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Thank goodness for that.
He put pressure on my back, very gently pushing me forward. I moved forward reluctantly, and to my surprise his hand didn't fall away. Instead he got closer and crowded me, invading my space, making my entire body get tense.
His mouth came close to my ear and he whispered, "We'll help. My coven and me, we'll help you while you're here. Just say the word. We'll also keep watch over you. You can trust me to have your back through this."
I nodded, my throat too clogged with emotion to speak. I didn't think it to be wise of him to take my back here when it would be putting him against the Council, but I'd take all the help I could get. Lord knew I needed it.
He moved away slightly, but his hand remained where he'd placed it against the small of my back. I knew the gesture was innocent enough on his behalf, but I also knew if Quinton were to see it, he would have been pretty unhappy with the whole thing. And he probably wouldn't have been the only one.
Still, I did not tell him to step back or to remove his hand. That would be rude given what he'd just shared with me.
His body went weirdly tense and something very unpleasant rolled off of him in waves. The feeling was so intense, so hideous, that I instantly tried to step away from him out of self-preservation.
"Fuck," Liam hissed under his breath angrily, and his pissed off vibe rolled into me from the side opposite of where Raven stood.
"Be cool, Liam," Raven advised quietly. His hand slid up my back, stopping at the nape of my neck. He gave me a gentle squeeze before his arm fell away, but he still remained weirdly close to my person. "Don't say shit to her. I know you're pissed, but you need to shut it down. We knew there was a chance we'd be forced to endure her presence. Now that time has come and we've got to eat that shit. Don't make it any worse than it's already going to be."
I knew I wasn't theherhe'd spoken of. There was only one woman I could think of where most men I knew would say they had to endure her presence.
Annabell the Hoochy Koochy.
Oh goody.
They wouldn't be the only ones forced to eat that shit until I got to escape her presence. I'd be eating that shit right along with them.
I looked up toward the stairs off the side to see not simply one female descending upon us, but two.
AnnabellandRachel.
Double trouble on the straight up hussy side.
Annabell, of course, was no longer the beauty she'd once been. Not that I'd seen her before she'd earned her scars, only after. She had lovely auburn hair that had been plaited into two fat French braids that hung down on each side of her head. She'd put on a bit of weight since the last time I'd seen her and she now looked almost healthy.
Though, in all fairness, I'd put on more weight than she had. But she'd also been a whole lot skinnier than I had been, scarily enough.
Half her face had been melted away, and today she did not try to hide it with magic, but left it on display for all to see. Which didn't sit well with me because she usually used magic to help hide that part of her so most people still saw the once pretty part of her.
Now the gruesome sight of her half melted face was so hideous there'd never be any need for a mask on Halloween again.
She wore a long, flimsy white dress that was so see-through her dusky, pointy nipples were very visible through the material. As was the pubic hair between her legs. There were long slits up the sides of the dress going almost all the way to her hips. With every step she took down the steps her long, bare legs showed indecently. I said indecent because she clearly wasn't wearing any undergarments, and one misstep would be putting her privates on display for all to see.
Since I'd seen it all before, I had more than my share of witnessing Annabell's wares. I did not wish to see it again, ever. And I knew the men around me just plain ole never wanted to see Annabell again, ever. A bad combination, if you asked me.
There was no smirk or any arrogance to the woman at all. Her eyes remained lowered to her feet, watching each step carefully as she slowly made her way down. Her mouth was pinched unhappily on the good side of her face.
Hmm...
That was a new look for her.
Seemed something might have changed for Annabell. I would not feel sorry for her. I absolutely would not.
Damn it all to hell and back.
Rachel was a different story altogether.
She had bright blue eyes that practically glowed with happiness and something that looked a whole lot like crazy.
She, unlike Annabell, was just flat out seriously freaking pretty. Her white-blonde hair hung all the way down to her hips in heavy sheets that swished around her body with every step she took, almost as if each strand was a living creature with a mind all of its own.
