Page 40 of Corrupt Shadows

Nausea builds and I end up sitting on the tiled floor with my knees to my chest until I’ve emptied the bottle. I need something, anything to forget the nightmare. To forget the withdrawals. To forget him.

In a haze, I grab my phone from my purse and see the battery is almost dead. I forgot to charge it. I’ve forgotten a lot of things today.

I text Jay.

Come see me.

I drop the phone next to me and lean my head back against the cabinet.

Almost immediately, I get a message back.

Seriously? It’s four in the morning, and now you respond to me? It’s been a week. I’m tired of being used.

I rub my temples. I’d feel bad if my mind wasn’t so fucked, but he did wake up to text me back. I can always count on him for that. I message him back with the only thing I know will get him here.

I’m sorry. It’s been a bad week and I need you… only you.

I shake my head at myself when I press send. I really am a manipulative fucking bitch. But the demon hasn’t shown himself or tried to come through today. In fact, I haven’t sensed him at all. Smudging the place must have worked. The effects will only be temporary against a demon, but it will do for now.

I’m on my way.

I rock onto my knees and stand, stumbling when I grab the kitchen countertop for balance.

I don’t have much to mask the darkness building within. My magic sizzles in my fingertips, begging to be unleashed. Heat sears between my legs when I think of him. I can’t even escape him in my sleep.

Demonic attachment is nothing to play with. It’s the only way Lorcan could have touched me. I invited him in subconsciously. I’d been thinking about him, then I marked his name on me. A part of me knew what I was doing, and I hate how much I liked it. I despise him for making me feel this way.

I can’t come by myself, but maybe I just need a hard dick to sit on to break Lorcan’s compulsion. I go outside for a third cigarette, then a text lights up my phone.

I’m outside.

I run my hand through my tangled hair. The demon has gone too far, fucking with my dreams. I can still see my father’s face. I push the memory to the back of my head, then go back inside. The smell of sage still lingers in the air, and I glance at the salt around every mirror ensuring he can’t come back in—at least temporarily, until I can find a way to undo the demonic attachment he’s formed with me.

But I can’t stop him from watching.

Good. I hope he does fucking watch. If he wants to compel me from orgasming, then the demon will have to watch as I ride Jay’s dick.

If I’m going to suffer the consequences of my actions, the demon will too. I’m going to show him how it feels to be powerless.

NINETEEN

Lorcan

The witch has done it now. She is going to need far more than sage smudging and salt to keep me out.

Irritation makes my skin crawl. For fuck’s sake, this guy again? She throws the boy a bone once in a while, so he won’t stop humping her godsdamn leg.

He takes one look at her face, and his smile fades. The boy walks right up to her and wraps her in his arms. “What’s wrong?”

She lifts her head from within his embrace and gives him a small smile. “Nothing. I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine.”

“Yes, I am. Really,” she says with an unconvincing smile.

He cups the side of her cheek and pulls her tighter against him, ignoring her as she tries to push away.

“Jay, really, I’m fine. Let me go.”