Rayce didn’t lower his claws. Luke respected power—so he’d show him power and rage. “Kale said he’s a fallen angel.”
“I believe that’s what he is…”
“When an angel falls,” Rayce continued with his voice grating, “the angel becomes—”
But he broke off.
Not Lila. That’s not her.
“A demon.” Luke pursed his lips and still acted as if Rayce’s claws weren’t at his throat. “Though not just any demon I’m afraid. It’s that whole absence of feeling thing. Angels have gone too long in their void. When they fall, well, different powers come to them.”
Julian swore.
Rayce didn’t move.
“Your Lila…she’s something dangerous now. An ice demon.”
“What?”
“When she gets angry, she grows cold. And that ice of hers comes out. I don’t think she can control it. I don’t know if she wants to control it.”
As Luke’s words sank in, Rayce knew what had happened to Lila. Because the same shit had happened to him. “When paranormals don’t have control, you lock them up.”
Luke inclined his head, pushing his throat closer to Rayce’s claws.
“You locked her up? Lila? You put my Lila in a cage?” His voice thundered through the house. And his claws drew blood from Luke.
Luke’s eyes flashed. And the floor beneath them seemed to tremble. “Be very, very careful, Rayce. The moves you make next will determine your fate—and hers.”
But he was past the careful point. “She’s an innocent. She never asked for any of this! She was hurt—used by those close to her. She isn’t a threat to anyone, and you can’t keep her prisoner!” Not again. Dammit, how Lila must hate the prison she was in. “You know that sick bastard Simon Lorne kept her locked up, and you’re going to do the same thing to her? To her?”
Luke was oddly steady in the face of his rage. “You were locked up once, too,” Luke reminded him. Rayce didn’t need that reminder. “Or have you forgotten? Sometimes, a cage is the only safe place.”
Not for Lila. “Let her go.”
Julian moved to Rayce’s side. “Luke, come on, seriously, let the angel go—”
Luke’s eyes flashed. “That’s the problem. She’s not an angel now. If I let her go, what do you both think will happen? That she’ll turn to Rayce and be all tra-la-la happy? That they’ll dance away and live happily ever fucking after?”
Rayce growled at him.
“Sorry to break it to you, but that won’t work. That won’t be the ending you have.” Luke’s breath came faster. “The minute I let her out of the cage, Lila will leave this island. She will run away from us all. And who will be waiting?”
Rayce tried to fight back his rage and think. He was missing something there. “Kale. He’s going to come after her.”
One dark brow rose. Luke didn’t speak.
And Rayce knew. “You tricky sonofabitch…”
“Careful. I don’t really like it when you bring my dead mother into this.”
“You want Kale to come here, don’t you? You’re—you’re using Lila as bait to lure the bastard to him.”
Luke didn’t even blink. “Maybe. Or maybe I’m protecting the world from her. Because you know, I’m awesome like that, and she is an out of control ice demon who could freeze every single human in her path with barely a thought.” Luke glanced down. “Because we’re…well, not friends, exactly, I’ve let you draw blood. I don’t let anyone do that.” He looked up. “So put the claws away and think. Don’t just react with your beast. Don’t let the wolf’s rage overpower the man you are.”
“Not friends, huh?” He’d given this guy years of service, of unquestioning loyalty. “So what the hell are we?”
Luke’s chin lifted. His gaze slid to Julian, then back to Rayce. “Family.”
Surprise rolled through Rayce. That bastard had not just said—
“Pack,” Luke added. “And sometimes, you have to do some damn bad things in order to protect the pack.” Luke’s jaw clenched. “You might not understand but I swear, I am trying to protect you. I’m trying to protect us all. If Lila gets out of her cell, you will lose her, Rayce. I know it. She isn’t the same any longer. She’s an ice demon, and Kale—he’s just like her. They’ll be pulled together. She won’t be able to stop herself. She’ll seek him out.”
