“If I went dark, if I was lost inside a place so twisted that I was mercilessly evil, and you were forced to kill me, what would it do to you?”
She takes a steadying breath before saying, “It would hurt. Actually, it would devastate me, but I could reconcile it. Gage has already thought he killed him once. And he’s okay. He made peace with it.”
Shaking my head, I go back to the book. I’ll have to sneak out to go to the attack site before anyone else, and then get back before anyone notices I’m missing. That’s going to be hard to do with everyone watching my every move. The fright of me getting kidnapped hasn’t worn off yet.
“He thought his brother was gone and replaced by someone as sadistic and mad as his mother.”
I look up to meet her eyes again. “What would happen if you killed me and then learned I was trapped inside my own mind—forced to do the will of someone else—and you killed me instead of saving me?”
Her eyes water as though the thought is painful. If just the hypothetical situation brings tears to her eyes, I can only imagine what a true instance would do to someone.
“I’d never survive it,” she says in a hushed whisper.
“Exactly. I won’t lose Gage. No one has ever fought for him before. It’s time someone does.”
She gives me a nod, and then she joins me in reading the details. “What do we do?” she asks.
“I have a succubus to call. There’re a few questions I need answered before I commit to a definite plan.”
Chapter 27
GAGE
“You’re not fighting Kimber on this?” Dice asks while adjusting the sights on his crossbow.
“What good will that do? She’ll just show up anyway, and she’ll risk her life if I’m not there to keep her safe.”
Dice leans against the doorframe, looking at me as I finish sending the last text to set the night into motion.
“You know, Kimber’s not resistant to my charm like Alyssa and Ella are. I could always—”
“Use your incubus juice on her, and I’ll cut off your main feeding tube. Understand?” I interrupt, not bothering to sound threatening.
Dice reaches down and cups his most prized possession as his jaw falls open. “That’s not cool. An honorable man never threatens another man’s jewels.”
I laugh while walking by him and starting down the stairs, and he follows behind me. Dice can lighten even the most intense situations.
“I lost my honor during my first century as an immortal.”
Before he can come back with a witty remark, Thad walks up, tossing me an anointed knife. I catch it by the handle and tuck it into my boot, but I know better than to think I can get physically close enough to push it into my brother’s heart.
I look out the door to see Kimber spiraling through the air, slinging Kane on his back hard enough to dig up the ground. She smirk victoriously, strutting over to offer him a hand as he smiles up at her.
It doesn’t matter how good she is, I’m not willing to risk her life. This could get ugly and fast, so I hope Chaz keeps his promise to force her out if that happens. She’ll kick my ass if she finds out he and I made such an arrangement.
If I even survive this.
“Any word from Drackus?” I ask Thad.
He frowns while shaking his head. “Calypso said she’s having a problem bring him down. This thing with Kimber sent him into a dark spiral. Calypso is the only one he won’t hurt when he’s like this. Kimber used to toss him into hell or somewhere else that
restrained him when he went too far.”
Not having Drackus and Calypso is going to affect our line of defense.
Chaz and Karma are speaking in a corner, and she laughs at whatever he says. I suppose she trusts him now that he risked his secret to save her life.
“Alright, glitter boy,” Dice says while going to toss his arm around Karma’s shoulders. “Go find your own demon hybrid.”