Knight's Absolution (Knights of Hell #5) - Sherilee Gray Page 0,1

dry, the pain in her belly intensifying.

It was only a matter of time before he allowed Luna to feed from him again, until her power thrummed through her like a live wire—until she felt Sir inside her, pumping through her veins like poison. “I’ll be okay…soon.”

“Your eyes, they look…lighter?”

Luna quickly looked away, the nausea spiking. “You’re mated to one of them, aren’t you?” she asked, ignoring Grace’s question. Not that she understood what that meant, not really. Mating. Sir spoke of it, the demons she was surrounded by did as well. But the concept of such a deep connection was foreign to her. Impossible to grasp.

“Yes.” Grace’s lids lowered, almost closing.

“Would you let your mate stop you from fighting? Even knowing the risks, could you stop?”

“No. I’ll n-never stop fighting.”

“I can’t stop either. I need to be where I am. I can get closer to him than anyone else.” Luna looked away, not wanting Grace to see the truth of her situation, what her survival—and the survival of her brother—involved. “I’m the only one who can kill him.”

She could see that Grace wanted to say more, ask more, but in the end, decided against it. “What about the other demi-demons being held?”

Sir had been collecting demi for their unique powers like some kind of evil zookeeper. Building an army here on earth for Diemos, the current ruler of Hell.

Grace had been trying to find and free them.

“I promise, as soon as I get back, I’ll get a message to your people, let them know where you can find them.” Sir couldn’t win, there was too much at stake. And the only way she could stop him was to stay with him.

Forcing her shoulders to relax, Luna dropped the block she had covering Grace while keeping up her own. Blocking herself was usually as easy as breathing, but the hunger made it a little more draining.

"So now what?" Grace coughed, wincing in pain as blood trickled down her chin.

“We wait," Luna said.

If what Sir said was true about a mated couple’s connection, Grace’s mate would have sensed her as soon as Luna dropped the block and would already be on his way.

With a groan, Grace leaned forward and opened the glove compartment in front of her, finding a pen. “Give me your hand. My number.”

It was a bad idea, but something inside her made her reach out, offering her hand to Grace. The pen slipped through Grace’s bloody fingers several times, but she managed to write her number just above Luna’s wrist, so her sleeve would cover it.

Grace blinked heavily. “I m-meant what I said."

Luna nodded as the odd sensation in her belly moved up, behind her ribs, and squeezed. Maybe she was ill? These odd feelings had been coming more frequently.

Maybe you’re starting to feel other emotions.

If that was true, she was screwed. She wouldn’t survive Sir without the numbness, the shield of emotionlessness to protect her. Her anger was hard enough to contain and hide.

Several more minutes ticked by.

The thump and screech of buckling metal above them was loud—

A fist smashed through her window. A massive hand attached to a muscled, heavily tattooed forearm pinned Luna to her seat by her throat as Grace’s door was torn from its hinges and flung across the parking lot.

Luna stared up at the male snarling down at her. Gunner. She’d never been this close to the knight before. He was huge, towering over her. His jaw was covered in a short beard, and the scar through his upper lip made his mouth twist as he scowled down at her. For some reason, her hand itched to reach out and touch him, and her hunger—it skyrocketed.

Her fangs tingled, extended. There was no nausea, no repulsion at the idea of taking his blood into her body. No, her mouth watered. Something that had never happened before.

She couldn’t bring herself to look away. Feeling trapped by the beautiful, fierce male about to snap her neck.

“Gunner, no. L-let her go. She helped me." His pale-gold gaze slid to Grace and her mate. Chaos nodded. Sir had cursed him, all of them, enough times for Luna to know their names. Gunner’s hard, intense gaze slid back to hers, flashing fire before he released her throat and stepped back.

"Bring her to the compound," Chaos said.

"No." Grace shook her head, or tried to. “W-we made a deal. Let her go."

Chaos scowled, but in the end, gave Gunner another sharp nod.

Luna held Grace’s gaze for several seconds, and hoped the