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“It was you being you.” She flicked a dismissive gaze down his body. “A cheating, selfish jerk.”
His anger surged back, destroying his momentary caution. This bitch had destroyed his life. Now he was going to destroy her.
With reckless abandon, Elias charged forward. He was a full-grown demon with ancient blood pumping through his veins. He wasn’t afraid of any damned mage.
The thought had barely managed to form in his fury-fogged brain when the woman lifted her arm and one of the bracelets around her wrist began to glow. She was preparing to cast a spell. Dammit. He needed to rip out her heart and eat it before she could hit him with the stupid thing.
Racing at full speed, he slammed into her slender form, wrapping his arms around her. He was strong enough to break her spine and crush her lungs. It wouldn’t kill her, but it would disrupt her spell. Lifting her off her feet, he started to squeeze, but before he could make her pay for cursing him, he felt something strange crawling over his skin.
Distracted by the sensation, he turned his head to glance at his bare arms. A horrified gasp was wrenched from his throat at the sight of hundreds of cockroaches crawling over his skin. He shuddered, telling himself that it was an illusion. It had to be. But what if it wasn’t?
He could not only feel the insects as they moved up his arm, but he could also smell them. It was a pungent, musky stench that made him gag. Releasing his hold on the woman, he desperately tried to brush them away. A few fell off and scurried toward the back of the alley; the rest dug their legs into his skin, and as he watched in horror they started to burrow into his flesh.
“No!” Terror blasted through him. This was as bad as having his balls swell to the size of cannonballs. Well, maybe not quite as bad. But it was enough to make him regret ever following the stupid woman. Obviously he needed to hire someone to take care of her. Not as satisfying as killing her with his own hands, but less stressful. “Make it stop,” he rasped.
The mage stepped directly in front of him. “Threaten me or my friends again and I’ll make sure body parts fall off that you’d rather keep attached. Got it?” she demanded.
Elias continued to claw at his arms, indifferent to the bloody wounds he was causing.
“Yeah, I got it.”
He heard her walk away, but he didn’t bother to watch. It wasn’t until the bugs abruptly disappeared that he lifted his head to glare at the spot where she’d been standing.
“I don’t care how much it costs, I’m going to put that bitch in a grave,” he muttered, slowly turning to make his way out of the alley.
Consumed with his dreams of a violent, tragic end to the mage, Elias failed to notice the sudden chill in the air. A lethal oversight, he belatedly realized, as the manhole cover abruptly disappeared from beneath his feet and he plummeted through the opening.
Elias managed to avoid landing on his face, but before he could regain his balance, a heavy pulse of power sent him to his knees.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
He had no need to look up to know he was in the presence of Valen. No other creature could create a layer of ice that coated the abandoned steam tunnel. Or create a crushing pressure without even touching him.
“Elias, isn’t it?” the deep voice demanded.
Despite the sharp chill in the air, Elias could feel the sweat dripping down his face. He didn’t know what he’d done to attract the attention of the Cabal, but it couldn’t be good.
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
“You attacked a woman on my property.”
Elias was confused. Was he talking about the bitch who’d cursed him?
“She’s not a woman, she’s a witch,” he muttered, puzzled by Valen’s interest.
“She’s a mage,” Valen corrected in icy tones. “Mymage.”
“Yours?” Elias jerked his head up, his eyes wide with terror. Why the hell hadn’t someone told him? “I didn’t know, I swear. They don’t live in your Gyre.”
“Neither do you.”
Elias blinked in confusion, trying to read the male’s pale, perfect features. It didn’t look like he was teasing. In fact, he looked like he was considering the pleasure of draining Elias and leaving him to decay in the dank tunnel.
“I…” Elias licked his lips. “What?”
“Pack your bags and be out of the Gyre before nightfall.”
“For how long?”
