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Soun in his hand Then footsteps sounded How long he sat there, weapon gradually slipping from his too-loose hold, he didn’t know All he kneas that the next time he opened his eyes, his friends were back

Aeron and Willia todereen scales over portions of its body and a face composed only of bone Several horns protruded froh Lord, but close enough," Aeron gritted out There was a new gash on his forehead and blood was seeping into his left eye

"Do your thing," Williah it required every ounce of his strength, Aed to reach out and place his hands on the creature’s skull The bucking intensified Frantic screams escaped Twice, Amun’s sweaty palms slid out of place, but he eventually er needed

Mee and pain and torture All inflicted upon others The creature was second in coh Lord Pain, Reyes’s demon Upon Pain’s escape, this creature had taken over And oh, had it enjoyed hurting others In every way iinable and even soion And now her shrieks were trapped inside A he could see Gods, he wanted to vomit And did vomit, the moment the connection was severed

Williaround, useless now, brain wiped clean

A hand settled atop A at the base of his neck andcould soothe hiain

"Do you knohere she is?" Aeron asked gently

A his eyes Those shrieks…the blood…too much…

The hand on his neck stilled "Where? Tell ain She’s given to a new demon every other day She’s beaten, tortured…and worse In between those days, she returns to Lucifer, who entertains his minions with her screams Today, she’s with him And he…he…he knows you’re here He plans to kill you in front of her

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

SCARLET DIDN’T move or speak as Gideon crawled up her body He took his ti the way She could have protested She didn’t She needed this, she realized Just once A moment of beauty and pleasure to overshadow a lifetiret Of sadness and pain Of deceit

Funny, Gideon was keeper of Lies, yet he’d been the only person ever to be honest with herSo thiselse with hi as her aunt could er he didn’t deserve He was blameless of every crime she’d ever tossed at his door

Gods, she was a fool Deserved only punishment She should leave, not luxuriate in her own selfishness by stealing this moment She owed him that, at the very least But she couldn’t force herself to pull away from him Just once, she reminded herself She’d have hi would ly," he whispered, reverently tracing his fingertips along the inside of her thighs

Goose bumps broke out over her flesh, but when he realized what he’d said, he froze and looked up at her with budding panic

"I knohat you meant," she told him softly He’d left her in a T-shirt and panties, so he couldn’t see the hard tips of her nipples Couldn’t see how much she already desired him

Slowly, he relaxed "I’m not amazed by you, devil" His thu her, tantalizing her "Don’t tell entle with her? How could he stand to touch her? After everything they’d just learned? If you’re going to enjoy this, you have to stop traveling down that thought path