A Demon's Dread (The Arcana Pack

Chronicles Book 6) Emilia Hartley

Visit to download the full and correct content document:
https://ebookmass.com/product/a-demons-dread-the-arcana-pack-chronicles-book-6-
emilia-hartley/
A DEMON’S DREAD

THE ARCANA PACK CHRONICLES

EMILIA HARTLEY
 A LL RIGHTS RESERVED.

This is a work of fiction. All characters, places, businesses and incidents are from the author’s imagination, or they are used fictitiously
and are definitely fictionalized. Any trademarks or pictures herein are not authorized by the trademark owners and do not in any way
mean the work is sponsored by or associated with the trademark owners. Any trademarks or pictures used are specifically in a
descriptive capacity.

Emilia Hartley © Copyright 2022

 EMILIA’S HEARTLIES

Join my mailing list! Sign up to my newsletter where I send out free books, promotional offers,
giveaways, and more!

GET YOUR FREE COPY OF PROTECT BY THE MOUNTAIN WOLF HERE

JOIN MY EXCLUSIVE READER GROUP BY CLICKING HERE !
 CONTENTS

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27

What’s New
Heartlies Box Sets
Thank you!
 1
VI

I didn’t mind handcuffs, in the right circumstances, but an ancient Abrahamic curse meant for an
archangel didn’t quite fit in the bedroom. The curse was called Lucifer’s shackles, and it bound
my arcana so that it recoiled any time I tried to use it—let me tell you, that shit did not feel good.
Sitting on the floor at Luca’s rental estate, I leaned into Morgan’s knee so his warmth could
comfort me as I stared at the books open on the coffee table before us. Luca, my vampire BFF, glared
at me over the coffee table.
It wasn’t really my fault that his house got demolished by an upper-level demon general, but I
blamed myself, nonetheless. Still, he could afford a pretty nice place in the meantime. This wasn’t
just any apartment. It was a gorgeous, remodeled stone mansion outside of town, just the kind of place
one might expect a vampire to live.
I appreciated that he kept choosing fireproof homes, but that hadn’t stopped me from absolutely
wrecking his last place.
“The most obvious course of action,” Luca began after pulling his gaze way from me, “would be
to summon Charlotte from Hell. She was the one who had the curse placed on you. If anyone would
understand how to undo it, she would.”
I shook my head and gave an adamant: “No.”
Luca didn’t seem impressed. He knew, of course. My friend immediately understood that I was
trying to avoid the consequences of my actions.
Charlie had presented herself as my ally only to turn around and stab me in the back, multiple
times. I’d wanted to help her. She’d pretended to be my half-sister, but I would have happily accepted
her as family if she’d allowed it. Unfortunately, Charlie had other plans. Ones that involved forcing
me to open a gate to Hell for the apocalypse to begin.
Her time had been limited. A disease had been eating at her, and modern medicine had been
unable to help. She’d found her answer in her father, a demon general by the name of Abaddon. He’d
promised her eternal life in exchange for her service.
I did the only thing I could do at the time. I banished her to Hell, and she’s been there ever since.
There was a strong possibility that Hell had changed her. I…I didn’t want to know what she’d
become. By summoning her, I would be brought face to face with the fate that I’d sealed for her.
“Charlie did that to herself,” Morgan said from his seat on the couch behind me.
Bez, who was lost in a stack of books beyond the couch, made a sound in agreement. My strangest
ally came in the form of a demon. Yeah, a fully fledged demon riding the body of a dead man.
The crossroads demon had given up a life of contracts in order to help me. According to him, I
was the most terrifying entity in this battle, so he’d decided to cross over onto my side. I’d given up
on waiting for him to betray us. Bez was…actually kind of nice. And I wasn’t saying that just because
he bought snacks for me.
“You are not to blame for what happened.” Morgan locked eyes with me.
His voice was low and certain. He fully believed his own statement, yet I couldn’t help but stare
at my hands. I’d been the one to activate the sigil that banished her. Her fate was my fault.
Was this how Ryder felt?
Morgan had come to Lakesedge in search of his brother. Ryder Callahan had killed their father
before running from their home. From what I understood, it’d been a necessity. Their father had lost
himself to a condition called Treasure Sickness that made him violent and unpredictable.
While Morgan excused my actions, he refused to acknowledge his own brother’s situation.
We were all sorts of messy up in here. I just hoped that we had time to figure it out before my
expiration date came and stole me away.
So, yeah, I had a time limit, too.
I hadn’t told anyone yet. Morgan hadn’t been there when the vision hit me. An entity that I didn’t
have a name for had visited me. He’d left me with a warning: either I open the gates of Hell and let
destruction out, or my own power would destroy me from the inside.
Ever since Charlie had put this curse on me, I wondered if this was what the entity had meant.
When my emotions peaked, my arcana flared, and the light would sear my insides. I felt closer and
closer to my inevitable demise every time.
Of course, I feared that my arcana would destroy me no matter what. The entity had given the
warning before Charlie placed this curse on me. Could the entity have known about the curse? It was
possible, but I was so far in the dark that I had no way of knowing anything.
And I didn’t have my light to show me the way.
Frustrated, I buried my face in my hands. My arcana bubbled in response. Light flashed and made
me gasp sharply as heat licked along my insides. Morgan, sensing my state, climbed off the couch and
sat on the floor with me. He pulled me into his arms and held me tight. I turned my face into his chest
and breathed deep.
His scent helped center me. My arcana settled, slowly lowering back into my core.
“Vi, you’re going to have to accept that Charlie is in Hell because of her own actions.” Luca’s
voice was soft yet stern. For a vampire, he could be really sweet sometimes. “You might have sent
her, but only because she left you with no other choice.”
But I could have saved her. I could have done something to keep her from that fate.
Every chance I got, I tried to raise a middle finger to Fate. It was a really cold bitch, and I wanted
it to know that I hated it.
Fate tried to bind me to a future that I wanted nothing to do with. According to the cosmic order of
things, I was supposed to open the gates to Hell. That was my only purpose, and Fate was awfully
pissed that I kept refusing its call.
“There has to be another way,” Morgan said.
With my head on his chest, I could feel the rumbling vibrations of his voice. I let out a soft sigh
and sank deeper into him.
I’d tried to push him away, but I’d done an awful job at it. There was nothing that could make
Morgan leave my side, and that kind of scared me. He was going to get hurt, but I needed him, and I
couldn’t bear the idea of letting him go anymore.
“We’ll find another way,” Luca said with a resigned sigh.
 I pulled myself out of the comforting embrace of Morgan’s arms and grabbed the nearest book.
They were safe in my hands now that I couldn’t start fires. But that also meant I spent more time
looking at my sparkless fingers than the words on the page.
While I mourned the loss of my light, a relatively new ability, Luca, Morgan, and Bez put in the
real work.
“We could summon another demon with more information,” Luca suggested without looking up
from his book.
Behind the couch, Bez sputtered. “Please don’t.”
Morgan twisted to give Bez an inquisitive look. Bez wore the most terrified expression I’d seen
on him so far, which was impressive because Bez was afraid of everything.
Bez swallowed, hard. “Vi’s curse is old. It’s older than Hell itself since it was cast on Lucifer
before he fell and carved out Hell. The only demons that would know anything about Lucifer’s
shackles are the ones who were there before Hell, too. And we don’t need to call on them.”
“Why not?” Luca asked blandly, as if disinterested in what Bez had to say.
Bez’s sigh turned into a soft growl of frustration. He gave me and Morgan a pleading look, as if to
ask for backup. While I didn’t want to call up a demon, either, I had no idea why Bez was so against
this.
He looked at us all as if we’d grown an extra head. “Abaddon isn’t that old. Sure, he’s been
around the block a few times, but he’s not Lucifer-level old. But Abaddon still managed to reach
through Hell and wreck your concrete mansion. Imagine if we summoned someone as old as… as old
as Lilith!”
“Who is Lilith?” I had no idea who resided in Hell. It wasn’t like Daddy Dearest introduced me
to his neighbors.
Again, Bez wore a pained look. “She’s the queen of the succubi. And she wasn’t a demon when
she went to Hell, either. In fact, she was Adam’s first wife. The two had a lot of disputes, and their
marriage went sideways because couples counseling wasn’t really a thing back then. Because God
didn’t want an unsupervised woman running around, he threw her in with Lucifer.
“She might know how to break Lucifer’s shackles, but she would find a way to start the
apocalypse at the same time. We’re not calling on old demons. They’re shifty motherfuckers, and they
can’t be trusted.”
That put us back to square one, because I wasn’t going to put my fate in the hands of another
demon general, even if she was cool for a demon. I mean, Adam’s first wife got kicked out, so she
spitefully became a demon? That was kind of admirable, even if it was really bad.
Without a valid option to pursue, the room fell into silence again. I craved the wet condensation of
a mixed energy drink from my favorite shop. There hadn’t been time to stop earlier, and I sorely
regretted it. I wanted my comfort item, dang it.
Finally, Luca slammed a book down onto the coffee table. Morgan and I looked up, startled. My
arcana flared. Without the shackles, I would have incinerated the book in my hands. Instead, I hissed
in pain.
“I am uncertain whether or not you will like this,” Luca said.
I raised a suspicious brow.
“We’re going to call upon one of your relatives, most likely an uncle.”
I shook my head. “I’m not making deals with any demons.”
“Ah, but that’s where you’re mistaken. Do not idly make assumptions about yourself or my ideas.
Remember, you’re not a half-demon. We discovered that your true sire is, in fact, a fallen angel.”
Luca grinned.
Oh yeah. I forgot to mention that my mother might have slept with Lucifer, himself. That fateful
night of glorious sex begat me, a demi-angel who grew up thinking that she was nothing more than a
little demon.
What even is my life?
I shook the messy thoughts from my head and focused on Luca once more. Before I could say
anything, Morgan asked the obvious question.
“So, you plan on summoning an angel? That could work in our favor. I really doubt they want Vi
to start the apocalypse.”
I had an awful mental vision of an angel, appearing only to smite me where I stood. I mean, that’s
what I would do if I had to stop the apocalypse from ever happening. So long as I was alive, the
apocalypse could happen at any time.
“This is going to end badly,” I said.
“Stop it with the self-fulfilling prophecies.” Luca slapped another book onto the table.
Self-fulfilling prophecies are Ness’s area of expertise. Not mine, I almost said.
My friend literally had a prophecy written about her. I just had fate riding my ass like a butthurt
driver on a packed interstate highway.
We had a plan. Luca explained what we would need in order to summon an angel. Since it might
take a while to get all the ingredients, I figured that would give me time to get everyone together. I
wasn’t going to walk into this alone.
I had a lot of friends who were more than happy to hold my hand while I talked to my father’s
estranged siblings from Heaven.
“This feels weird,” I said, kind of pointing out the obvious. “I’m going to need the biggest energy
drink for this.”
I ran my hands over my face. Nervous energy bubbled inside the curse trapping my arcana.
Knowing that my emotions would cause another overflow, I sucked in a deep breath and tried to
center myself. Trying to force it only made the panic sharper. I inhaled sharply as the pain stabbed at
my chest.
“Vi?” Morgan reached out and touched my back.
“Can I…Can I sleep on this decision?” I asked without looking up.
I couldn’t look anyone in the eye. For the longest time, I’d been so self-assured. My fire arcana
had given me strength to hide behind. Now, without the fire or the light that’d it’d become, I was just
a human woman with too many emotions. I wasn’t who I wanted to be.
And my pride was pissed. That part of me wanted to rip the curse apart. I made me believe I
could tear through this curse if I tried hard enough, even though I already knew that the recoil would
kill me.
My pride would be the end of me. I’d always called it my demonic side, but there was a pretty
strong chance that it came from my father’s angelic blood. I mean, Lucifer did get booted from
Heaven for believing himself better than humanity. And, here I was, running around with the same
attitude for so long.
I didn’t think I was better than my friends, but I’d relied on my arcana for so long that I didn’t
know who I was without it.
If I let my pride get the best of me, it would be the end of me. I couldn’t give in to the urge telling
me to fight this. We would have to beseech an angel.
Luca grunted, which I took as a yes even if he did turn his nose up at me. He was getting tired of
my shit, I could tell. That was reasonable, considering that I was the reason his house had collapsed.
“Are you sure you want to wait?” Morgan asked, his hand still on my back. “You’re suffering. If
we can find a way to break the curse tonight, shouldn’t we do it?”
Yes.
And no.
I just wanted time to think. I needed to clear my head and try to get myself under control again.
This was all too much, and I was angry that I was overwhelmed at all. I normally ran headlong into
everything. Now, I hesitated in fear.
I hated it.
Without needing a response from me, Morgan nodded. “We’ll give it a night.”

