Silver Tongue Devil (Devil in the Deep Blue Sea #1), page 29
The men picked me up, and I tried to fight, to call for him, but only the soft whisper of his name glided from my lips before darkness took me under.
Chapter 26
Croygen
I couldn’t move, my gaze still on the door Katrina escaped from. My voice locked in my throat, her name on my tongue to call her back, the need to run after her burning my spine.
Yet, I couldn’t.
My body reacted like it had been traumatized—sweating, trembling, heart racing, unmoving. But all for the opposite reasons. It wasn’t from a bad experience, but from a phenomenal one, short-circuiting my brain. My head couldn’t catch up with what just happened, the turn of events which went from me almost getting my neck sliced by a ninja, to fucking Katrina over a saddle.
How it felt sinking into her, the magic I could feel as I drove in and out of her. Fuck…
My legs wobbled under me, my dick hardening at the thought. What the hell just happened? It was as if I had no power or control, which had never happened to me. Ever. Sex was fun, but most of the time it was just a game to me. A power play. An amusement for the evening. A competition with myself at how crazed I could get them. And in my time, I’ve had some really kinky and mind-blowing sex. Not much I hadn’t done.
Kat was different.
I never once felt challenged. At one time, I would’ve said Amara had, but really, I was in a fight with myself, going after someone who didn’t want me. We were never on the same playing field.
Kat stood toe to toe with me, gave back just as fiercely, but when her magic wrapped around my cock—shit—I would’ve done anything she asked… anything. I blacked out, my lungs halting for a moment, my body trembling like some cold street urchin. Nothing had ever felt so good. I couldn’t even come up with a word for it, but I could feel it rattling in my bones, braiding in my muscles, and absorbing into my skin.
Her presence was everywhere.
My hand brushed over the throbbing in my neck where she had bitten me, my gaze scanning over the red claw marks carving into my torso and stinging my back. My cock was still covered in her release. My mind echoed with her cries, the way she yowled…
And purred.
Fuck, that sound vibrated through me, cocooning me in such a blissful bubble. It was so content I couldn’t even explain it. Like I could stay there forever. I was torn between wanting to wrap around her and fall asleep or fuck her all over again, slow and deep.
Then, like being thrown into the icy sea, Fredrich’s blade, covered in blood, and dead bodies littering the space around us, splashed reality back with a vengeance. I could see her grief, feel her shame and agony because of what she thought I had done.
If she only knew the whole truth.
It was like Rotty made his presence known, his ghost filling the room, building the wall between us, making me realize what I just did.
I just fucked my first mate’s daughter. The girl I had promised to protect. I failed at protecting her from myself, turning her into another victim of the Silver-Tongue Devil because I couldn’t keep my dick in my pants. Except I hadn’t put my cock in anyone lately. She was the first one to make me feel something in a long time. And from the moment she stepped on my ship, she was a siren song, pulling me down into the depths of the sea, drowning me.
She made me feel vulnerable. Weak. As if I could lose everything. Again.
The splash of water slapped across my face, my lungs choking up sea water, my lids bolting open as the sounds of fighting, cannons, and the death cry of a ship.
Lifting my head to the men battling over the deck, screams and clanks of metal pierced my ears. The waves rolled the ship, tipping it slightly to the side and crashing water over the bow.
Terror wrapped around my gut like an octopus, sucking and squeezing the air from my lungs. My ship was flailing, my men were dying. Everything I had built was about to sink to Davy Jones, another sacrifice to the pirate god.
A growl rose from my throat, fury pushing me to my feet, and I grabbed the sword at my side.
“Lowe…” I cursed his name, my knuckles tightening over the handle, searching for the man, my old friend. Pirates were funny. In some things, we had no code of ethics, and in others, we lived and died by an unspoken rule.
Ned Lowe and I had been allies. Comrades at one time. And in a world of pirate hunters, governments, and empires ready to hang your body up as a trophy, we had an implicit understanding.
We left each other alone.
Ned broke that, attacking and boarding my ship. I knew he was ruthless and cruel, but I didn’t realize how far he would go.
Creaks moaned from my ship; the ocean was turbulent, as if it could feel the grievance.
