Envy eased back another step, giving Falon a wider birth. “Why don’t you show Alexa how it makes you feel? Give her a taste of your pain.”

  Falon took a step toward me, caught himself, and jerked to a stop. Anguish washed over his face as he fought the demon’s pull. Despite his efforts, he couldn’t help giving the black table of implements a once over.

  My blood went cold.

  “She has everything you want.” A sly lilt danced in Envy’s tone. “Everything that you worked your ass off for. Taken from you and given to a vile, unworthy creature who has made you her slave. Show her how that makes you feel.”

  A tremor racked the atmosphere as Envy picked his way deeper inside Falon’s head.

  I barely had time to scream before Falon was suddenly there. Right in front of me. The cold sting of a blade against my throat had me wishing I could shrink away. Trapped against the boards at my back, I held perfectly still, wary of doing anything to set him off.

  “Falon,” I whispered softly, searching his wild eyes for something to hold onto. “Please, don’t give in. You have to fight this.”

  His other hand slammed into the wood right beside my head. “You turned me into your goddamn slave. But you’re nothing. Just a mongrel of monsters. A false queen on a throne of ash.”

  I winced as the blade bit deeper, right next to the mark Falon himself had placed on my neck. Talking didn’t seem to help, so I held my tongue. I couldn’t fight this battle for him.

  Down below there were shouts and angry murmurs from the guys. I couldn’t spare them a glance. Taking my eyes off Falon was not an option. If he fell completely over the edge into Envy’s abyss, I wanted to see it coming.

  The blade against my skin quivered as his hand trembled. Because he was fighting the urge to slash me wide open. Holding his gaze, I silently willed him to keep fighting. To prove that he was stronger than Envy.

  Doubt flickered over Falon’s face. Confusion followed it before envious rage seeped in once again. He was all over the place inside his head.

  With my hands bound I didn’t have as much precision and control over my power. But some of my best tactics didn’t require that kind of focus and direction. Peering into Falon, I willed him to see me. Really see me.

  Then I slipped him the slightest bit of what I hoped was a seductive, serene energy. Anything to try to break through the demon’s hold without somehow setting Falon off like I’d cut the wrong wire on a bomb.

  His eyes narrowed. The battle raged. I could see him in there, torn between what was true and what was right. The way he felt about me was dark and bizarre. He knew that though.

  So did I. It was mutual, wasn’t it?

  Not quite. My hatred for Falon stemmed from his arrogance and bad attitude. Not envy. From the moment we’d first met, he’d been a supreme asshole. It had cemented my opinion of him immediately.

  A lot had changed since then.

  “You’re nothing,” he repeated, voice wavering.

  Then in one swift motion, he slashed the blade across my throat.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  FALON

  Somehow some part of me was able to jerk back as the dagger blade bit through her flesh. A small gash opened up beneath my feather, the mark of protection I’d placed on her. Before I could follow through with the urge to slash her again, I let the weapon fall to the floor.

  “Alexa, fuck, I’m sorry.” I jerked away from her.

  Envy wouldn’t let me go far. He shoved me back toward her, and I turned to throw a fireball in his face.

  The motherfucker was ready for it, and he countered with a blast that hit not me but Alexa. She yelped, a sound of pure angry wolf. The scent of scorched skin made me ill. A nasty burn marred Alexa’s outstretched arm. Something about the sound and sight of her in pain both disgusted and delighted me. Shame crushed my spirit, and I stupidly risked a glance at Willow down below, who glared at me with promises of much worse things.

  Her guardian was going to have my ass for this. And who could blame him? I wanted him to make me sorry.

  “Don’t tell me that you don’t enjoy watching her suffer.” Envy ambled to the tray laden with macabre devices meant only for harm. His hand drifted over several of them before stopping on a small surgical scalpel. “Why not remove that mark? Have a little fun with it.”

  Envy tossed the scalpel at me so I was forced to catch it. Everything he said was wrong, but the visual he planted in my head felt right. Despite knowing it was nothing but black magic bullshit, I succumbed like a complete pussy.

