At that, Mr. Trant stood up from his spot in the front row and proudly made his way over to the nearest table, making a big show of pulling a pen from his jacket pocket and writing a check. Everyone watched in rapt attention, and the moment he collected his spot, many others followed.
One by one, each chair emptied.
One by one, everyone signed their name.
One by one, I lost hope that people would see reason—that they would see that what Spector was doing was wrong.
Realization settled in my bones, and I shared a look with the other grim-faced hybrids. If we wanted to take Spector down, we were on our own.
After everyone had signed up and Belvini worked the room for higher checks, we hybrids were forced to stand on the stage while lingering patrons eyed us like prized ponies. The business attire clad supes walked around us, talking about us as if we weren’t standing right there. Russell kept ruffling his black wings as if he were annoyed on my behalf. I reached up and pet him to calm him down, which seemed to help.
“What did this one do again?” a female vampire asked the person next to her.
The male regarded Cheryl boredly before flipping through a brochure that I realized had our pictures on it. “Ah, a siren.”
The female made a noise of disappointment. “Hmm. That’s rather dull.”
Cheryl frowned in offense, but at least she had the sense to keep her mouth shut for once.
“Ah, Black Widow. I’d like one of her.”
My eyes snapped forward, greeted with an overweight shifter wearing a suit and a smug grin. He and his companion—another shifter, based on the scent of him—looked me up and down.
“Fascinating merging,” the portly male said. “Tell me, how many times do you have to fuck to sustain yourself?”
My mouth popped open at the bluntness of his words. “That’s none of your business,” I snapped.
The shifters exchanged a look, as if they were surprised by my unwillingness to discuss how often I had sex.
“How many mates did the brochure say she had? Ten? Twelve? She’s probably riding a cock every hour,” the younger shifter chuckled as he eyed my breasts.
Webs started to coil around my fingers as anger sparked through me, but before I could do anything, Risk was there, stepping in front of me. “Gentleman, I’ve taken Black Widow here as my pet. The only cock she’s riding is mine for the foreseeable future,” he said with a charming grin.
The shifters chuckled. “Ah, I don’t blame you there.”
I knew what Risk was doing—protecting me the only way he could—but I hated the act that I was nothing but a sex pet.
“In fact,” Risk began before shifting his body and wrapping his arm around my waist. “I think she and I will be leaving now. All this talk of fucking has left me feeling famished.”
Risk started pulling me out of the room, not caring that there was a line of influential people staring us down, eager to pick and prod at me like I was a prized possession to be owned. Russell flapped overhead, following us out the doors and into the hallway.
“That was awful,” I croaked.
“I know,” Risk replied in a whisper while petting my head. He was staring down a pair of guards blocking off the hallway in the distance. “And you put on quite the show. Collector is pissed.”
“I can handle the Collector,” I gritted.
“I’m sure you can, Wicked Love,” Risk replied tenderly as we came to a complete stop in front of the guards.
The two men were holding rifles and staring down at me with looks of vile disapproval, but as soon as Risk and I approached, they moved out of the way. The moment I was out of that room, I was able to take the first full breath after what had felt like hours.
Risk led us toward the elevators, but I nearly slammed into his back when he stopped suddenly. Looking around him, I saw what had halted his steps. The chained demon was being escorted down the hall, and Risk’s entire body tensed.
“You know him,” I said in a murmur. “Who is he?”
“A very old friend,” Risk replied, his tone like steel.
Risk’s eyes followed the demon’s back as the guards led him away.
“Come. I’ll take you to your room,” he said, hurrying into action. “Then I want to see if I can get to where they’re taking him.”
“Go,” I urged him as I pushed him toward the hallway they disappeared down. “I’ll take the elevator to your room. You’ll miss where they’re taking him if you don’t hurry.” Risk hesitated, but I shooed him with my hands. “Go.”
He pointed a finger at me. “Go straight to my room. Understood?”
“Yeah, yeah, now go!”
He pressed the button of the elevator for me before turning and striding away, following the trail of the demon.
The elevator dinged, and I went inside, pressing the number for Risk’s floor. Russell flew around in the enclosed space as it moved up, and when it dinged and the doors slid open, I started to step out, only to realize that it was the wrong floor. I pressed the correct floor again, but the doors wouldn’t shut. Frowning, I peeked my head out of the hallway, trying to see where I was, when a pair of arms suddenly grabbed me and shoved me face-first into the wall.
My head exploded with pain, and I struggled to call my webs, but I felt something tie around my wrists, wrapping so tight that it cut into my skin. I looked down, noting the amulet I once saw Collector wearing in his office was now binding me with a thick leather strap, the amber gemstone hanging off of it.
“What the fuck?” I yelled before trying once again to access my powers.
But nothing came, no webs, no dark energy from my spider. There was just...nothing. Like my demon had been sucked into a void.
Guards started dragging me down the
