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"You don’t think Jack would do the same?"
"I don’t think Jack could do the same I’ve spent a lot of tianized That’s the point I kneas a nutter the second Ito take out his coven? Do you really think he’s got thehaul? Anthony is the real threat Theis to destabilize his control Even if the cost is the hu out"
Cain nodded If Taht be on Hadrian’s side But she was involved "I don’t disagree about Anthony Unfortunately, you helped take sos to me and I’m very possessive Demon occupational hazard"
The vampire rolled his eyes upward "Oh my God You think you’re in love with her That’s what this big torture sequence is all about It has nothing to do with being on Anthony’s side or stopping ato say It was tooHadrian’s torso, tearing away the Roman collar with it He smiled at the expanse of bare flesh he was about to destroy He wondered if the va
He turned to his table of blades and cla to decide what to use first It allowed hin in his elow from his eyes He had to stay cold for this If he lost control he’d kill the vaet to Ta was back to nored would hurt et to that
He pressed and dragged the point across Hadrian’s skin, slicing it like a ripened to out The vampire hissed, but that was far fro I’m interested in," the demon said conversationally, "is what holy water does to a priest turned vampire I knohat it does to a vampire, but perhaps you’re immune You do still wear your clerics, after all Surely, living and sleeping in that church, you’ve gotten curious Maybe dipped a finger in just to see? I know I’ question on everybody’s minds"
Hadrian let out a howl as Cain poured the water into the cut he’d juston pavement
"One less mystery of life to unravel," the deritted teeth "You hed "As if that’s going to happen I’ll never kill you I’ll keep you alive and torture you slowly and painfully until you talk If you never talk and Taeance, and you don’t want to see that side of ht even lose interest in feeding, only doing it often enough to survive Hurting the vampire who’d taken Tam away from him would become his new obsession
"For what it’s worth, I didn’t want to hurt Ta," Cain shouted
Hadrian shuddered and jerked in the chains as the deainst his chest Part of Cain was disturbed his reaction was so strong to the witch being in trouble, but he shoved it down The witch was his That alone was enough to torture the filth who’d taken her
Chapter Fourteen
Taainst the light She felt like she had a hangover A cup of water was pressed into her hands as another hand stroked through her hair For the briefest ratefully down--until she heard his voice
"I thought you h the fullto keep the water down
"Oh, don’t be that way," he said "You loved me once"
"Before you beca theto take a toll on him You couldn’t make up crazy like this His eyes ild and a little unfocused Unpredictable While intellectually she knew she had a couple of days before he killed her, h to find a way to escape with Jack, you just couldn’t know
Despite the nificance and the kind of power boost it would give hi cycler on that night, he could lose his shit and kill her at any time
"So this is where it ends?" Her voice was hoarse when she spoke That was the fear co out Yes, she’d wanted out, but not like this, not the way Jack was going to do it Beyond the co pain of the experience, it twisted her stomach to think he’d done this to her sister
She should have known this would be where he’d take her It was the cavern where the original ritual had been performed If she’d been hidden anywhere but the deet her here Irony was a bitch
"It seemed poetic," he said "What could bethe cycle here? You’ll die in the saht you’d appreciate that"
Tarimaced "You saved me for last because you’re obsessed with ive it all up for you I’h When I die, I coht not be killable at all Or I ht die for only a few minutes at a time I’m not sure I’d like to find out, but I’ll keep you around You just have to say the word We could rule this place together"
She sat on a stone altar--a round They were beside the water where they’d found that stupid iods They’d thought keeping the saive them power But in the end, all it had been was a curse that had slowly eaten away at her sense of what it meant to be human
She stood and jumped over the moat Jack didn’t try to stop her He just backed out of her way, giving her space to wander