Rayce shook his head. No, no, Lila wouldn’t—
“They’ll join together. Their powers will combine. And they will be too strong for me to stop. Too strong for anyone to stop.” His voice shook. “But separate…if they stay separate, we can take them down. If we kill him, then she may have a chance. Don’t you see? This is the only way.”
By keeping Lila caged?
“Some prisons are for protection, not punishment.”
Lila wouldn’t see it that way.
“Do you think Lila would want to be a monster?”
At that low, rough question from Luke, Rayce spun away and stalked across the room.
“Because I don’t think she would.” Luke paced behind him. “I don’t think she’d want to kill humans. I don’t think Lila would want to kill anyone.”
“She may want to kill you right now,” Rayce replied. His hands had fisted.
“Maybe…but I am helping her, in my way. While she doesn’t have control, I’m keeping her in check. And Rayce…I need you on my side.”
Fuck that. Lila—
“I need you on her side.”
Rayce looked back at Luke.
“Sometimes, love can be a fucking bitch.” Luke’s face was tight. “Because it will make you do terrible things for the one you want most.”
Terrible things.
“What would you do to protect her?” Luke asked Rayce.
Julian swore, his voice shaking.
“Would you accept her hate, her fury…” Luke pressed. “If it meant that she got to keep living? Because this choice is going to be on you. You have to decide…what would you do for that demon in my cell?”
Lila isn’t a demon. She’s my angel. And that’s what she’ll always be.
Chapter Thirteen
“Oh, Lila…” Luke’s voice rang out.
She didn’t move. She was on the narrow bed, her gaze on the golden manacles that bound her wrists. There was writing on the manacles, some kind of Sanskrit. She should have been able to read it, but she couldn’t.
“You have a visitor. Someone who was just dying to see you.”
Rayce? Hope had her jumping to her feet. She ran toward the door, the chains trailing from her wrists. She peered through that slit and saw familiar green eyes. Gleaming at her. “Rayce!” He would get her out of here. He’d help her to escape. They’d leave Luke’s island and never look back.
“See?” Luke murmured. “There she is, all safe and sound. And, hey, doesn’t the cell seem familiar? I actually chose it just for the memories.”
“Fuck off,” Rayce snapped.
“Indeed. Well, you’ve got fifteen minutes. Then we’ll talk some more.”
Luke shuffled away. Then he paused. “Watch out for the frost bite.”
What?
She flattened her hand to the door. “Rayce, help me.”
His eyes were so bright.
“Get me out of here,” she whispered.
Then she heard an electronic beep. It was followed almost immediately by a heavy clang—the lock disengaging? A wide smile split her lips. She’d known that Rayce would come for her. Luke was playing games. He was as twisted as she’d always been told. On that point, at least, Leo hadn’t lied to her.
The door opened. Rayce came inside, and she threw her arms around him. “I was scared.” Her hushed confession. “Being held prisoner again…I just…I can’t do it.” The memories of her past were too strong. She pressed ever closer to him. Her right hand was on his shoulder, the chain streaming down. Her left was on his back, and the chain there was a weight that she hated.
“I’m…sorry.” Hi
s voice was stilted.
“It’s not your fault. You didn’t know Luke was going to do this.” She clung to that truth. “Let’s just go—”
“Kale isn’t dead.”
She eased away from him.
“The guy just vanished in the middle of the fight. There one moment, and gone the next. He could be anywhere right now.”
“Maybe he’ll forget about me,” she said quickly. “Maybe he’ll—”
“You’re pretty unforgettable, Lila.”
Lila…not angel. Not sweetheart. His tone was stiff. His body was stiff. She was holding him, but he hadn’t wrapped his arms around her. “Rayce?” She dropped her hands, feeling vulnerable. “What’s happening?” She realized then that the door had closed behind him. “R-Rayce?” Her voice stuttered as her fear came back.
But he reached for her hand and his touch chased the chill away.
It’s going to be okay. Rayce isn’t Luke. Rayce is—
“I can’t let you go.”
She shook her head.
