Chapter 190

Helen’s POV

The Huntsman sat me up on the sofa and then moved and crouched in front of me so that we were eye to eye. He placed both arms on my knees, crossing them across each other very casually.

“My dear little wolf, of course, I didn't forget you. I have been waiting and putting together the perfect game for us. You see, you've made my job very difficult. I tried to torture you by hurting your body, and it didn't work. I tried to torture you by destroying your friends, and you remained whole. I tried to break you by forcing you to nearly kill the one you love, yet here you are.”

He grimaced. “I have abducted you, chained you, beat you, and still none of my methods work.”

He rocked back on his heels and rubbed his hands together gleefully. “So, you see, my dear. It took me some time to come up with the sort of game that would get through to you that would really affect you and that mongrel of a husband of yours.”

“I need the last lycan to suffer.”

“Why?” I demanded.

Now that I knew more of his history, I was curious what he had specifically against Justin's family and the lycans. Nothing in any of our research indicated why he would hate them so much. And I did remember that he had told me that they were responsible for killing off his whole family.

I chewed at the inside of my cheek, realizing a hole in my research. I hadn't looked into the deaths of all his family.

“Why, you ask?” The muscles in his jaw twitched and tightened in anger. “Because your husband's kind, lycans, decided that I was a monster and needed to die. I had done nothing to them. I had done nothing against them. But my existence was simply enough to send them on the warpath, and they killed every single member of my family and every friend I had ever had.”

He glared at me. “And do you know what the worst part is, my dear?” He squeezed my knees so hard it hurt and I bit back at yelp. “The worst part is that not a single one of my blood relatives deserved to die except the one that they did not kill.”

I swallowed a sick feeling in my stomach. No wonder he was upset. The lycans had taken it upon themselves to purge a demon without doing the proper research. Of course, back in that day, they wouldn't have had the same ability to research. The lycans would have slaughtered his entire family, not knowing who the demon was.

Except by then, the demon must have already gone back wherever it is the demons go. So rather than fixing the situation, like we were now attempting to do, all the lycans had done was set a fire beneath a half-demon.

They had sent him on a path of vengeance for his human family, which had been slaughtered at the hands of the lycans, setting the stage for the misery that we were all going through now.

I felt bad for us all. And for once, I actually felt bad for the Huntsman too. I had to wonder if the lycans hadn’t done that, would we even be in this mess right now? If the lycans simply left his family alone or had, more specifically, hunted down the actual demon rather than slaughtering humans, would he have even cared?

Would any of these other types of supernatural beings be on the brink of extinction? Or would we all be living peacefully, unaware of a half-demon in our midst? Had we actually created this monster?

Thank goodness the Huntsman wasn't able to read my thoughts because I still didn't want him to know that I knew exactly what he was talking about. I was sure he had no idea that I knew he was a demon. And Julianne was still asleep, so she couldn't give us away either.

I bit my tongue and waited for him to make his next move. Nothing I said would possibly make this situation better. So my only hope was to draw this out by letting him play his game.

His eyes twinkled mercilessly at me. “I see you're learning. Lashing out and crying isn't going to help you. Would you like to know what my game is, little wolf?”

“What?”

“My month of studying up on you has turned into something truly delightful.”

He leaned forward again, running his hands all the way up my thighs and behind my hips. My ankles might have been bound, but my legs weren't, and he shoved his way between my knees so that we were chest-to-chest like lovers.

“I'm going to take you as my wife.”

“Never,” I hissed.

He leaned forward, bringing the tips of each of our noses together. “You will.”

He backed off a little, so we could look at one another. “This serves a larger purpose for me. You see, raping you means nothing. You'll simply resist me. And it won't hurt your husband any if he thinks that I damaged you. All he'll do is hate me more.”

“But I want him to hate you, little wolf,” the Huntsman clarified. “I want him to know how it feels to have every single person you've ever cared about ripped away from you. And if I can't do that violently, then I'll do it sweetly.”

He turned to look at the door out of the living room. “You may come in, Martin.”

The door opened, and a wizard came in.

I gasped. This was the wizard that was so good at manipulating people. I recognized him from the day that I had stabbed Justin. He was the one who had forced me to do it.

“No. No. No,” I screamed inside my head.

Whatever it was that he was going to make me do, I didn't want to do it.

The Huntsman gave a cackling laugh. “I see you recognize my friend. He can do so much more now than he was the last time the two of you got acquainted. You see, he's been working on not just physical manipulation but on mental manipulation.”

My blood ran cold. I had a good idea of where this was going, and it was more terrifying than stabbing Justin in the back. Because at least in my own mind, in my own heart, I knew what I was doing was wrong. And I didn't want to do it, even if my body forced me.

But if I was correct, that one layer of protection was going to disappear.

“That's right, my dear. He is going to make you fall in love with me. You are going to be my wife. You are going to bear my children. And you are going to do it with adoration in your eyes that even your husband now will be able to see.”

His grin was truly evil. “And the beauty is, once you're under Martin’s spell, you'll never know the difference. Meaning the torture will be so so very sweet for everyone forced to watch.”

He leaned in, trying to brush his lips against mine, and I snapped out, attempting to bite him.

“What a feisty little wolf you are.” He tapped the tip of my nose. “But don't worry. That's going to disappear soon.” He made a gesture at Julianne. “Martin, there's your test subject. Wake her up and make her love me.”