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screamed, “Ivy owes you nothing! You have no blood bargain with her!   You have no claim to her soul!”
    Eric laughed, causing the pit of my stomach to drop. It was cold and callused. It was the laughter of the crazy Eric that hated every ounce of me. “I have every right to her soul. She took mine. She damned me. It was her action and hers alone that made me what I am. I am hers more than you’ll ever be.” Eric’s golden eyes narrowed on mine. We locked gazes and he wouldn’t let me look away. “She owes me. It goes beyond a blood bargain. She owns me and I own her.” He laughed. “Look at her face. You can see it in her eyes. That’s why she didn’t kill me. That’s why she let me do it. She knew. She felt it, and allowed me to take her power and use it. As long as it suited her …    She condemned herself to this fate. It was her doing, not mine.”
    Collin turned, searching my face. His eyes met mine. It was as if he saw something within me. Something that said Eric was right. Eric had a claim on me. A claim I didn’t understand and couldn’t deny. There was no way to explain it. We were connected somehow, and it was more than blood and lust. There was something else tying us together. From the look on Eric’s face, I suspected he knew what it was. But I didn’t. And neither did Collin.
    Eric’s voice was quiet, menacing, as he said to Collin, “If you challenge me, if you force me to fight, I’ll use her power. I’ll drain her completely. Then the two of you will be screwed. Kreturus will capture her. She’ll go down without a fight and you’ll be Kreturus’ slaves for eternity.”
    As Eric spoke, I stood there with my jaw hanging open. He was threatening to use my power against me? Was he that twisted? I didn’t believe it. I finally found my voice, challenging him, “And what happens to you, then? You think Kreturus won’t destroy you?”
    A smile tugged the corners of his lips. Golden eyes met mine as he answered, “I don’t care what he does.” Eric’s voice slid down my spine like a piece of ice. My gaze locked on his face. Eric moved toward me. He glanced at Collin once to make sure he didn’t move, that Collin wouldn’t stop him. Collin tensed, but remained still, beside me. “The only thing I do care about is making your life as painful as possible.” Eric smiled, the corner of his lips pulling up as he whispered the words in my face.
    I tensed, desire shooting through me. Eric’s eyes slid over my body and I let him. I let his gaze linger on my curves. I’d let him do anything he wanted to me. And I didn’t understand. It made no sense. I should destroy him, but I couldn’t do anything except look away. I turned from Eric, not concerned that he was at my back. Any other enemy behind me would be a mistake, but not with Eric. When he killed me, he’d want to see the light fade from my eyes, face to face.
    I shook my head, stopping in my tracks and turned back to Eric. I walked to the former angel. “The only reason you can claim anything from me is because I let you. It’s because I’m not completely evil, and you are. Eric, every time your life changes, you’re filled with hatred. Al paired us together because we are the same. Anger was shaping us into what we would become. When you lost Lydia, Al was there. She warned you. I know you remember. I know those memories are in your mind. I know you can see Lydia’s eyes, and hear the screams rip out of her throat as she was slaughtered. Anger made you what you are. Rage shaped what you became and Al was right—we are the same.”
    Eric’s expression appeared to be indifferent as I spoke. His slumped shoulders and I-don’t-give-a-rat’s-ass glare would have made me question the point of saying this to him. But I knew he heard me. There were moments when Eric was soft, when he seemed more like the person he had been. And now that he had his soul back, he could reclaim that person—if he chose to.
    I swallowed hard,