M ORGAN

VI SAT in the passenger seat of her own Jeep. Eyes closed, she counted from one to ten under her
breath. I waited for light to flicker under her skin, but it wasn’t there. The light that I’d become so
accustomed to was nowhere to be found anymore.
Not since Charlie put the curse on Vi.
I stifled my growl as I turned the key in the ignition. While Vi still felt compassion for Charlie, a
rage simmered inside me. Vi had nothing but love for the person who’d betrayed her. I wanted to
make Charlie hurt for what she’d done, even if that wouldn’t fix the actual problem.
My beast growled in agreement. The beast would always be on Vi’s side. It’d taken her as a mate,
not that I’d told her yet. Vi had enough on her plate. I wasn’t going to add in something else that she
had no control over.
I didn’t have any control over it, either, but I wasn’t about to complain. Vi was like fireworks on a
dark and cold night. She brought color and excitement into my bleak existence. Try as I might to
complain about the demon infestation, it was far more exciting than what I’d been doing for the past
year.
“Stay with me tonight?” Vi asked, her eyes still closed.
Anything for you, I thought. Not that I would ever say such a thing. I couldn’t let her know that I
was wrapped around her finger. If she ever found out, she would push me to do wild things like make
amends with my estranged brother.
That wasn’t going to happen any time soon.
“I need to know where you are tonight,” Vi continued.
I laughed. “So, that’s what this is about. You don’t need my company? You just want to babysit
me?”
A slight smile reached the corners of her lips, even if they were still tight with pain.
“I’ll sleep much better knowing that you’re not busting down Ness’s door. They didn’t get a
honeymoon, so the least I can do is make sure that you’re not interrupting them while they’re having
crazy, post-marital sex.”
I cringed. “Please. Never say that again. I do not want to think about my brother having sex.”
“What? You’re not going to give him a fist-bump for railing the hottest Barghest in town?” Vi gave
me a snug look as she wiggled her brows.
 “First of all, there’s only one Barghest in town. Second of all, she could have done much better
than my brother.”
Vi shifted in her seat. “Like you? Are you jealous of your brother?”
My jaw nearly dropped. Did Vi think I wanted Ness? My brother’s mate was obnoxious and
controlling. I could barely stand the few instances when our paths crossed. The last thing I would
ever want would be a mate bond with Ness.
“My dragon has its sights set on another woman,” I said, without thinking.
My beast preened, proud of my slip up. It wanted Vi to know. It wanted me to carry her through
the front door of her home and take her right to bed. It was difficult to keep my hands to myself.
Desire made my fingers curl against my thigh, nails digging into the denim of my jeans.
If Vi noticed, she paid me no mind. I wasn’t about to inform her of my needs, either. She had
enough on her plate.
Once I parked, she slowly extracted herself from the passenger seat and trudged towards the door.
She had lost the spark that made her bounce like embers from a wildfire. A growl of anger simmered
deep within my throat. When her head lifted and she glanced back, I knew I’d failed to hide it.
Her brows furrowed. “What climbed up your ass?”
I couldn’t help the smile that reached my lips. “Excuse me. What did you just say?”
“You heard me.” She straightened, pulling herself upright, so she could look me in the eye.
“That’s not how you use that phrase.” I laughed and shook my head. “You ask what climbed up
your ass and died when someone farts. I think what you mean to say is that I have a stick up my ass.”
She gave a half-shrug, a smirk still brightening her expression. “Maybe you smell. Did you stop
and think about that?”
I rushed her and tossed her over my shoulder. Keys in my hand and woman in my possession, I let
us inside and threw her down onto the couch where she bounced and laughed. That was until a wince
crossed her face. She hissed sharply.
I’d gone and hurt her. Not by throwing her, but by making her happy.
My stomach plummeted. The beast writhed uncomfortably inside me. It was conflicted.
What could I do? I wanted to make things easier for Vi. I wanted to make her smile and laugh
because this was a hard time for her. Yet, no matter what I did, I managed to hurt her. Maybe I should
have left when she pushed me away.
But she reached for me, and I was powerless to object. I let her pull me down onto the couch with
her. I pressed her into the cushions and wrapped my arms around her while she locked her ankles
behind my back.
Vi still smelled of smoke on a sunny summer day despite her arcana being locked away. I buried
my head in the crook of her neck and inhaled deeply, so I could commit that smell to memory.
In response, she let out a small whimper that was more of a moan than anything else. My beast
immediately acted up. Without thinking, I thrusted. I moved against her core until she let out another
soft moan.
Her hands trailed up my back until her fingers intertwined with my hair. I growled when she
pulled and exposed my neck. When she pressed her warm lips to my throat, I was undone.
“Vi,” I growled.
I needed her. I had to have her. Once I marked her as mine, everyone else would know that she
belonged to me.
Vi moaned my name into my ear. She unraveled me to the point where I was more beast than man.
I gripped her hip as I thrusted. She was warm and wet against me, even through her leggings. I wanted
to tear them away and bury myself inside her over and over again.
Until she whimpered. This time, the sound was more pain than pleasure. Vi arched, and I thought I
could hear her teeth grinding together. I leapt back, aware that I’d caused her pain—not through my
own strength, but through the curse.
Still, she reached out for me. Eyes blazing with determination, Vi beckoned me back.
I wish I could say that I had the strength to resist her. Instead, I inched towards her as if pulled by
a gravitational force that I could not deny. I hovered just out of reach, so I could study her face.
Vi was pale. It was clear that this curse was taking its toll on her. Yet, her brows were drawn
together with determination. She pursed her lips and pushed herself upright without breaking eye
contact with me.
“We can’t do this,” I said, my voice low because not even I wanted to admit this.
I’d found my mate, the woman who I would love for the rest of my life, and I was forced to watch
her suffer every time I wanted to touch her. Though she seemed determined to tough it out, I wasn’t
going to keep putting her through this. I couldn’t.
Hurting Vi went against everything that I was.
 2
VI

M organ turned on his heel and lurched towards the kitchen without another word. I shot to my
feet and followed him. I couldn’t bear to be away from him right now. Something pulled me
into him. I needed to be in the glow of his warmth, as if I could feed on his shifter heat while
my own light was locked away.
In the kitchen, we didn’t say anything. Neither of us could quite break the silence. It was just too
freaking awkward. I mean, we were dry humping on the couch before my father’s curse turned me into
an air fryer.
To say that things were awkward was to put it lightly.
I yanked a bag of frozen chicken nuggets from the fridge and tossed them onto a cookie sheet, so I
could bake them. My stomach growled in happy anticipation, even if the rest of my body demanded
another kind of sustenance.
I wasn’t going to get laid, though.
Every damn time I came close, my arcana recoiled because of this damn curse. It was almost
enough to push me into tearing it apart myself. Though I knew I didn’t have the body that could
withstand that kind of power, the temptation was still there.
How did you get out of this, Dad?
I needed to know, so I could get railed by the hot dragon shifter staring blankly into my kitchen
cupboards. Morgan’s expression was blank, but his shoulders were drawn tight. He gripped the
cabinet door so hard that the wood groaned ever so slightly.
While I should have told him that I would have to pay to fix that later, I didn’t bother. I was afraid
we might fall together again if I called his attention back to me. As badly as I wanted to do that, I
wasn’t sure I could survive it.
Frustration gurgled deep within me. It was an ember that wouldn’t die. It burned through my
stomach and into my core where it seared my very soul.
All my life, I’d gone without. I’d gone without a father. I’d gone without partners for fear of
burning them. I’d gone without privacy because everyone believed I needed supervision. Some things
had been out of my hands while others, I’d simply gone along with because it was easier than pushing
for what I actually wanted.
And I was tired of it.
My useless father could rot in Hell for all I cared. I didn’t want the fate that his bloodline had
shoved onto me. The threads that bind the world together, that push time forward, meant nothing to me
if I had to suffer the entire time. Screw fate and the bullshit apocalypse.
 Of course, this train of thought made my emotions swell uncontrollably. My arcana leapt like a
great blaze searching for more to devour. I clenched my teeth and made a mental note to visit the
dentist when this was all over. I was going to need some work done.
When I opened my eyes—I didn’t even realize that I’d shut them to begin with—Morgan was
before me. His brows were ever so slightly arched in concern.
“You good?” he asked, one hand hovering in the air in front of me like he wanted to touch me to
make sure I was still whole.
I swallowed and gave a nod because I didn’t trust myself still. My emotions were roiling inside
me, just as strong as they’d been before my arcana slapped me in the face. That sliver of air between
Morgan and myself would forever be my sworn enemy.
Who would have thought that I, the loose cannon, would fall for the bookish stalwart Morgan
Callahan? I certainly never thought I would see the day, but here we were. I wanted him more than I
wanted my arcana back.
For him, I would give it all up. While I didn’t want to lose my light, I knew that we would never
have a normal life so long as I still had my arcana. Not only was my arcana killing me, but there
would always be demons on my trail. They would be hunting me down so that they could force me to
start the apocalypse.
As if summoned by my thoughts, the window over the sink shattered and several imps flew into
the kitchen. I gaped at the mess they’d made before remembering that I was vulnerable without my
arcana.
“Shit,” I muttered before throwing my hands over my head.
What now?
I wasn’t in the mood for more demons. They needed to take a break with this whole apocalypse
thing. It was starting to get really old.
The imps didn’t attack, though. They circled overhead a couple of times before perching atop the
cabinets. I slowly let my arms down and stared nervously up at the little menaces. They grinned down
at me. One picked at his teeth with a longclaw. Another let out an obnoxious fart that would have
given my childhood dog a run for his money. The third imp slouched dramatically and let out a loud
snore.
I blinked, surprised.
“What the hell is happening?” I looked to Morgan for answers.
In the distance, I heard Bez’s frustrated shout. “No! No! Not that way!”
He skidded to a halt in the kitchen doorway behind me and gaped up at the imps living in my
kitchen. The farting imp used his tail to open a cabinet and withdraw a box of cookies.
I leapt into action and plucked the box from the imp’s grasp. “I’m not letting you break a window
and steal my favorite cookies!”
“They were supposed to use the front door!” Bez shouted at the imps. He turned to me, his
shoulders sinking in defeat. “I’m so sorry. I summoned them for extra protection, but I’m starting to
worry that they’re more trouble than they’re worth.”
Turning a glare at the imps, I said, “If they don’t behave from now on, I’ll just incinerate them.”
The first imp took his claw out of his mouth and laughed at me. “Like you can do anything with
that curse on you! You’re weaker than us right now. Practically a worthless mortal.”
I learned during my first interaction with imps that they were pretty much immune to basic fire, so
my kitchen torch wasn’t going to be any help. Instead, I yanked open a kitchen drawer and pulled out a
carving knife.
 “Say that to my face!” I held up the knife and shook it menacingly.
Could I even stab an imp? I didn’t know, but I would gladly find out. Windows were expensive!
Not to mention there was now glass everywhere.
“Outside with you,” Bez snapped. “You were given posts. Go see to them.”
The imps grumbled to one another. The farting imp tried to snatch my cookies one last time as they
flew out the window. I jerked back, keeping the cookies out of the imp’s reach.
Once they were gone, I sighed. I hated to say it, but life was kind of exciting right now. I thrived
on the adrenaline. It made me feel alive, even when my arcana was trapped. I should have scolded
Bez for bringing the imps here, but they were entertaining.
Not that I would tell Bez or Morgan that. They would both look at me like I’d grown another head.
Or maybe not. Maybe they’d come to expect this from me. Could I really live without my arcana? As I
stared at my open palms, I realized that I didn’t know.
Bez crouched and started snatching up pieces of glass. I didn’t think modern windows were
supposed to shatter like that, but I guess imps were a different breed.
“I didn’t mean for this to happen, Boss.” Bez shook his head and added another glass shard to the
pile in his hand.
The shard sliced through his skin, but no blood welled on the surface. He might be a demon, but
he used dead bodies when he walked in the mortal plane. It was disconcerting, especially when there
were flies crawling in his hair most of the time, but I appreciated the gesture.
Bez really tried.
He lifted his head. “Are you ready?”
The words jarred me. I could almost hear another voice threaded with his, a voice I’d heard
before. It shook my bones and left me breathless. Eyes wide, I glanced around the room for the source
of the other voice.
“Vi?” Morgan asked.
I tried to push the odd sensation away, but I was sure the smile I gave Morgan was less than
reassuring.
That voice…it belonged to someone powerful. An entity paid me a visit not too long ago. I’d been
slapped over the head with a vision, one that handed me an expiration date. I’d barely had the time to
say thanks, but no thanks.
“Calling on an angel is a big deal,” Bez said.
I snapped out of my thoughts and found Morgan watching me with a questioning look. Bez was
still plucking pieces of glass from the floor. He hadn’t noticed the change in my demeanor at all.
My lips parted. The vision had been bright, the entity eclipsed in light. That made me wonder if
I’d been visited by an angel. If that was the case, then I was going to have a word with the one we
summoned.
I straightened my spine, hope filling me for the first time in a while. “Oh, yeah. I’m ready to rock
and roll.”
Morgan rolled his eyes. Bez let out a snicker.

THE TEXTURED CEILING gave me something to stare at when I couldn’t sleep. I tried to find different
patterns, like faces or animal shapes, in the shadows that the light-blocking curtains offered—since
I’d had to shift my sleeping schedule, so we could work with Luca. It wasn’t easy when my nerves
crackled like water in hot oil.
The house was silent save for the muted sounds of imps arguing with one another outside. It was
oddly soothing, like white noise in the distance. I could have slept to it if it weren’t for the adrenaline
smacking me every five minutes.
Every time my eyes drifted shut, I was jolted awake again when I remembered what we were
going to do tomorrow. Just the thought of summoning an angel left me restless. I’d talked shit to
demons, but angels were a different breed. In theory, they should be happy to help.
But it’d been a while since anything had gone my way.
In the dark, I sent messages to my friends. I wasn’t going to go through this alone.
My bed wasn’t empty, though. I turned my head so I could take in Morgan, half naked and asleep
face down in the pillow beside me. He groaned and moved, sliding his muscled arm over my stomach
in his sleep.
He pulled me close. His warmth slid through me and made me sigh happily. I nuzzled into his bare
skin. This was heaven, even if I was trapped in my own personal hell. In the dark of the room, I
studied Morgan’s profile from the line of his jaw to the soft furrow of his brow. I was starting to
believe that’s just how his brows looked all the time. He always wore an expression of slight dismay.
I wanted to wake him and ask for advice or reassurance, but I wasn’t about to cost him his sleep. I
couldn’t ask that of him.
“Go to sleep, Vi.” His voice rumbled in his chest, making my cheek vibrate.
A smile took over my face despite my nerves. He ran his hand down my back., his fingers trailing
between my shoulder blades. I shuddered, but not for the reason I should have.
Morgan touched the charred marks on my back. They were still sensitive, as if someone had
ripped off my imaginary wings and left my skin raw and open. Between those marks sat the circular
inscription that bound Lucifer’s shackles to me.
Stupid freaking curse, ruining what should have been a sweet moment.
Rage simmered in my core. I tried to shove it down so that my arcana wouldn’t flare, but my anger
was growing to be too much. Sooner or later, I would burst.
And the world would crumble when it happened.
I didn’t want to go out in a blaze of my own fire. I didn’t want to turn to ashes as my arcana
destroyed me. I didn’t even want to see the world fall to the apocalypse just so I could keep living.
All I wanted was another night like this, in Morgan’s arms. And another night. And another night.
This wasn’t even too much to ask for. I wanted the simple things. Instead, fate offered me a chance
at world domination.
Fate was full of itself.
In the circle of Morgan’s arms, my rage dwindled. At least I had this, right here and now. It
allowed me to drift off to sleep.
Right before the darkness fully consumed me, I heard the entity’s voice once more. It laughed at
me.
Stupid girl, it said.
Wait! What was I being stupid about? Was the idea of summoning an angel stupid? Were my
feelings for Morgan stupid?
But it was too late. Sleep snuck in and washed over my thoughts like a black wave, drowning
everything in a gentle calm. I knew, by morning, I would forget about the entity’s voice altogether.
 3
VI

