Sweet Reckoning

What the . . . ? A Neph’s eyes could not do that.

I made an involuntary sound of fear and ran for the open door, but the kid was faster. He actually chuckled as he caught me by the arm and closed the door, pressing himself against my back and nuzzling his nose into my hair.

“Don’t make a sound,” he warned in a calm voice.

He moved fast, capturing both of my wrists in one of his hands and holding them above my head against the wall while his other hand circled my throat.

Red badge. Lust. American accent. But Kaidan was Pharzuph’s only child. Who was this? Why did he feel so powerful? The room darkened as the spirits piled in, making sounds like hissing and scratching that echoed in my head.

He moved my hair aside with his chin and placed a warm kiss on the side of my neck. I shivered, but not in the good way.

Again, he inhaled deeply.

“So, you’re not the one after all,” he said. “And I’d been so certain. I even hoped. I should teach you a lesson for all the trouble you’ve caused.”

What was he talking about? My mind swirled with confusion.

He ground his strong body against my backside. Every instinct inside me flared with the need to fight my way to freedom and run, but a deeper part of me told me to be still. The whisperers hovered around us, shifting.

“Please let me go,” I said, struggling for any wiggle room and finding none. He squeezed my throat harder and I made a strangling sound.

My resistance only seemed to turn him on, and he chuckled again. His hand blessedly eased off my throat, only to start wandering down my body. I was fighting the urge to bite his arm and stomp his foot when he spoke again.

“You smell so much better than the last time I saw you. If you weren’t a disgusting little Neph, I’d take you right now.”

I froze. No way.

With a grunt he released me. My eyes felt big when I turned to face him.

“D-duke Pharzuph?” I whispered. Had I fallen into a warped universe?

The whisperers bounced with anticipation. Pharzuph waved an impatient hand and growled at them as if they were pesky gnats.

“No show for you right now. She’s not a virgin. Go tell the others.” With that, they shot out of the room from all angles, making my head spin.

“How do you like it?” He grinned, motioning to his grand physique, and I swallowed. “I was going to wait a couple years, but with all the excitement going on, I wanted a change. This poor kid had a logging accident up in Oregon. Parents were already dead. It would’ve been a shame to let this go to waste, wouldn’t you say?”

I just wanted him and his ego to leave. This whole thing was incredibly weird and creepy. He sounded nothing like his old self.

“It’s . . . a good body.”

“Better than good!” he laughed. “I can have any girl on this campus tonight, and I think I will.” He rubbed his hands up and down his chest and abs, obviously high on his born-again youth. “I always forget how much energy and stamina a young man’s body has.”

Ew.

My stomach turned at the thought of him tearing through campus and hurting these girls in any way. He looked so innocent on the surface with that farmer-boy grin. And then his eyes flashed red again with his evil intentions and I jumped as he stepped closer.

“I still don’t like you,” he said. “Or trust you. But at least I can check my son off the suspicion list now.”

“Suspicion list?” I asked, trying to keep my eyes down and appear meek. “Sir, please. If this is about the summit in New York, I was just as shocked as you all when those angels came—”

“Just mind your own business and work for the cause. This place is fertile for a Neph of your type. You’re lucky Belial’s given you such a good setup after all the trouble you’ve been. And speaking of your old man . . .” He eyed me. “Where is he?”

He was trying to sound light and disinterested, but I wasn’t buying it.

“I don’t know, sir. I assume somewhere in Washington, D.C., now.”

“Hmph.” He continued to stare me up and down. How had I thought he seemed like a regular, nice guy at first? His eyes were so clinical and calculating. Even when he was grinning he had a menacing quality.

He pushed past me to the door, turning to speak one last time in a hushed voice. “Never forget you’re expendable. If you give us trouble again, you will disappear with no questions asked, angels be damned. Do you understand, Neph?”

My heart thumped. “Yes, Duke Pharzuph.”

“And when you see that father of yours again, tell him hell’s looking for him.”

Keeping my eyes averted, I gave a tight nod. My throat was too dry to swallow. I was suddenly paranoid about how long he’d be here on campus and what he expected of me.

“Excuse me, Duke. . . .” I hated how weak my voice sounded, although it was best that he knew I feared him. “I was just wondering, do you need me to, um, work with you tonight or anything?”

He laughed. Loudly. A patronizing sound.

“No, I don’t need you to work with me. I don’t work with Neph.” He practically spat the words. “I’ll only be here one night and I want to enjoy it. Find your own bar and send the drunks my way.”

He laughed again, low and lewd.

I felt his stare roaming my body before he finally left, and I collapsed onto the bed, shaking.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

DARTS

It was a true testament to how strange my life had become that the best night of my life was followed by the most uncomfortable. Knowing that Kaidan’s father, a guy who was now the same freaking age as him, was leaving a trail of broken hearts all over my college campus made me ill. And not just broken hearts. That would be too tame for Pharzuph. He would push people to do things they weren’t ready for, and all the while he and the whisperers would mess with their minds—filling them with guilt and self-loathing that would plague them for years to come. He wasn’t just a campus player out for sex. He was an evil bastard out to hurt souls. A weapon in a very beautiful disguise.