“But your ship was part of the deal.” Ned’s statement played back in my head. I figured that meant he was going to steal it, put his flag high on the mast. He was sinking it instead. Destroying my legacy, taking the infamous vessel, and putting it in a grave.
So I could never take it back.
Moving across the deck, I hunted for Ned. Most of the men were already dead. And for the ones still alive, I uttered words I never imagined, heavy and foul in my mouth. “Retreat!” I ordered them, motioning to the dinghies. “Go!”
Water crashed down on us, the ship listing more to one side. “Now!”
“What about you, Captain?”
“Don’t worry about me,” I yelled through the squall and commotions, my soaking hair hanging around my face, my mouth spitting out salty water.
I was ready to go down with my ship, but I would take Lowe with me.
At the helm, Lowe gripped another man by the collar, pressing a sword to his throat, both of them in a heated conversation.
Dread paused my heart as I recognized the man he held, looking desperate and scared.
“Rotty!” I ran for my first mate, the man I considered a friend. Family. He was not a fighter, but the brains of my operation. The one that had everything running like clockwork, who worked out every possible outcome, every way to defeat an enemy or achieve our goal. He was the reason I became the notorious pirate I was, because his process never failed us. His mind was unequalled.
But he could not physically battle Lowe.
“You assured me!” Rotty’s voice barely hit my ears. “I would see her!”
“And you believed me?” Ned’s laugh was cruel and belittling. “Never trust a pirate, mate.” He moved in closer to Fredrich. “You are a gullible fool. And you provided me exactly what I wanted. Sinking this ship, killing Croygen’s crew. I will be a legend evermore. I will be feared and worshipped. No one will touch me. I am the greatest pirate of all time. And it’s all thanks to you.”
“Lowe?” I bellowed. He turned his head to me.
It gave Rotty a moment, his expression crunching in wild fury, something I had never seen before. Grabbing the dagger from his belt, he lunged for Lowe.
In a blink, Lowe seized the handle, twisting it around. The sharp edge sank into Rotty’s chest.
There was a moment of shock. Rotty’s eyes went to the blade in his heart, then back up to Lowe. A profound grief carved into Fredrich’s features. It went beyond pain or sadness. Like he understood something I did not. Slowly his body sagged to the ground.
“Noooo!” I leaped up the stairs to the helm, my sword ready to taste Lowe’s blood, to kill this man.
Crack!
Wood groaned from deep in the bowels, tipping the ship over more, gliding me away from my target. Landing hard on the deck, my body slid, knocking into the side, water breaking down on me.
Spitting and shaking the water off, I searched for Lowe, my blood boiling with the need to kill.
The wave had tossed him back onto the main deck, yards away from me. Getting to his feet, swaying as the ship tittered, sinking further under, he looked back at me. “How fitting. The illustrious Silver-Tongue Devil goes down. But this time into a watery grave.” A malicious smile grew over his lips. “One thing about betrayal. It never comes from your enemies. It’s always those who are closest to you.”
The neigh of a horse snapped me back to the present, my head shaking away the memories of my past, only feeling more disgusted about what I had done.
Though, in a way, it was very apropos. I fucked the person who has been fucking me for centuries.
A groan worked up my throat, my hand rubbing over my head, brushing out the straw. Tugging on my pants, I searched for my shirt, only finding hers.
Kat had mine.
A noise hummed in the back of my throat, my hand sliding over the stiffness in my pants. Why did the idea of her in my clothes fucking make me so hard? Normally, I avoid that kind of shit like the plague. It was too “couple-y,” a possessive reaction from both parties, signaling to everyone they were “mine.”
Glancing around at the four dead bodies, I sighed because I would have to get Cooper up to deal with this shit. No doubt it would circle around to why I was shirtless and barely able to walk.
Stepping into my boots and clutching the rest of my stuff, I made my way back to the inn next door. When I reached for the door, a shiver brushed up my spine, making my head turn around. The warm, humid night clung the clouds close, making it muggier. Ice wormed down into my veins, alarm dancing on my nerves, feeling like I heard my name being called, tugging at my gut.
Something felt off. Wrong.
