Page 120 of Hellbound

“What the fuck?” Came his keening cry. “What are you?”

Was this what power felt like? Maybe she didn’t hate it after all. The shadows swirling before her didn’t look like Vale’s. They were thin and feathery—nowhere near as dense as the darkness he wielded.

But unlike the knife and the sign that marked her as his, these shadows felt like an extension of her. Like muscles she’d never flexed before.

The tighter she clutched the knife, the longer they became, fluttering toward Greg’s cowering form.

“Now tell me the truth,” Marian seethed. “If you lie, I’ll know.”

Greg’s terrified gaze landed on the knife in her hand. “How do you … How??”

That muscle snapped, and Marian’s lips curled back to bare teeth.

“Tell me the fucking truth. All of it.”

Greg shrieked—at what, she couldn’t tell. Her vision had tunneled; there was only Greg and the answers he’d yet to surrender to her.

“I–I–I meant it. I liked Falk. We were friends. But then he went exclusive with Vale. The other demons, they didn’t like that. One of them paid me to … to …”

“To find an artifact before Falk did?”

Greg nodded.

Marian’s fingers tightened around the knife. “And he found it. Then what happened?”

“There was a gate. Something was stuck in it. I couldn’t pull it out, but Falk could. I told him to give it to me, that we had a better offer, but he told me he wouldn’t betray Vale. Can you believe that? Asshole picked a demon over all this money. I was so fucking pissed, I … I … we fought. The Remnant found us. And when Falk lost his footing, I … I pushed him.”

“You pushed him. Where?”

Greg grimaced. “Into the Remnant.”

Marian’s blood ran cold.

Greg’s chest heaved. “For three hundred grand! Don’t tell me you wouldn’t kill someone for that kind of money. I tried to reason with him, but he said there was too much at stake. Guy was nuts.”

I’d kill you for free.

But Marian didn’t want to kill another human. Did she? The needle of her moral compass spun wildly as she seethed at him.

“Who paid you to poach it?”

Sweat poured down Greg’s face as he watched the shadows wriggling around him, coiled like vipers prepared to strike. “Verinne.”

“Vale’s going to skin you alive,” Marian said in a low voice. The sound of pounding on the front door made her look away from Greg as he begged in earnest.

“Hey, c’mon now.”

The door flew open before Marian could reach the deadbolt. Tori burst in, panting like she’d sprinted up the stairs. “Girl, we need to go—”

Tori’s face fell as she took in Marian, and Marian wished she could see what it was that made the traveler freeze.

Greg kept pleading. “Ask Vale about Falk. He’s the one who sent him after the fucking thing. I was never gonna poach from you. All I did was tell Stellan where to find you.”

Marian’s legs moved without her permission, and suddenly she was in Greg’s face, the knife smoldering in her hand and far heavier than it’d been seconds ago. For a moment, Marian saw nothing. Darkness flooded her vision, then bled away. When she came to her senses, Greg was cowering on the floor, arms thrown over his head as Tori stood beside her, speaking softly.

“You can’t undo what you’re thinking about doing. He’s not worth it. Come on. Breathe and back up. Send the knife away. That’s it—amazing.”

“Please don’t kill me,” Greg wheezed. “I’ll tell you whatever the fuck you want. I–I got Falk’s wallet if you want it. It’s in a box in the closet.”