“Hello again, princess,”

  He crouched down in front of me and lifted his bloodied skull mask.

  The first thing I saw was his eyes.

  No, the only thing I could see was his eyes.

  In the near dark hall, they were merely two endless pits of Tartarus.

  “Call your guard dog off,” I snapped when I tried and failed to get up again.

  “You first,” he retorted.

  “Stay where you are Annie,” I called to her, trying to see around his massive fucking body, failing at that too.

  “Do you know all the things I could do to you right now?” he jested.

  “Do you know all the shit I could do to you right now?”

  “If they involve that filthy mouth, I would love to find out.”

  “I would never touch you in that way you pig.”

  Bloodied hands enclosed around my forearms and brought me to my feet, none too gently.

  “You sure about that?”

  “Let go of me,” I coolly demanded. Amazingly my voice was steady and normal in spite of the turbulence twisting my gut and bouncing around in my chest.

  “Let you go? Is that how you thank me for protecting you?”

  He couldn’t be serious. I stared up at him, still unable to fully see his face, feeling his warm breath on my cheeks.

  There was a man at my back and Annie was off to my side, and then there was him. He was this damn force field in front of me that I could only feel.

  This was twice now he’d placed his filthy hands on me, burning everywhere he touched.

  The wetness of his shirt transferred onto mine. Bloody palms stained my skin. Behind us what sounded like a herd of elephants began running up the stairs.

  When they reached the top, beams from different flashlights bounced off the walls.

  The Venom let me go, moving away so fast it was almost as if he’d never been in front of me.

  I remained where I was until Nyx called my name. The second I stepped back, Annie was instantly at my side, much closer than usual, practically becoming a second skin.

  I couldn’t blame her, she had never been unable to protect me if need be, and her personality would have berating herself over it. I, on the other hand, didn’t mind. I would always try and protect her when I wasn’t supposed to.

  The hallway filled with four more Venom, all trying to get to the man behind me. I made my way to my brother and friends.

  I ignored the way they all stared at me as we passed one another.

  Butcher stepped forward and offered me his hand, to which I happily accepted.

  I held onto him and concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other. It wasn’t enough to block out what Luce did next, and I wish it would have been because it revealed something about him I should have already been aware of.

  “What are you doing here, Zane?” Luce asked.

  I looked up confused, wondering who he was speaking to. The name he spoke went right over my head. He sounded almost exasperated as if this were a common conversation he’d had one too many times.

  Butch tightened his hand around mine in a way I could only take to mean as reassuring.

  My confusion grew.

  “I imagine the same thing you’re doing here, Luce. Looking for someone,” the Venom—Zane— replied.

  “Is it that obvious?” Luce asked, this time with an air of familiarity.

  “How do you know who that is?” I questioned, finally reaching him.

  “Did you hear that? She doesn’t know who we are, Z. I think someone needs to tell her,” A different voice spoke from down the hall, a humorless laugh following their statement.

  “By what I see right now, Malik. I think you’re correct.”

  The sudden change in his tone didn’t sit right with me, none of this did.

  I lived in my bubble a lot of the time but I was far from fucking stupid, and I clearly was missing something.

  “What is going on here, Luce?” Nyx asked, taking the words right from my mouth.

  She must have gotten the same vibe as I did because she stepped forward and pulled me away from Butcher. Sandwiched between her and Annie, I waited for someone to start speaking some facts.

  “You know who he is, Adds. He was never supposed to be this close to you,” Annie stated, directing the end of her statement at my brother.

  She never called me Adds unless she was trying to comfort. And that usually took something drastic, for example when I found out my pet bull was merely a food source the day my Dad instructed me to kill him.

  I wasn’t aware how big the current bomb was in the room was until just then.

  “I don’t know him. I don’t know anyone named—.”

  “Zane Belial,” a feminine voice interjected irritably from the other end of the hall. “His name is, Zane Belial and that’s his brother, Maliki Erebus. You know, the beasts from your worst nightmares?”

  No, she had to be spewing bullshit. Lucifuge wouldn’t have any reason whatsoever to have associated with these men on a friendly level.

  But he had.

  The truth always resonated loudest in silence. That’s all he gave me, that and a look so unapologetic and empty I could see our father standing in his place.

  It hit me then. I’d always known to a certain extent, but this proved just how alike the two of them were. While I adored our father, I had never agreed with the secrets he kept from mom and the way she learned to accept it. I would never be on board with that bullshit.

  Staring at my brother, I had so many questions and none I could bring myself to ask but one. “Are you going to tell me what you did?” It was the only one that mattered because the answer related to a dozen other questions I wouldn’t need to ask.

  “You know he isn’t going to tell you. None of them are,” Nyx flatly stated.

  A muffled laugh came from the end of the hall, and I realized our discrepancy was being viewed by the very people who were at the center of the conflict.

  My face flushed with humility, anger prickled my skin. Thankfully the hall was mostly dark. I couldn’t bring myself to look that way, unable to begin processing the implications of what this meant.

