“We can’t stay here forever,” Corson said. “If we leave now, Wrath and Death might follow us; we can take them out before Pride and War join them.”
My hands clenched my mug. Wrathhadto die, but it would bemewho ended him. I couldn’t tolerate the idea of someone else doing it. It was ridiculous, but I was the one who had to kill my Chosen.
“And if they don’t follow us?” I asked.
No one had an answer for that.
“We’ve spent too much time hunting them to lose them now,” I said.
“How long are we willing to stay here?” Magnus asked.
“As long as it takes,” I said.
The demon of illusions and I glowered at each other across the table. I finally had Wrath in my view again; I wasnotgoing to let him go. But, as much as I hated to admit it, Magnus had a point. We couldn’t stay here forever, and a standoff could last days, if not weeks or months.
If the river Asharún was nearby, then there were wraiths to feed on in the forest, and I’d already seen the nymphs bringing out some human food. The nymphs wanted everyone here to enjoy themselves; they would have every luxury necessary to keep the travelers who arrived here happy.
“We need a place to sleep,” Hawk said. “The humans look like they’re about to drop.”
“Separating isn’t the best idea,” Shax said.
“Maybe someone should have told Lix that,” Corson replied.
“He’s going to find Pride and War,” I said.
“I hope he doesn’t do anything stupid,” Aisling murmured.
“He won’t.” I glanced at the branches overhead. “And if he does, we’ll all know it.”
At the bar, Calabar released a bark of laughter before rising and taking the hand of a nymph. He twirled her around as he led her out of the room. Wrath said something to Death and rose from his stool.
I held my breath as two nymphs danced over to him; whatever he said caused them to giggle and sheepishly duck their heads. Then they both turned to Death. I kept my face expressionless, but revulsion coursed through me when the nymphs pressed closer to Death. They had no qualms about who they bedded, but Death was a bit nasty, even for nymphs.
Lifting his mug, Wrath turned away from the bar and smiled as he glided toward us. I glanced around to see who he could be walking toward besides us, but there was no one else around. It took all I had not to shove my way out of the booth and run when I realized he wasn’t detouring.
My heart bashed my ribs as I met his pitiless black eyes again. The faintest hint of a smile curved his mouth.Please don’t tell them what you are to me.
“What the fuck?” Corson muttered under his breath.
With a deft flick of his wrist, Wrath grabbed a chair from a nearby table, turned it around so the back of it faced our table, and set it down. With mesmerizing grace, he straddled the chair almost as soon as it hit the ground. He set his mug down and folded his arms on the back of the chair before meeting the eyes of everyone at the table. His gaze settled on me.
I kept my face completely blank, but the rising bubble of anger building inside me pushed aside some of my panic. He was playing with us… withme, and he was enjoying every second of it.
“Hello, fellow Hell creatures,” Wrath greeted with a glimmer of amusement in his eyes. “Funny running into you here.”
I had to give him credit; my Chosen had a set of balls the size of his horse… or he was entirely insane. Either way, I hated that I found his arrogance attractive. No, I found it more than attractive; if he’d been anyone else, we wouldn’t have made it into one of those back rooms before I shredded the clothes from his body and took him.
“What brings you here?” Corson asked.
“The same as you, I’m sure,” Wrath said. “I’m looking for a bit of entertainment, and the nymphs provide it.”
I set my mug down and placed my hands on my thighs beneath the table. My fingers bit into my flesh as I dug them into my skin. Somehow, I managed to keep my face impassive while Iseethedinside.
I couldn’t count the number of times I’d considered using someone else to take out my sexual frustration on, but I knew it would never work. However, thisbastardwas using nymphs the entire time I suffered.
I was going to enjoy killing him more than I’d anticipated.
“And how areyoudoing on this fair night?” Wrath asked as he focused on me.
