Page 64 of Beauty At Stake
I met Star's stare. “She was preparing for us.”
“She knew we were coming.”
“Or she could have been reacting to her vampire hunters getting captured,” Killian said. “She's smart—we know that. But how would she know we freed Losuc and that we'd follow her here?”
“True. Perhaps she was generally prepared,” I agreed.
“Let's hope that's the case,” Star said. “For now, I'm returning to Hell and putting the whole fucking planet on lockdown. She won't be able to do this to any more of my people.”
“You can do that?” Killian asked. “To the entire planet?”
“Of course.” He waved a hand at the freed Demons. “You may return to your homes. You'll be safe there.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty,” they said in unison. Then they bowed and laleked away.
As the ember rain of their passing fell, Star nodded at his guards. They laleked home as well.
“I'll be a few minutes,” Star said to us. “How long do you think you'll be here?”
“I don't know,” I said with a look toward the house. “Probably a while. I'll scry you if we decide to leave before you get back.”
“All right.” Star reached for me as he softly said, “Seren.” But then he glanced at Killian and dropped his hand. With a hissing curse, he vanished, embers billowing out from where he had stood.
Killian turned toward me, and I fully expected him to make a sassy comment about Star. Instead, he said, “How's about those Thai hunters? Holy shit, right?! What the actual fuck? I didn't know there were elephant fairies. And what was that fucking red horse thing? Was it just me or did it have a lion's head?”
I chuckled. “It did have a lion's head. And that lion was pissed.”
“No shit.” Killian grinned. “And a pegasus. Shit.”
Then the pegasus and harpy-man appeared beside us.
Killian shrieked like a girl, jumping away from them, and I bent over double in laughter.
Grimacing, Kill said, “I guess that's what I get for talking about people behind their backs.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
After I clothed the last two hunters in Light, we headed into the house. Kill and the hunters went in search of clothes, but Team Leader Sullivan called me over to a dining table where he had a laptop set up.
“Ambassador, we got the information on this property, but Thai land laws aren't as strict as those in America. The Witch used her fake identity to purchase the house.”
“She used that alias to buy a house?”
“It appears so.”
“When was the house bought?”
“Only a year ago.”
“A year ago,” I murmured. “So, she's been planning this for a year.”
“It looks likely. But let's not forget that she's part of a corporation. They could have been planning this for longer.”
“Damn. You're right. But it's looking less and less likely that she's just an employee. If anything, I think she runs the company. Someone with that kind of power wouldn't take orders from normal humans.”
“Unless they're all like her.”
“Son of a gun,” I muttered. “Let's hope not.” Then I asked, “Did you look into her alias yet?”
