direction. “Exactly as I described,” she threatened, marveling that she was even negotiating with such a hideous creature so calmly. The sight of him would have sent her running before. Before Aimee. Before Niklas. Before she realized she couldn’t spend her life running. That life was about more than her. It was about innocent little girls whose mothers were brutally murdered by monsters—a girl whose youth was ripped away, her future stolen.
It was about the fact that Darby possessed the power to give Aimee a chance at life—if she was selfless enough to do it.
The demon chuckled. “What? You don’t trust me? And we’re going to be so close. That hurts.”
“I’m not finished.”
He waved a three-taloned hand for her to continue.
“The lycan that infected her, Cyprian … I want him gone. Dead. Understand?” This she could do for Niklas—to say nothing of the world. But truth be told, it was mostly for Niklas. Her gift to him. He’d be free at last. What he chose to do after that, whether he devoted the rest of his life to hunting other lycans instead of living his own life for himself, was out of her hands. But this—Cyprian’s wretched life—she could end it for him.
The demon counted off on his talons. “Girl returned to her old self and the lycan responsible destroyed. Sounds simple enough.” He brought those creepy fingers to his scaly cheek.
Darby stared at him through narrowed eyes, replaying their agreement in her head. She remembered that Niklas’s mother hadn’t worded her request very well. She didn’t want to repeat that mistake. After careful consideration, she gave a brisk nod. “Yes. That should do it.”
The demon smiled a lipless grin. “Very good.”
She tensed now, unsure what to do, how any of this happened—how the most reprehensible thing she had never thought to happen would actually come to pass.
“Relax, my dear. This won’t hurt.”
The demon stepped nearer, engulfing her in his embrace. He was uncomfortably warm. Despite the cold raging around them, his leathery flesh was baking hot. Even so, she still shivered.
“Shh.” He slid his large palm across her cheek. It wasn’t scaled like the rest of him, but felt rubbery and slick. “Everything’s going to be all right. We’ll be together forever. Just the two of us.”
Bile rose to the back of her throat. This did nothing to still her trembling, but his arms tightened around her, holding her so snug she could hardly move.
“Repeat after me: I submit to you, I submit to you.”
She parted her lips. The words stuck in her throat. She couldn’t say it—couldn’t do it. She closed her eyes, angry at herself, but a small, cowardly part of her also felt relieved.
As if he sensed this, his taunting voice filled her ears. “Don’t you want to save your little girl? So innocent. So sweet. She didn’t do anything to deserve what happened to her … what’s going to happen to her. What’s her name again?”
She shook her head, lips pressed tightly together.
His taloned fingers dug deep into her arms, the nails cutting her flesh. “Her name?”
Tears seeped between her closed eyelids. “Aimee.”
“Ah, Aimee. Poor Aimee. Wonder how many will die at her hands. Taken in by her appearance, a lost little girl in need. She couldn’t possibly harm anyone.” He chuckled. “Until she devours them.”
It was a horrible scenario, but one she could picture as perfectly as any vision.
She had to do this. She couldn’t let that happen. The words rose on her shuddering lips: “I submit to you, I submit to you … I submit.”
He exhaled slowly as if she had done something to ease a long-standing ache, a deeply buried wound. “It is done,” he said on a breath.
Suddenly she was caught in a storm of dark wind. The demon was shadow again, steaming air swirling all around her, gaining speed until she felt like she was caught in a massive cyclone.
Suddenly the wind stopped, disappeared. And she was slammed against something so hard every bone in her body rattled.
She was lifted off her feet and then flung back down. She lay flat on the ground, facedown in bitter-cold snow. But a strange new heat spread up from her core, suffusing her. Like something living and breathing inside her.
Looking around, there was no sight of the demon. Yet she wasn’t alone. The demon was still with her. She felt him.
He was inside her.
TWENTY-FOUR
Niklas woke with a rough gasp, his heart beating like a fierce drum in his chest. Instantly, he looked around,