Just like Leela.
Except there was nothing else alike between the pair.
One was an angel with creamy skin, honest eyes, and a mind he admired more and more with each passing second.
The other was a temptress with pouty lips, a devious smile, and auburn hair that resembled an ominous cloud around her slender shoulders.
“It’s been a few centuries,” she continued in that low voice that beckoned sex. “I’ve missed you.”
“A few centuries?” he repeated as he tracked her every move. She was only a few feet away from them now with Leela still unable to move because of whatever net her half sister had ensnared her with. His hands hung loosely at his sides, his back nearly touching Leela’s chair. He wanted to be able to grab her if he needed to.
Which was likely, given the situation.
However, that invisible net around her certainly posed a problem.
She’d not mentioned the possibility of something like this, and her thoughts told him she’d not anticipated it either.
Have they used this on me before?she was wondering.Can I somehow escape it?
Memories crept along the edges of her mind, ones that told her she’d been in a situation very much like this before. Perhaps more than once.
With Balthazar right at her side.
He followed the strands of thought while continuing to monitor Nythos.
A sense of déjà vu hit him square in the chest as Nythos flipped her long hair over her shoulder, the triumph in her gaze one he’d seen before. Not just in bed, but in an event similar to this.
With Leela trapped by a magic she didn’t understand.
Because they’d wiped it from her mind.
His hands curled into fists, a lash of heat assaulting his veins.
Leela’s mind had been so thoroughly raped by her own kind that she didn’t even know how to properly protect herself. She’d tried in her own way by investing in properties and learning defensive wards, but the Seraphim had been one step ahead by ensuring she had no memory of how they’d taken her down.
And worse, they’d done the same to him.
Because they’d absolutely been in a similar situation to this, something Nythos proved as she cooed, “Well, I suppose it’s been more like three millennia or so in your mind, hmm?”
She cocked her head to the side, evaluating him in a manner that made his skin crawl. It was the look of an interested woman, something he always adored seeing on a female’s face.
But not this one.
He wanted nothing to do with this bitch.
“I’ve missed you,” she repeated, that voice acidly sweet.
“The feeling isn’t mutual,” he replied flatly.
Her eyebrows rose, some of that sultry glow disappearing into an expression of shock. “What?”
“You heard me. The feeling is not mutual.” He folded his arms. She’d fucked with his head. He would never forgive her for that, or for all the memories she’d stolen from him. And he certainly would not forgive her for the pain radiating inside Leela now, the abject terror at being caught again and the realization of what was to come.
Because once she’d realized this net felt too eerily familiar, thus confirming it’d happened before, her mind had entered a panicked swirl of dire expectation.
They’re going to make me forget him again.
Forget us.
