Free Devils Among Us by Mandy M. Roth Page B

mortal escapades, fucking the women as well, giving them pleasure before sampling their blood. There was nothing better than the taste of blood while he came with a fire only a supernatural could possess.
    A suck and a fuck. A perfect end to any night.
    Keane rolled a coin—he was rarely without one—over the backs of his fingers, letting it flip over each one. He grinned as the coin fell to one side. The devil. Half-man, half-beast, atop a throne with two figures chained to him. The wicked gleam in the devil’s eyes and the horns signifying evil stared back at Keane. In more ways than one, its meaning applied to him, to events his gift of foresight told him would come to be. He knew he would have to face something dark about his nature, something he may not like but would have no choice in the matter. He would be a slave to an obsession, possibly sexual. He also knew the human female he’d taken to was involved in some way. Perhaps she represented the opposite side of the coin—the angel or, his luck, the obsession.
    The part he had difficulty with was the idea that at the end of it all, should he choose to embrace his fate, he would find light amidst the darkness. It was almost too good to be true and a lifetime of letdowns had taught him nothing came without a price.
    My inner demons will never cease to torment me.
    Janco laughed, tapping the coin and making it disappear with his power. “Those things you play with are the reason you’re here to begin with, dear brother. I find it hard to believe anything would lead you to a human purposely, not unless it was to feed from her.” The disdain in Janco’s voice wasn’t difficult to spot. His brother had an even lower opinion of the race that overpopulated the surface than Keane did. To Janco, humans were simply a means to an end.
    They were fuckable fodder.
    “Your time with the beast master has pulled away the little bit of fun you used to be,” Keane offered, arching a brow in derision.
    The beast master ordeal had ended with Janco safe and alive, even though he’d spent nearly a month locked away at the hands of an evil so great it caused the baddest of the bad to wince upon hearing its name. Whatever had happened to him there, it had left him weakened—vulnerable, even. Bringing up Janco’s time as the beast master’s captive was hitting below the belt, something Keane generally avoided doing in regard to his brothers, but when it came to his new fascination—the human—he found himself doing it more and more.
    Janco narrowed his dark eyes and flashed a bit of fang in Keane’s direction. It was plainly a challenge. One Keane would normally accept. He was still aggravated by Janco “willing” away yet another of his play toys. Keane entertained striking out at his brother, forcing him to return what was rightfully his, but there were plenty more coins where that one had come from. Besides, letting Janco know he’d managed to worm his way under Keane’s skin would mean his brother would push harder, perhaps harming the human Keane had taken an interest in.
    The very fact he wished to protect her should have made Keane order his brother to handle her, rid him of her pull, but he couldn’t bring himself to allow injury to come to her.
    He tugged at the lace sleeves sticking out from under his deep burgundy coat. The edges of the coat were embroidered with silver silk thread, as many coats for court dress were. He’d come from matters of the council—feeling her pull and needing to be near her. Keane smoothed down the front of his dark breeches and stared forth at the young woman walking under the soft light of the moon. While his current attire was hardly fashionable to wear among humans, it was exactly what the others who ruled the underworld wore.
    Stuck in time warps.
    He chuckled as he thought of his youngest brother’s comments on the Ruling Councils of the Underworld. Perhaps Anton was correct. A change might very well be in order. Maybe the