Page 107 of Bloodhunter

I wanted to want his death more than I actually wanted hisdeath. And that was a secret I would carry to my grave.

Too bad I couldn’t hide that fact from myself.

The trap was no more.

Clayton walked slowly from the circle, his hands to hisface. The wounds Miriam had given him were visible through the tatters of hisshirt, but they began to heal even as I caught sight of them.

Miriam threw herself at him. She dug her fingernails intohis flesh and tried to rip it from his bones, her face a mask of agony.

“On your knees,” she screamed. “Get on your fucking knees!”She pulled one of her switchblades in such a hurry she dropped it, so shereached for the other one. She flicked it open and sliced it across hisabdomen. “On your knees, Golem!”

Clayton stared down at her, motionless, and his stare wasnot quite his own…or maybe notjusthis own. There was someone else inthere with him.

“Fuck you,” Miriam whispered, and began hacking at him withher knife. “Fuck you.”

He took her by the throat and she dropped the blade as shegrabbed his hands, clawing, gagging, her face filling with blood.

“No more,” he said.

I set Derry away from me and ran toward them. “Clayton, no,”I cried. “Please. Let her go.”

He turned his head to look at me. He said nothing, but finally,he opened his hand and let Miriam fall to the ground. She lay there, unable evento cry.

She’d brought Clayton back from the land of the dead, hadtormented and enslaved him, had never imagined she might lose him. That shemight give him the gift of a second chance at life and freedom while her fatherrotted in the ground.

“I fucked it up,” she murmured, then fell into silence asRhys lifted her to her feet.

Clayton watched me with a stare so…hungry, so hawkish, thatI could not look away. There was a battle going on behind those eyes.

A battle between Clayton and the incubus with whom he nowshared his body. The tradeoff was freedom from Miriam.

I wondered if it would be worth it.

And I was nearly certain it would be.

Rhys walked Miriam to me. “We need to get the demon’s bodyto the captain and calm the city the fuck down.”

I finally managed to look away from Clayton, and I nodded.“Yes.”

“And save my dad,” Derry begged. “Please save my dad.”

“I’ll get the body.” Clayton turned toward the dead demon corpseon the ground.

Shane glanced at him, then leaned forward and put his lipsagainst my ear.

I jerked, because I knew what he would say, and I did notwant to hear it.

“Kill him, Trinity. Pull your sword and kill themotherfucker.”

Chapter Thirty-Eight

I looked from him to Clayton and finally, I lifted my chinand shook my head. “No. Clayton will control the incubus. If there comes a daywhen he can’t, we’ll revisit this conversation. Right now, we’re leaving himalone.”

And I stared him down.

He shrugged. “We’ll see how it goes.”

“Everybody okay?” Rhys asked.