“You don't want to be a part of what comes next.”
“I don't want to be a part of what's happening now!”
Catalina purses her lips, the barrel of her gun still aimed at my chest. “You don't have much of a choice, sweetling. Your fate was decided the moment you put that ring on your little finger.”
“My fate?” Jesus, what the hell was she talking about? Oracles? Witches? There was no way that I was a part of their world!
Rose moves next to me, her brow furrowed as she glares at the devil standing before us. “If you shoot her—”
“You'll do what, exactly? Blast me with your magic?” The vampire scoffs. “Darling, I'll rip out your pretty little throat before you can blink. No, I think you've meddled enough already, puppetmaster. And once again, I'm forced to clean up the mess.” Her blood-red eyes lock onto the blonde's and my stomach drops. “Now leave before I change my mind and kill you where you stand.”
Marco steps forward just as Rose's shoulders slump in compliance but Catalina turns her hypnotic gaze upon him, freezing the bear in place. “You can take the girl back to the Second Precinct on your own volition or while under my charm, Marco, but either way you will take her back.”
This was no longer a request. 'It never is with her,' Ashe's words ring in my ears and I bite back a groan. “I'll be fine, Marco.” I place a hand on his arm and give it a gentle squeeze. “Please, look after Rose.”
He fixes me with a concerned stare. “You sure about this?”
No. But I don't really have much of a choice in the matter. Catalina might just kill us all, anyway.
I offer the bear a curt nod. “I'll see you soon.”
He doesn't look convinced, but thankfully he decides not to argue. I didn't have the heart for it and I was pretty sure that Catalina was running low on patience. And, wherever she was, Ashe was most likely running out of time.
“Be careful,” he warns as he places a hand on my shoulder. “Don't let them intimidate you into doing something that'll put your life in danger. Get Ashe back and then get both your asses the hell out of here.”
I watch as he escorts an obedient Rose to the garage before turning to Catalina once more. My insides twist as I force myself to meet her glare and, swallowing down my fear, I ask, “So how do we summon Ashe?”
“We don't do anything.” The devil adjusts her grip on the pistol and the ball of fear jumps right back up my throat. “Call her to you.”
“H-how?” How did she expect me to do this with a freaking gun pointed at me? I still don't even know how the damn thing works!
“You have to will it,” Nadia says as she lowers herself onto a chair. “It is not an easy thing to do, but given enough time the bond between the ring and your soul will only grow stronger. Many demons fight it at first but, eventually, your will becomes one with the ring. Ashe will have no choice but to obey.”
“I don't think our young cambion has that choice now, old friend.”
“But I've only been wearing it for a few weeks!” I didn't even know her, not really. Not how I'd like to . . .
The memory of our kiss, of how I had accidentally commanded her to do it and how quickly she had complied, stirs in my mind and a heat flushes my cheeks. Was that moment of intoxicated euphoria, the passion in the way our lips fit together so perfectly and the feeling that lingered long after my skin grew cold from the absence of her touch, only because of the ring? It felt real enough to me, all the way down to my bones. But did it really mean nothing to her?
YOU ARE READING
Soulbound
Paranormal"Would it kill you to let yourself open up?" "No," I sigh, tilting my chin and fixing my gaze to the ceiling. I clench my fists, nails digging into my palms as I fight to stay grounded. "But it might kill you." ************* One is a half-demon with...
