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“If you were fit to be one of the Seven, you’d have killed me by now.”
His neck corded, Castiel let out a battle cry and attacked again.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Red-hot pain exploded in Raini’s kneecap as the bullet slammed into it like a hammer. The second bullet punched her other kneecap, subjecting her to another blast of unbearable agony. There was no holding back the scream—it erupted out of her throat as bones shattered and her legs went out from under her, and she landed hard on her butt.
Panting, she hovered her hands around her wounds as she stared in shock at the blooming red stains on the torn ice-blue denim jeans.
“Hurts, does it?”
Hot tears stung her eyes and, honest to God, she was surprised she hadn’t passed out. She’d never felt pain like it in her life. It stole her breath and made nausea rise up fast.
Euan chuckled, his eyes lit with delight. “Oh, this is brilliant. Maddox will go berserk when he sees you like this. Hurting. Bleeding. Shot.”
Raini glared up at Euan, air bursting in and out of her lungs. Her demon surged to the surface and said, “That was very stupid. I would have killed you quickly. It would not have been painless, but it would have been swift. But now? Now I will see that you suffer for a very long time.”
“And how is it you’ll do that?”
The demon let a slow smirk curve its mouth and then subsided.
Euan sniffed at Raini. “If that entity of yours thinks it can call my bluff and scare me, it’s wrong. You and I both know you have no way out of this situation. Perhaps you’ve told yourself differently and clung to some hope that Maddox would save you, but you know deep down that it won’t happen.”
“Sometimes hope is all we have,” said Raini, her breathing still not steady. “So I can hope your plot falls apart. I can hope Maddox, his allies, and the lair survives. I can hope you’ll pay for this for years to come. It’s not such a far-fetched hope. All your other plans went to shit, didn’t they?”
“You think you can push me into killing you here and now so that Maddox won’t have to see you die?” He snorted. “Sorry to disappoint you, but I am not so easily manipulated. And there is no way that you or your demon will convince me that you are a threat.” He sneered. “You can’t even get up.”
Not keen on being reminded of that, she clenched her teeth so hard it sent a shooting pain along her jawline. That twinge was nothing compared to the blinding agony lancing through her knees. It felt like they’d been showered in acid and were now blazing with fire.
There’d be no fleeing from him when he teleported them outside. Hell, there’d be no crawling, let alone standing or running. Not when her kneecaps were shattered and so many tendons and muscles were ruptured. Her legs were useless to her right now.
Oh, he was gonna pay for this shit. She wasn’t sure how or when yet, but she’d make it happen.
Her demon sent various images flashing around Raini’s brain—Euan being tossed at the stone wall; bullets being fired at his dick; a cheese grater being dragged down his face, shredding flesh. Yeah, those ideas worked for Raini.
“How sad that the person who can heal you is just outside but will soon be dead.” Euan tipped his head from side to side, as if to get some cool air on his throat. Probably because the crimson flush on his face had spread down his neck.
“You really haven’t thought this through,” said Raini, still panting. “Not if you don’t think people aren’t going to find it a little fucking suspicious that you weren’t battling alongside your lair.”
“I intend to claim I was part of the battle; that I was left for dead but managed to survive. It’s not like the angelic bastards out there will come down from their precious realm to contradict me, is it? Trust me, Raini, I have all my bases covered. People have always underestimated me. I suppose you and I have that in … ” He paused, as if struggling to find the word he was looking for. His pupils were now dilated, and there was an almost imperceptible quake in his voice. “Common,” he finished. “We have that in common.”
Raini shook her head. “Doesn’t matter. My lair will question what happened here. They will. Because your plan to set Dwain up failed. I don’t know if you personally edited my sister’s memories or you had someone else do it but, whatever the case, it wasn’t the grandest job. Maddox could tell they were altered and that Dwain wasn’t her captor.”
He stiffened. “You lie.”
“Nope. My family all know it was someone else. They want him bad. And since you’re one of the original suspects, they’ll take a nice, long look at you. And what will they find, Euan? They’ll find the miraculous survivor of a battle during which I died. That’ll be enough to make them want to have a lengthy chat with you. And here’s the best part. You won’t have a Prime anymore, you’ll be a stray, so there’ll be no one to hold off Jolene. Declaring yourself a Prime won’t make you one—not if you have no other members. You’ll still be a stray.”
