He shakes his head but never breaks his eye contact with me. “You don’t want to know, songbird.”
“I think it’s because you like me and you just won’t admit it.”
His features twist into a grimace. “You’re my best friend’s sister, so it doesn’t fucking matter, does it?” His words cut through me despite that it’s just a defence mechanism because he doesn’t want to talk about this.
“Well, that’s the problem, isn’t it?” I cross my arms and hold his glare. “You still treat me like the little girl you knew back in Caeli. The best friend’s sister, the one who annoyed you because she was head over heels for you. I bet you still thought of me like that until recently. Now you want to pretend there’s nothing between us to make yourself feel better.”
He steps closer, his dark eyes narrowed. “There is nothing between us.”
“But everything changed when I kissed Alaric. Caspian Hardling had to admit to himself that he didn’t like it,” I say, ignoring his cold, dismissive reply. “You were jealous, and that isn’t nothing, Caspian. When you look at me, you want to pretend I’m off limits so you can feel nothing. Why do you even bother? You don’t see me as anything other than an annoyance, so here’s an idea, don’t you fucking dare tell me who I can and cannot kis—”
He crushes my lips to his, stealing the rest of my words—the very air from my lungs. My tirade is extinguished the moment his touch sears through me to the depths of my being. It unlocks something between us, something urgent and possessive that speaks of a deep, burning passion that incinerates our bodies. His anger, jealousy, and inner conflict transmit from his mouth to mine and conveys everything he’s been unable to say out loud.
I never want this to end.
His hand cups the back of my neck, and his other settles on my waist, pressing my body to his, but with a jolt, he pulls back and shoots his gun four times. I search the cavern in a daze. Four more Lullaby Demons crumble on top of the pile.
I don’t know what’s hotter. The kiss or him pausing to shoot things.
It’s a bit of both.
“I can’t do this,” he breathes out, taking a step back from me and cutting my heart to pieces with those four simple words. “It’s nothing to do with you or how much I want you.”
“Like that excuse hasn’t been heard by a million women before,” I mumble, crossing my arms again.
Something changes in his eyes, like a wave washing ashore only to bathe the sand in darkness. For the first time in my life, I’m reminded that Caspian isn’t only a wolf. He takes a step closer and ever so slowly runs his fingers up my arms. A shudder of desire rakes through me. Every touch is like a jolt of lightning.
“With one brush of my lips, I could have you obsessed with me, my magic controlling your thoughts. My father is a succubus demon, and I’m born of his sin and lust. I’m made of lust, Lilith. Do you know what that means?”
“No,” I reply, my heart thrashing against my ribs.
Succubus demons were erased from Hell and Earth hundreds of years ago because of how dangerous they can be. They can seduce an entire pack into doing what they want and they have done so before.
They’re pack destroyers.
Caspian is far more powerful and complicated than I ever thought.
His dark chuckle fills the silence. “It means once I have you, no other man would ever compare, and I would never let you go. You’d be mine, and I’d show you what real lust can do. I’d break you, Lilith, and I would love it because that’s all demons like me can love: lust.”
“I don’t believe that,” I whisper.
He leans his head close to mine. “Then be careful. While my wolf will simply possess you, my demon will own you mind, body, and soul. I’m not pushing you away because I don’t want you. It’s because I know my demon will claim your soul and never set you free. You’d end up hating me.”
He steps away, and I feel like I can finally breathe again. I watch the man who thinks it’s that easy to scare me away walk through a cavern of flames before shifting into a red wolf. A massive form fills the cavern and turns back to me, its black eyes almost glowing in the near darkness.
I should be scared of the demon wolf made of lust and sin, but I’m not.
Caspian is more than a partner to me and he always will be.
Chapter 21
Lilith Thornblood
The burning Tree of Ignis is no longer on fire.
When we emerge from the portal in the tree’s hollow, the leaves that usually flutter to an ash grave cease to fall. Shifters and demons scurry around the Inner City, and the sky, normally a vivid red, is now pitch-black. It’s like all the color has been sucked out of Hell.
I hurry in Caspian’s wake. “What do you think is going on?”
The only light visible comes from the buildings, but everything else is draped in darkness, and there’s a coldness in the air that turns my breath into smoke.
“The city is getting shut down,” Caspian answers, a crease forming between his brows.
He pivots on his heel, and grabbing my hand, leads the way through the portal again. I don’t bother asking who’s the one behind all of this. A cold, icy dread shivers through me, carving the name Rizer into my flesh. Has he found me? My stomach twists at the prospect.
When we step out of the portal, the doors to the DHT are closed. They’ve always been open from the first day I arrived here. Swallowing my unease, I follow Caspian to the entrance. He knocks, his features pulled into a contemplative grimace. He must think this is all because
