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“That Ishtar woman is acompletefool,” said Delilah. “I can totally see her doing something so stupid.”
“Yeah, she’s one spiteful little bitch,” said Xavier, idly shuffling his tarot cards. He glanced at Wynter. “I’ll bet she felt all smug when her power killed you. It meant you were not only dead but that she could cry ‘accident.’”
“I think she was more furious that I came back from death than she was that I’m a not a mere witch. Although it will undoubtedly gall her that she can’t brand me weak any longer.” Wynter took another sip of her tea. “She pounced on my being a revenant, trying to use it to turn the others against me.”
“Did it work?” asked Anabel.
“Not with Cain,” replied Wynter. “It didn’t seem to work with the rest either. They don’t like that they have so many unanswered questions, but they don’t seem to view me as a potential enemy. Still, I doubt they’ll like being around me much.”
Anabel nodded. “They don’t have an ‘edge’ around you the way they do others; they can’t say and do whatever they like to you with no fear of repercussions because you can actually kill them. They won’t be used to that. It’ll annoy them, if nothing else.”
“They’re mostly focused on the upcoming battle with the Aeons. My worry is that when the war has passed and they can give my being a revenant more mental space, they might suddenly share Ishtar’s apparent concerns.”
“They might,” mused Xavier. “But if it looks like they’re going to turn on you, we’ll go before they have a chance to act on it. At the moment, I don’t think there’s a risk that they’ll attempt to kill you. They need you to lure the Aeons here.”
“Not necessarily,” said Anabel. “Wynter has already succeeded in luring them here—it won’t be long before they make their move. The Ancients don’t need her alive at this point. It’s not like they’d have toproveto the Aeons that she’s safe and well.”
Xavier pointed a finger at the blonde. “Now that’s true. I didn’t think of that.”
Neither had Wynter. Hence the cold fingertips that trailed down her spine.
He cut his gaze to her. “Now that they know you’re a revenant, they’ll also know that your life-force isn’t tied to the curse. They literally have no real reason towantyou to live unless of course they don’t object to your existence.”
“Not true,” Hattie objected. “Kali is an excellent deterrent. She would never stand for anyone hurting one of Her Favored. They know that well. I doubt even the Ancients would want to take on a deity. I’m not all that worried—Cain wouldn’t allow any of the others to do Wynter harm. He’s firmly ensnared.”
Wynter frowned. “Ensnared?”
“Hooked. Enthralled. Bewitched.” Hattie gave a firm nod. “He’ll keep you safe. Or you’ll kill him. One or the other. I’m leaning toward the first, though.”
“I do agree that Cain wouldn’t be party to anything that harmed you,” Anabel told Wynter. “I don’t know what he feels for you, but I do think he wouldn’t turn on you. I also think he’d likely protect you from the other Ancients if necessary. Maybe that will be enough to stay their hands.”
Delilah crossed one leg over the other. “We only have that comfort if Caintrulytook the whole revenant thing as well as he seemed to. Do you think he did, Wyn?”
Considering he’d fucked Wynter on his dining table like he hadn’t seen her in decades … “Yeah, I do. I have no doubt he’s a very accomplished liar, considering he’s been keeping secrets for most of his life—and he’s lived a very, very,verylong life. But if he’d been creeped out or disgusted by what I am, I would have picked up on it. My monster would have sensed it, too.”
Xavier’s brows snapped together. “Why would Cain be disgusted?”
“Well, Iama revenant.”
“But not a typical revenant,” said Xavier, setting his tarot cards on the coffee table. “It’s not like he’s been banging a walking corpse. The only thing about you that’s truly undead is your soul, and he already knew about that.”
“True, but I’m notnaturallyalive. Kali’s power brought me back, and it keeps me here. So it wouldn’t have surprised me if he’d been a little freaked. He was more bothered by the fact that I’d died right there in front of him.”
“Like I said, he’s ensnared,” said Hattie. “And I’ll bet he’s encountered far stranger things in his life than a revenant who’s not a regular revenant—it would likely take a lot more than that to spook him. Which is a relief, since he has access to your soul and could cause you some serious pain.”
Oh, indeed. Wynter would like tothinkthat he would never hurt her, but she liked to think a lot of things. Such as that her crew would start valuing their own safety instead of constantly risking it.
She zeroed in on Hattie. “Speaking of pain … are yousureyour eyes aren’t sore? They’re seriously bloodshot, and I don’t think it’s just because of the damn joint you smoked earlier.”
Hattie waved away her concern. “They’re fine. Really. I was up all night finishing a book, that’s all. I couldn’t put it down; it was a real page-turner. I wasn’t crazy about the dolphin shifters, though.” Her face scrunched up in distaste. “Dolphins are nasty creatures.”
Delilah blinked. “Nasty?”
Hattie nodded. “They act all sweet and friendly, but they’re sociopaths down to their fins.”
“Kind of like you, then,” said Delilah.
Hattie’s brow wrinkled. “I don’t have fins.”