  Without another word on the subject, I shoved my way past my brother and the twins, starting back down the stairs.

  “Where are you going?” Luce called after me.

  “To do what we said we were going to do,” I replied without stopping. And I meant it. I was going to find our sister, Sam, and Lilith and bring them home, with or without him.

  “Where do you think we should check next?” Nyx asked, jumping right on board with me despite what she had to be feeling about this.

  I chewed my inner cheek, trying to determine what to do next. If these Stags did have them, then we’d need to figure out where they were.

  “Can you track?”

  “I can try. Charon is out there somewhere,” she replied, gesturing to the outside.

  “Okay,” I nodded. “Let’s get back to the truck and get all we can from Makayla first.”

  When neither she nor Annie disagreed with that, I figured I was on the right track. I could use the walk to get my head together.

  As we made our way back the way we had come in, without a flashlight of our own, the lower hall seemed as if it had grown significantly darker.

  Upon exiting the school, the air was undeniably stiffer.

  A fog had risen, covering everything and making visibility of more than a few feet in front of us near impossible.

  “Stay close,” I said, glancing back at them before starting down the first small set of stairs.

  “There should have been a body here.” I pointed down at the concrete where only a large bloodstain remained. There was no way that Stag was still alive. I heard Annie's gun go off and she never missed. It fell through a damn window.

  “How many of these people did you encounter?” I asked Nyx. She was missing her flashlight, and I’d felt the stickiness of blood on her jacket, so clearly she’d had a run-in with at least one.

  “Two. I handled one Butcher the other. Luce and Cam took out another three,” she replied, examining the stain.

  “Come on.” I started forward again more cognizant of our immediate surroundings, well aware we weren’t alone out here.

  It was much harder to navigate the uneven terrain when I couldn’t see it. After a few minutes, a tiny amount of perspiration began to bead on my skin. I wasn’t hot, so I didn’t understand why.

  A bell chimed from what I thought was my right. Turning my head in its direction was instinctive, even if my sight was impaired.

  “Did you hear that?” I quietly asked, looking over my shoulder when neither of them responded. I was greeted with nothing but space.

  “Nyx…Annie?”

  Where the hell did they go?

  The bell sounded again, this time seemingly closer.

  “Great,” I mumbled, starting back in the opposite direction.

  I think.

  I couldn’t see shit.

  My chest was beginning to tingle, and I knew something wasn’t right.

  Holding careful hands out right in front of me, I repeatededly blinked, trying to see better.

  “Addy,” was whispered behind me.

  I turned to see if it was Annie or Nyx, but yet again, there was no one there.

  Scalp prickling with the unease of being watched, I sped up. I was nearly jogging when my left foot caught in a groove, sending me to the ground.

  My palms hit a chunk of uneven pavement with an echoing smack, skin stinging from the impact. “Shit,” I breathed.

  Before I could stand back up a pair of hands was grabbing me from behind and hauling me backward.

  My boots skid as I tried to drag my feet to slow them down. They remained undeterred.

  “Get—.”

  A hand slammed over my mouth, effectively silencing me. A hand I quickly realized was covered in dried blood. Now knowing who had me only made my need to break free that much stronger.

  He dragged me all the way in-between two rundown buildings the moon was struggling to illuminate. With my back to his front, he splayed a hand across my stomach and pulled me tighter against him, keeping the other over my mouth.

  “Shhh,” he breathed into my ear, warm breath causing an outbreak of goose-bumps on my neck. “She’s close.”

  “Who?” I tried to ask, going still in his arms.

  He adjusted me so that I fit better against him. His body was a brick wall. I could feel abs pressing into my back. My ass was fixed firmly over his cock, which seemed to be unnervingly large even softly tucked away in his jeans.

  “Nuh, Uhn,” I muffled beneath his palm.

  I twisted my torso, forcibly trying to turn myself in his arms. He allowed it until I was facing him head-on.

  Moving as fast he had before, he gripped the back of my neck with the hand that had been over my mouth and pressed me into him with the other on the small of my back.

  This position was worse than the other one. Now not only was I looking up at his masked face for the third time in one night, but my apex was snuggly against where my ass had been, and my chest was smashed against his.

  With his grip on my neck, I had no choice but to stare into the dark holes hiding his eyes. I felt his gaze staring right back.

  Men usually wanted what was between my legs for bragging purposes or some diluted belief it would help them get closer to my father. I could occasionally be a tease, but I never let them so much as touch me.

  The lustful looks on their faces from afar were plenty satisfying. So it was safe to say I had never been in anyone’s arms like this before.

  Zane had touched me more times than any of those men could fantasize about in less than twenty-four hours.

  “You most definitely are not what I expected,” he remarked with zero emotion.

  “What is that supposed—?”

  “Wait here,” he said suddenly, turning my body away from him and the warmth he emanated. He stepped out into the fog, vanishing as it swallowed him up.

  I remained where I was, trying to figure out what he was doing. Something hard hit the ground; a second later.

