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Engles.
She gasped, surprised all over again but not certain why she should be. If two people had ever been made for each other, it was Sweet Dove and her mentor.
“It’s Engles, isn’t it?”
“Yes. They’re enjoying the moment, each holding a drink and looking nonchalant, as though nothing especially significant is going on.”
“Typical slavers. Are they talking to each other?”
She nodded.
“See if you can hear what they’re saying.”
“Okay.”
Even though what she saw had already happened, she trembled as she drew close within the revisiting vision. Evil lived in these two people.
Sweet Dove tweaked Engles’s ear. “So you think Reyes will do it? Will he perform for Scorpion and for you? Because from everything you’ve told me, I don’t think he likes you very much.”
“I think he hates me, but that doesn’t matter. He’s been clamoring to get into Starlin for decades, and I saw how his eyes lit up when I mentioned the Board of Governors. You were right about him, my darling, and I confess you trained him well. He has more ambition than I’ve seen in a long time.
“But it was fun watching him jump through so many hoops, making him wait for over two decades, and it was absolute genius that you had me let him win the bid. He’s very possessive of Angelica, which means that taking her away from him is going to be a lot of fun. But are you sure you still want him back?”
“I owned him once, remember? I will always think of him as my property, to do with as I please. So, yes, I want him back. Only now that he’s embraced the lifestyle, and he’s become a slaver, we’ll have new territory to cover and it will be extraordinary.”
“He’s not the same man, not a youth to be seduced and trained.”
“But he’s not an Ancestral as I am, which means that I can handle him.” Sweet Dove pulled at one of her long red curls.
“But he has Ancestral potential.”
“And I’ll make sure he never uses it.”
“You are so beautifully corrupt, but when do I get my reward for doing your bidding?”
She held Engles’s gaze. “Just be patient and you’ll get your prize. I tested Angelica when she first arrived, so I happen to know just how much she can take, and yes, she’ll break every endurance record. We’ll both earn another small fortune through the gaming organization.”
Engles smiled, his eyelids low. “I can hardly wait. She has so much fire.” He then turned to Sweet Dove and nuzzled her neck, asking quietly, “But when do I get to meet Scorpion? Haven’t I proved my loyalty yet?”
“Ah, yes, your ambitions.” Sweet Dove turned and kissed him, then bit down hard so that he cried out.
Drawing away from her, Engles had blood pouring from a deep wound on his lower lip. He scowled at her. “What was that for?”
“For fun, of course, and to remind you that I won’t be hounded or manipulated by you or anyone. When Scorpion is ready he’ll bring you into our partnership, and not a moment sooner.”
Engles drew a handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed at his lip. “And will you be present tomorrow night when Reyes performs for Scorpion and me?”
She shook her head. “Scorpion won’t allow it.”
“Yet you’re partners.”
“Scorpion always has his reasons.”
But at that moment Sweet Dove got a funny look on her face and turned in Angelica’s direction, almost as though she could see her. “Engles, my darling, I don’t believe we’re alone. Someone is here, watching us.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know. It’s just a strange kind of spidery crawl up my spine.” She narrowed her gaze as though trying to see better.
Because Sweet Dove took a couple of steps in Angelica’s direction, Angelica knew it was time to shut the vision down. She had no idea whether it was actually possible for an Ancestral of Sweet Dove’s power to make contact over time and space, but she definitely didn’t want to find out.
As Angelica disengaged the process, the vision faded slowly, then disappeared.
Reyes stroked her arm. “Are you all right? You’re trembling.”
Angelica closed the laptop. “I’m fine.”
“You’re frowning. What did you see?”
She met his gaze. “So much that I hardly know where to start.” But she decided that the beginning was the best place and related the conversation point by point.
Reyes listened with hard blue eyes, then huffed a sigh. “My God. I had no idea. So, Sweet Dove is entrenched in Starlin and has some kind of partnership with Scorpion. But she also appears to rule Engles.”
“Yes, it looks as though the student now schools the master. More importantly, everything they’ve done has been to bring you under Sweet Dove’s control once more. Although it was clear to me that she fully believes you’re a slaver now. At least that part of the equation is intact. Reyes, you’ve got to be careful.”
He pulled Angelica tight against him and she leaned her head against his shoulder. “I never thought for a second that going after Starlin would lead me back to Sweet Dove.”
“Maybe this is a good thing, because it seems likely to me that when you take Starlin down to rubble there’s a strong chance you’ll be able to bury her for good at the same time. And right now I want nothing more than to see that job done.”
She felt absurdly safe held in his massive arms.
Reyes sighed heavily. “So Sweet Dove’s plans are in play to bring me back under her control and she’ll happily offer you up as Engles’s reward. Sounds like the woman I knew.”
Angelica frowned. “There’s just one thing I don’t understand. Engles said he still hadn’t met Scorpion, so how will he be present at our performance without Engles ever meeting him?”
“He’ll probably use a disguising shield. Some of the Ancestrals can create layered disguises that most vampires can’t pierce. If after all this time Engles hasn’t met him, that has probably been the process.”
Angelica shook her head. Disguising shields, revisiting visions, and sadistic perverts. How had this become her life?
But she knew how and he had his arms wrapped around her.
###
With Angelica pressed against him, Reyes processed the revisiting vision. When she had first mentioned Sweet Dove torturing Angelica early in her captivity, he’d thought that his former owner might have had a distant relationship with the Starlin Group, like the rights to look over newly acquired slaves or something.
