deal with me, Relic?”

He nodded. “What kind of deal?”

“You offer me your soul and promise you’ll do what I say, you know, just so I’d feel safe, and then I’ll let you come in and be with me all the time.”

He smiled wide. “Deal.”

“You’ll do it?”

“Sure,” he said.

“I’ll need to cut you. The deal needs to be bound in blood. Is that okay?” My heart was banging in my chest.

I was going to have a hellhound at my beck and call, under my command. I could do anything, go anywhere. No one would ever hurt me again.

He lifted his hand. “Cut me, Tink.”

Pulling my knife from my back pocket, I made a slice in my palm. I’d read the ritual only once, but I’d taken a picture of it before I left the demon library. It was simple enough. Taking a breath to steady my nerves, I uttered the words to drop the ward. I expected him to surge forward, but Relic didn’t move; he stayed where he was.

His stare didn’t waver, was fixed on me as I made a slice in his palm. His skin was thick and calloused, forcing me to slice deeper. He didn’t even flinch.

“Ready?”

“Yep.”

He was still grinning, and it was so freaking infectious that I had to bite back my own. I felt guilty as hell, but also giddy with relief. I hadn’t felt truly safe in a very long time, and in a few minutes, I’d have my own hellhound protector. Grady wouldn’t dare come near me with Relic here. I opened my phone and double-checked the ritual, then pressed our palms together.

“Repeat after me. Fern Honeycutt, I offer you my soul .”

He licked his very nice lips. “Fern Honeycutt, I offer you my soul.”

“ This deal made in blood is binding until death .”

“This deal made in blood is binding until death,” he repeated, his voice nothing but a growl now.

“You don’t need to repeat this next bit,” I said. “In exchange for your protection, I will allow you to remain by my side.” My heart humped heavily in my chest. “The deal is done,” I finished as sparks, little zaps, shot down my arm and through my body from where we touched.

I released his hand and stepped back, feeling breathless, my belly all weird and swirly—and, yeah, between my thighs was hot and slick and achy. I had no idea how it felt to claim a soul, no point of reference. I didn’t know what to expect, but I had to admit, this felt really freaking good.