Page 90 of Hell Burns Between Us

It was Brennessel Croft.

Brenn stood stiffly, holding the chocolate bar between her thumb and forefinger as if it were diseased, her face twisted in disgust.

“Yes, what is it, child?” Moloch snapped.

“Curate Moloch, this chocolate has been licked by so many others. It’s melted and dirty and—” Brenn squared her shoulders. “—and it’s disgusting now. We need a new piece of chocolate.”

Moloch’s lips curled in something close to amusement. “You find the chocolate bar disgusting?”

“Yes, Curate Moloch. Clearly.”

For the briefest moment, Brenn’s eyes darted to Peri before fixing back on him.

Moloch hummed in mock consideration. “It is disgusting, isn’t it? Dirty. Used.” His gaze flicked over the silent congregation before settling back on the chocolate bar.

“And yet, I know many demonesses who treat their bodies in just the same way. Is that not also disgusting, Miss Croft?”

Brenn didn’t flinch. Didn’t speak. She simply waited. Hoping, perhaps, that if she endured this moment in silence, he would take the chocolate and be done with it.

But he wasn’t finished.

Moloch turned his eyes to Peri. “Demonesses should keep silent. They are not permitted to speak but should be in submission.” He spoke the words lazily, quoting from the Silver Book.

Then, he smiled.

“Don’t you agree, Miss Wilder?”

Peri wanted to nod. To agree. To make this moment pass. But her body locked up, every muscle frozen in place. The longer she hesitated, the angrier he became. His sneer darkened. Finally, he turned back to Brenn. “Next time, refrain from interrupting a demon when he is speaking, Miss Croft.”

Brenn’s face remained composed, but she didn’t back down. “I suppose I just don’t understand what my body has in common with a bar of chocolate.”

Moloch’s eyes flashed. “It’s a metaphor, you imbecile.”

He stepped forward, each footfall echoing through the silent hall until he loomed over Brenn, crossing his arms. “Eat it.”

Brenn recoiled. Her emerald eyes went wide, her chest rising and falling too fast. “I’m not eating that.”

“You will.” His voice cut through the room, slicing through the air like a whip. “Eat it now, in its entirety. I will have this lesson properly learnt.”

He turned, fixing his stare on Peri.

“Perine.”

Her breath hitched.

No more pretence. No more formality. Just Perine.

“Come here,” he commanded. “If she cannot put it in her mouth herself, then you will feed it to her.”

Peri’s heart twisted, but she obeyed. She rose slowly, her feet carrying her toward Brenn with a sickening weight.

Their eyes met.

They both knew what this was.

What it meant.

Peri reached out, palm open.