Darting inside, I took two stairs at a time, peering behind me before I went into our tiny room, exhaling when I saw Cooper and Annabeth lying on the small bed against the window. His huge physique, which barely fit, circled around her sleeping form like a blanket. His head popped up instantly at my entrance, ready to attack and protect if he needed to.
Fear gripped me again when my gaze went over every corner, noting Kat’s sleeping pad was still rolled up and she was nowhere to be seen.
“Where’s Kat?”
“She left a while ago, I thought to help you,” Cooper responded, sitting up.
“She didn’t come back?” Panic plucked at my vocal cords.
“No.” Cooper watched me, picking up on my distress. “Why?”
I couldn’t even tell him why, but my intuition was screaming. I felt a pull to her, as if I knew she needed me. Anxiety whisked me around, and I ran out of the room as Cooper trailed after me down the stairs, not even hesitating.
“When did you last see her?” Shirtless, he came up next to me, sniffing the air, his eyes flashing red, an indication the Dweller was right at the surface, trying to pick up her scent.
“About ten minutes ago,” I responded, but my full attention was on every nook and cranny of the dark street. “Can you smell her?”
“I’m trying, but all I can smell of her is on you… along with blood and sex.” He peered at me, his eyebrow curving up. “Could she just be needing a moment?”
I wanted to believe, yes, that’s all this was, her needing some air after what had just happened. But the sick feeling continued to tug at my gut, my muscles itching to move. The desperation to find her had me running down the street.
“Kat?” I bellowed. The low murmurs from a bar on the corner were my only response. “Katrina?” Every second that ticked by without hearing her voice in return only drove my panic higher. A moment ago, I swore I could hear her, feel her near. Now all I could feel was empty space.
My pulse pounded in my ears as I darted further down the lane, wanting so badly for her to step out and tell me what I sensed was all in my head.
“Croygen!” Cooper’s call whipped me around, my legs already running toward his voice. My boots hit the pavement. I came up behind him. He stood at the entrance to an alley not too far from the inn.
“Look.” He pointed, my focus following his finger.
Dread bricked up the back of my throat.
A dagger lay near the wall, dried blood on the blade, the gold handle facing me as if it had been dropped.
Fear gurgled in my stomach, the bricks crashing down.
Kat would never leave her father’s blade behind.
“Coop…” His name came out a whisper, but he instantly understood. Not even waiting to take off his pants, his body shifted into his Dweller form. I had seen it many times, but it never ceased to amaze me to watch. With a roar, his bones popped, his muscles expanding, black fur covering his body as he dropped on all fours, claws protruding like scythes, sharp poisonous blades popping out of his spine like a mane. His teeth were longer than my hand, and he came up to my chest.
In the Otherworld, they were the ones you hired to kill. And if you saw one, you were already dead.
Cooper’s eyes flashed red again, a low growl vibrating in his vocal cords as his huge head lowered, smelling the ground. His claws scraped across the cobbles, tearing off down the alley.
Running after him, I tried to keep up, his body blending in the darkness, disappearing before my eyes. Reaching the other end of the alley, I came out to find nothing but a quiet street.
“Fuck.” I peered around, trying to pick a direction to go, though something told me it was pointless. Kat was no longer here. “No.” I batted back the thought, picking up my pace. I would not give up.
Hours went by as I wove through the city, looking for any sign of her. When dawn hinted on the horizon, I headed back to the inn, defeated, angry, and terrified. Was she alive? Dead? Who took her? Was it more of those men?
When I reached the inn, the early light cast a slight glow on the figure at the door, his blond hair pulled back in a knot. He was dressed in a new pair of pants and a shirt.
“Cooper!” I jogged up. “Did you find anything?”
“No.” He shook his head. “I lost her scent not too far out of the alley.” His expression was somber. “I kept going out, trying to pick it up again, but I couldn’t.”
“What does that mean?”
“Once she left this alley, her feet never touched the ground again. I tried to track the men’s and the horses’ scents, but they stopped up the road, and a bunch of other smells basically washed out anything specific.”
“Really?”
“It’s like they knew how to disguise and end their trails.” Frustration wrinkled his brow. “Though there was something familiar there, but I couldn’t place it. It wasn’t strong enough.”
