Devil May Care Read Online Free PDF

thoughts. I had no idea if anyone watched us, but it was likely. They were always watching.
    Ryder rose from the chair, knees cracking. Considering that he always looked like he’d just rolled out of bed, he’d upped his game. His wrinkled shirt, rolled up sleeves, and creased jeans were the smartest thing about him. His ruffled hair jutted out in tufts, and his usually bright eyes were ringed red and bloodshot. “They reckon your demon is trying to... break out. That ain’t ever happened before. Not during their experiments with Stefan, anyway. They...” A quick glance at the windows. “The docs aren’t sure how to deal with it.”
    I snorted a laugh. “If my demon is trying to break through, I’d know it. She doesn’t try to do anything. She does it.”
    Ryder shrugged. I frowned and instinctively reached into the void inside where my demon had once coiled like a cat in front of a hearth, but she wasn’t there. Nothing of her remained. PC34 — the drug the Institute used to inhibit her — did a damn good job. I’d not felt her presence since I’d almost swallowed enough elemental power to level half of Boston and nearly killed myself in the process. She was gone.
    “She’s not in there, Ryder. I’d know it. I wish she was. Whatever happened, whatever you saw when you found me, it wasn’t her.”
    He searched my expression. “It ain’t me you gotta convince.”
    Great. Adam. This was all he needed to lock me behind bars for another six months.
    I growled and tossed my head back. “Dammit. I’ve done everything they’ve asked of me. Everything. Played their games. Danced to their tune. All the assessments and tests. The constant monitoring. I don’t deserve this.” The longer they kept me strapped to this bed or locked behind bars, the less time I had to retrieve Stefan from the netherworld. I had to believe he was still alive, but with every passing day, the chances of him surviving became less and less. He was powerful. I knew that, but he was also half human. I’d been raised there. He hadn’t. I bit into my lip and blinked back tears. “They’ve gotta let me out, Ryder.”
    He clamped his jaw shut and laid his hand over mine. The sadness in his eyes told the same tale as the thoughts running through my head. He understood. He’d seen me fight my way through the Enforcer training, ignoring the jeers from my so-called peers, and I’d excelled to prove a point. Even without my demon, I wasn’t to be trifled with. But where had it gotten me? Strapped to a hospital bed with another probationary period looming over me. That’s where.
    I squeezed Ryder’s hand before letting him go. He left the room without another word. This was hard on him too, caught as he was between the right thing to do and the Institute. I didn’t blame him for any of it. He’d tried to help me. He’d taught me everything to make me a damn good Enforcer. We both wanted the same thing, but until the Institute gave my demon back, I was a blunt instrument in their toolbox.
    Closing my eyes, I thought of Stefan again. He’d lived like this, at the Institute’s beck and call, all his life. Their pet hybrid. He’d hinted at how they’d used him. I could only imagine the hell he’d been through, and now they were going to let him die, knowing full well I could cross the veil and find him. Figuring out how to get him back was another problem. He’d trapped a Prince of Hell in the netherworld with him, using blood to seal the deal and preventing either of them from crossing the veil. I’d searched the Institute’s library books but hadn’t found a way to break that blood-bond.
    I reached for my demon again, mentally calling out to her, but only silence waited.
    After the Institute captured me and as time had worn on, I’d stopped calling her. The void at my center , once so debilitating, had become a necessary evil. I’d pushed all of the pain aside and focused on winning, but it had been so long that I’d become