Let Him Reign: An Underworld Romance Read Online Free PDF Page B

difficult.
    "Oh shoot," I mutter after I zip myself up. I crouch down to the floor and feel around for the tiny piece of paper that’s fallen out of my sleeve in the dark.
    "What are you doing?" Eric asks when I pat the top of his boots.
    "I lost my fortune."
    "Um, your fortune?" he asks slowly, drawing the words out.
    "Yeah you know, the kind from a cookie." I pat in a circle around on the cement floor, but come up empty-handed.
    "Uh-huh. A fortune cookie," he drawls.
    "I'm not a crazy person, it was just a really nice saying about love and darkness. Never mind," I say, giving up and straightening back to my full height again.
    "You sure?" he asks.
    "Yeah, just forget it. Let's go."         
    Eric pulls one of the books off the shelves to see if it's clear. The opening shows the dim light of the house on the other side but no voices or any other sounds filtering in. I don't know what time it is since neither of us have our cell phones, but we've probably been in here for hours now. Hopefully everyone's gone or in bed, including the men with guns.   
    Sliding the book back in place, Eric starts to push the bookcase open but pauses at the doorway. "Wait. Let me go out first just to make sure it's safe, and then I'll come back and get you."
    "Okay," I reluctantly agree, worried about him and what he'll find on the other side.
    Grabbing my face with both hands, Eric pulls me to him for a quick kiss and then he's gone.
    …
    Eric Coughlin
    "You worthless piece of shit."
    Fucking great.
    I was hoping he would’ve figured I’d left for the night and just gone to bed.
    "How was the party?" I ask, turning around in the middle of the still trashed living room to face my father. Garbage litters the floor, there’s broken glass scattered from the destroyed coffee table, and I’m pretty sure I saw a pair of panties. Even though my skin’s crawling with worry that he’ll find Hope, I force my lips into a smirk just to aggravate my father even more.
    "Do you have any fucking idea how many people traveled here from all over the world for you?" he asks, his arms crossed over his broad, puffed up chest, his bald head so smooth the light bounces off of it. When I was a boy I used to think he was terrifying and larger than life, but now we're about the same size and I can finally go nose to nose with him. "They’ve all figured out what a worthless coward you are, which will cause even more conflict. You just gave the fucking bloodsuckers the push they need to convince everyone that our dynasty is falling. As soon as I'm gone, our people will tear each other apart in a civil war because you won’t ever be worthy of our birthright!"
    "The good news is that at least you'll be gone," I retort even though his words are enough to give me an anxiety attack. My chest tightens and it doesn't feel like there's any air going into my lungs. He's right. When he’s gone people will die and it'll be my fault. Even worse, there won't be anything I can do to stop it. Thousands of years of cohesion will come unraveled.
    I duck fast enough to avoid his first fist, but the second lands on my left temple and I stumble back several steps. A second later he's slamming my head against the wall, pinning me to it with his hand locked around my throat.
    "I should end you now and get it over with," he says through clenched teeth. His angry, powder blue eyes are narrowed just inches away. His face is starting to blur around the edges as I feel myself blacking out from the lack of oxygen. I wait, knowing there's nothing else I can do. He'll either kill me or he'll let me go, even though he doesn't actually need to touch me to end my life. He just enjoys inflicting the pain with his bare hands. I wouldn't care about his decision either way except I see the image of a redheaded angel with emerald eyes, lighting up the rapidly darkening world in front of me. I can't let him find Hope, and she could step out of that room any second. I need to do whatever