  It slid into the alleyway and stopped at the toes of my boots.

  Kneeling, I studied the cracked deer skull, hearing what sounded like flesh being torn.

  There was a gasp, a thud, and then Zane was back.

  He was covered in more blood than before, his dark shirt nearly saturated, hands stained even more crimson.

  This man killed violently—brutally. It was the same way that Braxton did, earning him his nickname, Butcher. Only I got the sense Zane was driven by something darker while Butcher did it for entertainment. And I was pretty sure Butcher didn’t have vision as half as good as this guy did.

  I rose to back to my feet, watching him closely. He made no attempt to come closer, but he didn’t make an effort to leave either.

  “Were you following me?” I asked, wondering if the alley went all the way through.

  “I wasn’t until she was,” he replied, motioning to the deer skull in front of me.

  “If you’re trying to get back to your car you started going the wrong way about five minutes ago.”

  Five minutes…they’d been behind me that long? Dad would seriously disown me if he ever found out I was that unaware of my surroundings.

  “Your friends are fine,” he continued, answering my next thought before I even had it.

  “Where are they?”

  “Malik led them back to your truck.”

  I swallowed, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. I didn’t understand what he was doing. I knew he was here to find someone but why save me?

  Why follow me at all when he should want me dead?

  “Why do you keep protecting me?”

  “So you’re acknowledging that I saved your ass twice, but still not thanking me?” Sarcasm littered his tone.

  “I’m not—.”

  “I’ll tell you, later,” he rudely cut me off.

  Unsure what to do with that response I stared at his masked face debating what to do next.

  There was something about him that I found undeniably intriguing. Whatever it was had my demons waking up and hungering to tear him apart to see what was inside, I couldn’t make sense of it. I’d never felt either sensation before, not like this.

  He began coming towards me before I could decide my next course of action. Watching him warily, I shifted on my feet, body tensing.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Taking you out of here. The air shouldn’t be breathed for long stretches of time,” he explained.

  That’s good to know, I thought as he wrapped a bloody hand around my wrist, and then attempted to continue on his way.

  “Whoa, hold on a minute. I’m not going anywhere with you!”

  Abruptly, he turned and yanked me forward until my face was nearly pressing against his mask again.

  “You can either walk with me like a good girl, or I will drag your ass. I prefer the second option, actually.”

  Well, that sure escalated quickly. I knew how to choose my battles, though. While I didn’t want this man anywhere near me, I was also lost and had no way of finding my way back without him.

  “When you say taking me out of here?” I questioned suspiciously.

  “I mean to your car. If I wanted to kidnap you, I’d have done it already, but you plague me as someone who would make me work for it.”

  I furrowed my brows, picking up on multiple double-meanings behind his words—more so how all he said to me seemed to be swathed in sexual innuendos. I couldn’t go down that road of thinking. I wouldn’t.

  Swallowing, I cleared my throat and replied, “Right,” feigning indifference. It wasn’t worth a debate, the sooner I got to the car the sooner I could get away from him, and the quicker I could find Bella.

  Chapter Eight

  Octo

  “Are you sure you know where you’re going?” she asked the question she should have asked ten minutes ago if she felt we were truly lost. Her voice was so soft, so gentle. Completely at odds with the person, it belonged to.

  “If I didn’t, I guess you’d just be stuck here with me wouldn’t you?”

  Her silence was answer enough.

  I hadn’t come to this cesspool with the intention of saving her, but I’d be damned if someone hurt what wasn’t there’s to touch. I didn’t appreciate that kind of disrespect.

  These people already brought enough consequences amongst themselves by taking Demon.

  “Being stuck with me wouldn’t be the end of the world,” I casually tacked on, fucking with her.

  She made a sound of disagreement in the back of her throat. I grinned beneath my mask, leading her onward like an obedient dog.

  Lamb to slaughter.

  Rabbit to fox.

  Mouse to snake.

  That’s how it always went in my head. I had her skinny wrist in the palm of my bloodied hand, her pulse steady and relaxed. It would be nothing to turn around and end this now. Somewhat even more fitting, the more I truly thought about it.

  It was a beautiful night, and the only thing that made it better was taking a few lives.

  I could force myself between her legs right here in the middle of the street. I could slowly cut her open with my dick buried deep inside the cunt I’d ensured no one ever touched, and keep going until rigamortis set in.

  She’d tell me to stop, of course.

  Then again, I think she might like that too much. I bet if I gave her the proposition right now she’d be dripping wet and ready to play—beg me to make her bleed as she took my dick like a champ.

  Yeah, this sounded more her forte.

  She would act like I offended her or some shit, but we both knew she and I had no morals to offend.

  She would fight me. I could tell.

  Couldn’t lie, that I found fucking exciting, and the black mass of energy between was intriguing. So though I could turn around and end it, I wasn’t going to. Death was too easy of atonement for all that had been lost. Plus, I hadn’t gotten to know her yet.

  When it was time for my gorgeous girl to go, she would be the one asking me to slide the blade across her throat.