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)
Heat bloomed in my face. “You—”
“She’s not your fucking servant,” Tristan growled, slapping his hand away.
Ronin snapped back before he could touch him, but somehow, his touch was still on me.
I swallowed hard. “The glamour—”
“Gone,” Tristan said. “For him, anyway. I could smell you were somewhere in the underlevel, but dark magic was confusing the scent. I needed that shithead”—he jerked a thumb at Ronin—“to find you, but he wouldn’t help until I told him why finding you was so important.” Tristan winced. “I’m sorry, Charlie. I shouldn’t have—”
“A human mortal woman,” Ronin sliced in. He was still raking me up and down like a germ under a microscope. “What’s so special about you that someone would help you get into hell ahead of your death?”
My gaze was steady. “As I said, I’m thankful for your help, but how I got here and why is my business. Please give me some privacy. I’d like to talk to my friend alone.”
Ronin didn’t move a muscle. He just turned that irritating smirk on Tristan.
If anything, the wolf growled louder. “I’m sorry again, Charlie, but that was his price. The cost of getting you out of that room was telling him everything. Because the first thing he said when he sensed someone channeling all that rage and hatred into that putrid-smelling room was I want in.”
“You want in?” I cried, turning my outraged expression on him. “You sensed something horrible happening in the room my screams were coming out of, and your first thought was let me join the party!?”
“Yes,” Ronin replied, blinking lazily at me. “So let’s hear it.”
I clenched my teeth, turning over my options. I don’t want to tell this jerk a thing. I can still remember the look on his face when he made me have sex with Tristan in front of the entire class.
But, another voice said, can what Lucifer and my mother are planning even be kept secret? Should it be kept secret?
“Fine,” I forced out. “I’ll tell you why I’m here. I’ll tell you why... Lucifer brought me here.”
With that, I told them everything—
Sort of.
I left out the part about my mother, sister, and I descending from a long line of Avos witches. All I said was that Lucifer used a deal with my mother to bring about Adora, because he ultimately wanted to use her soul and blood connection to him to open the gates of hell.
“And how would that have happened?” Ronin asked. “No half-breed, not even an angel half-breed has the power to open the gates. It’s been tried before and failed. Lord Lucifer would know this.”
I bit my tongue. So much for him accepting the short version.
Sighing, I got out the rest. “He... did know this. My sister was just part of the ritual. The murders, the raven and crossbones, the missing body parts, all that hatred,” I said softly, “was the rest.
“He did it to find the secret of the hallows.”
I searched their faces for a hint of recognition, and got none.
“Well, it worked,” I continued. “His little ritual spat out some nursery rhyme with all the clues needed to create the All Hallows. Apparently, it’s some kind of crazy powerful being that’s more than strong enough to break open the gates and unleash hell on earth.”
“Hmm. I see.” Ronin rocked back on his heels, nodding. “That explanation was unexpectedly and disappointedly boring,” he dropped. “What a waste of my time this has been.” He turned to leave. “Tell the rest to your mutt. I’m not interested.”
“Wait, hold on!” I blurted. “What do you mean not interested? Did you hear what I just said?! Satan is hunting for some long-lost legendary power so that he can break down the gates of hell!”
Ronin tipped his head over his shoulder, looked me in the eyes, and said, “So?”
“What do you mean so?!”
“Uhh...” Tristan pulled a face. “Sorry, Charlie, but I don’t get it either? What’s the problem?”
I could only gape at them.
“I mean,” Tristan continued, “if he opens the gates, that means my people... will be free. We’ll run under the moon again.”
“And all of those who’ve invaded hell will fuck off where they belong,” Ronin drawled, leaning against the bedpost. “I fail to see a downside.”
“I... but...” My jaw worked, but full sentences refused to come out. It didn’t occur to me that Tristan of all people wouldn’t see things my way... but it was me who wasn’t seeing it from his perspective.
Three hundred years ago, my ancestors banished his into a hell they never belonged in. Just from hearing my mother speak, I knew it was both survival and hatred that drove the witches on that night three hundred years ago. They didn’t care if there were any good people among the supernaturals. They wanted them all gone.
And since then, the werewolves have been hunted, driven underground, separated from their own kind, and forced to live a brutal existence all for the crime of being shifters. If someone came along and offered to free them from this nightmare, why in the world would they think that was a bad thing?