Love Beyond Expectations Read Online Free Page A

body, it seemed likely he didn't carry a scent.
    "You're so cerebral. That's what I've always loved about you. Such a tough life and yet you are still so successful. Too bad you're doomed to fail where it really counts."
    "This is what you do. You place doubt. You mess with us. The others have told me how you operate. I'm not concerned. I'll do my part, and you'll be defeated. So go pester someone else."
    Sebastian laughed aloud, his blue eyes turning red for a moment as he glared at her.
    "I was there, you know."
    Ruby swallowed. She'd challenged the demon, and he hadn't left, which meant he still had some sort of emotional pain to inflict on her. "I'm not going to ask you where you were."
    She had no intention of playing his games. None.
    "That's okay, I'll tell you anyway." He leaned forward, invading her personal space. "I was there when your mother killed herself. I was there when your house blew up. I was there when you had to escape the town where you lived in the middle of the night to avoid capture by people who had found out about your talent. Ruby, I have been there for every bad moment of your life, and I have laughed the entire time."
    Goosebumps appeared on her skin while he spoke. She swallowed through the lump forming in her throat, glad to see that it wasn't fear causing her reaction but sheer unadulterated rage.
    "Get out my head, you sick beast."
    Like she'd suddenly acquired a surge of power, she shoved Sebastian from her mind. Shaking from the adrenaline, she whirled around, looking at her surroundings. Everything appeared the same. She still stood in the underground room but without Sebastian.
    Grabbing her head, she felt slightly dizzy. "Shit."
    As if her grandparents could hear her, even though they were both buried six feet underground, she covered her mouth after her expression of profanity.
    Could she believe the demon? Had he really been present every time her life went to hell? Why hadn't he simply destroyed her when he'd had all those chances?
    "You okay?" Leonardo jumped down, not using the ladder to get to her. "Marina thought the demon got down here."
    "In my head, actually." Ruby tried to smile. "Is the attack over?"
    "Yes. They got the wards back up."
    "Good."
    "You're sure you're okay?"
    "Well." She took a deep breath. "I'm pissed as hell, and I'm going to figure out a way to translate those books."
    Turning on her heel, she walked as fast as she could up the ladder and back to the office. She'd always been very good at pretending things were fine when they weren't. So she would manage, somehow, not to feel violated that the demon had plowed his way into her mind without her knowing he had done it.
    Still, although her determination to translate the texts had been solidified, she couldn't escape the fact that she still did not have the ability to make sense of them. Demon visit or no demon visit, she didn't have the tools to get the job done. Her brain didn't seem to be up to the task.
    Ruby flipped on the television, mostly just for the noise. They didn't get great reception, and the satellite had been shaken with the rest of the house. She flipped until she got to some of the local channels and left the television on some commercial for women's hair dye.
    Staring at the page in front of her, she didn't let herself think about the demon's appealing face looking at her as he promised her he'd been there for every bad moment in her life. Why her? There were eighteen Outsiders. Why had he focused on her?
    Sighing, she tried to do a better job of not thinking about what she didn't want to think about.
    A voice coming off the television screen caught her attention, and her head shot up as she realized where she'd heard it before.
    Preacher Talbot . Her grandparents had been terrified of him. Any time he'd come anywhere near one of the towns where they stayed, she'd been made to basically live in the basement with the windows bolted and locked. It had always seemed really odd. Her grandfather had