Page 97 of Beauty At Stake
Face bloody, the Pack Vex kissed the sorceress. I gawked for a second as my mind slammed the pieces together—how the sorceress always seemed prepared for us, how Rue disappeared right after we made a new plan, the way he fought with Kill, that short bathroom break of his, and how Rue led me right into that trap. The clues had been there, but Rue was a vex, and I'd given him the same trust that I gave extinguishers and hunters. I should have been more suspicious after Malai’s treachery. Anyone can turn on you. Look at what I'd done to my husbands.
Speaking of husbands, I reached for Killian even as I processed Rue's betrayal. Kill mattered more to me than some traitorous Witch.
“Kill!” I screeched.
“Oh, shut up,” Sarai huffed. “He's fine.” She bent and locked a manacle around Killian's ankle. A thick chain bolted it, like mine, to the cement floor. “It was just a sleeping powder.”
“You fucking traitor,” I said to Rue. “I hope she's phenomenal in bed because you have no pack now. Lone wolf forever. Enjoy the solitude, motherfucker.”
Rue winced and even under all that blood—blood that made me feel a tiny bit better—he paled. A wolf with no pack was not a happy puppy. I'd hung out with a Pack Witch before. I knew a little about them. Just enough to salt his traitorous, festering wound.
“Don't listen to her. I'll fix things with your people.” Sarai wiped the blood off Rue's face. “And we have each other.”
Rue grunted as he looked back at her. “I love you, Mate.”
Mate. Oh, fuck. That explained it. He thought she was his mate. I wouldn't be surprised if she had enchanted him to think that. But either way, he was still a traitor.
“I love you too. Thank you for helping me.” Sarai stroked Rue's broad chest.
“It was for us. For our future.”
She nodded. “After Beauty Forever becomes the ultimate name in the cosmetics industry, we'll be able to live however we want and go wherever we want.”
Rue grinned.
“Pathetic,” I muttered. “Pussy over pack.”
“As if you wouldn't do the same for one of your husbands,” Rue said to me. “I've heard you say as much, Ambassador.”
I snorted. “Touche. I would.” Then my grin went feral. “And they would do even more for me. So enjoy your victory while it lasts. They'll be here any minute. And then you'll see firsthand what real love is.”
Rue bared his teeth at me.
I bared mine back at him.
But it was Sarai who answered. “I'm sorry to put a dent in your confidence, Ambassador Seren. But no one will find you here. I've got a hakhil over my property. Oh, and Rue registered this property under his alias, not mine. So even your little human hackers won't be able to find us.”
“Seren!” Daxon's voice came through my comm device.
Holy shit! That thing still worked under a hakhil? I schooled my expression and hoped Rue's keen wolf ears wouldn't pick up my husband's voice. I had to keep them talking to drown him out. So, I refocused. What was she saying? Oh, right. She has a hakhil. Hold on.
“You summoned another Demon?”
Sarai grinned.
“That's not possible,” I said. “Hell is on lockdown. You can't summon anyone.”
“Shh!” I heard Star's voice, even softer than Daxon's. “Her captor might hear you!”
“Seren, hold on, baby,” Dax whispered. “Star will find you.”
But I couldn't turn on the comm to respond. I could only listen to two conversations at once. And they could only hope that I was hearing them. Shit.
“Not every Demon was home when their king laid his protection over the planet,” Sarai said. “A few stragglers were on Earth, doing their little Demon jobs. Keeping the balance. Tempting humans to evil and all that. I snagged one before he left.”
I just stared at her.
“Shit!” Daxon hissed. “Star can't find you. Where are you, Seren?”
