Inferno of Darkness (Divisa Huntress #2) - J.L. Weil Page 0,1

wasn’t concerned about the cut on my hand. It would heal soon enough and had already started to stitch itself back together. Demon blood was handy in instances like this.

What I was concerned about was the storm brewing inside me. Something would have to give.

Shoving out of the chair, I flung open my bedroom window and stuck my head outside. The biting air of winter nipped at my cheeks, but I welcomed the cold, even if it was a painful reminder of him.

I didn’t want to think his name. Thinking about the demon who was my mate only fueled the anger I so desperately wanted to rid myself of. It was all-consuming, much like my desire for revenge on the demons who’d destroyed my ability to love.

Opening my mouth, I screamed into the howling winds, releasing the fury building inside me. When I was done, I listened with my demon hearing as the icy air whisked away the echo of my pain.

For a few more moments, I gazed out over the snow-dusted fields across the street from my home. Each flutter of snow that had fallen over the last month was like reopening a fresh wound, leaving me raw and exposed to the world.

But nothing was worse than the night—the twinkling of stars.

It would be easy to say that my life went back to normal. Well, as normal as life could be for me. I’d never had a mundane or dull existence. When you were half demon, those average days weren’t in the cards for someone like me—a Divisa.

There was no going back after what I’d experienced. There was only existing.

Every day was a struggle.

I liked to torture myself and sneak up on the roof to just lie there. It was the only time I actually got a few hours of uninterrupted sleep. My demon blood kept me from freezing to death; that and the heated blanket I wrapped around myself.

Travis caught me out here shortly after I’d returned from my stint in the underworld. The disapproval had been written all over his face. “Are you kidding me, Lex?” he had scolded, and then promptly climbed through the window to join me. “Do you know how dangerous it is out here? The roof is blanketed in ice and snow.” He had a valid point, but the spot I’d chosen to sit was covered by a little gable that shielded the shingles underneath it. I had also cushioned the roof with a thick blanket. “Not to mention, it’s cold as balls out here.” He proceeded to shiver, running his hands up and down his arms as his breath clouded in front of his face.

My brother and I shared many similarities, mostly in looks. His sandy-blond hair was disheveled like he’d spent the past hour raking his hands through it. Our personalities were night and day though. He never took anything seriously and always looked like he was part of some joke none of us were in on, but I could always count on him. So I had just tugged my legs up to my chest and rested my chin on the top of my kneecaps. “It’s the only place I can sleep,” I told him.

He draped an arm around my shoulders and scooted closer to me. “After witnessing that place firsthand, I can understand that.”

No one liked to talk about the Court of Darkness. Not because they didn’t want to or weren’t curious, but because they were afraid I would fall apart. Again. It was a legitimate fear. I rested my head on his shoulder. “Thanks, Travis.”

That had been the last time he expressed his worry about me going out on the icy roof. If he happened to pass my bedroom in the middle of the night, or if he saw me from the driveway after coming home from Emma’s house, he would come to sit with me and not say a thing. It was exactly what I needed, just to know he was there.

My dad was another story. He didn’t know what to do about me, how to help me. I tried to explain this wasn’t something he could fix, but he was my father. And my pain was his. If he knew what was really going on inside me, he’d probably have me committed. When it came to Dad and Chloe, I did my best to mask the truth from them. They had already been put through so much, especially raising two half demons. It was past time Dad