M y house was full of people. I hadn’t had this many visitors since Legion tried to kidnap me in
a summoning circle. Those demons had wrecked my place. At least these people were better
behaved.
Ness stood by the door, her arms crossed over her chest. Cerri was beside Luca. They were
standing over an open tome while Addie set out seven-day candles. Morgan and Ryder had stepped
outside. The two took one look at each other, and I’d known that things would get tense between them
again. It made sense to put them elsewhere, so their squabble wouldn’t in the way.
Honestly, I was surprised that Ness hadn’t followed them. My best friend had an arcana ability
that allowed her to give indomitable commands. Her voice had saved us time and time again. If she
wanted to keep the brothers from fighting, all she had to do was go and tell them.
But Ness was here, with us.
It felt like old times until Bez walked in with a cloud of imps hovering around him. He gave an
apologetic smile when the imps took off and started messing with my knickknacks. I picked up a foam
dart gun and fired at the first imp. Normally these toy guns didn’t hurt, but I’d padded the springs in
them to fire harder and faster shots.
It was something I’d learned in my boredom as a kid. I never expected it to be useful, but here I
was taking pot-shots at imps.
The walls of the house shook suddenly as a roar drowned out everything. There was a crash
behind the house, and then everything fell silent. As everyone inside paused, their breaths held, we
heard a begrudging apology from one of the dragon men.
Luca looked up from what he was doing and locked eyes with me. “Why is your home a circus?”
I shrugged, a silly smile on my face. Even though we were about to summon an angel and strike a
bargain, there was something oddly comforting about the people around me. Perhaps I thrived in
chaos. Or maybe I’d missed the presence of my friends because I’d been so busy running to and from
demons.
But when Addie lit the candles and Ness shut off the lights, nervousness crept in again. The air
hummed. We all fidgeted. No one knew what was going to happen next.
I thought about calling out to Morgan, but he entered the room without invitation, as if he’d sensed
my apprehension. He sidled up beside me and threaded his fingers with mine. When I looked up to
him, he gave me a nod.
We could do this. It was going to end well.
This was an angel, after all. It wasn’t like we were going to make a deal with a demon. I had no
plans to summon Lilith and listen to her go on about my father in the old days while she gave us the
run-around.
An angel would be more straightforward, more trustworthy, and more importantly: happy to help.
I let go of Morgan’s hand and went to kneel at the edge of the white-chalk circle on the floor.
Hey Angel Uncle, can I ask a favor? I know my Dad is kind of considered a dick, but I’m not
like him. Could you lend me a hand and break this curse holding my arcana hostage? I’d really
appreciate it.
I chanted the words on the paper that Luca handed me. My voice became a low hum that rolled
through the room like the frankincense smoke. Others joined in until the air warmed. A power pressed
against my skin. It tried to crush me, but I held firm, even as a hole opened up in the ceiling and
poured bright light into the dark room.
The light was comforting and familiar. I leaned into it despite the oppressive pressure pushing in
at me from every angle. The others weren’t as comfortable, though. Out of the corner of my eye, I
watched Bez, Luca, and Addie shrink back. Luca even let out a hiss. Addie shrank in on herself.
I would have felt bad if it weren’t for the intoxicating sensation of the light. I hadn’t realized just
how badly I’d missed my arcana.
A set of toes appeared in the portal. The angel slowly descended, revealing feet, then sculpted
male calves, until—finally—a massive angel stood in the center of my living room.
He was huge, and I would never understand what he did to fit in my living room. He seemed too
large for the small area, but he didn’t have to bow his head or bend his knees to fit. He simply…did.
While the others looked away, I lifted my gaze and peered at the divine being. Heck, I looked him
square in his eyes. His face glowed bright, so bright that I almost had to look away. A thin red aura
surrounded him as if the sun sat directly behind him.
“Spawn of the Fallen Brother,” the angel said.
I didn’t know a voice could be described as incandescent, but it was. When the angel spoke, I
could sense rainbows. His voice split the very light around him, made it shake and quiver. And, all
the while, I wondered if I could do that.
Pride was a heady thing, and it made me want to be the best at everything.
Was now a good time to let my pride run loose? Probably not.
The angel pointed a disgusted glare beyond me. At first, I thought he was giving the imps the
stink-eye. Then, to my dismay, I realized that he was looking at Luca, Bez, and Addie.
I snapped my fingers to get the angel’s attention. That probably wasn’t the smartest move, but I
was known for boldness, not intelligence.
“Over here, Mr. Angel. I’m the one who needs your assistance.”
His lip curled. “You consort with all kinds, it seems.”
“Wow,” I said, jaw dropping. “That’s a very Karen thing for you to say. What’s it to you who I run
with so long as I know they’re good people?”
“Can vampires, demons, and undeath be good people? Demons are your father’s creation, so I am
not surprised. However, vampires and undeath exist outside of my realm. They are abominations
outside of God’s realm.”
Oh, boy. The urge to roll my eyes was strong.
The angel set his sights on me. “Spawn of the Fallen, do you renounce your father’s blood?”
I hesitated. What did that even mean? Was he going to strip me of my arcana? Because I wasn’t
sure I could handle that. If I answered incorrectly, I could find myself empty handed once again.
So, I didn’t answer his question. Instead, I said:
 “I sure as fuck don’t want to start the apocalypse, if that’s what you’re asking. I’ll tell Fate to go
kick rocks as many times as it takes.”
“Violet,” Morgan hissed.
When the angel’s attention slid over to Morgan, my stomach flipped for no reason. I immediately
shot to my feet and approached the angel. I didn’t realize that I’d stepped into the circle with the angel
until it was too late.
Damn me and my headstrong ways.
Oddly enough, I found myself standing nose to nose with the angel. That meant the angel’s massive
presence was all a trick of the eye. He wasn’t any taller than myself. Or, perhaps, I’d grown taller
inside the circle?
My skin hummed with the power of the light still pouring out of the portal above. It made me
inhale sharply. I’d missed this power, the warmth of it and how it coursed through the unending
labyrinth inside me.
The angel cocked his head as he took me in. If he didn’t see me as Lucifer’s stunted offspring with
barely one braincell to her name, then I was doing something right. As it stood, I doubted things were
looking good.
“I’ve been cursed with Lucifer’s shackles,” I explained as I pressed a palm to my chest. Beneath
it, I could feel the tight orb holding my arcana prisoner. “Can you help break this curse so I can keep
the apocalypse from happening?”
The angel stared at me for several heartbeats. My pulse slowed and stretched the moments thin. I
had his entire attention now. He wasn’t looking down his nose at my friends or eyeing my dragon man.
My dragon man? That was a mental slip-of-the-tongue that I would have to deal with later. I
couldn’t exactly figure out why I was holding on so tight to Morgan while I was staring an angel
down.
“My name is Michael,” the angel said. “You shall address me as The Divine.”
Oh, that’s pretentious. And you can address me as…
Shit, Michael had already given me a pretentious title. Spawn of the Fallen sounded like a bad
deathmetal band, and I kind of liked it. I needed someone to moan that in my ear during sex.
I shook myself. My thoughts were getting out of hand. There was an angel right in front of me. It
was time to make a deal.
“Okay, The Divine.” I couldn’t keep the sarcasm from my voice. Morgan was probably cringing
behind me. “What do I have to do for you to take this curse off me?”
Michael lifted an inquisitive brow, his lips pursing as he looked me up and down. Could anyone
else see his face? Or was it only me? Could they see the way he was judging me as if I were the town
whore who’d ruined more than a few marriages?
Finally, Michael offered a gentle smile. My heart leapt.
“I can do this for you, but I need your faith in return.”
My heart sank. “Faith?”
“Complete three tasks to prove that you are worthy of the power that your foolish father passed
onto you. If you can complete those tasks, then I shall free you of the shackles binding your divine
blood.”
“Okay, so this is some fairy tale shit now?”
“Vi!” several people hissed at once. Among the chorus, I distinctly heard the warning in Morgan
and Ness’s outcry.
I sucked in a deep breath through my nose. “What are the three tasks?”
 “First, I will have you spend an evening under God’s roof. Get on your knees for him and show
that you can be a pious servant.”
There was no helping the cringe that reached my lips. I’d avoided churches for the longest time.
Some part of me had always been afraid that simply being in one would hurt, or that the pastor would
suddenly find out what I was. There was another part of me that was curious if my presence would
desecrate the grounds.
Though I was no demon, I was still Lucifer’s kid.
Damn, Mom. You really went and slept with the Devil himself, huh?
While I wasn’t the praying sort, I could go along with this if it meant getting this curse removed.
However, I knew how fairy tales worked. I was worried that these tasks would get increasingly more
complicated.
“Once you complete this, return to me. I will give you your second task once the first is
complete.”
I groaned. “Why can’t you just tell me all of them right now? That way I know if I’m wasting my
time or not. What if your third task is something I can’t do? If you think you’re going to ask me to give
up my friends, then you’re sorely disappointed. Do you really want me ringing you up all hours of the
night every time I have a question?”
Michael tilted his head. He didn’t give a rat’s ass. I was in the palm of his hand, and he knew it.
Though, I had to admit, he was being kind. The angel had no obligation to remove this curse. And the
first task was simple.
I could do this. It was easy.
Right?

M ORGAN

THE CREATURE before us was a blur of light and sound. While I could hear Vi’s snarky sass, I couldn’t
tell what the angel was saying. His voice boomed, but the words were lost to me as if the syllables
were unknowable.
If we didn’t already know that Vi was part angel, this would have been our unmistakable truth.
She stood, toe to toe, with the angel and threw down the snarkiest attitude I’d ever seen. I had to fight
the urge to yank her back out of the angel’s reach.
Still, I remained on guard just in case she pushed too far, and the angel struck. If that happened, I
wouldn’t hesitate to strike back, even if that meant fighting against an angel. This being couldn’t be
that high up in the divine hierarchy.
Could he?
Vi put her hands on her hips. From this angle, I could see a dissatisfied pout reach her lips.
Finally, she acquiesced. To what? I didn’t know. Her hands fell down to her sides and she let out a
sigh as she rolled her eyes dramatically.
“Fine,” she said. “I’ll do the first task. But keep in mind that I fully plan on summoning you at four
AM afterwards.”
The angel replied, his voice like a trumpet that shook the very foundation beneath my feet. I kept
my spine straight as my beast sized up the threat before us. When the beast decided that we could take
him, I wondered if that was only because Vi was involved. Did I have the strength to best an angel
otherwise?
I would never know because the only reason I’d ever plan on fighting an angel would be to
protect Vi from her own mouth.
The angel bowed his head—at least, that’s what it looked like through the blur of light. His form
fell to pieces, small stars drifting in every direction until they finally vanished altogether. The portal
above snapped closed and left the room in darkness.
We all stood there, silent. Several moments passed as we processed what we’d done. I
considered the possible future and what I might end up doing. For Vi, I would fight anything and
anyone. Now, if only I could get her to watch her mouth so that wouldn’t have to happen.
She grumbled something in the dark. I could hear her stomping steps as she trudged over to flick
on the light switch. Artificial light flooded the living room. We all blinked in surprise, as if suddenly
awoken from a strange dream.
“What did he say?” Luca asked.
Vi, mouth open, paused and tilted her head in confusion. Her gaze leapt from face to face, and I
could tell that there was some buffering going on behind those eyes.
“We couldn’t understand the angel,” I said, filling in the blanks.
Her eyes widened. I stepped up to her and put myself where I belonged, at her side. Though I
could still see the buffering in her eyes, she reached out for me. I realized that she did it without
thinking, and my heart leapt happily.
“Wait, so you guys didn’t understand anything that was just said?” Vi looked to Luca, Bez, and
Addie.
I made a note to ask Vi what happened later. For now, it seemed like there were things said that
shouldn’t be repeated. It made sense, for the most part. We’d brought an angel into the same room as a
vampire and a demon.
Though, I looked to Vi’s dark-haired friend and wondered why the angel would look down upon
her. Addie was quiet. For the most part, she kept to herself. She wore athletic leggings and hiking
boots, her National Park sweater torn at the sleeves from constant wear. There was nothing even
mildly threatening about her.
And yet, both Bez and Luca gave her a wide berth. The only people who dared to step close to
Addie were the other ladies. Vi, Ness, and Cerri gathered around Addie without hesitation.
Before I could think to ask Vi why that was, Bez spoke up. He cleared his throat. When he spoke,
his voice cracked. Eyes wide and lips pursed, he paused and tried to start again.
“This isn’t going to end well,” he said.
Vi’s lips twisted to the side. I wondered what was going on inside her mind, but I wasn’t going to
ask her to reveal that in front of everyone. I liked to gather my thoughts before I spoke, so I gave
others the same opportunity—even if Vi was more prone to speaking before thinking.
She shrugged. “It’s going to be fine.”
Luca narrowed his eyes. “That’s not reassuring. What did the angel have to say?”
The rundown that Vi gave was heavily doctored. I could tell from the way she paused here and
there, as if mentally rearranging the sequence of events to exclude certain parts. When she finished
speaking, there was a wave of confusion that passed over the room.
“He wants you to…pray?” Luca asked skeptically.
I was of the same mind, especially once Vi named the angel as Michael. We’d summoned an
archangel and all he wanted Vi to do was pray? That didn’t add up. I would have expected an
archangel to ask Vi to kill her father or something along those lines.
Vi clapped her hands together. “Better late than never!”
She snatched up her bag and marched to the door. Adrenaline slammed into my chest. I raced after
her.
“Are you going right this instant?”
Vi paused and looked up at me as if to say why wouldn’t I? I groaned, already exhausted.
“Go tomorrow,” I said, though I had no reason to back up my command.
Her lips curled into a smile, her brows lowering in the most devious manner. She pressed a
fingertip to my chest as she looked up at me with that smirk.
“You just want to spend the night with me. You don’t want me to go pray because that means we
get less time together.”
I swatted her hand away. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
How the hell did she see through me that easily?
To prove her wrong, I grabbed the keys to the Jeep and asked her which church she would like to
be taken to. That was how I found myself outside an old stone church in Downtown Syracuse.
Vi pulled her jacket tighter around herself to ward off the cold. She nodded down the street.
“There’s a German bar around the corner. It should be warm in there if you need some place to stay
while I do this.”
Bez, who’d tagged along with us, bounced on the balls of his feet excitedly. “I’ve heard of the
Bier Garden, but I haven’t been able to go. How about we go chug a pint out of a boot?”
I gave him a warning glare. A boot? Is that what people are doing these days.
Vi, rolling her eyes, said. “It’s a glass boot. I promise. You don’t have to drink if you don’t want
to, either. I only offered because I didn’t want you waiting out in the cold.”
“I’m going inside with you.” There was no way that I was leaving her alone, not even in a church.
“Ah, I can’t do the same. This is about as close as I’m willing to get to a church,” Bez said
nervously. He glanced up at the big stone building and grimaced. “Just looking at it makes me want to
shit myself, and I don’t even think there’s anything in these bowels.”
“You are worse than Vi. Of all the things you had to say, that’s what comes out of your mouth?
Why are the two of you like this? It’s not a demon thing, because we know Vi isn’t a demon.”
While my head was turned, I heard the soft click of a door. My head snapped up, and I glanced
back to see that Vi had disappeared. I cursed under my breath and leapt up the steps, leaving Bez in
the dust. But when I grabbed the door, it wouldn’t budge.
A deadbolt clanked within the door, telling me that it’d been locked from the inside. Vi wouldn’t
have locked me out of a church, of all places. She’d come here to pray, as far as I knew. If Michael
had asked her to do anything else, she would have told me.
My stomach flipped. The beast rose to the surface. Around me, the air began to smell of ozone. I
couldn’t lose my cool. New York was well past the season for thunderstorms. If I accidentally
summoned one now, it would draw attention.
“What’s happening?” Bez asked behind me.
I backed away from the door and peered around. “We’re under attack.”
 4
VI

