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“Shut up!” Etta howled, extending her hands toward Maisie.
The fae tried to counter the spell, but she wasn’t fast enough, Etta’s magic freezing her in place. I gasped aloud as I recognized what was happening, Maisie stiffening and falling, paralyzed as Etta held her.
“You!” I yelped in disbelief. “You did this to me when Orson was attacking me!”
“Why couldn’t you just be happy with what we gave you, you ungrateful bitch?!” Etta hissed. “You’re lucky you didn’t get sold off, too!”
Dread swept through me as I gaped at the fae, holding Maisie in place with her spell, the evil permeating off her. She had been ruining my life even before I’d known her, plotting her success at the expense of my mate and me.
“Go inside and end this,” Etta commanded me through clenched teeth. “You’ve seen what I’m capable of!”
Fury replaced my hurt and shock. Maisie’s eyes bugged, the life slipping out of her moment by moment.
“Go now!” Etta snarled. “Or I’ll end her!”
“No!” I spat, my snout elongating as I lunged for her. “You haven’t seen what I’m capable of yet!”
I pounced forward, but Etta must have anticipated my attack. She broke her connection with Maisie, extending her hands toward me, the paralytic magic overtaking me mid-air. Instantly, I froze, flopping unceremoniously onto the ground in a pile of whimpering fur, my tail tucking between my hind legs.
“Wrong answer,” Etta barked. “You better pray that my Orson is still alive by the time I get in there.”
Once again, my insides began to turn to stone, and I realized that this was exactly the way Elijah had been buried alive all those years ago.
Chapter44
Elijah
Silver held off the three remaining shifters at the door, but they were losing their drive to fight already, their loyalty diminishing under the threat of death.
Blood painted the interior walls of the warehouse, fallen Verity members sprawled over bags of stow, their entrails dripping over the sorting tables.
But none of that mattered to me as I towered over Orson, his gargoyle body still broken from my assault on him the previous night. Whatever magic had been worked on him had not healed him against my beating.
“Elijah, I thought you were gone, my friend!” he begged as I padded toward him, licking my chops. “There’s no need for all this! You could have just come to me, talked to me!”
I didn’t buy into his submissiveness.
“The way you came and talked to me at my hotel?”I rasped silently. “The time for talk is long over.You stole my territory and made a mockery of it. You’ve disgraced my legacy.”
His fear exhilarated me, and I felt no pity.
“I’m sorry!” Orson whimpered, but I didn’t believe him.
His eyes blistered with rage, and while he couldn’t hurt me, he would certainly go to his grave trying.
I had no qualms about putting an end to him.
“Don’t!” Orson pleaded as I advanced, my teeth bared. Bits of his crew were still lodged in the grooves, minions who had been stupid enough to stand in my path. He was the only one I wanted. “I’ll give you the territory, Elijah! You don’t have to do this!”
I sneered at him, sniffing the air around him as I padded closer, head raised. Stupidly, he tried to stand, but I pounced, knocking him back on his broken wing. A cry of pain ricocheted through the office.
“No! Stop! I’ll go away from here! You’ll never see me again!” he blubbered. “Please, Elijah, on our friendship. I kept your business alive, afloat! That has to stand for something!”
I scoffed, spittle flying over his face.
“You really think I’d just leave you to live your life after you came for my mate?” I hissed, my eyes boring into his.
His irises blazed back defiantly, countering everything his lips had said. If I showed him any mercy, it would undoubtedly bite me in the ass. Not that I was feeling particularly magnanimous.
