AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I waited. Waited until the last minute. I thought of every scenario I could to keep myself hidden and stop him before he caused any real harm to Darby. He dragged her into the gym, then to the pool. Then, calmly, while humming a cheerful little song, he began to cut off her shirt.”
Gravity must have grown twice as strong with how heavily Razai’s words pressed on me. “What did you do then?”
“You saw. On the news. ”
Just like that? Razai disemboweled and strung Benjamin up just like that. What had Benjamin planned to do with Darby? Strong, kind, and protective Darby…
Surprisingly, disgust wasn’t my only emotion. Another part of me sang with righteous satisfaction. For the first time since Razai revealed his betrayal, a shred of understanding wove into my core. But not enough to excuse how he lied to me with every smile, every promise and late-night meeting on my couch.
How he betrayed me with every kiss.
But this wasn’t about me.
Razai cut through my thoughts once again. “He wouldn’t have stopped, Gray. That much I know.”
“How?”
“Have you ever seen a person get high on their own power? Crave dominance over others? Thirst for a new, helpless victim? Don’t shy away from me now. Lift your chin. Look me in the eyes and tell me you don’t understand.”
I did meet his gaze. Head-on and without hesitation. “If what you’re saying is true, Benjamin was the worst kind of predator. And I hate to think of what he’d do if he ever found a true position of power in our world.”
Razai nodded, satisfied. “When I offered you the job and promised that something terrible was going to happen on the first of the month, I hadn’t planned on killing Benjamin. I swear it, Gray. I still decided to move forward and see how you held up investigating this crime. Besides, anyone who would figure out there were two criminals and discover my identity had more than a fighting chance against my enemies as well.”
Needing to change the subject away from our intimacy, I argued, “But I cleared you. I used my powers on you that first day. The talisman—”
No. The talisman was there to hide the color of his wings. He’d had his wings tucked away that day. I corrected, “Scratch that. How did you block my magic from sensing you at all? I confirmed that I could sense you, but nothing showed me that you were involved in the crimes at all. Did you have another charm to protect you?”
He unwound his finger from my hair and leaned back. “You never learned about mental shields.”
“The hell are you talking about?”
Azra set down another cup and saucer of steaming coffee for me, but Razai was too fast. He snatched the cup and sipped before Azra could pounce. “I suppose your ignorance isn’t surprising. It makes sense now, considering you’ve been walking around wide-open all this time. I’ve been able to sense you easily at every point. Your mind is completely unprotected. Mommy Dearest really fucked you over.”
Azra stared at Razai like he’d just spoken another language. For the first time, she was too stunned to be pissed.
Curiosity, once again, burned hot. “You can block your… mind? So, when you took off your talisman, that was just a ploy because you can shield yourself from my powers regardless,” I concluded. “But it doesn’t make sense. Because I can sense you. I had!”
Clave looked away, a haughty curl to his lips.
Razai chuckled. “Oh, Cupid Curls hates this part, especially since he can’t do it himself. Don’t worry, Clave. I’m one of the only demons lucky enough to have the skill anyway.”
I snapped, “Stop taunting and get on with it.”
He leaned forward, a devilish smirk on his lips. “My mental shields are impeccable. I decide what magic can touch my mind. Unless I give you access, it’s nearly impossible to sense or influence me.”
I couldn’t pretend to not be impressed. In Demonic Territory, where powers were all about influence, that was like walking around with bulletproof armor. “What do you mean by ‘nearly impossible’? There are people who can take you down?”
“Don’t sound so hopeful.” He wagged a finger. “I say nearly impossible because I haven’t been attacked by every Demonic immortal in existence, and I don’t want to get too cocky.”
“Couldn’t have that,” I muttered.
“On that first day we visited the school,” he pressed on, “ I allowed you to sense me. However, I blocked your ability to perceive me as the murderer. That’s how I slipped by. I also allowed you to track me using that coin. Figured it would be useful to test.”
The coin. That’s right. That must be why his trail had suddenly vanished instead of fading slowly.
If I’d had Azra’s shifter power, my wooden armrests would have shattered with the force of my clenched fingers. He’d beaten me so soundly. Was there any way I could have seen through the tricks?
Maybe.