Disappointment built a headache behind my eyes, my hand absently rubbing at the claw marks starting to heal in my skin. Just hours ago, she was riding me. Now she was gone.
“I need to check on Annabeth… and you know Sprig will be up soon.”
“Yeah.” I nodded, swallowing, feeling lost and broken, not having a clue what to do next. I followed Cooper into the inn, and the man behind the desk stopped us.
“Here.” He tossed an envelope to me.
“What’s this?”
“I don’t know,” he snipped. “Not your maid. Said to give it to you.”
I picked up the envelope. “Who?”
“Wearing hood, didn’t see the face, but sounded like a woman.”
Ripping the envelope open, my throat closed around itself as I unfolded the paper, scanning over the blocky nondescript writing.
Lost your pussy?
If you want her back, you will get the nectar. Find it and she might be returned to you…
If not, your little kitty has no more lives.
I won’t hesitate. (But you already know that about me.)
I read it again, looking for any clues, the last line furrowing my brow.
“What?” Cooper leaned in.
I shoved the paper at him, letting him read it. His gaze met mine with understanding.
“Get Annabeth and Sprig,” I ordered. “I’ll get the horses ready. We’re heading for the dragon caves now.” I gritted my teeth, slamming through the door.
The bitch took what was mine. Possessive, raw anger boiled under my skin. The need to destroy everything in my wake hummed over me.
My tongue may have been sharp, but my blade was deadly. I would do whatever it took to get Katrina back. I would get this nectar, and then I was going to kill this woman.
And as you know…
Dead women tell no tales.
The Adventure Continues Soon!
Devil in Boots (Devil in the Deep Blue Sea #2)
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About the Author
USA Today Best-Selling Author Stacey Marie Brown is a lover of hot fictional bad boys and sarcastic heroines who kick butt. She also enjoys books, travel, TV shows, hiking, writing, design, and archery. Stacey is lucky enough to live and travel all over the world.
She grew up in Northern California, where she ran around on her family’s farm, raising animals, riding horses, playing flashlight tag, and turning hay bales into cool forts.
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Acknowledgements
Chapter 26
Croygen
I couldn’t move, my gaze still on the door Katrina escaped from. My voice locked in my throat, her name on my tongue to call her back, the need to run after her burning my spine.
Yet, I couldn’t.
My body reacted like it had been traumatized—sweating, trembling, heart racing, unmoving. But all for the opposite reasons. It wasn’t from a bad experience, but from a phenomenal one, short-circuiting my brain. My head couldn’t catch up with what just happened, the turn of events which went from me almost getting my neck sliced by a ninja, to fucking Katrina over a saddle.
How it felt sinking into her, the magic I could feel as I drove in and out of her. Fuck…
My legs wobbled under me, my dick hardening at the thought. What the hell just happened? It was as if I had no power or control, which had never happened to me. Ever. Sex was fun, but most of the time it was just a game to me. A power play. An amusement for the evening. A competition with myself at how crazed I could get them. And in my time, I’ve had some really kinky and mind-blowing sex. Not much I hadn’t done.
Kat was different.
I never once felt challenged. At one time, I would’ve said Amara had, but really, I was in a fight with myself, going after someone who didn’t want me. We were never on the same playing field.
Kat stood toe to toe with me, gave back just as fiercely, but when her magic wrapped around my cock—shit—I would’ve done anything she asked… anything. I blacked out, my lungs halting for a moment, my body trembling like some cold street urchin. Nothing had ever felt so good. I couldn’t even come up with a word for it, but I could feel it rattling in my bones, braiding in my muscles, and absorbing into my skin.
Her presence was everywhere.
My hand brushed over the throbbing in my neck where she had bitten me, my gaze scanning over the red claw marks carving into my torso and stinging my back. My cock was still covered in her release. My mind echoed with her cries, the way she yowled…
And purred.
Fuck, that sound vibrated through me, cocooning me in such a blissful bubble. It was so content I couldn’t even explain it. Like I could stay there forever. I was torn between wanting to wrap around her and fall asleep or fuck her all over again, slow and deep.
Then, like being thrown into the icy sea, Fredrich’s blade, covered in blood, and dead bodies littering the space around us, splashed reality back with a vengeance. I could see her grief, feel her shame and agony because of what she thought I had done.
