Soulless Mate

Seventeen: Father Like Son

I know, lots of updates. I've been feeling very inspired lately! 

Shoutout to Nikki for helping me with some of the Ray and Birdie convo. You rock girlfriend!

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The demon on the bed was laughing, the sound guttural and chilling. With his gaping jaw, he looked like he could snap her neck at a moment's notice.

"You think I'm going to kill you?" he jeered. "Really, how stupid can you get?"

Bertha clutched her hand that he most nearly bit off. "You're the one to talk," she fumed. "Taking on the Death Luna? What do you call that but stupidity?"

The demon's yellow eyes flashed. "That female had no right to best me!"

"But she did," Bertha said. "What were you even thinking, my lord? You actually thought you could defeat her? Even the most powerful Alphas couldn't defeat her and you're not even an Alpha. My lord." She knew she shouldn't be riling him up, but he dared to call her stupid when he'd been even stupider? The fool. Bertha may be stupid, but she knew better than him.

A growl erupted out of Raymond's demon. "Watch how you talk to me, Bertha."

She actually folded her arms. Her wrist was bleeding, but the lord knew she didn't care at the moment. "Why should I watch how I talk? I'm supposed to be stupid, remember?"

"Pathetic female!" he barked. "Do you know who you're talking to?"

"And just who would that be now?" she murmured heatedly.

"Your Beta, that's who," he said. Out of nowhere, blue scorpions started to crawl from his back to his shoulders. Then they crawled into his ears and he made a sound of pleasure. His chest expanded and he inhaled. The scorpions disappeared into his ears and blue poisonous blood came out of his mouth, dripping onto the blankets. "Or perhaps," he rasped, slowly shifting toward the edge of the bed. "Perhaps you've forgotten who I am. Not that I blame you...working like a slave must have thickened your skull."

She almost didn't hear what he'd said from the putrid sight of him devouring the scorpions and spewing out their blood. "I only work as your slave, my lord. To you, I'm never good enough to be anything else. I'm just a pathetic little brute that only deserves to kiss your feet," she mocked, recalling the exact words he'd told her eight years ago. "You know what? If it weren't for me, you wouldn't even be alive. Who carried you back to the castle after all those failed battles? Your father would have let you rot out there and you damn well know it—and I do mean offense to Alpha Wraythe, may peace be never with him, wherever that bad, bad man is rotting—"

"What the fuck did you say?" Raymond roared, his face suddenly warping. "You dare slander me, you measly castle slave?"

"You?" she asked. "Who in the world was slanderin' you, my lord?"

His skin warping ceased immediately, receding back into his flesh. He fell silent for a moment, just watching her. She held her breath again, knowing he could do anything. And worse, she'd made him even angrier in the heat of the moment, which was never a good idea.

Sometimes, she really was stupid.

Especially when he tackled her to the ground, catching her by surprise. His demon caught her gashed wrist, bringing it to his mouth. But he didn't sink his teeth in...he just inhaled deeply.

"Your blood is what's keeping you alive," he murmured softly, sliding his tongue over the severed skin. It caught the red blood, and he drew it in for a taste. "So red...like apples. You know what apples are for the demons in the Underworld. It is the forbidden fruit, the fruit that seduces them to eat it. And when they do...poof. All gone."