He was staring at her fingers. “Do you know what you are now?”
She didn’t. She only knew what others had told her. “Demon.” She didn’t feel like a demon, though.
But how do demons feel?
“Luke said you tried to kill Leo.”
She gave a quick, desperate laugh. “Like Luke hasn’t done the same thing.” And she was the one who got locked up?
“Angels don’t kill.”
She was sick of the whole angels do and angels don’t routine. “Angels also don’t get locked up. They don’t get caged.” She yanked her hands up, making the manacles flash and the chains clink together. “But look at me. Look what he’s done to me.”
He looked at the chains, then at her face.
“Rayce, I need your help.” She was about to beg. “I can’t stay here. You have to get me out of this place.”
He turned and walked toward the bed. More like a cot, really. His hand lifted, and he put his fingers on the wall. “This place is familiar.”
What? Lila moved closer, and she realized that his fingers were on marks that had been carved into the heavy, stone wall. Claw marks.
“It was my home for a time,” he added.
Tears stung her eyes. “It’s not a home. It’s hell.”
His shoulders stiffened. “Hell is having the blood of your brother on your hands. Hell is only wanting to destroy and not caring who you kill. You fight and you fight and you just want more death.” He glanced over his shoulder at her. “You haven’t accepted that part of me, have you?”
“Rayce…” She threw a quick glance toward the door. “I heard Luke say you only had fifteen minutes. We have to leave before he gets back.” They could talk and share plenty…once we’re out of the cell!
“I’d lost control back then. And it didn’t return easily.” His hand rose and pressed to his heart. “My pack was one of the most vicious out there. They valued power above all else, and power…I had a lot of it. Growing up, I was encouraged to let my wildness out. Weakness was punished. Brutality praised.”
He’d never been brutal with her.
“My brother always hated that I was stronger than him. Faster. He’d been born before me, and he thought he should be alpha. He was the one that challenged me, but I could have walked away. I could have stopped. I didn’t. He didn’t. And in the end, we both lost.”
“That…that isn’t who you are now.” She wanted to touch him, but felt frozen to the spot.
“Isn’t it?” His head cocked. “How well do you know me?”
“I—” Well enough to give my body to you.
“My job was to find you. I did.”
“No, that’s not all.” He’d fed her, comforted her, and protected her. “Stop this!” He was lying to her. “Why are you trying to hurt me?” Not Rayce. Not him. He couldn’t turn on her.
“I’m not. Fucking hell, that’s the last thing I want.” He came toward her, and his hand cupped her cheek. “But you don’t know me. You think I’m not the same selfish bastard I was years ago? Luke put me in this cell for a reason. I was out of control. I had to be stopped.”
“I don’t need to be stopped.” She just needed to be free.
“Why do you think you want me?”
The question caught her off-guard.
“You were an angel. Angels are drawn to goodness, right? Like a moth to a freaking flame. But you wanted me. Me, with the dark spots you try to pretend don’t exist. You gave yourself to me.” He leaned closer to her, his mouth almost touching hers. “Why do you think you want me?”
Her heart was racing.
“Because what you’ve become…Lila, you like the darkness in me. You want it. It draws you in and it tempts you.”
“I just want to leave,” she whispered. “Rayce?”
“I can’t let you go.”
No—
“I can’t.” His lips pressed to hers. The kiss was hard, rough, and as soon as his mouth touched hers, need spiraled through her. Lust and hunger. A physical desire that shook her body. Her breasts ached. Her hips squirmed. And—
“No!” She pushed him away. She retreated. She wrapped her arms around her stomach and tried to figure out what was wrong with her. She couldn’t want him. Not there. Not while she was locked up, and he was saying he’d leave her as Luke’s prisoner. How had her world gotten so twisted up? How had everything become so tangled?
“That’s what I’m talking about.” His voice had roughened. “The connection is there because, Lila, you want the beast.”
She shook her head. “You’re wrong.”
“I’ll make sure you have every fucking thing you need here. I’ll see to it that no harm comes to you.”
