AllFreeNovel
Share Us
A woman stepped into the room. Odette blinked in surprise. Alecta wore a backless satin dress that cut open between her breasts, displaying glowing pale skin. Her skirts split nearly to her waist, showing off long, elegant legs. Her brunette hair glistened in the dull yellow lighting. A smile lifted her painted red lips as she sauntered forward.
She moved toward Rothbart, standing by the fire, her gaze alight with seduction. “My dearest.” Her voice was silky soft. “To what do I owe the honor…” She paused, her head cocking, and she spun. Her eyes traveled over Odette’s frame, something flashing in them. “Why Rothy, don’t tell me you’ve settled down.”
“Hardly.” His expression was tight, but his gaze lingered near Odette’s side. What was he looking at?
In an instant, Alecta changed directions, coming at Odette. “Oh, so she’s a side hobby for pleasure.” She pouted. “I suppose in time I was to be replaced. My, but she is pretty.” Stopping right in front of Odette, she examined her with eyes that glistened with years of experience that betrayed her seeming youth. She must have used magic to make herself appear younger. Odette had heard stories of the most powerful sorcerers being able to do such things.
Alecta’s hand raised, and she touched Odette’s brow, tracing the black swoop that marked her curse. “And your captive, I see. The swan curse.” She cut Rothbart a sly glance. “Whatever you must do to make them stay, right Rothy?”
Rothbart’s ashen gaze glittered with malice. His fists balled at his sides. “She is one of the assassins that murdered my family.”
Odette’s shoulders scraped against the wall. Rothbart had warned her not to start a fight, but she refused to be intimidated. She felt for the knife under her shirt. “Step back,” she growled at the other woman.
The smile on Alecta’s face grew. “Ah, so not a sex toy. But someone who deserves to be punished.” Her fingers slid down Odette’s arm where the skull mark was glowing uncommonly bright. Was that the sign Rothbart was looking for?
Alecta’s hand tightened around Odette’s wrist, her nails pressed into the skull mark there, her grin turning cruel.
“I will gladly assist in delivering just desserts.”
Agony shot up Odette’s arm, as if someone were melting the skin from her bones. It bloomed into her brain and spots swam before her eyes. A scream erupted from her lips and her legs gave out, falling to her knees.
A thousand stinging needles pierced Odette’s eyeballs. They dug into her skull. They burned every inch of her.
Shouting. A deep voice was shouting. Rothbart raged as he raced across the room, ready to kill.
And still the pain surged. Her whole body shook with it.
It stopped as suddenly as it had come. Odette fell to the floor, her muscles unresponsive.
“You came to find out if I was the one to cast the skull pact, did you not?” Alecta folded her hands in front of her. “Otherwise, why did you place the caster’s potion on her? I am merely giving you your answer.”
Odette sucked in rasping breaths, her body ravaged, her thoughts swirling.
Rothbart knelt next to her. He pressed a warm hand to her cheek and looked into her eyes. Despite everything, she felt surprise course through her at the concern she saw in his gaze.
“You weren’t supposed to touch her,” he snarled at Alecta.
Hatred and betrayal gathered in Odette’s chest. He’d placed the potion on her wrist as they’d walked in. But he hadn’t warned her what would happen if Alecta laid a finger on her. A tiny bit of strength returned to her limbs, and she used it to jerk away from him. “Get your hands off me.”
His brows drew together, and his hands fell to his sides.
Alecta merely laughed. “Rothbart, my dear, you should know me by now. I want to hurt.” She reached down and ran a sharp-nailed finger up his throat, curling under his chin, lifting it to make him look at her. “That is what you like about me.” Her voice grew husky. “At least you used to enjoy it.”
He jerked from her grasp. “Until you got too rough, even for me.”
“What is too rough when you are a sorcerer and can heal almost any injury?”
Something flickered in his eyes before his expression hardened. He stood, his muscles tense with a deadliness Odette had never seen before. Not even on the night when she had nearly killed him.
He forced Alecta back with his body, sending her out into the room. Her sensuous smile grew.
“So, you were the one who sent the assassins after my family?”
Her eyes danced. “Is that what you think?”
“You never struck me as the scorned lover type.” His voice had grown deathly quiet.
Alecta waved a hand dismissively. “Come now. This was a job. Nothing personal.”