I ’d never felt more out of place in my life. Not even being enrolled in ballet as a kid could top the
sensation of being inside a church for the first time. The smell was familiar if only because we’d
burned the same incense earlier when summoning Michael.
Everything else was strange and unfamiliar, and I did not like it.
Legs buckling like a newborn foal’s, I dropped onto one of the pews. A quick glance around
allowed me to count four heads other than my own. All were lowered in prayer. If there was a priest
around, I didn’t see him. Perhaps he was in the confessional.
I stared the confessional down and wondered if I dared enter. What would I tell the priest?
Hey, dude. I’ve been sinning since I was a child. Up until recently, I really thought that
avoiding sin would be a moot point since I assumed I was half demon. Now that I know I’m
actually half angel, that changes everything. Is there any hope for me? Or am I eternally damned
for stealing a goldfish from the fair?
In the end, I decided against it. I wasn’t in the mood to unload my entire life onto another person.
The only one I even considered telling my secrets to was Morgan, and he’d chosen to stay outside.
I wasn’t mad at him for staying outside, however…I was mad. I didn’t want to be in here alone.
Out of place and without my arcana, I yearned for his warmth beside me. The Bier Garden had been
suggested out of kindness, but I hadn’t actually wanted him to take me up on the offer.
Shaking myself, I put my hands together and lowered my head. One last time, I peeked at the
others praying in the middle of the night. What had happened in their lives to lead them here? Why
were they asking God for help at nine in the evening?
I couldn’t judge them. No matter how hard I tried to be a good person, I always failed in the end.
I’d failed Charlie by throwing her into Hell. I’d failed my friends by opening the first portal that’d let
Legion into our world. Over and over, I walked into Fate’s hands.
Hey, God. If you’re listening, I want you to know that I’m fed up with this shit. I want out of
Fate’s web. Let me fuck off and live a normal life for more than five minutes. Okay?
If you can do that for me, then I’ll be a good girl. I won’t start anymore fires—okay, that was
probably a lie, and lying to God right away was not a good sign—for the rest of my life.
The inside of my head echoed with frustration. Pride welled inside me. It made me want to
straighten my spine and lift my gaze high in challenge. I wanted to look up at God and give him the
middle finger.
There was no way that I was going to be able to handle sitting here for the rest of the night. I’d
considered this task easy when Michael had given it to me. Now, I realized that he wasn’t the fool I’d
thought him to be.
But I buckled down. I wanted this curse gone, and I wasn’t going to let a little restlessness get the
best of me.
I bowed my head over my intertwined fingers once more. This time, I slipped into my thoughts,
falling past the pride and frustration that were simmering near the surface so often lately, and into the
darker parts of my mind.
That was when the light hit me. It slapped me across the face, but I was trapped in a vision and
couldn’t even recoil.
The entity appeared, wreathed in a light brighter than Michael’s. The red aura around this entity
was brighter and darker all at once. It blazed with intensity as the entity shook its head and laughed at
me.
Indignation rose. I opened my mouth to tell the entity off before remembering that I was in a
church.
The way it stopped and cocked its head at me, almost as if in disappointment, made me sink
down. What had I done to disappoint this being? The list was almost impossibly long, but if I had a
better idea of what I’d done then maybe I would be able to actually fix the problem.
Instead, the entity thrust me into another vision. I saw myself, seated upon a throne made of
bodies. Bile rose to burn the back of my throat. The smile on my face was instantly recognizable. I
remember seeing it on my pride’s face when I’d searched within myself—yeah, that sounds confusing,
and it kind of is.
Two rows of horns protruded from my head. Upon my back were great, black wings that fluttered
in the hot wind of hell. This is what I could become if Fate had its way with me. I didn’t want to be
her, though. That was the last possible fate that I wanted for myself. I would have chosen stripping
myself of my arcana before allowing myself to become her.
The entity made a soft sound, as if in thought. The image rippled. It changed, growing brighter and
brighter. Light swelled in the Demon Vi’s form. Her skin began to glow, the light beneath taking on
rainbow shades. I watched until the light was unbearable even to my eyes.
The world dissolved in a shower of rainbow light. When I blinked, I saw only myself staring back
at me. This time, this version of me wasn’t much different from the version I’d seen in the mirror that
morning. Same blonde pixie cut, same scar on the left cheek, same mischievous pinch at the corners of
her eyes.
Light rippled under her skin, but she paid it no mind. Not even as it flared brilliantly again. After
a while, its sheer incandescence hurt to look at. My stomach dropped. Would the light consume
everything?
Was this how I would burn out? The light would destroy me eventually; the entity had warned me
as much. I couldn’t figure out why it’d returned to give me the same message over again.
Yet, I remembered its words right before I’d fallen asleep the night before.
The entity had called me stupid.
Immediately, my hackles rose. I got defensive.
This would be a lot easier if you would just say things instead of being obscure and mysterious.
But no, the entity didn’t want to give me a direct message. It wanted to beat around the bush. Over
and over, I received the same warning.
Stray too far and you will succumb to the darkness. Hold out for too long, and the light will
burn you.
Yeah, thanks for the same message. I’ve been playing it on repeat while you were gone.
 I grew tired of walking a tightrope. When would I be able to let my guard down? Even now,
because of the curse, I had to monitor my emotions. If anything came on too strong, it summoned my
arcana which zapped me like a freaking taser.
This had to come to an end. There had to be an exit, a way off this ride.
My thoughts turned back to Morgan. I wanted to wrap my arms around him and bury my face in the
crook of his neck. His embrace offered security and warmth, two things that I hadn’t felt in weeks
now. But if I gave in to those desires, my arcana would swell and sting. Even without the curse
holding my arcana back, I risked setting fire to the house if I slept with Morgan.
I let out a gargled groan. Trapped in this vision, I had no way of knowing if anyone heard me.
Was this why Michael wanted me to pray? Was it to rid myself of this entity once and for all? That
would be easier if I knew who I was dealing with. I’d put money on a demon, but the rim of red light
around the figure made me question myself.
Once more, I saw the entity. It shook its head again. I wondered if this was what it felt like to give
Dad your report card when it was all F’s. The entity stared down at me as if I could do so much
better, but I didn’t know what to do if he wouldn’t tell me.
Watch out, the entity whispered.
The vision snapped and vanished. Gasping, I jerked back to the present. Light surrounded me,
there and then gone. Four faces, their lips pulled back in snarls, their fingers crooked into claws,
filled my vision. Then, they collapsed. Ash rained down onto the floor.
I jerked back, startled.
The pews were empty now. My breath shuddered out of me when I realized that the supplicants
had all been demons in disguise.
Demons. In a church? But what killed them?
Then the pain set in. My arcana slapped the inside of the curse and recoiled against me. The fire
seared my innards. I bent over double as ash crept up my nose. The realization that I was inhaling
demons made me jerk back and sneeze, which only added to my pain.
I staggered out of my seat and ran to the door. When I yanked, it refused to give. A metal clank
rang in my ears. Though my heart pounded furiously, I collected myself enough to see that a deadbolt
had been drawn. Unlocking it wasn’t easy with shaking hands, but I managed.
The door burst open, sending me reeling backwards. Morgan caught me before my ass hit the
ground, which was good considering he’d been the one to knock me off balance to begin with. He
pulled me upright so I could regain my balance, but his gaze drifted past me.
“Did you do that?” he asked quietly.
I opened my mouth to answer, but I didn’t have one. The truth was that I didn’t know who’d killed
the demons. I hadn’t been alone in here, that much I knew. There’d been more than just demons. The
entity had been watching over me, too.
If the entity could use light, that meant it had to be an angel. Right? It certainly wasn’t Archangel
Michael. I would have recognized his voice now.
While I was distracted by my mysterious visitor, Morgan was more concerned about the demons.
His hand trailed along my middle as he stepped past me and finally released me. He crouched near
the ash piles. When he looked back at me, I cringed apologetically.
I hadn’t meant to kill them like that. If I’d had my way, I would have tried to subdue the demons
until we could exorcise them. Once more, I had human lives on my conscience. Ever since Legion
pushed me beyond the limits of my control, the number of lives I’d taken had been rising.
Lifting my gaze to the ceiling, I asked God how he felt about that. What was I supposed to do
when there were so many forces trying to manipulate me? I thought I was doing a good job resisting
the apocalypse, but the casualties gave away my failures.
A scream got caught in my throat. I couldn’t let it out in a church, but I also couldn’t leave for fear
of pissing off Archangel Michael. I needed his help.
“It seems there’s another demon pulling the strings in Syracuse,” Morgan said.
“I shouldn’t be surprised that Syracuse attracts so many demons. This city kind of sucks, after
all.”
Morgan lifted a brow. “This is your hometown.”
“Yeah, and I have a love-hate relationship with it like everyone trapped in their hometown.” I
shrugged. This conversation was easier than the one we should have been having.
Demons. Casualties. Angels. Curses.
The scream nearly clawed its way out of my throat. It hurt to keep trapped down.
Morgan rose and put his hands on his hips. He turned his gaze over to Bez, who was standing
awkwardly in the church doorway.
Bez’s eyes were wide. He stared at the ground beneath his feet as if it shouldn’t be there. I
watched him but said nothing.
“Go gather information. See who else is in town now,” Morgan commanded.
Bez cleared his throat nervously. He still had a strange expression as he looked around. “I
shouldn’t be able to stand here.”
“Say that again?” Morgan said, his voice dropping as a growl rumbled inside him.
Bez looked up. “This spot right here? It should be consecrated. Demons can’t get this close to a
church.”
As if to prove his point, Bez took a shaky step forward. Once his foot touched the ground and he
didn’t immediately light into sacred flames, he looked to Morgan again. Bez’s lips pressed into a grim
line, his brows lifting with worry.
Morgan gestured to the piles of demon ash on the floor. “I think we know why the demons were
able to get inside, but not how. They desecrated the grounds somehow. Do you think we might get a
clue to who is behind this if we find out how they desecrated the church grounds?”
Bez shrugged. “It’s hard to tell, but worth a shot. While the two of you do that, I’ll go ask around
for information.”
The demon backed out of the room and waddled away, leaving Morgan and I alone. Once he was
gone, I rocked on my heels.
“Do you think solving the mystery of a desecrated church counts as a show of faith in God’s
house?” I asked sarcastically.
This wasn’t what Michael wanted; that much I knew. The angel wanted me to show that I could be
a pious little girl, but I’d never been anything like that in my life. I could stay here and try to fix
what’d been broken, sure. However, I didn’t know if I could do what Michael wanted of me.
“This might be why Michael sent you here,” Morgan said.
I wrinkled my nose. “Really? I mean, I picked this place at random. Well, not at random. I picked
it because it’s pretty.”
Morgan closed the distance between us but didn’t touch me, as if he knew that we were still in a
church and that God might somehow be watching us right this instant. I didn’t care. I stepped into
Morgan’s warmth and pressed my cheek to his chest.
Morgan’s hands settled on the lower part of my back. “Michael is an angel. Who’s to say that he
wasn’t able to predict which church you would choose? He probably knew there was another demon
in town and sent you here to test your dedication.”
That was a really hopeful idea. Honestly, I was still frustrated with Michael’s reaction to my
friends. Angels were all about hope and righteousness. Maybe Morgan was right, and I was clouded
by my anger.
That thought alone helped me push back my pride and see the situation as it really was. Michael’s
request had seemed a little odd at the time, but this made more sense. Michael wanted to see if I could
back up my claims, apparently.
“What I don’t get is how you used your arcana,” Morgan said.
I let out a nervous laugh. “Oh, about that.”
I still hadn’t brought up the entity to him…or the expiration date that the entity had given me last
time we spoke. I wondered how Morgan would react if I told him. While I wanted him to both panic
and comfort me, as selfish as that was, I feared that he would have no reaction at all. Morgan could
be very practical at times, much to my dismay.
Morgan leaned away and tucked a bent knuckle under my chin so he could look me in the eye.
“You need to give me all the details, so I can help. If you leave me in the dark, there’s nothing I can
do.”
I stiffened, which totally gave away the fact that I was holding back.
“Violet,” Morgan said, using my full name against me.
My upper lip curled. Finally, I sighed and pulled away from Morgan’s embrace. Immediately, the
cold hit me. Living without the heat of my fire or my light would be the end of me…if the demons
didn’t get me first.
I glanced back at the ash piles. That hadn’t been me. There was no way. The light that’d killed
them had come from another source.
The story spilled out of me all at once. The moment I opened my mouth, I knew there would be no
stopping until I was finished. My words tumbled faster and faster, some of them slurring together until
I forced my tongue to comply to my will.
All the while, Morgan remained silent. He crossed his arms over his chest, which didn’t bode
well for me—especially when I held back the part about my expiration date.
For whatever reason, I still couldn’t bring myself to mention it. When I looked into Morgan’s
stormy eyes, I worried what the confession might do. Would Morgan not care? Would he fly into a
rage? I was so blind to his feelings that I had no idea what would happen…and I was more than a
little afraid of the truth.
What if Morgan didn’t care? What if he treated the expiration date coldly, like a deadline at work.
I wanted him to freak out, to howl in rage, and fight tooth and nail for my life. I couldn’t make him do
any of that, though. His actions were his own.
I took a step back, trying to distance myself before I got hurt.
“This entity is helping you,” Morgan said slowly. The gears were turning in his mind. “What does
this entity stand to gain by intervening on your behalf, though?”
There was the apocalypse, but the entity had failed to make it all that appealing to me. I got the
feeling that the entity didn’t care about the apocalypse. The whole purpose of the visions was to show
my options in a detached manner.
I threw my hands in the air. “Who the hell are you?”
“I could ask the same of you,” an unfamiliar voice said.
Stunned, I slowly turned and came face to face with who I guessed had to be the church’s priest.
He wore a look of pure disdain, but it slowly softened as he stared me down. His head cocked to the
side.
“Are you the one responsible for defiling my church?” he asked, voice heavy with warning.
I held my hands up, palms out. “Whoa, no! Well, it might be my fault, but I certainly didn’t do it on
purpose.”
Behind me, Morgan heaved a tired sigh. “What she means to say is that this isn’t her doing, but
she is blaming herself. Does that answer your question?”
The priest’s eyes gleamed bright, revealing his supernatural nature. I stifled my gasp of surprise
so that I would continue to look cool…okay, so I wouldn’t look like a fool in front of him.
His attention dropped to the piles of ash on his floor. For a moment, a tired look overcame his
features before the shadows vanished and he offered a gentle smile.
“If there’s nothing else for you to do here, then I’m going to have to ask you to leave. You have
brought trouble to my sanctuary, and I’m not pleased.”
“About that,” I said. “I can’t go anywhere yet. Michael asked me to pray all night. I’m not allowed
to leave here just yet.”
The priest’s brows drew together in confusion. “I do not care what this Michael asks of you. If
your friend wants you to pray, you can do it elsewhere.”
I laughed like an asshole and caught myself. This guy didn’t understand that I was talking about an
archangel. He thought I was talking about a regular guy.
Here was the thing, though: should I tell this priest what I was really here for? This priest was a
supernatural. I could tell from the sheen in his eyes. He didn’t have to have faith. He knew that
demons and angels were real.
I looked to Morgan for guidance. He brushed his knuckles against mine but didn’t say anything.
The decision was mine.
Drawing in a deep breath, I spilled everything. I told the priest about the local demons, how they
wanted me to start the apocalypse, and how Michael had asked me to pray tonight.
“You see,” I said. “I have to stay. If I had my way, I’d be on my couch, halfway through a pint of
ice-cream right now.”
The priest’s lips twisted to the side. Oddly enough, I could see that he believed me, but I could
also tell that he did not like what he was hearing. Not in the least. His attention flicked to Morgan for
a moment.
“You keep her under control. Do you hear me? If this demon girl desecrates my church again, I’ll
contact your Alpha and have you punished.”
This time, Morgan laughed in the priest’s face.
I pursed my lips to keep from laughing. This was a fine mess. The priest had it all wrong. I wasn’t
a demon girl, and Morgan didn’t have an Alpha. The funnier part was that this priest probably
assumed that Ryder was Morgan’s Alpha, which likely pissed Morgan off.
Morgan pushed past me. He towered over the priest, but the young servant of God didn’t flinch as
he looked up into Morgan’s eyes. A snarl rippled over the priest’s lips. Adrenaline zapped my heart
when I realized that this pissing contest would make an even bigger mess than the demons had.
“Okay,” I said, drawing out the word as I shoved myself between the two men.
I shot Morgan a warning glance. I needed to be able to stay here tonight. If he got me kicked out,
then my chances of getting this curse removed were indefinitely delayed. There was no telling how
Michael might react to such news.
“I’m going to meet up with Bez.” Morgan backed away.
That was probably for the best. I gave him a reassuring nod, both to say that I would be fine on my
own and that I approved of his decision.
The priest narrowed his eyes as Morgan vanished without another word.
I whistled. “You dodged a bullet there, buddy.”
The priest rolled his eyes. They were a soft shade of green that bordered on grey. He flicked his
head, tossing his mousy brown hair out of his eyes. His plump lips were still flattened into a grim
line. When he turned away from me, I caught a hint of a point to his ears.
I wondered what that meant, if he was part fae possibly, but I didn’t ask. Sometimes, there were
things that just weren’t my business.
The priest approached the piles of ash, looked at the mess, then back to me. “Demons?”
I nodded. “Demons.”
“And you did this?”
About to nod, I stopped myself. In the past, I could have done that. I could have incinerated
everything around me with a flash of light. However, my arcana was locked away. This hadn’t been
me.
I shook my head.
“You’re telling me the Divine intervened on your behalf?”
I was tempted to ask if, by the Divine, he meant Archangel Michael. However, I kept my mouth
shut. The priest probably meant God.
“A lot has been happening. I’ve spent every drop of energy I have trying to avert the apocalypse.
For once, I’m grateful for a little bit of help from outside sources.” I toed the edge of an ash pile and
tried to ignore the remorse gurgling in the pit of my stomach.
I hadn’t meant to end the lives of the people the demons had been using. Their sacrifice would
weigh on me for the rest of my days. Perhaps that’s why they were numbered. I had an expiration date
because leaving me here was too costly.
That made giving up my arcana even more enticing. Though it would pain me, it would keep those
around me safe. I didn’t want to go that route, but I would if I had to.
The priest gave me a nod. “Go back to your business. I’ll keep an eye out for you while you…”
“Pray,” I said, dully.
 5
MORGAN