No, this wasn’t happening. “How can you do this to me?”
“You have to learn control. If those manacles come off…what will you do?”
She didn’t even know what she could do.
“You’re an ice demon, or at least, that’s what Luke says.”
She took another step away from him.
“The angrier you become, the colder your rage grows. You’ll be able to freeze humans with a touch. Humans. Paranormals. Anyone who gets in your way. You have to learn to control that power or you can’t go free.”
It hurt to breathe. It felt as if someone had compressed her lungs. And cut out her heart. “So…I’m your prisoner?”
He lunged toward her and grabbed her arms. “You are my fucking everything.”
Her mind was screaming too loudly at her for Lila to be able to determine if he was telling her a truth…or a lie. She hurt. “Did you fuck me just because you wanted to screw an angel?” She didn’t know what to believe anymore.
“I fucked you because you’re mine.”
She gave a choked laugh even as his fingers tightened on her. “Now you sound like Kale.”
His face hardened.
“I’m not yours,” she whispered back, hurting so much, “and you aren’t mine.” If he was, he wouldn’t leave her there. “You’re just the hunter who was sent to find me. And I’m the job you finished.”
His head had lowered over hers. “We aren’t finished.”
“Why? Because you’d like to fuck a demon?” She said those words because she wanted him to hurt, too.
He shook his head. “You’ll always be my angel.”
Her eyes closed. Truth.
“Let me help you, Lila.”
Her breath was ragged. Her heart racing too fast. “Help me by getting me out.”
“You have to let me in. Let your guard down. Trust me.”
Trust the man who was sentencing her to a cage? “I thought I was going to die in a prison like this once.” She stared into his eyes and wanted him to see her pain. “My captor kept me for so long. But I was sure help would come. My best friend…Leo. He’d get me out.” She drew in an icy breath. “Then I learned he was the reason I was there. He wanted power so he’d traded my feathers to a madman.” r />
“Lila—”
“I trusted then. I trusted him. I trusted completely because I’d never had a betrayal before.” She leaned up onto her tip-toes and pressed a kiss to his lips. And when she did, a breath of ice cold air escaped her to tinge his lips blue. “But now here I am again. Locked up. And the man I thought would save me? He’s telling me to get comfortable in a cage.”
The blue faded from his lips. His gaze burned.
“So maybe I’ll just save myself.” Her eyes narrowed. “And you? You can get the hell out.” Again, she backed away. Touching him was dangerous. She knew that.
“Lila!”
She threw up her hand, and a wall of ice appeared between them. The ice stunned even her. Her manacles heated, and the ice began to melt.
“Time’s up.” Luke’s voice. Her jailer, come back to take Rayce away.
The ice hadn’t melted fully. Rayce was a blurry outline. She couldn’t see him clearly, and that was good. It meant he couldn’t see her clearly, either. He can’t see me cry.
“I’m coming back,” Rayce promised her. His voice was gruff. “You and I…there’s more here.”
“No, there’s nothing.” A job that had been done. Finished.
He spun and stalked out. Luke had opened the door for him, but he slammed the cell shut almost instantly as soon as Rayce was clear. Then she heard the beep. The clang.
Her tears slid down her cheek, but when they fell to the stone floor…they were ice.
***
“How’d that little meet and greet go?” Luke asked.
Rayce turned and rammed his fist into the wall. Again and again and again.
“That well?”
He whirled on Luke with his fist raised.
Luke’s eyes widened. “Easy.”
He was sick of being told to go easy.
“You saw the ice,” Luke continued, though he was no longer mocking. “I think you felt it in her kiss.”
He had. But he hadn’t cared—fuck, that was Lila. Every part of her turned him on. Even the touch of ice on his lips.
“Shall we go see about the little, uh, bonus that you brought with you when you arrived back at the island?”
No, he didn’t want to go anywhere but back to Lila. She thought he was betraying her. He wanted to help her. But he was screwing everything up.