If she only knew the whole truth.
It was like Rotty made his presence known, his ghost filling the room, building the wall between us, making me realize what I just did.
I just fucked my first mate’s daughter. The girl I had promised to protect. I failed at protecting her from myself, turning her into another victim of the Silver-Tongue Devil because I couldn’t keep my dick in my pants. Except I hadn’t put my cock in anyone lately. She was the first one to make me feel something in a long time. And from the moment she stepped on my ship, she was a siren song, pulling me down into the depths of the sea, drowning me.
She made me feel vulnerable. Weak. As if I could lose everything. Again.
The splash of water slapped across my face, my lungs choking up sea water, my lids bolting open as the sounds of fighting, cannons, and the death cry of a ship.
Lifting my head to the men battling over the deck, screams and clanks of metal pierced my ears. The waves rolled the ship, tipping it slightly to the side and crashing water over the bow.
Terror wrapped around my gut like an octopus, sucking and squeezing the air from my lungs. My ship was flailing, my men were dying. Everything I had built was about to sink to Davy Jones, another sacrifice to the pirate god.
A growl rose from my throat, fury pushing me to my feet, and I grabbed the sword at my side.
“Lowe…” I cursed his name, my knuckles tightening over the handle, searching for the man, my old friend. Pirates were funny. In some things, we had no code of ethics, and in others, we lived and died by an unspoken rule.
Ned Lowe and I had been allies. Comrades at one time. And in a world of pirate hunters, governments, and empires ready to hang your body up as a trophy, we had an implicit understanding.
We left each other alone.
Ned broke that, attacking and boarding my ship. I knew he was ruthless and cruel, but I didn’t realize how far he would go.
Creaks moaned from my ship; the ocean was turbulent, as if it could feel the grievance.
“But your ship was part of the deal.” Ned’s statement played back in my head. I figured that meant he was going to steal it, put his flag high on the mast. He was sinking it instead. Destroying my legacy, taking the infamous vessel, and putting it in a grave.
So I could never take it back.
Moving across the deck, I hunted for Ned. Most of the men were already dead. And for the ones still alive, I uttered words I never imagined, heavy and foul in my mouth. “Retreat!” I ordered them, motioning to the dinghies. “Go!”
Water crashed down on us, the ship listing more to one side. “Now!”
“What about you, Captain?”
“Don’t worry about me,” I yelled through the squall and commotions, my soaking hair hanging around my face, my mouth spitting out salty water.
I was ready to go down with my ship, but I would take Lowe with me.
At the helm, Lowe gripped another man by the collar, pressing a sword to his throat, both of them in a heated conversation.
Dread paused my heart as I recognized the man he held, looking desperate and scared.
“Rotty!” I ran for my first mate, the man I considered a friend. Family. He was not a fighter, but the brains of my operation. The one that had everything running like clockwork, who worked out every possible outcome, every way to defeat an enemy or achieve our goal. He was the reason I became the notorious pirate I was, because his process never failed us. His mind was unequalled.
But he could not physically battle Lowe.
“You assured me!” Rotty’s voice barely hit my ears. “I would see her!”
“And you believed me?” Ned’s laugh was cruel and belittling. “Never trust a pirate, mate.” He moved in closer to Fredrich. “You are a gullible fool. And you provided me exactly what I wanted. Sinking this ship, killing Croygen’s crew. I will be a legend evermore. I will be feared and worshipped. No one will touch me. I am the greatest pirate of all time. And it’s all thanks to you.”
“Lowe?” I bellowed. He turned his head to me.
It gave Rotty a moment, his expression crunching in wild fury, something I had never seen before. Grabbing the dagger from his belt, he lunged for Lowe.
In a blink, Lowe seized the handle, twisting it around. The sharp edge sank into Rotty’s chest.
There was a moment of shock. Rotty’s eyes went to the blade in his heart, then back up to Lowe. A profound grief carved into Fredrich’s features. It went beyond pain or sadness. Like he understood something I did not. Slowly his body sagged to the ground.
“Noooo!” I leaped up the stairs to the helm, my sword ready to taste Lowe’s blood, to kill this man.
