Page 20 of Demon’s Reign

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My shoulders sagged. “It’s hopeless, isn’t it? I’m no match against Ryker. At this point I’m already as good as dead.”

The old lady laughed, making me start.

“You think this is funny?”

“No, I think that maybe there's more than one way to skin an imp, and you’ve only considered one possibility.” Her eye sparkled as I stared at her, open-mouthed.

First off, I didn’t even know one could skin an imp, and secondly—“You’re wrong. I’m working on another ‘possibility’ currently.”

Fontaine’s wiry brow lifted and she settled back on the stool. “Oh? And what’s that?”

I swallowed, squirming under her intent stare. “I um.”

“Well? Spit it out.”

“I’m going to try to make him fall in love with me.”

A slow grin spread across Fontaine’s face, as she threw back her head and laughed. “Now that, dear girl, is a plan.”

8

Love or Death

Kingdomshadbeenwonand lost over the weapon called love. Yet no matter how desperately I needed to wield it, I wasn’t sure I could pull it off. Then again, did I really have another choice? A question I had yet to find an answer for. But getting Ryker to love me?

“Ouch!” I hissed, my finger throbbing where I’d pricked it with the embroidery needle. A speck of blood welled on the tip of my pale finger and my stomach churned as an image of more blood on my hands flashed into my mind from the dream a few nights earlier.I don’t want to die. The words like a mantra in my head, I curled my fingers into a fist, hiding the blood. Exhaling, I turned to face Ari. She sat beside me on one of the couches in our sitting room, working on her own needlepoint, her head bowed in concentration.

I cleared my throat, and her eyes lifted from her perfectly placed stitches that depicted a waterfall in the middle of a glade.

“Is something on your mind, dear?”

“You could say that.” I took a deep breath. If I was ever going to have a chance to pull off such a charade, Ari would be the best person to test it on—she always knew when I lied. “I need your help.”

“Oh, with what?”

“Um,” I coated my voice in meekness. “I think I made a mistake with Ryker.”

Ari’s brown eyes widened, and she set down the wooden frame holding her work. “Mistake? Do you no longer think he tried to kill you?”

I fought the urge to refute everything I was sure of and nodded.

Her brows furrowed—uh oh. “I’m not complaining, child, but why the sudden change of heart?”

I looked down at my hands, twisting my fingers together. “Uh,” I wracked my brain for an answer she would believe. “I’ve given it a lot of thought, and I’m the only one who’s come to that conclusion. I’ve been nothing but cold and hostile toward him while he’s at least tried to reach out to me. I feel I’ve done him wrong by not even giving him a chance to prove he’s not who I think he is.” I reused Ari’s earlier words from the garden, hoping they would earn me some credibility.

A trembling smile slipped across her face, and my breath hitched. She’d actually bought that pathetic act! Was something wrong with her? She always knew when I was lying. Always.

“That is a sound choice, Kaleah. Ryker is a competent young man, and I think if you actually give him a chance, you’ll find he might just surprise you.”

I grimaced. “That’s the hope.”

Ari swallowed, her gaze drifting back to her embroidery. “When would you like to go and make up?”

My insides squirmed, and I ducked my head. “As soon as possible?” Truthfully, I never wanted to see Ryker again, but I had less than a month to make this not so great plan work. I needed every second I could get, even if that meant spending as much time as possible with a man who wanted to murder me.

AnhourlaterIstood before the large wooden door with its metal tree design for the second time in as many days. I took a shuddering breath, and fought the urge to flee as fast and far as I could in the opposite direction. I could do this.

I silently cursed Ari for making me come on my own with only Clay and Rocky as back up. She somehow thought it would come off as more genuine if I showed up by myself. Uh huh. My hand trembled as I lifted it. I would be alone with Ryker, save for the golem, giving him the perfect opportunity to finish what he’d started. “Stay close,” I commanded the golems behind me, and they edged nearer, one on either side. It did nothing to alleviate my panic, but I knocked quickly and took a step back, my heart racing. A few seconds passed and nothing happened.


Tags: J.R. White Paranormal