Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 72519 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72519 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
“Matteo’s right arm was broken. He also had a concussion,” Azroth whispered.
Luke’s heart squeezed and his gut churned until he thought he was going to be sick. He was almost willing to brush aside what was done to him, but he couldn’t do the same for Matteo. The man was completely innocent. He was the sweetest, most wonderful person in the world. No one should ever harm him.
Bath’tuk stepped close and pinched the sleeve of Luke’s coat, giving it a tiny tug. “Don’t you understand? You belong to us. We have to protect you. They have to pay for harming even one hair on your head.” The cyclops demon stuck out one finger and lightly touched a lock of filthy hair hanging in front of Luke’s eyes. “You are precious to us. Matteo is precious to us because he belongs to you and is precious to you. They need to pay.”
It was sweet and kind of hard to argue with that, but the idea of his attackers being killed felt a step too far for him.
“Do you think you’re the first one they’ve bullied and harassed?” Azroth inquired.
Luke spun to Azroth, his eyes wide. “What? Have they killed other people? Who? How many?”
The demon deflated. “Killed? No.” He turned his red-eyed stare back to the quartet, who cried and begged. “But they have spent most of their lives bullying and harassing others. Taunting and tormenting them until their targets had no choice but to change schools and seek counseling. Their lives were miserable. Many contemplated suicide.”
“No! Please! We’ll change! We promise! No more bullying. We won’t bully anyone else. No matter what!”
The promises rang out from all members of the quartet, but Luke found he didn’t believe a single word they spoke. Maybe they would change for a little while, but it wouldn’t stick. The only reason they were trying now was because their asses were on the line. They didn’t actually see what they were doing as wrong.
Luke clenched his teeth. There were few things he hated more in the world than a bully. He’d heard more than enough slurs in his life just for being gay. They had been happy to single him out for his love of birds and for being poor.
Combine that with the pain and fear Matteo suffered, and Luke found he couldn’t let this go. They’d escaped this time, and maybe they would leave him alone, but wouldn’t they turn their mocking and torment on another innocent person? They would have learned nothing.
Turning away from Azroth, he strolled in front of the four men who’d kidnapped him and Matteo. They looked bad, but nothing that wouldn’t heal in a day or two. They might even argue that this was all a nightmare.
“Don’t kill them,” Luke said firmly.
Shouts and cries went up on all sides, but he ignored them. He returned to Azroth, who was fuming and bristling with barely controlled rage.
“Don’t kill them, but can you scare them? Make it so they never bully or torment anyone again. Make them forget about Matteo and me. And I never want to see them at Ravenwood again. Make them…go somewhere else. I don’t care where.” He paused and tipped his face up to the demon, a smirk playing on his lips. “Can you do this, or are you not up to the challenge?”
Azroth’s anger fizzled in a flash, and he grinned at Luke. He booped the tip of his nose with a talon. “You’re such a sneaky little human. I knew you were perfect for us. Scaring can be just as much fun as killing.”
The fear and tension that had nearly choked Luke unwound, and his legs almost gave out under him. He’d been afraid the demons wouldn’t agree to his request and the weight of four dead students would have crushed him, even if these were his own would-be murderers.
“Luke is right!” Azroth announced to the other demons. “Killing is easy. Keeping them alive for a lengthy torment is far more difficult and requires all our talents. Let us prove our skills haven’t gone rusty.”
Before Luke could state that he didn’t want to see what they did, Azroth waved a hand at him and the world went dark.
Luke awoke and sat up to find that he was in his own bed at the mansion. Thin sunlight leaked through the one window in his room as the sun had just started to rise. A low murmur drew his attention as Matteo shifted next to him, stretching his arm across Luke’s lap as he slept.
Was it all a dream?
Had he fallen asleep with Matteo after they’d had sex, and he’d suffered a nightmare?
“It wasn’t a dream.”
Luke’s head snapped up, and he found Azroth seated in the same high-back black leather chair he always sat in when they were in the library. The demon was in his human form, wearing a tidy charcoal gray suit. On the palm of his left hand, he balanced a delicate china cup and saucer, as if he’d been sitting there enjoying some tea while he watched over Luke and Matteo.