Crack!
Wood groaned from deep in the bowels, tipping the ship over more, gliding me away from my target. Landing hard on the deck, my body slid, knocking into the side, water breaking down on me.
Spitting and shaking the water off, I searched for Lowe, my blood boiling with the need to kill.
The wave had tossed him back onto the main deck, yards away from me. Getting to his feet, swaying as the ship tittered, sinking further under, he looked back at me. “How fitting. The illustrious Silver-Tongue Devil goes down. But this time into a watery grave.” A malicious smile grew over his lips. “One thing about betrayal. It never comes from your enemies. It’s always those who are closest to you.”
The neigh of a horse snapped me back to the present, my head shaking away the memories of my past, only feeling more disgusted about what I had done.
Though, in a way, it was very apropos. I fucked the person who has been fucking me for centuries.
A groan worked up my throat, my hand rubbing over my head, brushing out the straw. Tugging on my pants, I searched for my shirt, only finding hers.
Kat had mine.
A noise hummed in the back of my throat, my hand sliding over the stiffness in my pants. Why did the idea of her in my clothes fucking make me so hard? Normally, I avoid that kind of shit like the plague. It was too “couple-y,” a possessive reaction from both parties, signaling to everyone they were “mine.”
Glancing around at the four dead bodies, I sighed because I would have to get Cooper up to deal with this shit. No doubt it would circle around to why I was shirtless and barely able to walk.
Stepping into my boots and clutching the rest of my stuff, I made my way back to the inn next door. When I reached for the door, a shiver brushed up my spine, making my head turn around. The warm, humid night clung the clouds close, making it muggier. Ice wormed down into my veins, alarm dancing on my nerves, feeling like I heard my name being called, tugging at my gut.
Something felt off. Wrong.
Darting inside, I took two stairs at a time, peering behind me before I went into our tiny room, exhaling when I saw Cooper and Annabeth lying on the small bed against the window. His huge physique, which barely fit, circled around her sleeping form like a blanket. His head popped up instantly at my entrance, ready to attack and protect if he needed to.
Fear gripped me again when my gaze went over every corner, noting Kat’s sleeping pad was still rolled up and she was nowhere to be seen.
“Where’s Kat?”
“She left a while ago, I thought to help you,” Cooper responded, sitting up.
“She didn’t come back?” Panic plucked at my vocal cords.
“No.” Cooper watched me, picking up on my distress. “Why?”
I couldn’t even tell him why, but my intuition was screaming. I felt a pull to her, as if I knew she needed me. Anxiety whisked me around, and I ran out of the room as Cooper trailed after me down the stairs, not even hesitating.
“When did you last see her?” Shirtless, he came up next to me, sniffing the air, his eyes flashing red, an indication the Dweller was right at the surface, trying to pick up her scent.
“About ten minutes ago,” I responded, but my full attention was on every nook and cranny of the dark street. “Can you smell her?”
“I’m trying, but all I can smell of her is on you… along with blood and sex.” He peered at me, his eyebrow curving up. “Could she just be needing a moment?”
I wanted to believe, yes, that’s all this was, her needing some air after what had just happened. But the sick feeling continued to tug at my gut, my muscles itching to move. The desperation to find her had me running down the street.
“Kat?” I bellowed. The low murmurs from a bar on the corner were my only response. “Katrina?” Every second that ticked by without hearing her voice in return only drove my panic higher. A moment ago, I swore I could hear her, feel her near. Now all I could feel was empty space.
My pulse pounded in my ears as I darted further down the lane, wanting so badly for her to step out and tell me what I sensed was all in my head.
“Croygen!” Cooper’s call whipped me around, my legs already running toward his voice. My boots hit the pavement. I came up behind him. He stood at the entrance to an alley not too far from the inn.
“Look.” He pointed, my focus following his finger.
Dread bricked up the back of my throat.
A dagger lay near the wall, dried blood on the blade, the gold handle facing me as if it had been dropped.
Fear gurgled in my stomach, the bricks crashing down.
Kat would never leave her father’s blade behind.
