My legs twitched. I couldn’t stand her fucking hands so close to Piper’s throat. It wouldn’t take long for me to break her arms, but a mere flick of the wrist and she’d be dead. “Killing Piper solves nothing for you.”
“Oh, that’s where you’re wrong. Killing her will bring me much satisfaction because it will hurt you!”
The thought of Piper dying…it was too much to bear. Even if she could never care for me the way I did her, I’d make a deal to spare her life in a heartbeat.
I asked Emilie, “Do you want Trevis back? Permanently?”
“I sold my daughter’s soul if Trevis would return to me, even if it was brief. And you gave me that, nothing more, nothing less. And I held up my end of the bargain as well. Piper is yours. But that doesn’t mean your time together is ever-lasting. She may be yours, but she can still die!”
“Declan?” Piper’s plea came out in a whisper.
Enough of this shit. I charged Emilie. As soon as my foot left the ground, Jameson fired his gun. It hit my chest but didn’t slow me. In one swift movement, I grabbed his head and snapped his neck. I spun around before his body hit the floor.
Piper! I caught her body and lowered her gently to the ground. Emilie had stabbed her in the chest. I stood and grabbed her mother by her throat. Unlike all the others, she didn’t fight death. I breathed in deeply and relished watching the life in her face dwindle away. I’d never embraced a soul consummation more than I had with hers. She was a despicable person, and I was glad to rid the world of her. I should have killed her years ago, but the thought of Piper orphaned undid me. I thought growing up with at least one parent was better than none. I may have been wrong. When I finally released her, she dropped like the dead weight that it was.
Without a second glance, I turned my attention back to Piper. She lay, gasping for breath. I could already feel her life was slipping away. I could save her—give her the curse. However, the surreal memory of “my beloved” Sophia flashed before my eyes. I hated her for cursing me. I loved her and I thought she loved me back, but it was just a trick to get me to do what she wanted. And Sophia wanted freedom, just like I did now. But I couldn’t stand the thought of Piper hating me or the thought of her soul rotting like mine. I couldn’t turn her into…me.
“You’ll find freedom in death,” I whispered, wiping the tears from her freckled cheeks.
“I don’t want to be free of you.”
I tucked her hair so I could see her beautiful eyes before her soul left them. Before kissing her goodbye I whispered, “Forgive me.”
And then I stabbed her in the heart with the Godforsaken dagger.
As soon as Declan’s lips collided with mine, he cursed me by stabbing me in the heart with the dagger. Sparks burst into flame around the blade. It felt a part of the dagger burning away pieces of me…the good pieces. Breathing in the essence of the greed, corruption and torment that’d he’d stolen over his lifetime; he shared a part that hunger with me. But he stopped halfway. I could sense him struggling to give me everything, even though I know he wanted to; he couldn’t bring himself to give up everything. I felt a part of his soul residing in mine. The good part and the corruption. It was like he tore himself into two.
“I told you no matter the cost, you will be mine,” he said, gazing at me like I was his everything.
And then Declan confessed everything. The good. The bad. The ugly. He claimed his soul was corrupt and his heart rotten, but I felt those parts of him burning inside me. And I knew he was everything he claimed, but he was so much more than just a demon. He was so much more than the evil that ruled him. He wasn’t purely evil or he wouldn’t have spared me from the full intensity of the curse; he wouldn’t have kept half of it. I wouldn’t be completely enslaved by the festering hunger, but instead I would share it with him—the demon loved me, saved me from death, but spared me from an immortal life of misery.
“You’re whistling again,” he said and then frowned when I stopped. He rolled his thumb over my bottom lip and glanced at the freckles on my nose. “Never stop. It’s incredibly alluring, my pied Piper.”
“Now what?” I asked, wondering where this left us.
“Wherever you want. Your story has just begun, Piper.”
I fell in love with a monster. In doing so, I became one myself. But I never regretted the night I met Rumpelstiltskin.
Our passion consumed us. It ruled us. We were enslaved to it. And because we welcomed it, it freed us both. Our affection for each other was unconventional and all-consuming. But love was complicated for everyone, even in the sweetest of fairy tales.
***
If you enjoyed Declan and Piper’s love-hate romance, read on to book #2 in the Once Wicked Series, entitled Soulless.
Sarah J. Pepper specializes in paranormal romance—think Happily Ever After but with a twisted, dark chocolate center. Real-life romance isn't only filled with hugs, kisses, bunnies, and rainbows. True-love can be more thoroughly described in times of darkness and tribulation. It’s in those harsh moments where you see what a person is truly capable of—both the good and bad. Sometimes prince-charming isn't always on time, and the glass slipper is a little snug. However, it doesn't mean Charming is not Mr. Right, and who says every shoe is the perfect fit?
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Twisted Fairytale Confessions
Death of the Mad Hatter
Locks: Rapunzel Unhinged
Snow White Lies
Neverland Evermore
Once Wicked Series
Priceless #1
Soulless #2
Ringer’s Masquerade Series
Devil’s Lullaby #1
Death’s Melody #2
Angel’s Requiem #3
The Fate Trilogy
Forgotten #1
Twisted Games #2
Fae Wars
Seelie
Standalones
Fallen Tears
Pointe of Breaking
Priceless (Once Wicked #1) Page 5