Chapter Eighteen
We went to boutiques all over Helena. I would have been fine with Ross or something like that, but they insisted on high-end stores. The clothing was very nice but also expensive, and that kept me from trying on the pieces I really liked. To which Garret caught on quickly.
“How about this one?” Garret took the dress I'd been eyeing off the rack.
“Oh, that's okay. I'm good with these.” I tapped the simpler, less expensive garments I had hung over my arm.
He leaned in to whisper, “We're loaded, in case you haven't figured that out. Being around for centuries has its perks. But there comes a point when you run out of things to buy. So, please, get whatever you want, Indigo. That money is just sitting in the bank. I'd rather you enjoy it.”
I shook my head and snorted as I reached for the dress. “All right. You asked for it.”
“Finally,” Gage, who was leaning against a display, drawled. “This will go faster now.”
“I'd be happy to pull some items for you while you try these on,” the sales lady said. “Would you like a dressing room?”
“Uh, sure,” I said. Then I pointed at Garret. “He can help, but not him.” I pointed at Gage.
Gage straightened out of his lean with a, “What the . . . ?”
“I don't trust you, remember?” I smirked at him as I headed to the back of the boutique with the woman.
“Are they your brothers?” she asked as she unlocked a dressing room for me.
I don't know what got into me. Maybe I didn't like the hopeful tone in her voice or the way she was looking at the hounds. My hounds. But what I said next shocked me.
“No, they're my boyfriends.”
As she gaped at me, I sashayed into the dressing room and hung up the garments.
“All of them?” she leaned in to whisper.
“Uh-huh. They're very open-minded.” I grinned at her. “Size 10, please. Thank you.”
She stared at me for a second, then burst out laughing. “You're teasing me.”
I lifted my brows at her. “No, I'm serious.”
She snorted and turned away.
Oh, that was uncalled for. She was gonna get it now.
“Gage,” I called out.
“Yeah, sweetheart?” he called back.
“Are you three my boyfriends?”
Gage grinned. “We're whatever you want us to be, Indigo Darling.”
The woman gaped at him.
“Thank you for clearing that up.” I shut the dressing room door.
Then I heard the woman mutter, “Lucky girl.”
Grinning at my reflection, I thought maybe she was right. Maybe my luck was changing. For the better, this time.
Then a hand covered my mouth, and an arm wrapped around my waist from behind—both of them invisible. Silas appeared a second later, meeting my wide-eyed stare in the mirror over my head.
“Shh,” he whispered. “I just want to check in with you and see how you are.”
My heart started racing. Could Silas take me with him using that teleporting trick? I glanced at the door. The guys were right outside, but they wouldn't get to me in time. I had to pretend I was on Silas's side. Or at least, act like the old Indigo.
Old Indigo? Had I changed that much in a day? Maybe I had. And who was the old Indigo anyway? There were a couple of them, weren't there? So, let's be clear. I had to act like the Indigo he was familiar with. That meant neutral, not on anyone's side. And it also happened to be true. Kind of.
Silas slowly let go of me, waited to see how I'd react, then stepped back. “Are you all right?”
“Am I all right?” I hissed. “Your angel tried to rape me! If that's how the good guys behave, I'd rather be with the bad ones.”
Silas grimaced. “I know. Jake told me what Michael tried to do. He's furious and so very sorry, Indigo. He feels responsible, as if his behavior made Michael think it was okay to attack you.”
“I agree with him.” I crossed my arms.
“I can see why you would, but when Michael wants to take control, there's nothing Jake can do. He acted alone, Indigo. I promise you.”
“Whatever,” I huffed. “I can't be around Jake again. I can't trust him.”
“I understand. But I hope that doesn't mean you've given up on me.”
I shrugged.
“You're still in Helena, so I assumed you were deciding what to do. Have those demons convinced you they're angels?”
“I don't know what to believe,” I said.
Silas nodded. “I know their tricks. I'm sure they've treated you very well.” He waved his hand out toward the shop. “Showering you with gifts and affection. But it's not real, Indigo. Well, it is, but not in the way you think.”
A shiver ran through me. “Go on.”
“I told you about their mate. Have they spoken to you about the spell?”
“A little.”
“So, they've admitted that they think you're the one?” his tone went eager.
“They've admitted that it's a possibility .”
“Good! That's good. Have you found out anything useful?”
“I'm not telling you anything until I know for sure who is telling me the truth.”
“All right.” Silas held up his hands. “That's wise. I suppose they've made it sound romantic—being their mate. You need to know what mating hellhounds entails, Indigo.”
“Go on.”
“You know how I bring people back from the dead?”
“Yes.”
“I form a connection with them.”
I went still. Was Silas really going to admit that he enslaved the people he brought back to life? “And?” I prompted.
“If I choose to, I can control them through that bond.”
Holy shit! He admitted it!
