Bloodstains and Bitemarks

by Kyra Quinn

  I’d almost rather deal with Ava.

  “So, I’m still not understanding what our play is here.” I snatch one of the unlit blunts from the table. Whisky isn’t strong enough to help me through this conversation. I light it and inhale, waiting for the smoke to fill my lungs and exit my nose before speaking again.

  “What happens after Michael tells us to fuck off? If we’re just going to kill the girl, there’s not much point in toying with her.”

  “Not much point?” He raises his brows. “What happened to the Kane who once ripped a man’s fingernails and teeth out for his own amusement?”

  I tense. That’s not the most accurate description of what happened, but it’s not a lie. Thanks to our unholy abilities, demons can take an immeasurable amount of torture and never die. Some even get off on pain. But humans are fragile creatures, built to break. In our line of work, I considered it important to know just how much suffering mortals can take before their bodies crumble.

  “He’s right here. I’m not saying any of this to defend the bitch. It’s a waste of time and resources. And on the off-chance Zeke comes for her, having her here is a liability.”

  Arachne snickers. “Right, because Ezekiel suddenly learned to care about something other than himself? Doubt it.”

  “If I had to guess,” Dagon says, reaching for the blunt, “Zeke kept her close because he’s the one who dragged her into the Hunt. And, she’s a lot smaller than I expected for a hunter. He realized there’s no way she’d survive long on her own.”

  “Or he’s fucking her,” she says with a shrug. “Doesn’t mean he cares about her.”

  My vision clouds with red. An image of Zeke’s filthy hands caressing her curves fills my head, unwelcome and unbidden. I shake away the thoughts, but my imagination only spins more out of control. Her voice moans softly in my ear as he pulls her against him. He slides his hand between her legs, and the world around me fades away except for the red and the pounding of my heart in my ears. I clench my teeth, my hands balling into fists under the table.

  “You good?” Dagon’s voice cuts into my fucked-up thoughts, rescuing me just before the imaginary Zeke slides himself inside of my prisoner. He passes the blunt back to me, ignoring the rest of the demons at the table.

  “Fine,” I growl, voice dripping with sarcasm. “Who doesn’t love a surprise dinner with the bosses? And I’m sure our guest will cooperate with us parading her around like a dog on a leash for them.”

  He pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs. “We won’t give the girl a choice. She follows orders, or she suffers until she learns to listen. Her family line won’t protect her from the Knights. We can handle one fragile little human girl for a few hours.”

  I give a brisk nod and rise to my feet. I hand the weed to Saleos and ask, “We finished? I have some personal business to attend to since my night is now spoken for.”

  “Try to get your head out of your ass while you’re at it,” he says. “We’re so close to everything we’ve worked for. Don’t fuck it up for us now. No one enjoys Lilith’s company, but we swore an oath to serve the Knights. Breaking that promise is a one-way ticket back to Hell.”

  After the day I’ve had, Hell sounds better by the minute. “Don’t be dramatic. No one’s breaking their oath. But I never swore to rejoice every time Lilith or Levi crash my night.”

  I storm back through the glass doors into the house. Lilith is playing us. The airhead act may work on her arrogant brothers, but I see through her like glass. Our targets weren’t chosen by coincidence. She recognized Nadia from the moment she laid eyes on her photograph.

  The question is, why?

  * * *

  I sit on the balcony outside my bedroom and wait for Arachne to tell me she’s finished with Nadia. A cigarette dangles from my fingers, but I hardly register the smoke filling my lungs. The only thing on my mind is Nadia and the complications her presence has brought to my door.

  If Lilith is interested in Nadia, she must have some reason to believe Nadia can help her win the war. But what use does she have for a frail mortal girl? I close my eyes and try to sort through the information in my head, but it’s as if I’m staring at a pile of puzzle pieces with no idea what image I’m working towards. The only way to make sense of it all is to figure out what Lilith knows about Nadia.

  But to do that, I must first make sure my prisoner survives an evening with the Knights. I may enjoy our verbal sparring matches, but Lilith and Levi won’t show her the same patience. If Nadia doesn’t watch what she says to who, it won’t matter what drew Lilith to her. The Knights will end her life without breaking a sweat and move on to the other hunter they ordered us to abduct.

