“I’m not into mortals. It’s like sleeping with farm animals,” Jerrod snapped. “Besides, Raylor, we don’t have much time.”
“This place is too close to the wardens for anyone to pick up a scent. You worry too much.” Raylor knelt beside me. He caught my chin to force me to look into his eyes, ones that glowed green. “Whores cost a pretty penny, and it’d be a fucking waste to put her down without getting some use of her.”
I shuddered at the threat, swallowing down the sickness churning in my stomach.
Jerrod let out a low growl, one that sounded so much like Hunter’s. “I said no. You were paid for your help already. I suggest you leave before I take away your option to do so.”
Raylor released me, then took off as if he couldn’t get out of there fast enough. It told me who exactly was in charge.
Then again, most beings in hell had given Hunter a very wide berth. It seemed Jerrod had earned a similar level of fear.
“What do you want with me?” I scooted backward until I could lean against the wall. Nothing being able to sneak up on me helped me focus. “Because someone already tried to plant me. Turns out I’m toxic to those things.”
He lifted his eyebrow. “Really? That is unusual. However, no. Planting you for ambrosia would be a waste. I’m not some farmer, mortal.” He paused, then came over to sit in front of me, one of his knees bent, his arm there. “Hunter sure had a tight grip on you, though. I have to wonder why.”
“Why don’t you ask him?”
“Because you saw when we fought. Hunter has always been stronger than me, just not as smart. It wasn’t hard to set the lure, to remove the pass as an option and drive you into town instead. I didn’t really think you’d be dumb enough to fall for Raylor’s trick, figured I’d have to snag you another way, but you managed to prove me wrong.”
He sounded like Grant, scolding me for my stupidity. I’d loved to have argued, but given my current predicament, it felt hollow.
“If he’s that much stronger, is it really smart to screw with me?”
“The secret about us immortals, especially those of us on the higher end of the food chain, is that we don’t hold grudges. Forever is a long time. He’ll be mad for a few centuries, but he’ll get over it.”
The reminder of how long forever was hit me, at how brief my life was in the scope of things. Some people found comfort in that big picture, in the fact that there was so much else going on. Not me—it made me feel even more insignificant than I had before.
Stay on topic. “None of that says why you went through this trouble, though.”
“How much has Hunter told you about what he is?”
“A hellhound. A tracker who catches things that escape from hell, that sends them back.”
Jerrod nodded. “We are one of the few things that can pass into the living realm at will, who can pass the boundary. Do you know what allows us to do so? What makes us more powerful than the other things in hell?”
I figured magic was a bad answer, so I kept quiet.
“The dragon, the beast of smoke and fire, that’s our true form. At the heart of it, however, we carry a spark of the living. When we were created, a drop of mortal blood was added to allow us passage into the living realm. We are of hell, but our strength comes from that tiny drop, that spark. It’s what gives us an edge over things wholly from hell.”
“Still not getting your point.”
He tilted his head, as if waiting for me to get it.
He had to be overestimating my intelligence because nothing came to mind.
He blew out a slow breath. “That spark isn’t just blood—it’s the life force of a mortal, and you have one of those.”
“But you can go to the living world. Why not just pick up a mortal there?”
“Because hellhounds are made in hell, but with a spark of life. That means, to us, there isn’t anything more delicious than a mortal who has spent time in hell. It appeals to every side of our being. Nothing better.”
Delicious.
There was no worse word to hear as a descriptor, and it made it clear that while rape was beneath him, eating people wasn’t.
“I’m super gamy. I don’t exercise either, so my fat content is really high. Also, I eat a lot of sweets, so expect a sugar spike and crash,” I rambled. There was no way to pretend the words coming from my lips weren’t random, but I wasn’t sure what else to do or say.
I’d seen Hunter in action, and even if Jerrod wasn’t as powerful, he was far higher up the evolutionary ladder than I was.
“I never understood why Hunter abstains. He used to revel in what he was, but now? Now he pretends he doesn’t even want it anymore, which I knew is a lie. No one ever loses that craving.”
Now?
“Hunter never ate people.”
Jerrod laughed as he rose to his feet. “You see who he wants you to see, who he pretends he is now. Everyone has a past and that past is who they really are. Trust me, Hunter and I tracked and slaughtered plenty of mortals side by side, the unlucky ones who ended up down here. There is nothing quite like that. Killing and consuming humans in the living realm? Boring. When they cross that barrier, though, that’s when they’re good, as if that cooks them, makes them ready. You’ve been here in hell for days, basically marinating. How he’s resisted this long, I have no idea.”
He came forward and leaned in, drawing a slow breath as if savoring a steak fresh off the barbeque.
I kicked him, but he didn’t even budge. Instead, he slid his fingers into my hair and inhaled again, burying his face
