Torn (Demon Kissed #3) Read Online Free Page B

you die alone, even though that’s a dumbass idea.”
    I arched an eyebrow and walked towards him. He was taller than me. Everyone was taller than me. “I seem to be a dumbass girl. So tell me, Mr. Lorren, what would you do, if you were me?”
    I regarded him suspiciously. If he was a Valefar, why didn’t he drain me when he had the chance? It’s what any creature down here would have done. Half of the demons where out trying to find me, so they could take my power for themselves. The other half wanted to capture me so they could hand me over to Kreturus. And one crazy-ass Valefar, named Eric, wanted to kill me so he could have fun watching me die. I shivered.
    A tight smile spread across his lips. He didn’t like me much either. “There are two things I’d do if I were you. First, I’d realize that there is no way to escape the prophecy. You are who you are. Deal with it. And two, I’d get my soul back, so we can get the rest of that poison out of you before it kills you, and this guy Collin gets all your power. Or is that what you wanted?”
    My voice was small, “No, it isn’t what I wanted.” I looked up at him and paused for a second before sitting down on a ledge. I didn’t get anything I wanted. Nothing ever turned out even remotely the way I’d hoped. Staring at the floor I said, “I wanted to stop the prophecy. I’d hoped to stop it… You were right. I’m stupid. I screwed up.”
    He stepped towards me, “And right now Collin, and every demon in Hell, is trying to find you. I bet you anything they don’t know what would happen if you died right now. They think all your power would die with you. Collin doesn’t know that your power would all be his, does he?”
    I shrugged, feeling foolish. “I don’t know what Collin knows or doesn’t know anymore. Kreturus went into him. He acted like Collin, sounded like him, but there’s no way I can ever know for sure.”
    Lorren’s face fell. “So let me get this straight? You were trying to prevent the prophecy from occurring by killing yourself? So, you found the only thing that could destroy you—the Guardian’s fang—and you scraped it across your chest hoping the poison would kill you?” I nodded, but that didn’t wipe the shocked look from his face. His voice rose an octave when he asked, “What’d you think would happen when you died? That the prophecy would just be over and we’d all be like, oops, guess we got that one wrong?”
    Anger flared inside of me. “Stop talking to me like I’m stupid. I didn’t know. It’s not like I got a handbook or even signed up for this shit. And I didn’t mean to scrape my chest.” My fingers delicately touched the scar beneath my neckline. “I aimed it directly at my heart…and missed.”
    I didn’t think his eyes could go wider, but they did. “Oh my God! So what happened?”
    “Collin stopped me. He hit the fang as I swung it toward my heart, but it was too late to stop it from cutting me.” Collin looked so utterly devastated when I’d left him. As I was speaking, my voice went flat and all the steam in my comments deflated. I looked up at Lorren the Goth Valefar. “So. Tell me. Just say it. I can see it on your face. You’re thinking something.”
    “I’m thinking you’re damn lucky. Collin is either overpowering Kreturus, so that he could save your life. Or Kreturus doesn’t realize that Collin has part of your soul. If he knew, that fang would have hit your heart. But, the old demon has to know that Collin has a soul.   Ancient evil that’s as rancid as Kreturus can’t tell them apart even if they are in the same body.”
    “So, Collin may still be Collin?” A flicker of hope fluttered within me, but I was afraid to let it. I knew what I’d seen, and it terrified me.
    Lorren shrugged. “There’s only one way to find out. Either way, you gotta go find him and get your soul back.”
    His words surprised me, “Why?”
    He smiled at me like I was impossibly naïve. “I’m