B arely several steps away from the church’s doors, I wanted to turn back. The beast in me didn’t
like the idea of leaving Vi with that pretty priest. I hadn’t yet marked her as mine. There was
nothing that would show the priest that she was already claimed.
However, if Vi knew that I wanted to mark her like that, she might get upset. I wasn’t exactly sure
how she would react. On one hand, she was playful enough that she might like the idea. On the other
hand, if this was a one-sided bond, then claiming her might piss her off. I didn’t want to cross
boundaries I wasn’t invited past.
No matter how badly my beast yearned for her.
I had a job to do. There were enemies gathering in the city again. One would think that I would be
focused on the task at hand. However, I couldn’t stop thinking of Vi.
When the church door had locked, my fear had spiked. The idea of losing her hit me harder than
the actual loss of my father.
Ryder had attempted to talk about that again, before the angel summoning. Of course, I’d
responded by punching him in the mouth. I was turning into a barbarian. Where once I’d been cool
and collected, relying on my intelligence, I was nothing more than a slave to my emotions here.
The worst part was that I wasn’t sure if I cared. So long as Vi was here, I would stay. I would
endure my brother’s relentless scapegoating. I would fight demon after demon. For Vi, I would do
almost anything.
And that should have scared me.
Instead, I savored a sense of security. Not in what we were, but in myself. I had purpose again.
For the past year, ever since our father’s murder, I’d lived with only one purpose. I had no sense of
myself or what to do with my life beyond that. It’d gotten to a point where I’d given up on having a
future at all.
Now I desperately wanted one. I wanted to wake up to VI every morning, to bring her rainbow-
colored energy drinks before she could even think of kicking off the sheets.
Bri would have called me a fool, but she would have done so with a smile. The new clanleader
was sharp. That’s why I’d let her take up the position that I should have filled. Bri knew how to care
for a community. I didn’t know how to do any of that.
I’d missed her while on the hunt for Ryder, but now I barely thought of her. Both my brother and I
tried to court her, but she’d pulled away from us both in time. I’d yearned for her, but now my
thoughts were consumed by another kind of love.
Infatuation couldn’t hold a candle to the love of a mate bond.
 “You seem lost in the sauce, sir.” Bez rocked on his heels, a stupid grin on his face.
I slapped him upside the head. Who would have thought I would treat a demon like a member of
my team? Bez had a kind of charm and usefulness that made him likeable. He managed to blend both
into an invaluable presence. It made bearing his imps a little easier.
Right now, the buggers buzzed around my head. One tried to settle on my shoulder, but I grabbed
his tail and yanked him to the ground where I could rest my boot on him. The little red demon
wiggled, struggling to break free of my control.
I let out a sigh and turned my attention to Bez. “Any word? Do we know who is pulling the strings
now? No one opened a portal recently, so I doubt it’s a demon general.”
Bez cringed.
“What? What does that face mean?”
“There are some demon generals who’ve been living topside for centuries. If they caught wind of
Vi’s presence, then they would come here.” Bez flinched, like I would strike him for his insight.
Instead, I pinched the bridge of my nose. There was no escaping this. The moment we thought we
were safe, a loophole opened, and danger came crawling out of it. If I’d known this before I would
have…What? There was nothing I could do to ward against an evil that’d been lying in wait this
whole time.
We would have to hunt it down before it hunted us. I just hoped we weren’t too late. The demon
general was already searching for Vi.
I wasn’t going to let them have her.
“Let’s get to work,” I told Bez.

