Page 61 of Hellbound

Marian didn’t miss how his nostrils flared, or the flash of a pink tongue as he wet his full lips. She knew that look, that desire.

“Now that’s an interesting offer.”

The sound of the door flying open had them both looking across the room at who’d just interrupted their dealings. She opened her mouth to speak, but the sensation of free-falling took her breath away. The silhouette in the doorway and its accompanying aura left no question as to why.

Mr. Vale, dressed all in black and wearing a face that promised pain to anyone who dared challenge him, swept across the room like the storm of the century.

Never in her life had she been so glad and so terrified to see him—why or how he was here didn’t matter. But her relief was short-lived. Death haunted his icy gaze as he prowled toward her, his eyes on her and only her even as he strode past a snarling Stellan.

Marian suddenly feared he’d come not to rescue her, but to snap her neck and silence her once and for all. Dead divers told no tales.

But I kept my promise, she pleaded inwardly.

Marian didn’t even get to savor the disgruntled look on Stellan’s face before Mr. Vale was suddenly towering over her, his woodsy cologne invading her senses. His body shielded her from the light and Stellan’s gut-wrenching presence, bathing her in darkness and silence.

Marian struggled to look up at him—he was too fucking tall. And the way the sight of him filled her chest with warmth made no sense at all.

“All right, Meyer?” His voice came out a low rumble, the question far lighter than the look in his eyes.

Marian could scarcely swallow as she flashed him a wincing smirk. “Oh yeah, I’m doing amazing. You?”

The barest of smug smiles tugged at his lips.

“You’re trespassing, Vale,” Stellan barked behind the wall of the demon’s body.

Mr. Vale’s eyes never left Marian as he replied. “Am I? Your hostess didn’t seem to think so.”

“We had an agreement. Intermediaries only on our properties.”

“That was before you absconded with a diver who has yet to fulfill her bargain with me. Did you learn nothing from Meerut?”

The Butcher’s eyes flashed a brilliant silver like Marian had never seen before. Stellan downright growled.

“You turned my sepoys against me. Remember?”

Mr. Vale threw a withering look over his shoulder. “You accomplished that all on your own when you disemboweled their kinsmen.”

Stellan sneered. “I thought Stalingrad would have taught you not to interfere in my mortal dealings. They are so fragile, aren’t they? And you have a bad habit for choosing the most annoying ones.”

Marian didn’t understand a word of what was said. But she knew a pissing contest when she saw one.

Mr. Vale’s expression remained impassive. “And you have a habit of always choosing the losing side. The last Dauphin, Beria, and now Verinne.”

Verinne.

The name splashed over Marian like a bucket of ice water. Stellan was in league with Verinne? His response turned to garbled noise when Mr. Vale looked at her again and growled.

“Accept my protection.”

“What is going on here—?”

Marian heard shouting, then rapid, heavy footfalls. Stellan’s goons were coming.

Shadow swelled around Mr. Vale. He looked at her like he’d caught her cheating on a test. “Do you want to walk out of here with both of your eyes?”

Marian blinked rapidly. “Yes?”

“Then make a deal with me. Now.”