Devil May Care by Pippa DaCosta

Despite his affliction, my son was a good man. You, I don’t know what you are.”
    I resisted the urge to say, “Your worst nightmare,” despite it being particularly apt. He probably read as much from my smile. “I never asked. If you despise demons so much, how did you manage to get close enough to one to get her pregnant? Stefan’s mother, Yukki Onna? The Snow Witch?” A twitch of restrained emotion went through him. My gaze flicked down to where his right hand closed into a fist. I’d hit a nerve, and by the looks of it, a deep, painful, raw nerve. I planned on hitting it harder. “I hear she’s very beautiful. Did you fall for her? Your dirty little secret perhaps? Did she break your old heart? Is that why you hate demons so much?”
    “You—” He bit the words back, swallowing his anger with them. “Don’t presume to know my past, Muse.”
    My lip curled. I still trembled but not with fear. “You’re a fake. You hate demons so much, and yet you managed to screw one to get yourself a hybrid son.” It was a low blow, but if I couldn’t hurt Adam any other way, I could certainly verbalize what I thought of him.
    Adam came around the desk, bearing down on me within a few strides. I still had the gun on him and stood firm, holding it out at arm’s length until the muzzle wavered close to his forehead. His wide eyes and flared nostrils said it all. At least we had hatred in common. He believed I’d shoot him. I’d never killed anyone before. Only my owner, and I’d screwed that up. Did I have it in me to pull the trigger?
    A knock on the door pulled me out of my darkening thoughts. Ryder checked me. I nodded, and he opened the door. Nica yelped as he grabbed her by the arm and tugged her into the office, quickly closing the door behind her.
    She stumbled between Ryder and Adam. “Oh my god... Muse... What’re you doing?”
    “Give me the antidote.”
    Nica looked at her father, but Adam only had eyes for me. She stepped forward and held out the injector. Keeping the gun trained on Adam, I snatched the injector from her palm and jabbed it against my neck. Relief spilled through me. The drug simmered through my veins.
    A slight itch crawled beneath my skin. I tilted my head and rolled my shoulders as the fizzling sensation spread down my arm and across my chest. I’d had this happen once before and knew it hurt like hell. Before, my demon had been banished for a few days. This time, months had passed.
    I became very aware of three people waiting for me to buckle. The itch beneath my skin smoldered. Unpleasant heat bubbled through my body. I lowered the gun and flicked on the safety before attempting to tuck it back into its holster. I missed.
    Adam took a step closer.
    I snapped my head up and backed against his bookshelf. “Don’t touch me. Just let it happen. If you touch me or try and restrain me in any way, I can’t guarantee I won’t hurt you.” A white-hot blaze of pain snapped up my spine, throwing my head back and locking my jaw together. I dropped to my knees. The gun skittered from my hand across the floor. Ryder snatched it.
    Slumping forward onto my hands, I felt the chasm inside of me swelling outward, opening to embrace the impending release of power. She was there; a coiled predator lurking in the far reaches of my mind, stalking the fringe of my thoughts.
    “Hold her.” I heard Adam bark the order and sensed Ryder beside me, but he didn’t touch me.
    “No,” Ryder said. “She’s right. Let her do this.”
    “Goddammit, hold her down.”
    “Back off, Adam. I got this,” Ryder growled. I felt his presence and smelled the gun oil on his clothes, the alcohol on his breath. When he spoke, it was a soft whisper in my ear. “Don’t make me regret backin’ you up, Lil’ Firecracker. Control her.”
    I got the distinct impression that if I didn’t, he wouldn’t hesitate to put a bullet in my head. It didn’t matter either way. She was coming, and if I couldn’t control