Vi

I STUMBLED HOME JUST as the sun breached the horizon. The sky took on a pink and orange glow that
made me thirsty for an energy drink. I had a feeling that I wasn’t going to be able to sleep any time
soon.
There was danger waiting for me. I should have called Morgan to pick me up, but I’d stubbornly
made the walk on my own. I’d wanted fresh air after inhaling frankincense all night. The crisp air had
cleared my nostrils, but it’d done nothing to help my state of mind.
Neither had the priest, who’d stared me down with derision until finally approaching me to invite
me into the confessional. I’d declined…at first.
But, after some thought, I stepped into the confessional. I had every intention of talking this man’s
ear off so I could vent some of my feelings for Morgan. However, the moment I sat down, there was a
flash in the other booth.
I stiffened, fearing the worst.
Then Michael’s voice reached me. I stifled my groan when he addressed me. The last thing I
wanted to do tonight was deal with an uppity angel come to yell at me for not doing as I was told.
However, that’s not what he had to say.
“You’re doing well tonight. I must say, I am surprised with your determination. Your father didn’t
have half this righteous willpower.”
I laughed. “I get it from my mother. Any woman who can raise a hellspawn like myself must be
made of steel.”
“You’re not a demon. There is a taint on your soul, but it is not demonic. You were born of the
Fallen, angels cast out from heaven for their hubris. Please, understand the difference.”
The turn of phrase seemed lost on Michael. I’d called myself a hellspawn for the way I’d acted as
a child. It seemed that Michael was so far removed from humanity that he didn’t recognize the manner
of speaking.
I would have corrected him, but I was too busy giggling over the word taint.
Once I collected myself, only chuckling a little, I asked, “Why are you here to speak to me if the
night isn’t over?”
“On the contrary, the night has ended. Your task is finished. I have come to give you another
should you wish to continue this venture.” Michael paused. “You have another option, Violet. If you
live with this curse, then no one other than an angel can access your abilities. The world will be safe
from your fate if you can make this small sacrifice.”
Silence settled into the confessional. It was so thick, I could have choked on it. How did I tell an
angel that I was too selfish? My arcana was a part of me, so intrinsic that I felt torn in two while it
was trapped inside me. I couldn’t bear the thought of living so close and yet so far from that part of
myself.
Yet, temptation still lingered. Not to endure the curse, no. I didn’t want to risk pain every time my
emotions swelled. No, I wanted to know if I could live without my arcana at all. If I could remove it
altogether, then maybe I could learn to live without it.
Maybe…
I still didn’t like the idea. If I had my way, I’d have my arcana and fate would stop trying to force
me down its path.
Yeah, like that would happen.
“What’s next?” I asked Michael in an effort to change the subject.
He seemed to preen, at least from what I could see through the partition. That smug smile on his
face told me that I was doing exactly what he wanted, and he was proud. I should have been happy,
but I was filled with nervous apprehension that made my entire body tingle.
I let out a slow breath and steeled myself for what Michael had in store.
“I need you to commit an act of selflessness.”
I blinked. “What does that even mean?”
“You’ll have to find that out on your own. I cannot hand you the answers, or else it will become a
selfish act. Perform this act without thinking about yourself or your arcana, and I will return for your
third and final command.”
I bristled. “All the times I’ve faced off against Hell’s demon generals didn’t count? How many
times have I saved the world so far? I’ve sacrificed people who could have been family to me
because of Hell’s damn campaign. I’ve given up so much to keep the world safe. What else do you
want from me?”
The priest cleared his throat. It was clear that Michael had absconded while I’d given in to a fit of
rage. To punctuate it, my arcana flared and surrounded my heart and lungs in flames. I exhaled, trying
to expunge the heat, but it did little.
The pain consumed me front the inside out. I pressed my eyes shut to keep the tears from leaking
down my face. The heart filled my fingertips, making me think they’d dissolved into ash. I could
almost sense the burn climbing my body, tearing me apart cell by cell the way I’d done to so many
demons.
 But the pain faded. I sat there, eyes closed, tears turning cold on my cheeks. Shaking, I sucked in a
breath and sat up. Almost immediately, I slumped back down. There was nothing left in me, no energy,
no will to keep going.
“Morgan,” I whispered pathetically.
He wasn’t here, though. He couldn’t pick me up and carry me out of here like he’d done so many
other times. I’d come to rely on him, and while that would bite me in the ass today, I wasn’t sure it
was such a bad thing.
This was what Ness and Ryder had. Why couldn’t I have it, too?
I stumbled out of the church just as the sun painted the horizon in shades of red and orange. It
made me thirsty for an energy drink even though I wanted nothing more than to go home and collapse
into my quilt.
Behind the wheel of my Jeep, I questioned whether or not I should drive. Finally, I shrugged and
gave it a go. To be on the safe side, I drove like a granny. I took every corner at a max of ten miles an
hour and signaled for others to pass me when it looked like they were about to lose their mind behind
me.
Finally, I made it home and staggered out of the driver’s seat.
What does an act of selflessness look like, Michael? Why are you asking me to do things without
even a hint? You sent me to the church where I was nearly jumped by a gang of demons. Clearly, you
wanted me to deal with a new demon problem. You could have said that to my face, and I would have
happily agreed.
Anything to free myself from this curse. The pain was too much. The fear of my own emotions
was unbearable.
The safety of the world meant more than my own wellbeing. I needed to remember that. It didn’t
matter how badly I wanted to jump Morgan’s bones, I had to make sacrifices in order to keep the
world in one piece.
Wasn’t that enough?
“Stingy bitch,” I muttered as I let myself into the apartment.
The smell of sugar and butter greeted me, lifting my spirits. The aroma drew me into the kitchen
where Morgan was bent over in front of an open oven. He straightened and turned, revealing a cookie
tray in his hand. The smell of sweetness blossomed in the air when my gaze fell upon the chocolate
chip cookies.
“You bake?” I asked, surprised.
Without thinking, I reached to pluck a cookie from the tray. My usual heat-resistant nature was
trapped behind the curse. The hot cookie sheet singed my fingertips, but it was worth it when I
popped a broken bit of cookie into my mouth.
Morgan didn’t answer my question. He lifted his chin in the direction of the bathroom. “Go
shower. You smell like church. When you’re done, there’s an energy drink in the fridge for you. Once
you chug it, we can talk about summoning Michael again.”
I paused. “Yeah, about that.”
Morgan set down the sheet of cookies and cast a suspicious sidelong glance in my direction. He
said nothing, patiently waiting for me to continue.
The long list of last night’s events made me head for the fridge. I pulled out the pink and blue
energy drink and took a long drag from it like it was tequila and not artificial sugar and caffeine.
Just thinking about tequila made me want to gag. It reminded me of Charlie and what I’d done to
her. Had things ended differently, we would be at the bar, drowning in cinnamon whiskey. This wasn’t
the first time I peered into the future-that-could-have-been and regretted what I’d done.
“What about what?” Morgan asked pointedly.
I shook myself, realizing that I’d trailed off from the conversation. Right. Michael’s visit.
As I explained how Michael had paid me a visit in the church, I watched Morgan’s face turn
stony. I knew it was because he hadn’t been there. His thoughts must have been churning right about
now.
What if the angel attacked her, and I wasn’t there? What if the angel took her away, and I
couldn’t follow?
The shitty part was that I doubted Morgan was as concerned for my safety as he was for his own
sense of control. Still, I glanced down at the drink in my hand and realized that he did, to some
degree, care about me.
I wanted the big dragon man to care about me in more ways than one. I stole a glance at him, his
broad shoulders filling the kitchen. More than once, the idea of him pressing me against the counter
entered my mind—though which way I was facing switched depending on my mood.
The thought of his warm and firm body pressed along my backside made my arcana flutter. I tried
to shut down the thought train, but there were no brakes on this ride. My body throbbed with need as I
wondered what he looked like fully erect.
Don’t get me wrong, I’d seen Morgan naked before. I’d witnessed the glory that is that man’s
whole body. However, I hadn’t yet gotten the pleasure of seeing him engorged with need. Thinking
about it drew my gaze lower.
“Vi,” he said, voice low and filled with warning as he dragged out the single syllable.
My eyes drifted shut as I savored the sound of my name on his lips.
When he spoke again, his voice was closer. His warmth brushed up against me. Heat trailed over
my bare skin. My lips parted, and I exhaled slowly.
He took my chin in his hand, his fingers pressing into my flesh as he forced me to look up at him.
“Focus.”
My heart flipped in my chest. My breath turned ragged. “You and I both know there’s no way I’ll
be able to do that if you continue manhandling me.”
My arcana rose. If I didn’t get control of myself soon, there would be an awful recoil. I wanted
more, though. I wanted to rise onto my tiptoes and press my lips to Morgan’s. Would he cradle me in
his arms? Or would he yank me close and viciously claim my mouth as his?
I wouldn’t know until I started this. Morgan, a man so gentle with me. Morgan, a man ready and
willing to take control when I needed him to.
“You’re tired,” he said, finally.
My stomach dropped. It was a bucket of water on my arcana. The fire went out in the blink of an
eye, drowned in disappointment. I let out a sigh that I somehow kept from turning into a growl of
frustration.
I didn’t have the energy for frustration, not even when Morgan released me, and my gaze fell on
the board over my kitchen window. That still needed to be replaced, though I had no idea when I
would be able to get to it. Right now, I needed sleep.
Of course, the board over the window went flying across the room as three imps zoomed into the
room. They cackled gleefully and circled the room before taking up positions on top of my cupboards
once again.
Pointing to the board on the floor, I said, “Put it back.”
“Or what?” a fat imp challenged. “You’re going to use your arcana? Fat chance.”
 I slammed my cup onto the counter and reached for the drawer of kitchen knives. Morgan caught
my wrist. He used his grip on me to spin me and pulled me into his chest. With my arm stretched high
over my head, I couldn’t pull away from him.
Not that I wanted to.
This close, I breathed him in. His scent addled my mind but not enough that I didn’t notice the
dark circles under his eyes, too. These long nights were taking a toll on him. We were both coming
apart at the seams. I hated the idea that I was to blame for his current state. Morgan ran himself to his
limits for me.
Michael wanted to do something selfless.
If I gave Morgan up…
No. I could never. There was no life without him anymore. I couldn’t see a future where he wasn’t
there. If there was one, it would be empty and meaningless.
I couldn’t give Morgan up. As selfish as that was, I needed him. This fight couldn’t go on without
him.
Pulling my wrist from his grip, I wound my arm around the back of his neck. His hands found my
hips and gently tugged me closer. No matter what we did, our orbit brought us crashing together over
and over.
However, we had three voyeurs right about now. I tore my gaze away from Morgan’s, so I could
glare at the imps watching us with disgusting expressions. One imp made a jacking-off motion with
his hand and cackled.
Before Morgan could stop me, I lunged for a butterknife on the counter and threw it at the imp.
The imp dodged. My improvised weapon embedded itself into the wall where the creature had been.
“What if we didn’t sleep?” Morgan asked.
I turned slowly to ask if the man had lost his mind. He wore a sly grin that made me pause, my
heart fluttering.
“There’s fresh snow on the ground,” he said enticingly, though I had no idea where this was
leading.
Maybe my brain wasn’t firing on all cylinders. Maybe Morgan was just bad at giving hints. Either
way, I stared at him with narrowed eyes until he spelled it out for me.
He laughed, the sound soft and rich, and enough to scramble my thoughts. “Let’s go sledding. We
can fill some thermoses with coffee and go out to find a hill of our own somewhere. What do you
say?”
I bit the inside of my cheek. The idea of sitting on a sled, Morgan pressed against my back, his
legs on either side of me, had me on cloud nine. However, I knew that might make my arcana act up
again. I didn’t know how much more pain I could handle today.
“Can I invite others?” I asked.
Maybe, if my friends tagged along, then my arcana wouldn’t be so volatile. The day wouldn’t be
as…intimate.
 6
MORGAN

I ’d wanted to get Vi all to myself, but somehow ended up surrounded by people. Their laughter
filled the air, as if the sun glinting off the snow didn’t make the day bright enough. Despite my
hesitation to invite others, I found myself smiling.
Out here, away from the city, there were no demons. Well, except for Bez, who screamed every
time Ryder shoved him down the hill.
Vi clambered up the hill, a plastic sled wiggling in her hand. She slapped it down onto the ground
again and scrambled to catch it when it started sliding away without her. Once she planted her feet
and plopped her ass down onto the sled, she patted the space behind her.
“There’s room for one more,” she said up to me.
My beast growled hungrily. Her bright smile, the sun in her eyes, the way her hair stuck out from
beneath her winter hat. It all drove me wild, but there were people around. I couldn’t take her, right
here and now in the snow.
After grumbling for show, I sat on the back of her sled. She lifted her feet, but I kept mine firmly
planted. Vi made a sound of dismay and wiggled her hips to make the sled move. I laughed until her
backside grazed my groin. The laugh turned into something else that I had to quickly swallow.
“Why aren’t we moving?” she asked petulantly.
I laughed. “Because you’re not in control, Firestarter.”
For good measure, I wound an arm around Vi’s middle before lifting my feet. She sank into me,
and we rushed forward. The cold air was biting, but I didn’t mind so long as I had Vi in my arms.
She howled the entire way down like a wild animal. Halfway, the sled spun so we were going
sideways. She continued to cackle, even when we hit a bump and found ourselves airborne.
The moment we left the ground, my beast leapt into action. I wrapped myself around Vi before we
crashed back into the ground. The sled glided away without us, leaving us embedded in the snow.
Immediately, I sat up and looked to Vi. “Are you all right?”
There was a heartbeat where she didn’t move. I feared the worst. She was nearly human, so
fragile in this state. One wrong move, and she would shatter. The she flopped onto her back and
laughter began spilling out of her.
My fear turned to irritation, but that didn’t last long. It couldn’t while Vi laughed beneath me.
Finally, she calmed down and peered up at me. She bit her lip and reached to touch my cheek. My
heart did backflips. The beast growled, low and hungry.
I wanted her. There was nothing else in this world that I craved more. I would have pushed her
deeper into the snow, carving out a space for only us where I could taste her mouth as long as I
wanted, but there were others watching.
“Stop flirting and get out of the way!” Ness called down the hill.
Before I could respond, Vi lifted a hand and flipped the bird at her friend. Vi didn’t even shift her
gaze away from me to do so. I couldn’t help but laugh. So did Ness, her great guffaw echoing down
the hill.
I couldn’t take what I wanted, so I got up and offered a hand down to Vi. She let me help her back
onto her feet. If she’d had her light, she could have evaporated the snow still clinging to us. Instead, I
brushed it off her so it wouldn’t melt and get her clothes wet.