“Coop…” His name came out a whisper, but he instantly understood. Not even waiting to take off his pants, his body shifted into his Dweller form. I had seen it many times, but it never ceased to amaze me to watch. With a roar, his bones popped, his muscles expanding, black fur covering his body as he dropped on all fours, claws protruding like scythes, sharp poisonous blades popping out of his spine like a mane. His teeth were longer than my hand, and he came up to my chest.
In the Otherworld, they were the ones you hired to kill. And if you saw one, you were already dead.
Cooper’s eyes flashed red again, a low growl vibrating in his vocal cords as his huge head lowered, smelling the ground. His claws scraped across the cobbles, tearing off down the alley.
Running after him, I tried to keep up, his body blending in the darkness, disappearing before my eyes. Reaching the other end of the alley, I came out to find nothing but a quiet street.
“Fuck.” I peered around, trying to pick a direction to go, though something told me it was pointless. Kat was no longer here. “No.” I batted back the thought, picking up my pace. I would not give up.
Hours went by as I wove through the city, looking for any sign of her. When dawn hinted on the horizon, I headed back to the inn, defeated, angry, and terrified. Was she alive? Dead? Who took her? Was it more of those men?
When I reached the inn, the early light cast a slight glow on the figure at the door, his blond hair pulled back in a knot. He was dressed in a new pair of pants and a shirt.
“Cooper!” I jogged up. “Did you find anything?”
“No.” He shook his head. “I lost her scent not too far out of the alley.” His expression was somber. “I kept going out, trying to pick it up again, but I couldn’t.”
“What does that mean?”
“Once she left this alley, her feet never touched the ground again. I tried to track the men’s and the horses’ scents, but they stopped up the road, and a bunch of other smells basically washed out anything specific.”
“Really?”
“It’s like they knew how to disguise and end their trails.” Frustration wrinkled his brow. “Though there was something familiar there, but I couldn’t place it. It wasn’t strong enough.”
Disappointment built a headache behind my eyes, my hand absently rubbing at the claw marks starting to heal in my skin. Just hours ago, she was riding me. Now she was gone.
“I need to check on Annabeth… and you know Sprig will be up soon.”
“Yeah.” I nodded, swallowing, feeling lost and broken, not having a clue what to do next. I followed Cooper into the inn, and the man behind the desk stopped us.
“Here.” He tossed an envelope to me.
“What’s this?”
“I don’t know,” he snipped. “Not your maid. Said to give it to you.”
I picked up the envelope. “Who?”
“Wearing hood, didn’t see the face, but sounded like a woman.”
Ripping the envelope open, my throat closed around itself as I unfolded the paper, scanning over the blocky nondescript writing.
Lost your pussy?
If you want her back, you will get the nectar. Find it and she might be returned to you…
If not, your little kitty has no more lives.
I won’t hesitate. (But you already know that about me.)
I read it again, looking for any clues, the last line furrowing my brow.
“What?” Cooper leaned in.
I shoved the paper at him, letting him read it. His gaze met mine with understanding.
“Get Annabeth and Sprig,” I ordered. “I’ll get the horses ready. We’re heading for the dragon caves now.” I gritted my teeth, slamming through the door.
The bitch took what was mine. Possessive, raw anger boiled under my skin. The need to destroy everything in my wake hummed over me.
My tongue may have been sharp, but my blade was deadly. I would do whatever it took to get Katrina back. I would get this nectar, and then I was going to kill this woman.
And as you know…
Dead women tell no tales.
The Adventure Continues Soon!
Devil in Boots (Devil in the Deep Blue Sea #2)
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About the Author
USA Today Best-Selling Author Stacey Marie Brown is a lover of hot fictional bad boys and sarcastic heroines who kick butt. She also enjoys books, travel, TV shows, hiking, writing, design, and archery. Stacey is lucky enough to live and travel all over the world.
She grew up in Northern California, where she ran around on her family’s farm, raising animals, riding horses, playing flashlight tag, and turning hay bales into cool forts.
When she’s not writing, she’s out hiking, spending time with friends, and traveling. She also volunteers helping animals and is eco-friendly. She feels all animals, people, and the environment should be treated kindly.
To learn more about Stacey
or her books, visit her at:
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Acknowledgements
