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The hard metalpressed against my back, and my body already ached from the hours I’d spent lying on an exam table while Ruin’s team experimented on me to remove the Infernal Sol. Nadia, the witch, leaned over me, her copper curls brushing my chest as she held her hand above the tattoo on my stomach.
“It’s getting closer to the surface.” A thick Romanian accent coiled around her words, and the scent of candlewax and lavender drifted off her. “I can feel the amulet reaching out.”
Estella, Denton’s assistant, scrawled notes on her tablet. “That’s progress.”
The only difference between her glamour and her true form were the delicate, gold horns protruding within her mass of emerald hair, and instead of vivid blue, her irises were a golden-green hue. A tight pink sweater and black pants hugged the curves rounding out her petite frame. She was definitely one of the prettiest dux demons I’d met, looking more like a fae than anything.
Maybe she had mixed blood.
“Progress, my ass,” I mumbled, wincing from the long cylinders of bright lights running across the metal ceiling. “The damn thing is still stuck inside of me. All you’ve done is wake it up.” The pulsating darkness was getting harder to ignore. Would they push it so far one day that I’d freak out on them?
Estella’s lips thinned. “If you hadn’t wasted so much time being uncooperative and trying to escape, maybe we would have gotten the amulet out by now.”
“Are you really still sour over me breaking your nose?” I pointed to her flawless, pert nose. “It healed perfectly fine.”
She lifted her chin with a huff and turned to Denton. “What’s our next course of action, sir? Can we use anything more invasive?”
She’d love that.
Denton lifted his head up from a microscope on the counter, several glass tubes in a holder near him. “Perhaps you should try the Tempest Miserae potion, Nadia.”
“I wanted to do that after I’ve exhausted other avenues. It will be most unpleasant for both of us.” She looked down at me and frowned. “Mostly her.”
Oh, great. Like this hadn’t been terrible enough.
A door opened, and footsteps sounded on the white tiles before Ruin appeared around the corner on the right. “How’s everything going?”
Estella’s eyes softened as the demon lord strolled toward us, flashing her a quick smile. “Hello, Lord Ruin.”
“It’s not going,” I said before Ruin could respond to her. “The Infernal Sol is more stubborn than that demon shifter prick who sold me to you.”
Ruin tsked. “He didn’t sell you. He sold the amulet inside of you.”
Well, that makes me feel much better.
Estella came to Ruin’s side and held her tablet out for him. “Would you like to see the recent progress notes?”
Denton shook his head and waved her away like she was nothing more than a fly. “I suggested the Tempest Miserae potion. It’s already prepared, but Nadia is reluctant.”
I lifted onto my elbows and turned to the witch. “What will the Tempest Miserae potion do?” I wasn’t too keen on guzzling down some witch’s brew, especially one that had that for a name, but I wanted this thing out before it did irrevocable damage. The longer it stayed in me, the more darkness hemorrhaged through my veins.
“It has special components that may agitate the Infernal Sol.” The witch pushed the sleeves of her green sweater up her forearms, revealing olive skin and sinewy muscles. “The theory is if we make the amulet too uncomfortable, it will leave its host.”
Why did that sound like a sci-fi movie about ripping a parasite out of my body?
Ruin sighed and leaned against a counter a few feet away, rubbing his finger over his bottom lip as he thought. His black blazer opened to the deep navy button-down shirt that matched his hair, and tattoos peeked from the collar. “That’s risky. And potentially dangerous.” His gaze lowered to mine. “This is your choice, Tate. We can find other ways, but they may not be as effective.”
Nadia jingled the collection of crystal necklaces around her neck as she twisted her hair away from her face, securing it with a rubber band. “This might not work, either.”
Ruin shrugged. “You’re right, but I’m optimistic.”
After a few moments of internal debate, I lowered back to the table. “Screw it. Leaving this thing inside of me is risky and dangerous. I can handle some pain.”
A slow grin melted over Ruin’s lips. “I always knew you were a brave one, Tatum Teague.”
Why did he insist on saying my name like he was talking dirty to me?
