There was no reasoning with a demon. The argument died on my lips. There was nothing I could say. The dreamwalker was dead because I had shown concern for him.
The party taking place around the fire was in full swing. Nobody had noticed what just happened, or if they had, they simply didn’t care. How could it be that I was involved in a world so dark? So evil? I had never longed to be sitting at home with a family, a television set and two point five kids until that moment. Oh, to be normal and ignorant.
Ignoring the dreamwalker’s body, Shya walked a slow circle around Kale. My guts tightened, and I thought I might be sick.
“Now comes the fun part.” The demon stopped behind Kale, close enough to touch, but his deadly gaze was upon me. “You get to decide Kale’s fate, Alexa. On my terms, of course.” He paused, letting the horror wash over my face before he continued.
“You can watch while I kill him. Or, if you prefer, you can spare his life. On one condition.” Like a reality TV show host, Shya paused for dramatic emphasis. “You take his place.”
“What?” I said in the same moment both Arys and Kale shouted, “No!”
Our reactions must have been what he wanted because Shya chuckled. “Much like the wolf I handed over to you, I will do the same with Kale. He becomes your responsibility. In exchange for sparing his pitiful existence, you will accept his debt owed to me as your own.”
Stunned was just scratching the surface of what I felt. This was beyond cruel. Shya was working an angle. Always a goddamn angle!
“There must be another way.” I chose my words carefully, hoping I wouldn’t make matters worse than they already were. “You know I can’t pay any debt. I know you’re pissed, Shya, but that’s not fair.”
“Not fair?” Falon spoke up like the obnoxious interloper that he was. “You very well could have traded places with her tonight.” He indicated the desecrated corpse of the naked woman near the fire. Then he smiled.
I shot him a venomous look. “Funny to see you here, Falon. You know, with your dick in your pants and all.”
We shared a brief moment, glaring in silence at one another. Shya watched us, noting the exchange.
“Nothing is fair, is it?” The strange lilt to Shya’s tone set off warning bells in my head. “You are mortal yet, and still you reign over vampires and werewolves. Some may consider that unfair. It shouldn’t be such a difficult choice. You are lovers, you and Kale, are you not?”
That was it right there. Shya’s angle. I was the perfect mix of monster and human. Just enough monster to give me the power he desired, and just enough human for him to exploit my emotions to control me.
“No,” I ground out through clenched teeth. “We’re not lovers.”
“Kale’s devotion to you suggests otherwise.” With a raised brow and a pointed look, Shya made it painfully clear that he knew he had me on this one.
I was uncomfortable with so many sets of eyes on me. I let my wolf stare out, into Shya. If I looked at Arys or Kale, I’d fall to pieces. “There must be another way. I’m not making some shady deal with you.”
Slowly he shook his head. The depths of his red eyes were void of any emotion. Did Shya even feel true emotion? Doubtful.
“I’m afraid those are your only options. Don’t worry, Alexa. I promise not to kill you. You are far more valuable to me alive.”
My temper flared. I had underestimated Shya. I had fully believed him to be capable of such cold, calculated manipulation. Yet, I never gave him credit for how clever he was. I was backed into a corner, forced to commit to a choice that I would regret either way. Condemn Kale to death for doing the right thing, or owe Shya in his place.
“Alexa,” Kale said my name like it was glass in his mouth. A cough racked him, and he spat blood. “Don’t let him do this to you. Let him kill me. It’s my choice.”
“You heard the man,” Arys’s murmur was so faint, I wasn’t sure if it had been said out loud or something he whispered in my head.
I rounded on him with a deadly glare, all fangs and claws. Neither of them was making this decision for me. I shoved past Shya and knelt before Kale where he sat broken and weary on his knees in the grass.
An uncharacteristic dullness shaded his beautiful brown and blue eyes. His energy was weak as if it had been stripped from him. Not only was that unbearably painful, it was psychically dangerous. He needed blood.
For the first time in weeks, I breached the unspoken wall we’d built. With a shaky hand, I reached to smooth the blood soaked hair off Kale’s forehead. I lingered, running my fingers gently down his face.
“I’m not going to let you die. Not because of me. Don’t ask me to make that happen.”
“You need to walk away right now and let me go.” He reached to touch the cross around my neck, and I jerked at the ice-cold caress of his fingertips as they grazed my flesh.