Page 98 of Enchanted

“Are we sure it’s Ethan he’s after?” Theo asked after a little while. “He lived with another bloke, could it not be him?”

The brothers all exchanged a look before Emerson sighed. He turned to me. “Is your mate a redhead? Green eyes? Freckles? Adorably cute? Makes you want to cuddle him up in a blanket and keep him safe?”

My mouth dried out in fear. “Yes. All of those things.”

Pity shone in his eyes. “Then it’s him Damien wants. I’m sorry.”

“Daddy has a type,” Elias muttered darkly.

“He does.” Ezra rubbed his jaw. “Which makes it easier to pin down Ethan as his target, but obviously it’s not the answer you were hoping to hear.”

“I knew it was him,” I said, anger coursing through me. “There’s no way it wouldn’t be.”

Elias pursed his lips. “You haven’t helped matters.”

I stiffened, all of my pent-up fury settling on a new target. “Excuse me?”

“You’ve marked him, right?”

I didn’t answer, which was confirmation enough.

“Of course you have.” Elias rolled his eyes. “Well, in doing that, you might as well have pinned a massive fucking bullseye on him.”

A low growl left me as lightning licked around my knuckles.

“While he’s chosen a fucking idiotic way to express himself as usual,” Ezra said, glaring at his brother, “Elias is unfortunately right. Damien loves nothing more than a challenge. Kidnapping and torturing the marked but unbonded mate of an archangel? That’s his biggest one yet.”

“Fuck.” I looked to Micah in desperation. “What do I do?”

“He needs to know the truth sooner rather than later,” Micah said heavily. “I’m sorry, Rami, but it’s not safe for him to just be marked. He needs a full bond with you.”

My stomach twisted as I thought of the promise I’d made to him earlier that day. “I want you, Ethan. What I don’t want is to rush you into anything. I want you to be with me because you’re choosing to be, not because you feel like you don’t have a choice.”

“Actually, I think that might make the situation worse,” Erik said slowly. “Taking out a human who’s marked is one thing, but tempting in his bonded mate and executing him too? That’s the kind of game he lives for.”

Theo’s face showed the same confusion I was feeling. “I thought the point was him finding his mate?”

Elias snorted. “Please. The point is him torturing and murdering innocent humans. The mate bullshit is the excuse he gives to make it okay, as if that would do it.”

Ez raked a hand over his face. “What you’re saying is that we’re dealing with a delusional vampire powerful enough to execute an arch?”

“If he was human, he’d be deemed a psychopath,” Erik said flatly. “As a vampire, he’s too dangerous to be allowed to live.”

“We all want him dead.” Emerson cracked his knuckles again. “Alone, we’re not strong enough, but with your help…”

Working with a vampire clan was not in our usual remit. Then again, nothing about this situation was.

I stared at Micah, willing him to make the right decision. To my relief, he nodded. “He needs to die, and before Rami’s mate is impacted. Tell us what you need.”

The meeting dragged on forever.

I should’ve felt grateful for the sheer amount of information the Gaunt brothers were handing over. And I was. But, mostly, I wanted to be with Ethan. To see that he was safe with my own eyes. To hear about how his move had gone. To help him unpack and settle into his new home.

The conversation moved on to different options for entrapping Damien, but there was one I shot down immediately.

“We’re not using Ethan as bait,” I growled. I was on my feet, wings spread wide, glaring at Elias, who’d dared make the suggestion. “He’s my mate, not a pawn.”

Elias held up his hands in surrender. “I’m just saying it’s the most obvious solution.”