Feeling the car slide through the snow, I wondered just how stupid my decision to return to the inn had been. We could only see a few feet in front of us and the car was losing traction often enough to set me on edge. Would Andre be able to make it back okay?
While I thought about it, why was it important to stay at the inn if I might get kidnapped again by my coven? Before this evening, I would’ve jumped at the chance to stay over at Andre’s place.
“This was a mistake,” I whispered.
Andre glanced over at me. “What’s a mistake?”
This. Being out here on the road. I’d been hurt, so I’d made a stupid, rash decision. One I already regretted. I sucked in a breath to say exactly this, but I never got a chance.
It happened in an instant. Movement outside caught my eye. To the left of the car a shadow deeper than the darkness flashed, coming straight for us. My throat seized up and my eyes widened as I tried to process what I was seeing. The shadow looked at me—looked at me and smiled. Impossible, but true.
“What the—?” Andre’s words cut off as the thing slammed into the car.
My hair whipped across my face and my head snapped back at the impact. Andre threw his arm out to brace me. The sickening sound of crunching metal cut through the silent night and the car spun.
The darkness blurred as the car skated over the slick road. Next to me, Andre unbuckled the seatbelt and vaulted over the consul. I felt the brush of his legs and torso as he covered my body with his own.
The wall of a nearby building rose up outside my window; the car was headed straight towards it.
Our eyes met. I’d like to say that all sorts of sweet, unspoken things passed between us in that moment, but I’d be lying. I only had time to process that we were both about to be in a lot of pain before metal met stone.
The force of the collision threw my body into Andre’s, and his into the wall. The screech of more crumpling metal played in the background like a gruesome soundtrack.
My head slipped past Andre’s shoulder and rammed against something solid. I barely heard the sickening crack of it before the world blacked out.
Chapter 18
I found myself staring at a fireplace, a strange sense of déjà vu settling over me. In the distance I heard a roar, followed by an agonized scream.
Then silence.
I rotated around, and as I did so, the room’s details came into focus. The portraits, the map made of human skin, the chair with the same disturbing carpet.
The unholy chill.
I was back inside the castle of the damned. I dragged a hand to my mouth and staggered back as a familiar form stepped into the doorway.
“Hello consort.”
I shrieked before I could help it, and the devil frowned. “As much as your reactions amuse me, they annoy me more,” he said, entering the room.
I scrambled behind a velvet couch sprinkled with blood splatter. Already I was beginning to feel the choking sensation of evil. It twisted around my insides, seizing me up. “Am I dead?” I asked, white-knuckling the back of the couch.
A corner of his lips turned up. “More or less.”
I let out a strangled sound and felt myself deflate. “You did this, didn’t you?” I accused.
He arched an eyebrow and perched on the edge of the soiled chair. “No, I’m afraid I can’t claim this victory—though it was a paltry effort on the part of Argipifex. He will be punished accordingly.”
Paltry effort? I was in the devil’s clutches at the moment.
“Now,” his eyes raked over my body, “come to me. I wish to show you the rest of the house.”
My eyes darted to the entrance of the room. Beyond it lay the front door. I didn’t want to move further into the house. I wanted out.
Noticing what had drawn my attention, the devil pushed away from the chair and took a menacing step forward. “If you want to be difficult, I so can I.”
I pushed down my terror and drew on my courage. “Better be careful—I bite.”
Something hot and desirous flashed through his eyes. “Yes, I look forward to seeing those fangs up close.”
Ewww. Not the reaction I wanted.
I shifted my weight. “Stay away from me if you don’t want to end up impaled again.”
The mask the devil wore dropped away, and rage contorted his features. Oh boy, I’d hit a nerve. “Do not speak of that night if you wish to avoid my wrath.”
How could I have ever thought him handsome? Cruelty drew itself into every facet of his face.
The devil fixed his features. “Tell me little bird, do I please you now?” he asked. He emphasized his question with a charming smile.
“Stop reading my thoughts.”
“The good boy look always did make the ladies’ break.” He smoothed his hair down. “Not that it matters,” he said. “You can think me an ugly thing, and it will not change your fate. But—”
I blinked and he stood before me. Panic seized up my muscles. My body quaked in his presence.
He picked up my hand and pushed back the sleeve, exposing the pale skin of my forearm. Everywhere his hand touched, I felt something intangible wither away.
“—knowing you desire me will make you more delicious to devour,” he finished.
My trembling increased, and the room turned pink as tears gathered. One slipped out and trailed down the side of my face. Damnit, I was not meek.
I steeled myself and yanked my hand away. “I will never agree to your demands. I didn’t the last time you asked, and I won’t now.”
He grabbed my jaw and squeezed it. “You will once every last thing you care about has been stripped away from you. Everyone and everything save for me.”
“What makes you think I care about you?”
He smiled at me, the soft light of the fire making his teeth look sharp and his grin vicious. “You know so very little about yourself.”
I tried to step away from his grasp, but he wouldn’t let go of his hold on me.
“Let go,” I said. The command came out more like a whimper.
“You cannot escape this. You cannot escape me. You’re mine, Gabrielle. Mine.”