Page 62 of Hellbound

Questions crowded her mind, but only one seemed to matter then. “Deal? What deal?”

“Enough of this,” Stellan bellowed. “Creed, bring her to me.”

“Sir, I can’t … I can’t move.”

Mr. Vale spoke quickly, his voice drowning out all else. “My protection for a price—one I promise you can afford.”

Under normal circumstances, Marian would have laughed in his face. But the other bargain she’d proposed to Stellan was infinitely more terrible. She tugged on her bonds, unsure how she could bind a deal if she couldn’t shake his hand.

“Fine. Now untie me. Use your powers or—”

But Mr. Vale’s hand snaked around her bruised neck. His fingers sank into her hair and tugged her head back. He crushed his lips to hers in a kiss so possessive and disorienting that Marian forgot where she was.

The aches and pains in her body melted away as she dangled there in shock, strung up like a piece of meat. His tongue teased the crease of her lips with expert strokes. It stunned her into compliance, and she unwittingly let him in. Shameful fire crackled to life between her thighs, stoked by that unnatural attraction, and promptly went out when she remembered where she was and who was kissing her.

When he broke the kiss and pulled away, Marian glared daggers at him.

“What the fuck was that for?” She snapped breathlessly. “I agreed to a deal, not first base.”

Mr. Vale said nothing as he stepped back, his lips curved in a sardonic grin. Marian’s eyes flared wide as she felt a new bargain manifest like another noose around her neck. This one squeezed her throat so tightly, she saw stars.

When she looked up, Mr. Vale’s smile was gone, his expression unreadable. He cast a scathing glance at Stellan. “Touch her again and it’ll be the end of your empire.”

“You snake,” the other demon seethed.

Mr. Vale straightened her hat for her as the goons set about freeing her. Then the rope gave way, and Marian tumbled to the floor. Her arms were limp and useless, but there were tingles of sensation there. The gash in her bicep began to throb again. Right, because you got fucking stabbed. She swayed to her feet. Mr. Vale looked like he was about to pick her up, but she quickly ducked out of reach.

Stellan’s men stood frozen with uncertainty at the edges of the room as Marian turned to the nude diver lying listless on the ground.

“Her.” She jerked her chin at Aisling. “She comes, too.”

“Meyer, I can’t save every human with a death wish, nor do I want to,” Mr. Vale said coldly. Then he hooked an arm under her uninjured shoulder before she could escape again and dragged her away.

What happened next occurred so quickly that Marian wasn’t sure it was real. Mr. Vale ushered her out of Stellan’s torture chamber, away from Aisling and the instruments of her misery, and into a bright white hallway. Was he saving her? Or taking her to the next dungeon? Panic squeezed her heart.

“I didn’t tell him anything.” Her pitiful voice echoed in that empty hall.

“I believe you,” Mr. Vale’s grave echo joined hers as he led her up a set of stairs and through the swankiest restaurant Marian had ever seen. Diners dressed for a night on the town clinked glasses and cutlery. Their heads swiveled as Marian passed, their faces all a blur.

All this time, she’d been in the basement of a restaurant.

Stellan’s presence in the distance swelled, and at once, each curious onlooker turned back to their meals and conversations, as though Marian and Mr. Vale didn’t exist. Only the plump woman with empty eyes at the front of house acknowledged either of them as they made for the exit, her cherry red lips curved in a smile as she bowed to Mr. Vale.

“Thank you, Gina,” The demon purred at the hostess. “You’ve been most helpful.”

There came a soft, bewildered gasp from behind them right as Mr. Vale pulled Marian out the door and into the night.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Marian had to resist the need to sprint away the second her feet hit pavement, but Mr. Vale still had her by the arm and was leading her down the block toward a residential street. The sidewalk was dark, but empty. When he finally let go, she took off at a brisk pace. Where the hell was she?

“I’ll text you later,” Marian muttered as she headed back toward the busy street in search of a bus stop, the edges of her vision blurring oddly.

“I dislike this habit you have of running away from me.”

Marian dug out her phone with her uninjured arm. “I need sleep before I even think about what just happened back there.”

“Meyer,” the demon said irritably. “Stop.”