Page 38 of Devil Within

“The Devil isn’t in you,” he whispered. “It’s in him.”

Jade pulled her into his arms and held her. Tears rolled down her face as she let go of all the emotion that she had bottled up. The anger. The pain. Grief from her loss, as well as what could have been.

“Tighter,” she whispered brokenly. “Hold me tighter.”

So, he did, and for the first time, she knew she wouldn’t shatter into a thousand pieces. Jade didn’t give her platitudes that everything was going to be okay. That time would take away the bone-deep agony that had been her constant companion for far too long. Nothing would ever take her back to the girl she used to be, and he didn’t promise her rose-colored glasses.

Then something amazing happened. The band around her heart, the last wall she had built, crumbled. Jade slipped through. She trusted him, completely.

Chapter Twelve

Shiloh moved her body with Jade’s as he drove down a winding road, just outside of town. She loved when the sun warmed her skin. Loved how the air wrapped around them as they carefully leaned together into each curve. The motorcycle gave her a sense of freedom, maybe because there weren’t any doors and windows separating her from the feel and scent of the outdoors.

The first thing that warned her that something wasn’t right was to feel his body tense. Then the bike started slowing down. She blinked and brought her attention back to the road, and that’s when she looked over his shoulder to see a van parked sideways in the middle of the road. Jade lowered his feet to the asphalt as the bike came to a stop about a hundred yards away.

Jade’s hands flexed on the handlebars, so he was clearly expecting something to happen. Obviously. Vans didn’t park in the middle of the road for no reason. Suddenly, a car screeched behind them. Jade reached for his gun, but it was too late. Bullets flew, and one struck Jade in the arm. The bike fell, and she let out a little scream, managing at the last second to pull her leg to safety.

Jade wasn’t so lucky. The bike pinned him, and he let out a pain-filled grunt.

“Run,” he told her, his voice thick with warning.

“I’m not leaving you,” she said, trying to lift the bike. Movement caught her attention.

A man emerged from the car and walked toward them. This time there was no doubt who it was. Lawrence. Dread filled her. Her self-preservation tried to kick in, but she ignored it. She wouldn’t leave Jade. No matter what.

She stood and watched him approach. A tsunami without an evacuation plan. Two men followed her stepfather and pulled the bike off Jade, then jerked him to his feet. His face was a cold mask, not giving Lawrence any satisfaction, but she saw the pain bracketing around his mouth. He was hurt.

“I’m disappointed in you, daughter,” her stepfather said. He tsked and shook his head. “You ran away from me. Your messiah.”

“You’re not God. I don’t want to be in your cult. Can’t you just let me live my own life?”

“You were destined to be my second wife!”

That shocked the hell out of her. “What?”

“The prophecy was always you. You belong to me.”

Shiloh shook her head. “You’re fucking crazy, you know that? How my mother puts up with you, I’ll never know. But you can take your prophecy and your whole God-damn cult and fuck off.”

He backhanded her, and she stumbled back as fire lit up her face.

“Watch your heathen language. You’ve debased yourself by fornicating with bikers.” He pointed to Jade. Fear sluiced through her. Not for herself but for him. “He needs Penance.”

Shiloh shook her head. “No. Let him go.”

“You are not the one making demands here. Your friend will have a very unfortunate accident—”

“No! No, please. Please let him go. I’ll ... convince him to keep quiet. And I—I won’t escape again. I’ll do whatever you want.”

Her stepfather stared at her in that eerily calm way that always slithered over her skin. “Anything?”

Fear clenched her stomach, but did she have a choice? No. Slowly, she nodded.

“No, Shiloh!” Jade yelled.

One of Lawrence’s men punched him in the jaw, and blood ran down from his mouth. Then he grabbed a piece of rope and stuck it in Jade’s mouth, tying it behind his head and preventing him from talking.

“Let me make your bargain very clear. In exchange for his life, you will partake of the Penance. You will have the evil of mankind whipped and burned from your soul.”