Vi

EVERY TIME MORGAN TOUCHED ME, I almost let out a whimper of pleasure. Every inch of my skin felt
like an electrical circuit, and Morgan’s hands closed the circuit. My head swam as he tugged me back
up the hill where our friends were waiting.
“Nice tumble,” Bez said with a friendly grin.
Ness shook her head at me, though she was still cackling. Anything to keep her from thinking
about shifting. I could tell when she looked out over the landscape that she wanted to run through the
snow on all fours, but her hound form brought storms that we didn’t want to deal with today.
Another day, I thought to myself. Another day, we would come out and revel in the storms. Why
not? We had a Barghest, two storm dragons, and myself—I loved the chaotic energy of storms. It
sounded like another great day out.
But I didn’t know how many more days like this I would get. If I had a future ahead of me, I
wanted it to look like today. I wanted to keep going on adventures with my friends, nary a demon in
sight.
Okay, Bez didn’t count. He wasn’t like the others, and I know that sounded like I was lying to
myself, but he’d become an integral part of our weird little family. The demon had an oddly gentle
side that I never would have expected.
At the top of the hill, I let myself fall back into the snow and spread my arms and legs to make a
snow angel…a Snow Vi, if you would.
To think that I wasn’t a demon, after all, kind of blew my mind. Immediately, my thoughts went to
the burn marks on my back. I’d had the potential for wings, but this curse had clipped them. That
thought saddened me. I could have flown beside Morgan, but that possibility was no more.
All the while, making snow angels and listening to my friends laugh, I waited for disaster to
strike. It never came. The sun started to set, and everyone began packing up. I listened to the sounds of
their movement, their soft comments under their breath, and watched the stars slowly appear in the
sky.
Morgan plucked me from the ground and princess carried me like I weighed nothing. To him, that
might have been accurate. He was an immovable force, especially when his mind was made up. I
could tell when I rested my head on his chest and heard the steady hum of his breath beneath muscle.
Yet, without this curse, I knew I could easily hurt him. While he was an immovable force, I was
an unstoppable one. My arcana gave me too much power. Over and over, I hurt people with it. I’d
burned Morgan before, and I didn’t want to keep doing it.
 It would be selfless to walk away.
Morgan would be so much safer. He would be able to live out a life without fear of demons
around every corner. His days would be peaceful while I dealt with this fight on my own.
But I wrapped my arms around his neck and clung to him fiercely. I couldn’t bring myself to give
him up. There had to be another way. There had to be something else that one would consider
selfless.
Right?
Morgan gently set me into the Jeep’s passenger seat. I held onto him a while longer. He didn’t
object or try to pull away, and I was grateful. Finally, I released him. He moved slowly, as if reluctant
to leave.
I heard it then. He growled, but it wasn’t a sound filled with fury. It was one laced with pleasure.
The sound awakened need in me, making my arcana flare bright.
All it took was one soft gasp from me, and Morgan pulled away. He straightened and coughed, as
if that might clear the air thick with tension. I clenched my fists and struggled against the wave of
anger trying to fuel my arcana like gasoline to a flame.
“This sucks,” I said.
Morgan ran a hand through his hair and tugged. “You’re telling me.”
I had to do it. I had to say something. If I didn’t open the door, Morgan might never take it and
escape.
“I’m with you through thick and thin,” he said before I could speak.
A whimper left me. I couldn’t help but whine in the face of what I could not have. It was killing
me. He was right there, and yet my hands were bound.
“Want to place bets on whether or not we’ll run into demons tonight?” I asked, unable to keep the
dread out of my voice.
“No, because we’re both going to bet on the same outcome, which takes the fun out of things.”
I’d hoped that he would be the voice of optimism, but I knew better. That was usually my job. I
kept things bright and cheery for those who were lost in the dreary truth. I didn’t really have anyone
who could do that for me.
Today was nothing short of perfect. There’d been a smile on my face every moment of the day. I
yearned to turn back the clock so I could live it all over again. No one could blame me for wanting to
be back in Morgan’s arms that time the sled had launched us into the air.
He’d kept me safe. He’d been concerned for me after. I’d savored that handful of minutes more
than I’d ever savored any sweet drink in my life. Thirst for more nearly overwhelmed me.
Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to give up my arcana. If I could have Morgan, and we could have a
normal life, then maybe I could do the selfless thing—yeah, I know I have an ulterior motive, so sue
me—and give up my arcana.
It didn’t take long for us to come upon something. Ahead, in the growing dark of early winter, I
noticed a pair of headlights parked on the side of the road. Morgan and I shared a look. We were both
thinking the same thing.
It was likely a trap. Yet, I couldn’t let someone go without help. As we grew closer, I noticed two
young women standing in the glow of the headlights. They lifted their heads and waved their arms in
the air to flag us down.
“There’s only two of them,” I reasoned. “We can take them if it becomes a problem.”
“You don’t have your arcana. That leaves me to do all the heavy lifting.” Morgan scowled, but he
usually looked like that.
 We slowed to a crawl, coming up on the two ladies.
“If this is a trap, we can run. How about that?”
Morgan narrowed his eyes at me when he cast a sidelong glance in my direction. I gave him a
shrug. It was this or I hop out of a moving vehicle and leave him behind. Which, would hurt, but I
would absolutely do it.
He groaned and flicked the blinker. This is my Jeep. I didn’t understand why I wasn’t driving.
Since when did he start taking the keys? It was kind of hot that I didn’t have to do anything, but also
this is my Jeep!
We pulled over, and I got out.
“Hi! Are you two having car trouble?” I asked as jovially as I could.
Please just be regular humans. Please just be regular humans. Please just be regular humans…
As it turned out, the ladies had a flat tire. Before I could even think of getting the jack, Morgan
was on it. He had the women open their trunk, so he could get their jack and spare tire. I pulled out
my phone and turned on the flashlight like a good assistant.
The women stood close. They were around my age. One had long, dark hair that spilled over her
shoulders. Her winged eyeliner made me wonder where she was going this evening. Maybe that’s
how she always dressed.
The other woman wore her hair in braids that were dotted with little beads that shimmered in the
lights. Together, they were beautiful. I could be neither, and I knew it.
I tore my attention away from them so I could watch Morgan work. The muscles in his back
bunched together as he cranked the jack. My core hummed, heat beginning to pour in. Though it hurt,
at least the human women wouldn’t see flashes of light under my skin tonight.
“We didn’t know if help would be coming,” one woman said. “People tend to naturally avoid
demons like ourselves. So, we were really surprised when you pulled over.”
I froze. My head turned on a stiff swivel, so I could stare at the dark-haired woman. She offered a
demure smile filled with trickery. But she didn’t attack. If anything, that seemed like her default smile.
Beside me, Morgan paused entirely. I could feel the tension radiating off him. His entire body
pulled taut, ready to strike.
The second woman waved her hand. “Oh, we’re not here to start a fight. Don’t worry about us. If
we seem grumpy, it’s just because we had plans tonight, and this kind of got in the way of that.”
I gave a slow nod even though the information hadn’t yet sunk in.
Demons.
They were demons.
But they weren’t here to fight?
“The apocalypse is so boring,” the first woman said. “Who wants to end the world when there are
things like black raspberry ice-cream and nightclubs? I doubt Legion would allow us to keep
nightclubs if he got to be the head of the apocalypse.”
The second woman snorted. “That stick-in-the-mud doesn’t know the first thing about having fun.”
I was reminded of Bez. The situations were similar, but not the same, though. While he sided with
me in order to save his own skin, these women avoided the apocalypse, so they could enjoy human
things.
I shifted my weight from one foot to the other and prayed that the demons hadn’t recognized me. If
they wanted to avoid the apocalypse altogether, the best way would be to destroy the key to it—the
key being me.
Woman two waved her hand again, as if to say don’t worry. “I already told you. We’re not going
to attack.”
“A fight would mess up my eyeliner, and I’m not doing that a second time.”
“You’ve got a real handyman,” the second demon said with a nod of her head towards Morgan.
He’d resumed work. I hadn’t even noticed. If he thought this was safe, then I trusted him. Morgan
would have gotten me out of here if he thought this would go sideways.
I smiled softly. “He’s pretty great.”
The first demon elbowed me and she leaned in close. “Don’t let him go. He’s perfect for you. No
one else will ever compare to a man like that.”
I blushed despite myself. “How would you know?”
She tapped her temple. “I know things like this.”
“Without him, your life is going to get so much worse. You’re so lucky to have found him.” She
reached over and ran a finger along my cheek.
I thought I saw a flash of pink in her eyes…
My mind blanked. I shook myself and came crashing back into the present. When I looked around,
the landscape was unfamiliar. I stood on the side of the road in the winter dark. Two pairs of
headlights illuminated the stretch of road and two figures before me.
The pair of women smiled reassuringly, but my heart thundered. Where was I? How had I gotten
here?
My gaze fell on Morgan. A hot flash of need swept over me. The thoughts filling the forefront of
my mind made a warm blush slam into my cheeks. I tried to look away, but my attention kept sliding
back to Morgan.
The muscles in his shoulders mesmerized me. He grumbled under his breath as he worked. The
low tone of his voice made the hair on my body stand on end. Every inch of me prickled, ready to be
touched.
Not here. We couldn’t do that here, on the side of the road with two strangers watching. My blush
deepened. I stepped back, out of the glow of the headlights, so the human women wouldn’t be able to
see. The last thing I needed was someone asking why I was blushing.
Once more, I looked to Morgan. He needed to hurry up. I wanted to take him home where I could
run my hands over his body and hear him growl into my ear.
I needed him.

M ORGAN

THE HUMAN LADIES went on and on about the nightclub they wanted to visit. I should have warned
them that the nightclub in question belonged to a vampire, but I didn’t have it in me to care tonight.
Instead, I kept my head down and finished replacing their tire.
It seemed like a simple exchange for once. There were no demons, no ambushes, nothing. When I
was finished, I tossed the flat tire into their trunk, closed it, and wiped my hands on the thighs of my
pants.
“Seems like we’re all wrapped up here,” I said.
At first, Vi didn’t look up. Her eyes seemed to be glazed over. Panic overcame me, but only for a
brief instant. Then I remembered that Vi had been awake for over twenty-four hours. She hadn’t slept
since the night before we summoned Michael to make the deal.
I stepped up alongside her and touched her shoulder. She turned a glazed expression towards me
before shaking herself. Her eyes cleared and a bit of confusion furrowed her brow before vanishing.
“Let’s go home and get you into bed,” I said.
“Home.” Her speech was slow, as if she were still confused. Then she blinked and cleared her
throat. “Yeah. Home. That sounds good. I want a shower.”
I laughed. “I think maybe you should sleep first.”
The ladies headed towards their car. They paused just long enough to wave good-bye before they
sped away, leaving Vi and me alone on the side of the road.
“Come on,” I told her.
I fought the urge to carry her the rest of the way home. While my beast would have been more than
happy to fly back to the house with her, we couldn’t leave the Jeep behind. I had to settle for driving
her home.
Which was totally fine. So long as I got her home, that was all I cared about.
When Vi got settled into her seat, she reached across the console and put her hand on my thigh. I
paused and wondered if I should push it away to prevent her from getting hurt by her own arcana.
However, I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
 7
VI

I couldn’t hold back any longer. My skin ached, stretched taut with the need clenching me tight. My
hands needed him. I yearned to know what he felt like inside me once and for all, my own safety
be damned.
It would be worth it. I knew, deep down, that I couldn’t go on without this. Every moment spent in
Morgan’s presence pained me. Every time I’d reached for him and pulled back, every time he’d
reached for me and hesitated, all drove spikes into my heart—spikes that I desperately wanted to tear
out even if the wounds left me bleeding and hurting.
When we stepped through the door, I kicked it closed and threw myself into Morgan’s arms. He
seemed taken aback, at first. He asked what had gotten into me, but I silenced him with my lips on his.
He cupped my cheek and pulled back. When he looked down at me through his thick lashes, my
arcana began to move. It grew, doubling in size and strength. Now would have been the right time to
stop, but I couldn’t let that keep me from what I wanted.
I refused to let anything else stand in my way.
Distantly, it occurred to me that I wasn’t acting in my best interest. It was as if something had
possessed me, and I couldn’t stop it from driving me deeper into trouble. I didn’t care about the
trouble. There would be consequences for this, sure, but no part of me gave a shit so long as I could
feel Morgan’s body pressed against mine.
Was that wrong? I could barely think enough to tell.
I expected Morgan to put a stop to this. He bit his lower lip and shook in my embrace, like it took
everything in him to keep from shoving me against a wall so hard that we melted into one being…or
went through the wall.
“You want this as badly as I do,” I whispered into his lips as I threaded my hands through his hair.
He shuddered in response, his lips parting to let out a ragged breath.
“This is dangerous,” Morgan replied, his eyes still closed in ecstasy.
“It’ll be fine.”
We didn’t have to worry about what might happened later so long as we remained in the moment. I
wanted this. I needed this. I couldn’t go on unless we finished what we started.
Morgan seemed eager, too. He gripped my hips and pulled me into his body so I could feel the
long length of his own desire. I groaned and thrusted into him. His responding growl shook my
thoughts. The mess that was the inside of my head only became more jumbled.
I didn’t need to think, only act.
He pushed until my back hit the wall. We didn’t go through it. Morgan was being careful, so
tender with my almost human body. In response, I tugged at his hair. His head fell back, giving me full
access to his throat so I could taste the soft skin there.
Morgan’s hips ground against mine. Fire sparked in my core. With every thrust of his hips, it grew
brighter and brighter. The flames licked at my insides, but they didn’t burn. No, this fire ignited
something else in me. It was a kind of pleasure that I hadn’t known in years.
“I need you.” The words escaped me before I could even think to stop them.
There was no going back. They were out there now. I couldn’t stop, even if I wanted to.
I couldn’t control my arcana, though. Morgan grasped the back of my head and tugged my head
back so he could have full access to my mouth. He filled me so perfectly that I moaned into him. That
pushed me over the edge.
My arcana blazed bright. A great flash of pure light slammed into the curse and sent it rebounding
back at me. The light seared my flesh. A horrible roasting smell filled the room. Still, my body
wanted more of Morgan. I writhed in his arms despite the pain trying to overwhelm my desire.
“Vi! You’re burning!” Morgan leapt out of my arms.
Without him, I whimpered desperately. The pain grew and grew. It made my knees weak and my
stomach churn, yet my need refused to relent. Together, they threatened to be my undoing—and I didn’t
care. Not so long as I could get what I wanted.
The smell in the room intensified. The grotesque part was knowing that smell was me, and I
couldn’t turn it off. I couldn’t control my arcana any more than I could control my need. Still, I
reached for Morgan as if touching him might solve this problem.
I knew it would only make things worse, but I couldn’t stop.
The two clashed inside me until I dropped to my knees and clutched the sides of my head. This
war would kill me. I never thought that this was what the entity had meant when it said my arcana
would burn me from the inside out. How was I supposed to know that my overwhelmingly horny
feelings for Morgan would be my downfall?
Heat licked at my lungs. For a moment, it felt like I might exhale smoke. My whole body clenched
tight in response to the pain. My brain short-circuited. Thoughts vanished. There was only light and
pain.
Only light.
It ate away at everything that made me who I was. Desperately, I tried to cling to my sense of self.
I pulled my memories of my mother, of my friends, of Morgan close and held on tight. This light
couldn’t destroy me completely.
Distantly, I wondered if that meant the light had reached my brain. Was it frying like an egg inside
the shell? Man, I really hoped not. I didn’t want to go out like this. I didn’t want my end to leave me
drooling on my living room floor.
Stupid angels and their stupid curses. The desperate urge to tear the curse to pieces nearly made
me try. I knew that using my arcana would only make this worse, but I was already in so much pain.
What was the harm in a little more? I wouldn’t hurt anyone other than myself.
But Morgan was still here. I could hear his voice. He whispered soft, sweet things to me, though I
couldn’t quite make them out. His voice tried to lead me back to the realm of reality. I tried to grab
ahold of the sound and use it like a tether, but I fell into myself again.
That labyrinth of power consumed me. It dragged me deeper and deeper into the light until I could
see nothing else.
I realized that I was crying. Hot tears dripped down my cheeks only to evaporate barely a second
later.
 Stupid body. Those tears can’t put out this fire. Nice try, though.

