“I’m sorry.” It rocked from her throat.
“You’re lucky I believe in second chances, Salem. You get one,” he warned in her ear.
Then he gripped her by the chin and dragged the knife up her jaw.
Blinding pain seared through her being as he cut deep into her flesh.
Her head spun and the world canted to the side.
Blackness flickered at the edges of her sight.
Still, she heard the warning before passing out on the floor. “It’s the last one you get. I suggest you don’t forget it.”
TWENTY-NINE
JUD
I’d often wondered the day the demon was born.
If who I’d become had purely been a circumstance of my upbringing. If it was due to my mother’s fear when we’d been little boys, the way she’d tried to shield and protect, all while her cries would seep through the walls at night, fill my ears, and make me be the one who wanted to shield and protect her. The way she’d promised she’d find a way out, that everything would be better, until the day all four of us had to stand and watch as she’d been brutally mowed down.
If it’d manifested that day into abounding rage and eternal hate.
Possibly it’d bloomed in my blood the day I was conceived, and the wickedness of my father had been passed on to me.
Or maybe it had already been a piece of my soul, grabbing a free ride when I’d been plucked from Hell to walk this Earth.
I was betting on the latter right then.
Because fury had taken up residence at the base of my throat. Wrath was the only thing I could taste. Bitter venom on my tongue because God knew, the vengeance itching at my hands was sharp as a blade.
I didn’t think I’d ever felt more helpless than I had yesterday afternoon.
That straight-up fear that had hit me so hard I might as well have run flat into a brick wall when I’d seen the blacked-out BMW about six houses down from Salem’s.
In an instant, my spirit had seized as awareness smacked me in the face. A swell of depravity in the atmosphere, a crash of evil blistering through the rays of late afternoon light.
I’d grabbed Juni. Held her tight.
I’d known, right then, that I’d do whatever it took to protect her.
That I wouldn’t let go.
The car had been gone in a split, fucker taking off before I could get a chance to catch a glimpse of who was inside, my focus all wrapped up in making sure that Juni was okay.
But right now, it was Salem I was dying to wrap up and hold. Promise her it would be okay. Honestly, I was shocked she’d shown at work today. Hell, if I were being honest, I was shocked she’d stayed.
The entire day today, I’d watched her riding a razor-sharp edge, wearing those heels and a modest black floral dress, girl so apprehensive it was alive in every step she took.
Anxious.
Agitated.
Afraid.
Nah.
She wasn’t okay.
Could feel it.
The energy that whipped and thrashed and howled.
Bashing against the walls and trembling along the floors.
A warning that shook me to the core.
My girl was getting ready to run.
It had taken forever to get her calmed down yesterday afternoon. With the commotion out front, Darius had come running, demanding to know what the hell I’d done.
Had wanted to clock the asshole in the face.
I knew it only came from worry, though. Knew the same fears that lived inside Salem lived inside him. He’d uprooted his life and moved here to a place where Salem would be safe. Even if he hated me, he wanted the same thing for her that I did.
Her freedom.
Her joy.
Her peace.
So, I’d sucked it up and allowed him to help us get her back to the house. I’d hovered and worried, sharing glances with Trent, both of us on edge.
All while poor Juni kept touching her mother’s hand and telling her it was going to be fine. When she’d said, “See, Mommy, the bad man is gone. We don’t gots to worry. We can stays right here. We don’t need to goes on a new adventures.”
It’d ripped out my fuckin’ heart.
Like the adorable smile she pinned on her mouth would make everything better, and just claiming it would make it true.
This little thing who wanted to stay.
Darius had knelt in front of where we’d seated Salem on the couch, brushing her hair back and insisting it was a random car. He’d done his best to coax her into peace. He said it was probably someone who lived in the neighborhood or maybe a friend who stopped by often, which would be a good explanation for it showing twice.
He’d told her time and again it was her paranoia getting the best of her.
Personally, I’d known his suggestions were bullshit, especially considering I was certain it was the same car that had been lurking outside my shop.
I hadn’t argued, though, since it’d been the only thing that had gotten Salem to settle. What bought me the time I was gonna need to weed this fucker out and put him in the ground.
Darius had taken her by the face, said, “You’re fine. You’re not going anywhere. Promise me you won’t just leave.”
She’d sniffled and taken a deep breath, whispered, “I promise.”
All while the demon inside me had raged.
Because even when I’d finally stepped out of her house after nine last night, I didn’t get far. I’d sat in my truck, standing guard.
Even once the sun had cracked the sky, I’d still been buzzing. On alert as I’d followed Salem to the shop.
She’d been here for three hours without saying a word to me. Lost in her worry.
I tried to focus on work, but the only thing I could feel was her anxiety winding tight, and I couldn’t do anything but edge into the reception area again, needing to check on the one who’d upended my world.
My skin prickled the second I stepped inside.
A storm on the horizon. One that made landfall the second I felt her spirit thrash through the room.
It beat the fuck out of my insides. Destroying me in the best and worst of ways.
She wasn’t behind the desk, and in an instant, I looked to the farthest wall of the lobby where a counter ran the length. She stood away from me and facing the counter, slowly stirring a cup of coffee, those long locks of black cascading down her back, that dress hugging her curves, wearing those heels she was killing me with day after day.
But her head was drooped between her sagging shoulders, this fierce, brave girl curling in on herself, turmoil radiating from her being.
I knew she felt me.
That energy zapped.
Vibrations pulsed from her body, skidding through the air and trembling across my flesh.
A flashfire of greed staked through my chest.
Possession.
Didn’t have the first clue which of us was compelling the other, just knew there was no destination other than the one where we met.
Slowly, I edged closer. My boots thudded the floor with each measured step, and my heart climbed into my throat, cutting off the flow of oxygen.
Chills rippled down her arms as I inched up behind her.
Girl withdrew and withheld.
Wavering.
Wanting to run and hide, all while desperate to sink back into my hold at the same damned time.
“Baby.” The word was a ragged grunt.
All those barriers hardened, and she gritted the defense, “I’m not your baby, Jud.”
My mouth moved to her ear. “Aren’t you?”