Page 65 of Grave Devil
I see inside his heart this time. It’s not completely lost. Not completely broken. “Will you ever forgive me, brother?”
He looks away. “There’s nothing to forgive. You were just someone to blame. I’m the one who went into the woods by myself. I did this. So please stop. Don’t waste your tears on me anymore.”
I reach for his hand but stop myself. I hover my hand over his instead. “You were a curious kid. It’s not your fault that we live on hallowed ground. This whole fucking place is cursed.”
He snickers. “Thanks to our bloodandhers.”
I shake my head and lightly graze his knuckles, desperately wanting to comfort him. “No. Thanks to the evil that has devastated Melancholia since before we were even salt on this earth. The devil has had Ever Graves in a chokehold for far too long… But I won’t let you go again. Even if you really do hate me. I won’t let him have you.”
Sonny turns his head to look at Mia. “She’s mine too now. I won’t give her up.”
Spoken like a true Crane. “I know. But it needs to be her choice too. If she feels the same… then we’ll all have to get used to it.”
He licks his lips, his fingers twitching with the urge to touch her. “It’s not about choice, Bones. There is none. She knows I belong to her too. Crane and Harker. Harker and Crane.Mine. Mine.Mine…” He slurs his words, the toxin still working through his inky veins.
“Why did you hurt her then?” I move to Mia’s side now and touch her forehead. She’s still warm but not as hot as she was when we first brought her in here. Which means the healing salve is working.
He hisses. “Because she’s a wretch like me. And oh, how she loved it, Bones.You should’ve felt how wet she was for me.”
A flicker of jealousy threatens to unnerve me. I forget for a second that he’s my brother and instead he’s just another man, a monster, who made the woman I love scream and cry and cum harder than she ever has. All at the same time, no doubt.
The door creaks open behind me. Without turning around, I know who it is by the way Sonny’s smirk fades. “Come to feast your eyes on the devil’s new favorite servant, have we?”
Nox doesn’t grace him with an answer or even an acknowledgment. He turns to me instead. “Aries has made up another batch of bloodroot salve. I need to put it on her. You go get some rest while I take care of it.”
“No. I’ll stay. I’m not done with him,” I grit out.
Nox nods.
“Does the nightmare man ignore me, then? The devil said you were the strong-and-silent type. But I think you’re just a coward who couldn’t cut it in hell, so he made you her whore.”
Oh, fuck. I’m about to be in the middle of a brawl between two demons. I’m strong as fuck, but this might present a problem. Luckily, one of them is tied down, but who knows how long that will keep him if he’s provoked. “Okay, Sonny, tranquilo. Comate, por favor.”
Nox sets the bowl of salve down on the table next to Mia’s bed. The muscle in his jaw ticks. “I’d rather be Mia’s whore than the devil’s little bitch.”
I stifle a laugh. What the fuck? This day couldn’t get any weirder. “You got jokes now?”
He shoots me a wink.
Sonny snorts. “We’ll see who’s better at that soon. Good luck trying to satisfy Mia now that she’s had my cock inside her.”
Nox finally turns around to face him. He palms the crotch of his pants. “She always seems very satisfied whenbothof my cocks are inside her.”
Sonny’s eyes widen. “Well,touché.Fuck.”
And that round goes to Nox. Fucking hell. I scoop some of the salve out and join him in slathering it on Mia’s skin.
He presses a wet leaf over her cheek. “Scars are gifts. Each one makes you stronger.”
“I make her stronger,” Sonny snarls. His cot rattles against the floor as he flails, attempting to break out of his restraints.
I dash over and place a hand on his chest. “Stop. We’ll let you up when you calm down. You’re too fucking unhinged right now.”
Nox doesn’t seem fazed as he places a kiss on Mia’s forehead. “Mia doesn’t need any of us for strength. She’s a Harker. Courage and power thrum in her veins. They always have. I’ve felt it since the beginning. And I have been there with her since the very beginning, young man. She will have use for you. As she has use for me and Bones and Aries and Draven. But make no mistake, we need her more than she will ever need us.”
Nothing truer has ever been said. I feel Sonny’s tension release. He sinks back against the mattress in defeat. “Allow me to rest, then. Let me close my eyes and dream of how I can be worthy.” I can’t tell if he’s being sarcastic or not, but I’m guessing it’s the former.
We spare each other further lashings as we finish applying the salve. I check her vitals, and to my relief, her heart rate issteady, and her breathing is finally back to normal. “I’ll be back later to check on you, mi amor.”