M ORGAN

THE HEAT of her arcana burned away Vi’s clothing, leaving her naked and hunched on the floor. It
revealed the circular inscription and two charred burn marks branded onto her back. This curse
trapped her, and I stood by, helpless.
Once more, I reached for her only to hesitate. My beast called me a coward. I’d never feared
death before, but I knew that touching her right now would destroy me. The floor around her singed,
pieces of the hardwood curling and peeling back. I hoped she didn’t have a basement that she would
plummet into.
“Vi,” I said softly. I had no idea if my words could reach her in this state. “I need you—”
I didn’t mean to stop there. I meant to say that I needed her to come back, but that seemed to be
enough. If she didn’t already know that I needed her, then I hoped she knew it now.
“You can’t leave me yet,” I growled. “Get your perky ass back here.”
An idea struck me. She would be so mad once this was over, but it would be worth it. I leapt to
my feet and crossed over into the kitchen. My dragon poured speed and strength into me. While it got
me where I needed to be, I had to be careful when I opened the cupboards for a mixing bowl.
I filled it with cold water and went to the fridge to get ice. At the counter, I paused. My gaze slid
over to the spice cabinet. Maybe salt wasn’t necessary, but I couldn’t fight the urge to add it. I prayed
this wasn’t a curse, yet I added a handful of salt to the water just to make sure.
“Please don’t kill me later,” I said right before dumping the bowl of water over Vi’s head.
She gasped, shooting upright. Her back arched. She pinned me with her red-eyed glare. Before my
eyes, the red brightened and brightened until it was the yellow light of the sun. The ice-water turned
to steam, curling around her.
I would get as many bowls of ice-water as it took to break this before it killed my mate.
Thankfully, it only took the one. Vi’s shoulders slumped. She flipped me the bird before exhaling and
shrinking in on herself.
The bowl fell from my hands when I went to catch her. She was still hot to the touch, but I pulled
her into my arms, nonetheless. The air still smelled of burnt flesh, which made me wary of touching
her. Anything against her skin had to hurt. I couldn’t imagine her body was in any state to be held right
now.
Yet, my beast didn’t want to let go of her. As badly as I wanted to protect her, the beast wanted to
hold her tight. I reminded the beast that this threat came from inside Vi. The best way to prevent it
would be to keep my hands to myself.
The beast refused to listen.
“I…” Vi’s voice was small and weak, but that couldn’t disguise the hoarse tone of it. “I think
something is wrong.”
She wrapped her arms around her middle, her brow furrowed. Then Vi went completely slack. I
braced her in my arms as my heart shot into my throat.
“Vi?” I asked.
I gave her a gentle shake, but she was out cold. The beast in me thrashed. I shot to my feet and
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
or throw yourself and your beauty and your accomplishments, and all
I’ve done for you, and all my hopes away, I solemnly declare to you
that I shall not hesitate to turn you penniless into the street. I swear I
will do it, and never own you again. You might go and die in the
poor-house, and I’d never raise a finger to save you from a pauper’s
funeral.”
He spoke very fast, his voice uneven and vibrating with passion,
his face livid at the mere idea of his schemes being foiled. He was
terribly in earnest; his very look made Madeline quail. She trembled
and turned pale, as she thought of poor Laurence.
“It’s not much I ask you to do for me, is it, Maddie, after all I’ve
done for you?” he continued in a softer key. “I have my ambitions,
like other men, and all my ambition is for you. Give up all thoughts of
your lover—that is, if you have one—and be an obedient daughter.
It’s not so much to do for me, after all.”
Was it not? Little he knew!
“Promise me one thing, Madeline,” he continued once more,
breathing in hard gasps, and seizing her ice-cold hand in his hot dry
grip.
“What is that, father?” she asked in a whisper.
“That you will never marry without my consent, and never listen to
a commoner. Will you promise me this? Can you promise this?”
“Yes, father, I can,” she answered, steadily looking him full in the
eyes, with a countenance as white as marble.
“On your honour, Madeline?”
“On my honour!” she echoed in a curious, mechanical voice.
“Very well, then,” inwardly both relieved and delighted; “that is
what I call a model daughter. You shall have a prize. I will get you
some diamonds to-morrow that will open people’s eyes; no trumpery
little half-set, but a necklet, tiara, and brooches. I saw a parure to-
day, old family jewels. Hard up—selling off; one goes up, another
comes down, like a see-saw. It’s our turn now! You shall wear stones
that will make people blink—diamonds that will be the talk of London.
If folks say they are too handsome for an unmarried girl, that is our
affair, and a coronet will mend that. You have a head that will carry
one well. Your mother’s blue blood shows. You shall pick and
choose, too. Lord Anthony may think——”
“Lord Anthony Foster and Sir Felix Gibbs,” said a sonorous voice.
And what Lord Anthony might think was never divulged to
Madeline; Mr. West, with great presence of mind, springing with one
supreme mental leap from family matters to social courtesies.
The dinner was perfect, served at a round table. The floral
decorations were exquisite; attendance, menu, wines were
everything that could be desired. The gentlemen talked a good deal
—talked of the turf, the prospect of the moors, of the latest failure in
the city, and the latest play, and perhaps did not notice how very little
the young hostess contributed to the conversation. She was absent
in mind, if present in the body; but she smiled, and looked pretty, and
that was sufficient. She was beholding with her mental eye a very
different ménage, far beyond the silver centre-pieces, pines, maiden-
hair ferns and orchids, far beyond the powdered footmen, with their
dainty dishes and French entrées.
We know what she saw. A cosy farm parlour, with red-tiled floor, a
round table spread with a clean coarse cloth, decorated by a blue
mug, filled with mignonette and sweet pea, black-handled knives and
forks, willow-pattern delf plates, a young man eating his frugal dinner
alone, and opposite to him an empty chair—her chair. She saw in
another room a curious old wooden cradle, with a pointed half-roof,
which had rocked many a Holt in its day. Inside it lay a child that was
not a Holt, a child of a different type, a child with black lashes, and a
feeding-bottle in its vicinity. (Now, Mrs. Holt’s progeny had never
been brought up by hand.) Her baby! Oh, if papa were only to know!
she thought, and the idea pierced her heart like a knife, as she
looked across at him, where he sat smiling, conversational, and
unsuspicious. He would turn her out now this very instant into the
square, were he to catch a glimpse of those two living pictures. He
was unusually animated on the subject of some shooting he had
heard of, and he had two attentive and, shall we confess it,
personally interested listeners—listeners who had rosy visions of
shooting the grouse on those very moors, as Mr. West’s guests.
So, for awhile, Madeline was left to her own thoughts, and they
travelled back to her earliest married days, the pleasant little sitting-
room on the first floor at No. 2, the bright fires, bright flowers, new
music, and cosy dinners (the mutton-chop period), when all her
world was bounded by Laurence. Was it not still the case? Alas, no!
The bald-headed gentleman opposite, who was haranguing about
“drives and bags,” held a bond on her happiness. He had to be
studied, obeyed, and—deceived! Would she be able to play her
part? Would she break down? When he looked at her, as he had
done that evening, her heart failed her. She felt almost compelled to
sink at his feet and tell him all. It was well she had restrained herself.
She resolved to save for a rainy day some of the money he was to
give her on the morrow. Yes, the clouds were beginning to gather,
even now.
Oh, what a wicked wretch she felt at times! But why had cruel fate
pushed her into such a corner? Why was her father so worldly and
ambitious? Why had she failed to put forward Laurence’s plea, his
own long absence and silence, and thus excuse herself once for all?
Easy to say this now, when that desperate moment was over—it is
always so easy to say these things afterwards! She had given her
father a solemn promise (and oh, what a hollow promise it was!), and
she was to receive her reward in diamonds of the first water—
diamonds that would blind the ordinary and unaccustomed eye!
Presently she rose, and made her way slowly to her great state
drawing-rooms, and as she sipped her coffee she thought of
Laurence, and wondered what he was doing, and when she dared to
see him, to write? Poor Laurence! how seedy his clothes were; and
how much his long illness had altered his looks. With his hollow
cheeks and cropped head (his head had been shaved), none of his
former friends would recognize him. Then her thoughts wandered to
her diamonds. She stood up and surveyed herself in the long mirror,
and smiled back slightly at her own tall, graceful reflection.
Diamonds always looked well in dark hair. She was but little more
than nineteen, and had the natural feminine instinct for adornment.
She smiled still more radiantly; and what do we hear her saying in a
whisper, and with a rapid stealthy glance round the room? It is this: “I
wonder how you will look in a diamond tiara, Mrs. Wynne?”

END OF VOL. I.

PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES

AND SONS, LIMITED,
LONDON AND BECCLES.
*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARRIED OR
SINGLE?, VOL. 1 (OF 3) ***

Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions

will be renamed.

Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S.

copyright law means that no one owns a United States copyright
in these works, so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and
distribute it in the United States without permission and without
paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General
Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying and
distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the
PROJECT GUTENBERG™ concept and trademark. Project
Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if
you charge for an eBook, except by following the terms of the
trademark license, including paying royalties for use of the
Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for
copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is
very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such
as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
research. Project Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and
printed and given away—you may do practically ANYTHING in
the United States with eBooks not protected by U.S. copyright
law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark license, especially
commercial redistribution.

START: FULL LICENSE

THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
 PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK

To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the

free distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this
work (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase
“Project Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of
the Full Project Gutenberg™ License available with this file or
online at www.gutenberg.org/license.

Section 1. General Terms of Use and

Redistributing Project Gutenberg™
electronic works
1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™
electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand,
agree to and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual
property (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to
abide by all the terms of this agreement, you must cease using
and return or destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg™
electronic works in your possession. If you paid a fee for
obtaining a copy of or access to a Project Gutenberg™
electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the terms
of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.

1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only

be used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by
people who agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.
There are a few things that you can do with most Project
Gutenberg™ electronic works even without complying with the
full terms of this agreement. See paragraph 1.C below. There
are a lot of things you can do with Project Gutenberg™
electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement and
help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg™
electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.
1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the
Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the
collection of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the
individual works in the collection are in the public domain in the
United States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright
law in the United States and you are located in the United
States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from copying,
distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative works
based on the work as long as all references to Project
Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope that you will
support the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting free
access to electronic works by freely sharing Project
Gutenberg™ works in compliance with the terms of this
agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg™ name
associated with the work. You can easily comply with the terms
of this agreement by keeping this work in the same format with
its attached full Project Gutenberg™ License when you share it
without charge with others.

1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also
govern what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most
countries are in a constant state of change. If you are outside
the United States, check the laws of your country in addition to
the terms of this agreement before downloading, copying,
displaying, performing, distributing or creating derivative works
based on this work or any other Project Gutenberg™ work. The
Foundation makes no representations concerning the copyright
status of any work in any country other than the United States.

1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project

Gutenberg:

1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other

immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must
appear prominently whenever any copy of a Project
Gutenberg™ work (any work on which the phrase “Project
Gutenberg” appears, or with which the phrase “Project
Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed,
viewed, copied or distributed:

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United

States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it
away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg
License included with this eBook or online at
www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United
States, you will have to check the laws of the country where
you are located before using this eBook.

1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is

derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not
contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the
copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to
anyone in the United States without paying any fees or charges.
If you are redistributing or providing access to a work with the
phrase “Project Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the
work, you must comply either with the requirements of
paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use
of the work and the Project Gutenberg™ trademark as set forth
in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.

1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is

posted with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and
distribution must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through
1.E.7 and any additional terms imposed by the copyright holder.
Additional terms will be linked to the Project Gutenberg™
License for all works posted with the permission of the copyright
holder found at the beginning of this work.

1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project

Gutenberg™ License terms from this work, or any files
containing a part of this work or any other work associated with
Project Gutenberg™.
 1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute
this electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1
with active links or immediate access to the full terms of the
Project Gutenberg™ License.

1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form,
including any word processing or hypertext form. However, if
you provide access to or distribute copies of a Project
Gutenberg™ work in a format other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or
other format used in the official version posted on the official
Project Gutenberg™ website (www.gutenberg.org), you must, at
no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a copy, a
means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
request, of the work in its original “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other
form. Any alternate format must include the full Project
Gutenberg™ License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.

1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,

performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™
works unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.

1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or

providing access to or distributing Project Gutenberg™
electronic works provided that:

• You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the
method you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The
fee is owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark,
but he has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to
the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty
payments must be paid within 60 days following each date on
which you prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your
periodic tax returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked
as such and sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
Foundation at the address specified in Section 4, “Information
 about donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
Foundation.”

• You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who

notifies you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that
s/he does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™
License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all
copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and
discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of Project
Gutenberg™ works.

• You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of

any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in
the electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90
days of receipt of the work.

• You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works.

1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project

Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different
terms than are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain
permission in writing from the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation, the manager of the Project Gutenberg™
trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3
below.

1.F.

1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend

considerable effort to identify, do copyright research on,
transcribe and proofread works not protected by U.S. copyright
law in creating the Project Gutenberg™ collection. Despite
these efforts, Project Gutenberg™ electronic works, and the
medium on which they may be stored, may contain “Defects,”
such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or corrupt
data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other
medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or
cannot be read by your equipment.

1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES -

Except for the “Right of Replacement or Refund” described in
paragraph 1.F.3, the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
Foundation, the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark,
and any other party distributing a Project Gutenberg™ electronic
work under this agreement, disclaim all liability to you for
damages, costs and expenses, including legal fees. YOU
AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE,
STRICT LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH
OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH
1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER
THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR
ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE
OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF
THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If

you discover a defect in this electronic work within 90 days of
receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) you
paid for it by sending a written explanation to the person you
received the work from. If you received the work on a physical
medium, you must return the medium with your written
explanation. The person or entity that provided you with the
defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu
of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or
entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second
opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.
If the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund
in writing without further opportunities to fix the problem.

1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set

forth in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’,
WITH NO OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS
OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR
ANY PURPOSE.

1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied

warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of
damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this
agreement violates the law of the state applicable to this
agreement, the agreement shall be interpreted to make the
maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by the applicable
state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of
this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.

1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the

Foundation, the trademark owner, any agent or employee of the
Foundation, anyone providing copies of Project Gutenberg™
electronic works in accordance with this agreement, and any
volunteers associated with the production, promotion and
distribution of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works, harmless
from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, that
arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project
Gutenberg™ work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or
deletions to any Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any Defect
you cause.

Section 2. Information about the Mission of

Project Gutenberg™
Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of
electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of
computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new
computers. It exists because of the efforts of hundreds of
volunteers and donations from people in all walks of life.

Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the

assistance they need are critical to reaching Project
Gutenberg™’s goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™
collection will remain freely available for generations to come. In
2001, the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was
created to provide a secure and permanent future for Project
Gutenberg™ and future generations. To learn more about the
Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and how your
efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 and the
Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org.

Section 3. Information about the Project

Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-
profit 501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the
laws of the state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by
the Internal Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal
tax identification number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the
Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation are tax
deductible to the full extent permitted by U.S. federal laws and
your state’s laws.

The Foundation’s business office is located at 809 North 1500

West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact
links and up to date contact information can be found at the
Foundation’s website and official page at
www.gutenberg.org/contact

Section 4. Information about Donations to

the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
Foundation
Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without
widespread public support and donations to carry out its mission
of increasing the number of public domain and licensed works
that can be freely distributed in machine-readable form
accessible by the widest array of equipment including outdated
equipment. Many small donations ($1 to $5,000) are particularly
important to maintaining tax exempt status with the IRS.

The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws

regulating charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of
the United States. Compliance requirements are not uniform
and it takes a considerable effort, much paperwork and many
fees to meet and keep up with these requirements. We do not
solicit donations in locations where we have not received written
confirmation of compliance. To SEND DONATIONS or
determine the status of compliance for any particular state visit
www.gutenberg.org/donate.

While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states

where we have not met the solicitation requirements, we know
of no prohibition against accepting unsolicited donations from
donors in such states who approach us with offers to donate.

International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot

make any statements concerning tax treatment of donations
received from outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp
our small staff.

Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current

donation methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a
number of other ways including checks, online payments and
credit card donations. To donate, please visit:
www.gutenberg.org/donate.

Section 5. General Information About Project

Gutenberg™ electronic works
Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project
Gutenberg™ concept of a library of electronic works that could
be freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and
distributed Project Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose
network of volunteer support.

Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several

printed editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by
copyright in the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus,
we do not necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any
particular paper edition.

Most people start at our website which has the main PG search
facility: www.gutenberg.org.

This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™,

including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new
eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter to hear
about new eBooks.