Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 111353 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 557(@200wpm)___ 445(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111353 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 557(@200wpm)___ 445(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
Ronin shrunk down, quickly returning to the sleek, smirking, handsome devil that I knew—minus the perfect look. His hair was a mess and his clothes were shredded, but he only had eyes for me.
“Charlotte, are you okay?” He rushed over, snapping his fingers.
In a blink, I was fully clothed in a long, but simple black dress with blue flowers embroidered on the trim. Ronin reached for me, but I twisted away, turning on Adora.
“Dora?” I croaked. My voice was shredded. “Are you okay?”
My sister blinked at me—her swollen and bruised face soaked with tears. “What’s going on, Tarik? Why... did he do that? Why did he hit me?”
I don’t know what wounded me deeper—the confusion on her face, the pain in her small voice, or the trust in her eyes that I’d have the words to make it all better. To help her make sense of this.
“I’m s-sorry, Dora. I’m so sorry,” I sobbed, throwing my arms around her. Kazuya’s phantom fingers ripped open my thighs, making me cling to Dora tighter. “It’s all my f-fault. I couldn’t stop them... I couldn’t... protect you.”
“Charlotte...” Ronin’s voice was softer and gentler than I had ever heard it. “Let me get you out of here. Please.”
It was the please that did it. A word I’d never heard from a demon’s lips until that moment. Unable to look at him, I nodded—
—and the courtyard fell away.
Plopping down on something soft, I looked up to find me and Dora on the carpet in Ronin’s room—once my room.
A roaring fire spread its heat, trying to banish the chill that seeped into my bones.
Ronin crossed the room to pour two glasses of water and then brought them to us. After doing so, he claimed a seat on the couch... and neither of us moved nor spoke.
It wasn’t that I didn’t know what to say. I just didn’t know what to say first. Did I thank him for saving us? Did I repeat what I screamed through the phone—that I’d given in and was ready to accept the sub bond? Did I ask him how he became that large and terrifying creature? Did I ask if he knew all along that it’d would come to this—me on the floor before him... all out of bluster, words, and excuses?
Ronin broke the silence first. “That’s the first time you’ve seen a malevolent form, isn’t it?” he asked. “Sorry if that freaked you out. It might make you feel better to know that only the most powerful of demons can take that form, and they can only do it when powered by pure, explosive hatred... all of which I felt when I saw what those bastards did to you.”
I squeezed Dora tighter, shaking. Again, silence descended as I finally chose what to say.
“Dora’s hurt,” I rasped. “Can you... use your magic to heal her?”
He shook his head. “Dark magic doesn’t heal. Not in the way you mean, at least. I can’t heal her injuries, only transfer them to someone else—”
“Then, transfer them to me.”
A slight twitch of the brow gave away his surprise. “Charlotte, you don’t have to go this far. You don’t deserve those injuries any more than she does. Why should you carry the pain?”
“I do deserve them.” My voice was sharp. Hard. “You warned me not once, not twice, but three times that alone I was no match for the enemies I’d face here. I’ve been going it alone—taking care of Dora alone—for four years. Long enough that I really thought I could handle anything and protect her no matter what came my way.
“I’m the biggest fucking idiot that ever walked around without a curly wig and clown paint, and because of my arrogance, my sister was attacked.” Watering eyes met his. “So don’t argue with me, and give me her pain.”
Ronin didn’t argue with me. Leaning forward, he touched Dora’s cheek and chanted something in a language my mind refused to understand—translation spell or no.
Slowly but surely, the swelling and redness faded from Dora’s cheek and eye, as throbbing pain bloomed in mind.
Half a second after Ronin pulled away, Dora popped up beaming. “Wow, I feel so much better and— Ooohh, nice room. It’s so pretty.”
Dora rolled out of my grasp, leaving me squawking as she jumped up to explore.
Ronin hummed. “Hmm. The pure soul spell. Never thought I’d see it in person.”
“What?” I seized, spinning around. “What did you say?”
“I said your sister’s under the pure soul spell,” he dropped like it was nothing. “Angelic magic, so I’m guessing Lucifer did that to her.” He shrugged. “Although, one of his angel enemies could’ve done it too.”
“You’ve heard of this before? But Tristan said no one other than angels knows a thing about their magic or spells.”
“And he’s right,” he replied, reclining back in his chair and watching Dora dance with a pillow. “Angels are incredibly tight-lipped about the secrets of their magic, but all lips loosen in the presence of my father.