  I ash my cigarette over the railing and stifle a sigh. I shouldn’t care what happens to her. Hell, it’d be far simpler to stand back while she mouths off to Levi. If he snaps her skinny little neck, my problems are over. It might cost Dagon his promotion, but other opportunities will arise in time.

  But for reasons I’m not willing to question now, I can’t let her die. Not yet. If the Knights went through the effort to have us track her down, there’s a reason for it. If I can find out what they want, maybe I can exploit it to my advantage.

  The sun sinks into the ocean. It’s breathtaking, and for a split second I understand why humans are so protective of their world. You don’t get views like this in Hell, and I’m not sure I buy into the stories about the pearly gates and puffy clouds in Heaven. I haven’t met God personally, but from the anecdotal evidence I’ve collected, He doesn’t strike me as the type of creator to sit around on cloud pillows while angels strum harps in the background. Not while Michael and Lucifer threaten to destroy his cherished creation.

  The door behind me slides open. Arachne steps outside, her face twisted into a frown. “Finished for now. I’ll have to run to Ocean Drive and find something in her size.”

  “Sorry,” I say, but even I can hear the insincerity in my tone. “Take it up with the Knights when they turn up.”

  She snickers. “Right, I’m sure that’ll end well. Still, I do not envy her tonight. Something tells me she won’t be with us long after Lilith hears her pop off at the mouth.”

  I sigh and flick my cigarette butt over the railing. “My worries exactly. We’re out of time to break this girl and convince her to cooperate. One wrong move tonight could spell the end for her.”

  “Since when do you care?” Arachne arches a brow. “I figured you’d want her gone as fast as possible.”

  “I do. She’s a pain in my ass and a waste of our time. But I wouldn’t wish Lilith on anyone.”

  “Fair. She’s usually a little nicer to females, though, and there’s nothing she adores more than a female who can stand toe-to-toe with the men. She might like the potty mouth on our little prisoner. Your brother does.”

  I doubt that, but let Arachne think what she wants. “If you’re finished with her, it’s my turn. Maybe I can beat her hard enough to shut her up for a night.”

  An image of Nadia’s snowy flesh adorned by my marks flashes through my thoughts. My cock stiffens. On the off chance she doesn’t survive her encounter with the Knights, I need to work this out of my system now. I may not get another chance.

  I slip Arachne the keys to my car and head to the attic, making a quick stop by my bedroom on the way. Pulling open the closet, I grab a suede leather flogger from the rack suspended from the doorframe. The suede doesn’t have the same bite as the oiled leather or braided floggers, but it’s a solid place to start. Nadia is a hunter, but she’s also tiny and human. Lilith will have my head if I accidentally kill the prisoner before she can use her for whatever evil plot she’s cooking up.

  I unlock the attic door and slip inside. Nadia’s body tenses as the latch clicks into place, her back arching to push her perky tits towards the ceiling. Her nipples stand at attention, and it takes everything I have not to walk over and pinch them between my fingers. I lick my lips and take a step closer. My pants tighten arou
nd my crotch, but I brush it off and focus on the task at hand.

  I clear my throat and slap the leather strips against my open palm. “We need to talk, pet.”

  “Fuck you,” she snarls. “Your little friend already filled me in on your plans to dress me up and whore me out.”

  It’s hard not to laugh. “If I planned to whore you out, what’s the point in dressing you up first?”

  “How the hell should I know? I’m not the sadist here.”

  I kneel next to her head. A smile tugs at my lips. “No? I’m not the only one in this room with blood on my hands. And you can’t tell me you didn’t enjoy it.”

  Her nostrils flare. She squirms until her skull slams into my boot, followed by a groan. Now I laugh. If she keeps this up, I won’t have to lift a finger to hurt her. I can sit back and wait for her to kill herself trying to prove a point.

  “You don’t know a damn thing about me. I only joined the Dark Hunt so they’d help me kill you.”

