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“Lilith plans to do it tonight.”
Ishtar’s gaze snapped to his, blazing. “And no one thought to tell me? Inanna is mysister.”
“Lilith went to your Keep yesterday to speak to you,” he calmly reminded her. “One of your aides told her that you were not receiving guests.” If he had to guess, he’d say that Ishtar had been sulking after feeling slighted by the, in her opinion, ‘boring’ celebration Lilith threw for her that included poetry recitals and theatrical entertainment.
“She could have returned at another time to deliver her message.”
Like Lilith had nothing better to do than chase after her? “She was no doubt waiting for you to contact her at your earliest convenience to ask what she’d wished to speak with you about.”
Ishtar pulled a face. “Stop being so reasonable. There was a time you were never reasonable. We had such fun in those days,” she added, injecting a sultry note into her voice. “But then you changed. Fired all manner of dramatic demands at me.”
“Only you would think that someone was being dramatic by demanding to be treated as an equal.”
Her mouth firmed. “You are not exactly in a position to judge. Your current toy is hardly your equal. I doubt you treat her as such.” Ishtar examined her nails. “She fought well in the gauntlet. For a witch. I do hope she will partake in other such celebratory activities.”
Cain went very still. “Do not even think to bring her into your games and put her in harm’s way. I will not allow it. The other Ancients will not allow it. She is to be protected.”
“So you say, yet you do not protect her from you or your monster,” Ishtar sniped. “She is in danger every moment she is with you simply because you are what you are. Still, you keep her as your toy. That tells me you care nothing for her.” She sniffed, a triumphant glint in her gaze. “Does she know that?”
Cain refrained from rolling his eyes at how eager she was to believe that Wynter meant nothing to him. “Why don’t you ask what you really want to ask? I may answer. I may not.”
Ishtar straightened her legs and planted her feet on the floor. “Is it true that she sleeps in your personal chamber when she is here?”
For fuck’s sake. Did the woman really have nothing better to do than monitor his private life as best as she could? “I will not discuss the finer details of what is between myself and Wynter.”
Ishtar barked a harsh laugh. “You think there is somethingbetweenyou? She doesn’t even know you, Cain. You will have shown her only parts of you.”
That wasn’t something he could deny. It also wasn’t something that he intended to confirm. The matter simply wasn’t Ishtar’s business.
“If she were to learn the truth, if she were to learn about your monster, she would leave you.”
Said monster narrowed its eyes, in complete disagreement. That was the thing about the creature. It had no real sense of self-awareness. It didn’t see itselfasa monster.
It also didn’t seem any less possessive of Wynter. Yet.
“You know I am right, Cain. She wouldneveraccept the real you. She would never look past your secrets. So I hope your creature is as bored of her as I suspect it must be. Because if not and she chooses to leave you before you end things first, itwillkill her for the insult.”
“You judge my monster by the standards of your own. Mine does not possess an ego that, much like yours, cannot handle criticism, rejection, or abandonment.”
Her face hardened, her fingers digging into the armrest. “You can be such a bastard.”
“I can.”
“But you are only being so testy right now because you know I am not wrong.” Ishtar regally rose to her feet. “The witch would not accept you as you truly are, Cain. You are fooling yourself if you believe differently.” With that, she stormed out of the room, leaving him alone with his thoughts … and those thoughts didn’t take his mind anywhere good.
*
Adjusting her tee, Wynter was just about to say her goodbyes to her crew when a fist pounded on the front door of the cottage. Feeling her brows snap together, she walked into the living room. “Who the hell is that?”
Glancing out of the window, Xavier replied, “Uh, there’s a bunch of demons in the front yard. One of them looksseriouslypissed, and I think he might be holding a fireball in his hand. Could be hellfire,” he mused, uncaring.
Her face solemn, Anabel sank further into the sofa and put a hand to her chest. “So this is how we die.”
Wynter rolled her eyes.
“Delilah, get out herenow!” a voice from outside bellowed.
They all looked through the archway that led into the kitchen. Delilah was currently muttering to herself while peppering ingredients into the steaming cauldron.