  Turning back to Alexa, I found soul-drenching fear flooding her pretty brown eyes. She owed me that much, didn’t she? The woman had made me her slave. Little more than an immortal side piece. I’d been such a fool to let her get so close.

  “Give me one reason why I shouldn’t carve that thing out of you,” I growled, my own voice foreign and rough.

  With fear gleaming in her eyes, Alexa held her head high, refusing to act upon it by begging or pleading. “You said that I was yours. Remember? That no other immortal would lay claim to me because I belonged to you, Falon. Would you so easily give that up? Do your promise and your word mean nothing?”

  I flashed back to the hotel room where we enjoyed much of our time together. Her naked body beneath me while I claimed her for all the underworld to see. No doubt that mark had been a stupid move on my part, but I didn’t want to take it back. Alexa was mine, and I did not want to change that.

  Horror slowly filled me. Flowing in like a torrential mudslide of shit that obliterated everything in its path. So clearly I saw the way to beat Envy at his game. And I didn’t like it.

  “You are mine,” I agreed “That’s why I will do as I damn well please.”

  I held the scalpel tight, staring at the wound that seeped blood down her chest and cleavage, disappearing inside her dress. The dress that I myself had decorated her beautiful body with. Underworld threads fit for royalty and worn only by those with true power and prestige.

  Both of which she embodied.

  The need to punish her for everything I detested about her was akin to the need for air. So desperately I wanted to make her scream and beg for mercy. Envy had forced an unfortunate truth from me. I did envy Alexa her ability to touch both light and dark. And yet…

  She was still my Queen.

  Not a queen forced upon me by some power-hungry bitch like Lilah or any of the status-seeking shitcakes like Bane who believed themselves worthy of worship and respect. Alexa was different. Because I had chosen her to be my Queen.

  A sick feeling bloomed through me along with a shockingly nauseating revelation. I didn’t just desire Alexa. Somewhere in the tangled vines of my hatred, I harbored a deep affection and respect for her.

  “I can never love you,” I shouted, inches from her face. It was sudden and unexpected. There was no stopping it.

  As if only to anger me further, Alexa gave a wan smile and shook her head sadly. “I never asked you to. I never wanted to be whatever it is I am to you. Just like I never wanted you to be what you are to me.”

  “And just what might that be?” Because I didn’t trust myself, I tossed the scalpel aside. Once my hands were empty, I longed to wrap them around her bleeding, gorgeous throat.

  The wolf shone in her eyes. I’d come to learn that the wolf was where Alexa’s heart lived, all the parts of her that were pure and good. Unlike the succubus vampire. I always marveled that both creatures dwelled within one woman.

  Those brown orbs seeped wolf until there was nothing remotely human left. Her husky voice reached inside me when she murmured, “You tell me.”

  My hands slid around her throat and up into her hair. So strong was the need to choke her senseless. So demanding was that inner voice insisting she needed to be punished for everything that she was that I wasn’t.

  It made me hate her more than I already did and it made me hate myself.

  I knew how to beat this. But I also knew it would change everything. No matter how this all went down, we would leave here different than we’d been when we arrived.

  With an aggravated shake of my head, I clenched my teeth and gave a frustrated cry. The words came unbidden, and I almost choked myself in an attempt to swallow them back down. I didn’t want to do it. Didn’t want to feel it. And I sure as shit didn’t want to make this any more real than it already was.

  Although I might have been Alexa’s bitch, I was not Envy’s. Forced to choose between a devil and the woman who’d turned my entire life upside down, it should have been easy.

  Nothing about this was easy.

  “I need you,” I blurted, cringing as the words left my lips. “I want you. I desire you. But I can’t love you, and it fucking kills me because part of me wishes that I could.”