  It’s hard not to enjoy her helplessness. No matter how much shit she talks, it’s obvious who has the upper hand. Her flesh is moist with exertion, her face flushed as if she spent the afternoon on the beach instead of tied up in my attic. She looks almost nothing like the naïve preacher’s daughter I met two years ago outside a rundown trailer park.

  I shake my head. Focus. Nadia won’t stand a chance if I don’t do everything I can to prepare her for the Knights. Her smart-ass mouth might turn me on, but no one else will agree. I need to save Nadia from her greatest enemy in this world—herself.

  “I don’t need your life story, pet. In this room, your past no longer exists. Whoever you were and whatever you’ve done before coming here doesn’t matter. All you need to worry about is not pissing off the Knights of Hell.”

  She sucks her teeth, and it’s all I can do not to reach down and knock the immaturity out of her. “Fuck you, and fuck them, too. Bring all the friends you want. I still won’t tell you anything.”

  “We’ve yet to begin the interrogation,” I remind her through gritted teeth. “This isn’t about extracting information from you. Not yet, anyway.”

  “Then what do they want?”

  Good question. Not that there’s any reason to tell her about my suspicions regarding Lilith. “The Knights recognized you from a surveillance photo one of their hired thugs captured. Your father blasted your face all over the media for weeks when you disappeared after your mother’s murder. I’m assuming the Knights plan to work your old man to their advantage.”

  It’s a half-truth, but she doesn’t need all the details. It’s unlikely anyone told her the truth about her parents. She displays no signs of having inherited her mother’s abilities, so there’s no actual reason for me to fill her in. There’s not a drop of magic in her blood.

  Nadia scoffs and shakes her head. “My father put on an enjoyable show for the press, but he doesn’t care about me. He won’t lift a finger to help me, let alone a bunch of demons.”

  I roll the flogger between my hands, contemplating the best way to proceed. Trying to communicate with her is pointless. She doesn’t listen to or believe a word I say. And she’s wasting what little time we have with her stubborn refusal to listen to reason.

  I swing the flogger over my shoulder and bring it down across her thighs with a sudden whack. Nadia yelps, her body twisting as she struggles to curl into herself. Her flesh colors. The spot where I struck her turns red.

  “Our little back-and-forth is enjoyable, but this isn’t the time to act like a brat. You won’t live any longer than tonight if you don’t knock this off and get your shit together. Do I make myself clear?”

  She whimpers in response. I push her matted ginger curls from her face and slip the blindfold off. Vertical lines appear between her eyebrows as she glares up at me with unmasked contempt. Her eyes are the same ones I remember, their shade a perfect twin to the afternoon sky before a storm. Flecks of gold frame the edges of her irises, and for a moment even her furrowed brows and sneer don’t stop me from losing myself in them.

  “Nice to see you again,” I choke. Damn, why did I remove the blindfold? And why does her frosty stare get under my skin so much?

  “Why?” she demands, her voice small but firm. “Why put me through this? Everyone knows Zeke and Michael won’t care if another hunter dies, and I’d bet my left arm my father cares even less. Either kill me now or let me go. Put me out of my misery. It’s the least you can do after what you’ve done.”

  My patience is wearing thinner by the second. I swing my arm back and deliver another swat across her breasts. The impact causes Nadia to arch her back and shriek. The sound of her pain sends all the blood from my brain rushing into my dick. If it weren’t for the impending threat of Lilith’s arrival, I’d throw her onto her face and take what I want here and now.

  “Think you’re ready to behave?”

  “Hit me all you want,” she snipes. “I can take it.”

  Unfortunately, I suspect she’s telling the truth. If she’s in with Zeke and Michael, weakness isn’t an option. I should’ve grabbed the braided flogger instead, but hindsight does nothing to help me now with this obstinate bitch.

  “This is nothing next to what the Knights will do to you tonight,” I warn, though I doubt she’s concerned about it. “Tonight will go a lot smoother if you shut the fuck up and listen to me.”

  She snaps something back, but I tune her out. This is pointless. There’s no time to waste arguing in circles until she pulls her head out of her ass. If she fucks this up tonight, Dagon and I will lose any shot at promotion. Lilith or Levi will dispose of her, and I’ll never get the chance to find out if she feels as good as she looks.

