The Gargoyle's Captive (A Deal With a Demon, #3)

by Katee Robert

Maybe the thought should fill me with some kind of purpose or generational rage, but all I feel is tired. My head is too full of the color blue to worry about a past that stretches generations before my birth.

And yet here I am, feeling just as lost as I was at twenty.

“Cute horns, though. Really adorable.” My horns are not adorable.

If she kills me, then at least I won’t have to worry about anything any longer. It will finally be over. I shrug and sign in the appropriate place.

No, I have to succeed. I have no other choice. I can’t think inside these walls. This is my childhood home, and there once was a time when I ran through these halls with the confidence that nothing and no one could touch me.

Now this place is more like a mausoleum. A memory of all I’ve lost that I can never escape. If I stop moving, it feels like the walls are closing in. Almost as if they will press me into mortar and stone, course over me until I am no longer a man, until I’m just another ghost haunting these hallways.

If I keep flying, over the mountains to the west and past the bargainer demon territory to the ocean, I could just go until my wings give out and I plummet into the water. There would be no curse to worry about then. Maybe the memories plaguing me would finally cease rattling around in the back of my mind where I can never escape.

I should have died that day with the rest of my family. Every moment I’ve lived since then feels stolen. That’s the true curse I live under.

“Everyone. I lost everyone.”

“You’re making it very hard to hate you right now.” “Do you have to hate me?” “Yes.”

“You’re a menace, woman.” “Only mostly.”

“Aren’t you the entertaining little liar? This is going to be great fun.”

“I respect you and what you’re doing here, but if you attempt to remove Grace from my home, I will cut you into tiny pieces and scatter you to the winds.” Curiosity twines with their worry. “Fascinating. I expected most of your determination to be sheer stubbornness, but you genuinely have a connection with this human.”

My Grace

“I’ll gut you before I let that happen.” “Promises, promises.”

I’m not ready to be alone again.

I’ve fallen short of every expectation set for me. That trend started long before my family died and my cowardice ensured my survival. I was always too soft for my father’s tastes. I can still feel his derision, can see the colors painted across the air around him. “You’re wrong. I’m nothing special.”

Just the two of us left alone in the world. It’s not reality, but I stand here in the dark, in silence, and share the fantasy with her. At least for a little while.

“If I play this game with you, where will we end tonight?”

“You’re very beautiful. You know that, don’t you?” I eye the slope of his shoulders and the thick slices of muscle moving beneath his cool skin. “Whatever creator you believe in spent a little extra time when forming you.”

“My greatest strength is my loyalty. Once I give it, I will not waver.”

“Oh, Bram. You try so hard to be the monster you believe you are, but right down at the core of you, you are an honorable man. Maybe even too honorable.”

The fault lines on her soul are a perfect match for mine.

Pleasure is a lie. Happiness is fleeting. In the end, all we have is family. I don’t even have that anymore.

“Will we be fighting today or fucking . . . or both?”

“I see. We’re still at war.”

I don’t want to hurt him. But I can’t afford to be distracted by him either.

We. Are. The. Same.” “The fuck we are.” Now it’s my turn

This moment with Grace is ugly and awful, but at least it’s real. If I make her angry enough to kill me? That’s something she’ll have to live with. Not me.

So burn me, Grace.

I’m your mirror, after all.”