  There. Done. My existence as I knew it was officially over. I’d just cut my own balls off and gift wrapped them for this damn woman.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  SHAZ

  Surrounded by demons on every side, I watched as the love of my life bled from wounds inflicted by a man I’d known she couldn’t trust. Helpless to do anything but watch, it hurt me to see her willing to bear such pain for him. He’d gotten too close. I knew that Alexa wanted him there, but I would never understand why.

  “Did you really think it would be that easy?” Envy all but laughed in Falon’s face. “You think you’ve figured it out. But we’ve only just started.”

  From somewhere behind me, I heard Arys mutter something about tearing the wings off that godforsaken angel. Maybe I would help with that, but right now I agreed with Alexa. We had to stay united.

  Next to me Sloth literally twiddled his thumbs, waiting for something. I got the feeling a guy like him did a lot of waiting and not so much doing. Every now and then he slid me a sidelong glance, gauging my reaction to the spectacle before us. Hands stuffed in my pockets, I did all I could to mask my feelings.

  “Why stop there?” Envy continued. “Let’s work our way through your companions, shall we? Tell me, Falon, which of them do you envy most? The vampire who made her? The werewolf who speaks to her heart? Perhaps the guardian who will always hold a special place of honor like none you’ll ever know again. Show them. Show them all exactly what you’d like to do to them.”

  Falon’s unwelcome confession had somehow grounded him. So Envy did all he could to rip that rug out from beneath him. And it worked.

  Hands wrapped around Alexa’s throat, Falon bashed her head against the board behind it. Fumbling about blindly, he snatched up a jagged knife from the table and ran it over the gash in the side of her neck. When he cut without hesitation, I was done being patient.

  “Make this stop,” I spat at Sloth who took several long seconds to acknowledge me. “Now. Whatever it takes. I don’t care. I’ll do it.”

  A slow grin spread across the demon’s face. “You might want to find out what the stakes are before you make that claim.”

  On Envy’s altar, Falon dragged the jagged blade down Alexa’s chest.

  She screamed.

  That sound reverberated in my ears. The wolf within cared for nothing but the pain of its mate. Nothing else mattered.

  “Name the fucking stakes then,” I shouted in the demon’s face, fists clenched, ready to smash his jaw in.

  Sloth put two fingers to his lips and whistled, a shrill, ear-splitting noise that cut through the din. Raising a hand, he gestured at Envy who grabbed Falon by a shoulder and spun him away from Alexa.

  “The wolf has decided he’d like to get involved,” Sloth announced, sounding as bored as he looked. “He’s willing to do… anything.” Giggling to himself like a teenage stoner, Sloth waved a hand.

  A man emerged from the crowd. Dressed in an expensive suit, hair short and styled, he carried himself like a man who knew great success. But he stank of fear.

  “Kill him,” Sloth said, still smiling although not kidding. “Not just kill. Rip his throat out. With your teeth.”

  “What? Why?” Truth be told, I’d expected worse. However, it quickly became clear that it wasn’t about the difficulty of the task. It was about what it would take to complete it.

  A cold-blooded kill. Without remorse. A stranger in exchange for the woman I loved walking free of further torment. That kind of person, someone who could easily make such a trade for selfish reasons, I’d never been that guy.

  Until now.

  “Because I told you to. Everyone has a price. This is mine.” Sparing an uninterested glance at the man, Sloth shrugged. “Do my dirty work.”

  My gaze darted from the man in the suit to Lex who vigorously shook her head. It wasn’t often that I ignored her opinion, but this time I had to. She’d stand there and let Falon beat her senseless in order to keep me from crossing this line.

  It wouldn’t be the first time I’d killed in cold blood inside this building. Lex had to stop clinging to this false ideal of what she wanted for me. I was in this with them, all the way.

  She saw it in my eyes because her head shake grew more desperate. In a hoarse voice she shouted, “Shaz, no. Don’t do it.”

  Would it be two losses if I did as Sloth demanded? So many stares were upon me, awaiting my decision. The scent of my mate’s blood on the air, I knew I’d kill for her. Still, I turned to Arys who struggled against the demons who held him back.

  Our eyes met and he simply nodded. Just once.