“But I don't need to use that bond to control them. I'm God, Indigo. I gave humans free will, and I can take it away.”
I stepped back.
“Easy now. I won't. I promise. If I were going to do that with you, I would have done it already.”
That didn't reassure me much, but I nodded.
“You've seen the warrior side of me. The cool, focused commander. But I love all of you humans. Every last one. I don't want to control anyone. I only create those bonds to give my soldiers a little of my strength.”
“You won’t use them like slaves?”
“If they're in a dangerous situation and I can save them by taking control, I will. But otherwise, soldiers are more effective when they think for themselves.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because my bond with them is similar to the one the demons make with their mates.”
I swayed back against the wall. “Are you saying they're going to kill me?”
“No, of course not. They'd bond with you in another way, probably through some kind of disgusting sexual ceremony.”
I made a strangled sound.
“Ask them if you don't believe me. They will bond with you, and they'll say it's to protect you. They'll say it will make you immortal. But what they won't tell you is that they'll be able to control you through that bond. Mate with them, and you will lose your free will, Indigo. You'll be their whore, nothing more.”
My stomach turned.
“I'm sorry for my harsh language, but it's the truth.” Silas peered at me. “Ah, I see that they've already spoken to you about the mating. Let's put that aside for now. Have they shown you what they can do? I know they won't tell you the truth about why they're here, but they might want to show off. Lure you in.”
“Show off?” I frowned.
“It's still early,” Silas said. “Give it time. You'll see what I mean. They'll reveal their true forms to you eventually.”
“Shapeshifters,” I whispered.
“Yes, they can change their appearance. But you must remember that these handsome men you see are not their real selves. These are masks. Their true forms are that of animals. That's what they are, Indigo—beasts collared by the Devil himself. They do his bidding alone, and their reward is you—a plaything to satisfy all their sexual needs. Someone to submit to every desire they have. A toy that they can rut upon at will. Their will. You will lose yourself and become focused on satisfying them alone. The Devil has many chains in his arsenal.”
A toy. Chains. Oh, fuck. Fear lanced through me. Every time I glimpsed happiness, the rug got pulled out from beneath me. There was always a catch. With Jake, it was cancer. With the hounds, it was even worse. Of course, it was worse—I wanted them more. It made sense that the price would be higher. Complete submission. Loss of free will. A sex toy for the Devil's dogs.
No. I didn't want to believe it. The hounds acted with courtesy and consideration. Everything they said, though unusual, made sense.
“I imagine they've told you they're here for some kind of altruistic reason,” Silas went on. “I assure you that whatever they've said is a lie. They're not here to help people, Indigo. Their demon forms—their true forms—allow them to go spectral.”
“Spectral?” I shivered. “You mean, like ghosts?”
“Yes, precisely. Incorporeal, like my angels. They're cousins to angels, after all.”
Oh, fuck. Silas was making sense.
“But they have advantages over my angels. Hellhounds can be solid—corporeal—and take any form they wish. Their actual forms are those of demon dogs. When they are their true selves, they can go spectral and dive into humans.”
“Like Michael is in Jake?”
“Yes, but they don't need a host to be solid. Possession isn't the purpose of what they do.”
“Then what?”
“They influence humans, as I've said. While inside someone, they can whisper into their mind and seduce them into committing evil acts. The human must choose to do that deed themselves. If a hound controls a human and makes them do something terrible, it doesn't count.”
“Count?”
“It's all about the souls, Indigo. The Devil wants his playthings as much as his hounds do. But a soul won't go to Hell unless it chooses the path of evil.”
“I see,” I murmured.
“And I see that you're wavering,” Silas said. “It's all right. Question everything and everyone, even me. The truth will come out and then, Indigo, I hope you'll do the right thing.”
And with that, Silas vanished. Just left me there.
A knock came at the dressing room door, making me yip.
“Oh, sorry!” the sales lady said. “I have a few more things for you to try on. How are you doing in there?”
I opened the door and took the clothes from her. “Great,” I said. “Thank you so much.”
Then I shut the door and sank onto the little stool in the corner to stare at my reflection again. The afternoon’s fun had vanished, leaving me confused and scared. I looked down at the clothes in my hands. Should I tell the guys about Silas? I decided not to. It made me feel like a traitor, but the things Silas had said rang true. It was the first time he had made sense to me. I mean, why else would three handsome, powerful, immortal men agree to share a woman?
All of this pampering they were doing was to get me to mate them. It made sense. Once they had me, things would change. Wasn't that the way of all relationships? Except with three demons, things would literally go to Hell.
“Their true forms,” I whispered. “Oh, God. They said they can become one giant hound.”
That made sense too. They were just too handsome to exist. And they had admitted to being shapeshifters. I tried to recall what else they'd told me. It had been a lot. There was something about taking their other forms. Did they say they went incorporeal?
I decided to question everything, just as Silas said. And I'd start with the hounds' true forms and what they could do in them.