  “Enough with the games.” I toss the flogger to the floor and wrap my hand around her throat. Her legs kick and flail, but the restraints leave her powerless to resist. I increase the pressure bit by bit, careful not to crush her fragile little windpipe. “Nothing I’ve asked of you tonight is difficult, pet. I haven’t asked you to betray your so-called friends or kill someone you care for. All I need from you tonight is obedience. We can figure out the rest later.”

  “Fuck... off you...bastard.” Her complexion reddens as she wheezes, her eyes round and wet. For a split second, I almost think she’s enjoying it.

  But that’s my depravity talking. The longer I pin her to the floor by her neck, the more she thrashes and writhes against me. Under any other circumstances, her defiance would be sexy as sin. Her resistance only increases my desire to break her.

  With my free hand, I deliver a series of slaps to her cheek to emphasize my words. “You will listen.” Slap. Slap. Slap. “Or I will make you wish you had.”

  Her coloring becomes a little too unnatural for my comfort, and I release my hold on her throat. She gasps and chokes for air. White fingerprints remain around her neck. I trace over my markings with my fingertip and bite back a smile. Lovely.

  “You can tie me up, you can beat me, you can torture me however you want,” she rasps, “but you can’t make me do anything. I don’t give a fuck if you bring Lucifer himself in here. I will never bow to you, or any other demonic trash.”

  I rub my jaw and fight back a sigh of exasperation. “Your inexperience is showing, pet. Submission and surrender aren’t the same thing as defeat. This is the only way you’ll find any power here.”

  She shakes her head. “Your deception won’t work. I’ve grown up a lot since the last time we saw each other, Kane. I know better than to trust a damn thing that comes out of your mouth.”

  “I never lied to you.”

  “Bullshit.” Her eyes narrow. “Everything you ever told me was a lie. It’s what demons do best.”

  She’s wrong on multiple accounts—lying is far from my best skill—but I can’t afford to stand around trading verbal quips with her. I need to secure her cooperation before the Knights arrive by any means necessary. If the stick won’t work, maybe it’s time I try the carrot.

  I crouch down ne
xt to her and caress a finger down the side of her cheek. She tenses and recoils. Something flashes in her eyes—fear, maybe?—as she tries to roll away from me.

  “Don’t!” she shrieks. “Don’t you dare fucking touch me!”

  Interesting. Under any other circumstances, her repulsion might sting. But it’s the most intense reaction I’ve elicited from her since we captured her. Maybe I can work it to my advantage.

  “What’s wrong, pet?” I coo, inching closer to her shuddering body. “Don’t tell me no one’s touched you like this. I won’t believe it.”

  There’s no way Nadia is still a virgin. Not with a body made for touching and abusing. My hands tremble, torn between the desire to run my hands over her soft flesh and sink my teeth into her ample ass.

  Arachne’s comments from before creep back into my thoughts. My body flushes with heat. I rise to my feet and step away from Nadia, trying to block out the images of Zeke thrusting himself inside of attacking my brain.

  Anyone but him. I draw in a slow, steady breath and try to force my thoughts to stop racing. The thought of Nadia with anyone else makes my stomach twist, but I can handle it. I don’t care if she’s fucked half of Miami in our time apart. Anyone but that sanctimonious prick.

  I hide my hands behind my back so she won’t notice my clenched fists. “Take your time. I’ll come back for you when Arachne finishes working her magic.”

  I don’t wait for a response. Tearing out of the room, I storm back to my bedroom and slam the door. With my back against the cool oak, I close my eyes and fight to steady myself. Damn it all to Heaven. Two years later and the little brat still makes me feel things I never thought possible. But now she’s mine, and I don’t plan to let her go twice. I’ll make damn sure no one else touches what belongs to me again.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Nadia

  My heart continues to race long after Kane leaves the room. With the blindfold gone, deep red walls surround me on either side. Wooden beams support a low ceiling. The only furniture in the room is the narrow mattress and a small wooden table a few feet away pushed in front of a smudged window. A row of shelves line the back wall filled with sex toys of varying sizes. My eyes fall on a dildo as thick as my wrist. What the fuck kind of perverted sex dungeon am I trapped in?