  It was all the encouragement I needed. There was no point asking Sloth why he wanted the man dead. No point to knowing anything about him at all.

  “Five seconds, wolf,” Sloth said in his slow drawl. “Then the fallen angel carves his name in your girl.”

  The wolf took over. It had no problem killing to protect its own. No second thought or hesitation. With fangs bared, I lunged at the man Sloth wanted dead. All the wolf knew was that he stood in the way of Alexa’s safety. So he had to go.

  The guy tried to fight, throwing up his arms and pummeling any part of me he could hit. I felt nothing. I grabbed him by both arms and threw him against the staircase that led up to the altar. In seconds I’d slammed his head back and sank four large wolf fangs deep into his esophagus.

  A savage snarl erupted from me as I tore away flesh and muscle. Blood poured like a river, and I shoved away to avoid the flood. Spitting a chunk of meat on the floor at Sloth’s feet, I growled steadily, unable to calm the beast.

  I couldn’t tell if this meant I’d won. Somehow, it felt like a loss. Like we were screwed either way.

  Sloth had accused me of not knowing how far I’d be willing to go for those I loved. Now we both knew.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  Everything was a blur. From the moment Shaz leapt on the man and ripped his throat out to when Arys rushed the altar. He shouted something at Envy, but all I could focus on was the blood that spilled down my neck and chest.

  Falon did that to me.

  My hands suddenly came free, my ankles next, and I collapsed into Arys’s waiting arms. He snarled at Falon who dared to venture closer. I tried but failed to form words. Despite being under the demon’s influence, Falon had held back. I’d seen it. The cuts that marked me were much shallower than they would have been, only because of how hard he’d fought.

  “It’s really not so bad,” Arys assured me, inspecting the wounds closely. The warmth of his healing energy touched me then as he addressed the uglier gashes.

  Throat raw from the crushing grip of my fallen angel, I coughed a few times. “Don’t blame Falon. He fought hard. He didn’t want to do this.”

  Pushing bloodstained blonde locks back from my face and neck, Arys didn’t acknowledge either Falon or my statement. “I say we fuck this game and bring the whole building down. Just destroy everything Harley had left and walk away while we can.”

  “If only you could do that,” Pride said from the top step where he stood watching Arys comfort me. “You made an agreement to face seven challenges. You’ve done four. Having only one win certainly does not put the odds in your favor. However, you still have one more chance to turn this thing around for yourselves.”

  My ass we did. The entire challenge was nothing but a charade. Pride had orchestrated it right from the start so that we couldn’t win. Gabriel’s unexpected victory had been a delightful surprise to Pride who appeared to be having a crapload of fun at our expense.

  “Lust.” I flung the word at Pride as Arys helped to steady me on my feet. “I want to face Lust now.”

  The worst part of Falon’s torture had not been the physical pain by any means. It had been the terror of watching him struggle against such sinister urges and knowing they lived somewhere inside him. It had been hearing him tell me that he wished he could love me. Nothing he’d done to my body could ever compare to what that had done to a deeper part of me.

  Automatically my hand went to the silver feather on my neck, feeling for the knife wound there, but it was now gone. And the mark remained. For reasons I didn’t want to explore, it filled me with relief.

  “I’m a fair man,” Pride said with a laugh, like it was some inside joke we were all in on. “If you want to face Lust next, then so be it. Let’s move to the theatre.”

  Sure it was suspicious that Pride gave in so easily, but he seemed to be enjoying the game. I didn’t think he was ready for it to end just yet. If giving me what I wanted would keep us in the game a little longer, then he saw no real risk in allowing it.

  He descended the steps and joined Loric who seemed more uncomfortable every time I looked at him. He knew he was just a puppet to these demons, that he had no control here. He’d never really been the threat. Merely a catalyst of sorts.

  “I’m fine.” I assured Arys with a gentle kiss on the corner of his mouth.

  He didn’t seem to buy it. Shooting a warning glare at Falon, he took my hand and led me from the platform.

 

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