Kiss of Crimson by Samantha Coville (best love story novels in english txt) 📕

you’re referring to.” He continued in the same honey-sweet tone that put my teeth on edge. “And I’d watch your tone if I were you, son. You may have left my employ, but that doesn’t mean I can’t find you and turn you over on my knee.”

“I’ve paid my debt to you,” I said. “Why the hell did you send Evangeline after Eloise? What kind of point were you trying to make? That no one can leave? Goddammit, Jardin, why Eloise?”

My knees buckled, and for a moment, I thought I was going to hit the pavement.

Only a firm grasp on the edge of the telephone booth kept me upright.

Damn it.

I was weaker than a newborn babe from my “de-initiation” from Jardin’s gang.

Even on a good day, odds were split on whether I could take Evangeline down in a fair fight.

But this was not a good day, and the witch didn’t know how to fight fair.

“My, my… won’t you just look at all these books…”

My throat tightened painfully.

“Jardin, please.”

Help me.

I couldn’t say it, though.

I owed Jardin nothing.

He owed me nothing.

That’s the way it should be.

I didn’t get the crap kicked out of me only to owe my ex-Master a favor straight out of the gate.

Jardin made a sound in the back of his throat.

“Stay on the line.”

There was a slight muffled sound on the other line, the low murmur of voices in the background.

Then the shuffle on the other received as he removed his hand from the mouthpiece.

“She’s not here.”

I growled, barely managing to keep the rage at bay and turning the phone booth into a pile of metal and wires. “No shit she’s not. She’s currently holding Eloise hostage. You fucking promised, Jardin. When I went through your fucking ordeal, you gave me your word that you would not seek retribution on the Harts.”

There was a thoughtful pause on the other line.

“You are correct,” he finally said. “I did swear such a thing, did I not?”

“So what’s the deal with Evangeline?” I raged. “Are you telling me she’d risk angering you just to piss me off? Why? Why would she give me such a hard time about this?”

He sighed. “My apologies, my boy. I’m afraid that I—well, I may have made a mistake.”

“You may? You may have made a mistake?” The pay phone handset was slick under my death grip. “No, you know who’s made a mistake? Evangeline. Because by holding Eloise hostage, she has signed her death warrant. And I don’t care who that snake-skinned witch owes her fealty to.”

My voice lowered to a whisper because I was terrified I’d start screaming.

Screaming is not a good look for men.

“I’m going to rip her to shreds,” I continued. “And if that places me in your path, then so be it. At least I get to kill the demon bitch first.”

“Whether you choose to believe me or not, you must know that I did not intend for the Harts to be injured in any way.” He tsked. “While it pains me greatly to say this, Evangeline went against my mandate. I cannot abide that kind of recklessness any longer.”

“Then…?”

“She’s yours,” he said curtly. “Do with her what you will. She is no longer welcome in my home or under my protection.”

I didn’t bother to exchange goodbyes; I heard what I wanted, and now Evangeline was going to pay.

The smell of rubber was thick in the air as I peeled out of the parking lot towards the Hart residence.

Please be okay, Eloise.

Please, please!

Even from several blocks away, I could smell the acrid scent of smoke thick in the air.

I didn’t want to consider the worst-case scenario.

That it was the Hart’s residence, that Evangeline had lit fire to the building, fully knowing that it would send me deeper into the proverbial sea of despair and pain.

When I arrived at Eloise’s street, the police had set up a cordon, putting up blockades at both sides of the street to prevent any kind of traffic.

The smoke was almost too dense to bear, and tears sprang to my eyes as I stepped out of the Audi, gaze glued to the sight of the inferno spread out before me.

Evangeline had done it.

It hadn’t been enough that she’d held Eloise as a hostage.

She had to put fire to everything Eloise loved.

Jesus, her books.

A small sound left my throat as I realized just how powerless I was.

How little I could do.

“Sir, sir.” In the corner of my eye, I witnessed a policeman approach me, sweat shining on his bald head. “You can’t be here. Please remove your car and yourself to a safe distance.”

I ignored him and skirted past the bright yellow barricade, unable to look away from the fiery sight.

The fire had consumed the top floors of the building, and the firefighters were concentrating on the buildings on other sides, as though they had given up on saving the Hart residence.

“Sir!”

A hand wrapped around my wrist.

It was nothing more than a mild annoyance, the equivalent of a fly landing on my face.

“Sir, you cannot—”

His words ended in a strangled gasp as I smashed an elbow into his prodigious gut.

Ribs broke.

But he would live.

The important thing was, he had let go and the other officers were keeping a wary distance from me.

Albeit with their guns in their hands.

And with the safeties off.

I didn’t have time for this crap.

Eloise was waiting for me.

I had to get to her!

Someone fired their gun.

Instinctively, I ducked my head to one side, and the bullet whistled by my ear.

I quickened my pace.

Two, three, four more shots rang out.

Two bullets found their way into my shoulder and thigh, but I hardly felt them.

I sprinted up the driveway, but the heat emanating from the shattered front doors kept me at bay.

The sound of crashing rafters echoed in my head as I skirted around the building, avoiding the powerful streams of water from the hydrants as the firefighters fought to keep the blaze contained.

The smell of my hair burning laid heavy in the back of my nose