3. You want me to kill him?

"Your family?"

It's hard to swallow the knot in my throat, but I find it's necessary if I'm going to speak. If I'm going to explain.

"Because…they deserve it."

Lucian's gaze is so intense, overpowering, and present, and it becomes even more so when he crosses his arms and takes a deep breath.

As if I could feel any smaller.

"If you can't do it, just say so. I'll get someone else?—"

"I didn't say I can't," he says in a calm, almost entertained manner, still studying me with his dark eyes.

I bite my lip and change the foot I'm leaning on. Why is he staring? How do I stop it? How do I get him to stop looking at me like I'm his next meal and get him to go after the people who need to die right now?

"O-okay then. Off you go." I motion toward the door and turn my back partly to him.

I watch as he unfolds his hands and takes a step forward. I can't peel my eyes off his foot, off the chalk and salt circle.

They're supposed to protect me, right? They're supposed to keep him secure if he even thinks of hurting me. Right?

His step lands him outside the summoning circle, and a cold shiver runs through my body.

Fuck my life.

There's a demon in my room. There's a fucking demon in my room.

My heart beats faster. So fast it threatens to give me a heart attack. And it only gets worse as Lucian closes the distance between him and me.

He stops inches away, but his breath blows warm on my neck.

"Wh-what are you waiting for?" I ask because what is he waiting for, but also to give myself something to say before I faint and probably die at his hands.

"I don't know yet," he says with narrowed eyes.

I look away. I can't stand looking at him anymore. I know I should. Turning my back on him is risky, but I can't keep looking. It makes everything worse. The palpitations, the internal temperature, the knot reforming in my throat.

I don't know if this is my gut's way of telling me to run. If it's my intuition warning me that I'm in danger. Whatever it is, I don't act on it. After all, it's either dying under Kevin's rule or under Lucian's.

I'd rather it was the demon. He seems less monstrous.

"Is there…is there a reason you want me to—" he starts…and then the bell rings.

It sends a wave of terror through me. There might not be any bells in the room, but its magical ringing reverberates through my very core and, as always, immobilizes me.

"What is that?" Lucian asks.

I close my eyes before any tears can escape and head toward the hatch on the floor.

"You want to know why they need to die?" I say as I open the hatch and push the ladder down.

I climb down, and just before I lose sight of my bedroom, I throw a glance at Lucian, still standing in the middle of the room, watching me.

I want to believe he's my escape. I really do. But maybe he's not. Maybe that's not what he does. Maybe I've wasted all my money on a sex toy.

Mason's door is open when I get down to the second floor, and he's lying in bed naked. He's always naked. Like father, like son.

"Come on, sweetheart. What's taking you so long?" he shouts, and I look up before I walk into Mason's room.

As soon as I'm inside, he gets to his feet and pushes me down on my knees. The knife is already in his hands, crusty with my dried blood from earlier and from Goddess knows how many more times before that.

The Taylors don't particularly care for hygiene. They only care about getting their fix and using their slave. Everything else is irrelevant. Unimportant.

I close my eyes, open my mouth, and wait for the inevitable.

Instead of attacking me with his dick, though, I feel a sting on my neck. Before I can even define the pain, he's down on me, drinking my blood like a fucking vampire. His dick jabs at my back. And it's not long before he starts grinding against me.

I don't dare open my eyes though. The rush that's gone to my head gets worse the more of me he drinks. I know he won't drain me. He's too smart for that and his father has taught him better. I just want it to be over, but it's far from it.

Both of them like to go all night if the craving arises. They leave the snack-bite assault for the daytime, when Michelle is up and about. But when she goes to bed, in her own bedroom, of course, father and son come out to play.

The tension around the wound on my neck lifts and a foot connects with my shoulder blades, sending me face-down on the floor.

Mason turns me around and sits on my chest. He shoves his cock in my mouth and takes my arm and cuts it.

In many ways, he's more perverted than his father. At least Kevin doesn't physically abuse me. He doesn't play with his meal. He's more…transactional, I guess. Mason? He likes to assert himself.

"Open your eyes, little bro. Now!" He slaps me, and I have no choice.

But it's not Mason who gets my attention. It's the shadow at the door. A shadow turning redder with every second.

Lucian.

"You want me to kill him?" he asks, and he sounds absolutely demonic.

Mason jumps and attempts to cover himself before he remembers he's got a knife in his hand and waves it at Lucian, who enters the room.

"Who-who the fuck are you? How did you get in here?" Mason shouts.

Lucian's expression is marble stiff. He's so out of place in this room, so formal in his suit. But when he slowly wipes his bottom lip with his index finger, he looks slightly unhinged.

"Is that how you treat your family?" He doesn't look at me, but Mason does.

My eyes start to feel heavy. It's funny how two moments ago, I didn't even want to open them, and now I don't want to close them.

"What is it to you? Huh?" Mason swipes at Lucian, but he steps back, and my stepbrother stumbles.

"It's everything to me."

My eyes close. What's happening to me? When they open again, Lucian is staring at me.

"You want me to kill him?" he asks again.

I try to speak. I try to tell him, but all I manage is to nod, and I'm not sure how obvious it is. My head barely moves.

"What the fuck are you talking about? If anyone's going to die tonight, that's you, my friend."

Mason makes another swipe at Lucian. This time, Lucian grabs Mason's knife-wielding arm and pushes it back into his face, punching Mason with his own fist.

"I'm not your friend." Lucian's words are so low and growly they sound like a hiss. Spittle flies onto Mason's face.

Mason drops the knife and grabs for it with his other hand, but again, Lucian blocks him and knocks it away. It goes skidding across the floor.

Lucian grabs Mason by the neck and lifts him up. Mason immediately starts flailing, kicking his feet to regain control.

"Who…the fuck…are you?" he croaks.

Lucian throws him across the room. Mason collides with the wall and the shelves and crashes onto the floor.

"I'm your worst nightmare," Lucian tells him.

My eyes close again. When I open them, Mason is pinned to the wall, and when Lucian raises his hand, the knife flies into it.

"Any last words?" Lucian asks, but he doesn't give Mason a chance to answer before he stabs him in the stomach. Then, in the chest. And the stomach again. He makes Mason his pin cushion.

I close my eyes.

When I open them again, Mason is on the floor beside me, Lucian towering over him. My stepbrother attempts to slither away, but he's too weak and slow to make it even an inch past Lucian.

Lucian pushes him back down and his fists catch on fire. I flinch.

My eyes close.

When they open, Mason is on fire, and Lucian's fists aren't. My stepbrother's screams pierce my skull, but I don't mind. It's actually such a sweet song.

I've dreamed of his demise for so long that it doesn't feel real.

Probably because that monster drank so much of my blood, and I'm still bleeding beside him.

But then…

"Are you okay? You're not. Shit." Lucian lifts me off the floor. "Let's get you out of here."

He heads for the door when a woman appears. Michelle.

"What…what—who are you? Mason? Mason, is that…" Her words are a jumble, and soon, they turn into a scream, replacing her dead son's song. "Monster! Who are you? Monster!" she screeches.

"I've got to get you out of here. Now."

Lucian turns toward the window and runs. I close my eyes just before we crash.