Page 139 of Hellbound

The only sound that followed was the slow, measured click of her white pumps as she came to stand before Marian.

“Now you will kill him.” Verinne said quietly as she glanced up at Vale, “And free us from his lies. I’ll let you and your little traitor friend live in luxury. End Lucifer’s reign on Earth, and I will rise in his place as Lilith to usher in a new era. An era of truth. Together we will realize our true potential and take back Hell.”

To Marian’s astonishment, the Argent in the audience broke out in a round of demure applause. They tapped on glasses, clasped their soft hands. She searched Vale’s face, who approached very, very slowly.

How had Verinne come to these conclusions? They were wrong, but not wrong enough for Marian’s liking. If this discovery disturbed Vale, it didn’t show. That impassive mask of his held in place.

“You’re delusional, Verinne,” Vale murmured.

“Will you leave the Gifted alone if I kill him?” Marian asked, ignoring Vale’s sidelong look.

Verinne pursed her lips, then bobbed her head from side to side in faux contemplation.

The Argent studied her. “Kill him, and I’ll consider it. Refuse and Tori dies.”

None of Marian’s voices could muster a single intelligible thought. There were only screams. This wasn’t happening. This wasn’t a choice she was willing to make.

You don’t have to. Walk up there and stab her. Do it.

But everyone was watching. So many guards with guns at the ready. This had to go just right or Tori would end up dead.

Tori started thrashing. One of the armed guards at the traveler’s side growled.

“Pipe down.”

Tori unleashed a kick to the guard’s groin, sending him to the ground in a hissing heap. A second guard unholstered his gun and backhanded her with it. Tori slumped over. Then he clicked the safety off.

Marian’s broken shout was lost in the guard’s scream. Power rippled around her. Shadows danced in the corner of her eyes. When she blinked, Vale was halfway across the room. He’d grabbed the guard by the throat and held him kicking and gasping off the floor.

Two blinks later, the man’s head snapped off his neck. Vale’s fingers tore through tissue and bone, severing skin before he let the slack body drop to the ground

Every human screamed. Each guard took aim at the Vale. Including Greg, who’d edged toward the remaining living guards, his face twisted in horror.

“Stop!” Verinne and Marian shouted in unison.

The Argent had stood from their chairs, watching the bloody display with new trepidation.

Vale shook his wrist, sending blood splattering all over the dead man’s suit. Tori had roused and looked on with wide, confused eyes as he walked toward Marian, shadow billowing behind him. No one else in the room moved.

Marian locked eyes with Vale and shouted. “I’ll do it!”

Tori’s head snapped up. Marian glanced over in time to see the traveler’s surprise morph into understanding.

A slow smile spread across Verinne’s face. “Excellent.”

Marian fixed Verinne with a glare.

“You promise to leave me alone when this is over?”

Verinne held out her arms. “It would be my pleasure to forget you even exist.”

“She’s the worst fuckin’ negotiator I ever met,” Greg said, elbowing a silent guard and chuckling nervously. “I almost slept with her.”

Marian closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she turned to Vale.

He wore an expression of complete and utter calm. Her heart seized.

How could she tell him the truth? How could she explain what was about to happen? Why did he look so at peace with the admission he couldn’t have known was a lie?