Page 29 of Tanglewood Legacy (The Three Sisters 3)
The men said their goodbyes, and Pierre strode back out into the street, heading for home. It was late and he was alone, but still, the feeling of being watched lingered. The length of his spine tingled with it, the feeling growing stronger. Was his pursuer closing in? Hell, if it was Isis, he needed to apologize. He’d pushed her away far too abruptly and assumed the worst of her. Yes, he feared what she’d done, but he’d been rash about the whole thing, and he needed to tell her as much.
Drawing a deep breath, he stopped within a weak pool of light cast from a street lantern and squinted into the darkness. “Isis?” he whispered loudly. “Are you there?”
Two glowing yellow eyes cut the darkness and then a woman stepped into view, but it was not Isis. Delphine Devereaux smiled at him, her appearance transformed from the last time he’d seen her, from lovely to otherworldly. Her skin was pale and abnormally smooth, red-painted lips stark against her fair complexion. Tucked into a dress of crimson velvet, dark curls piled effortlessly atop her head, she didn’t so much walk toward him as floated, her body moving unnaturally, weightlessly.
“Not Isis, I’m afraid,” she said. “Although we share a mutual friend. More my friend than hers these days.”
“Delphine?”
“Monsieur Baron, I’m so glad you’re here.” She flashed him a wicked smile. “You see, my sister is ill, and I think you can help her.”
Some part of his logical mind still wanted to reject what she was. How he longed to go back to a time when he could convince himself she was a normal woman. But another part of him, the part that retained ancient and untamed instincts, squirmed in discomfort at her proximity. His every cell screamedvampire.He’d believed Isis when she’d suggested as much, but this was different. He felt Delphine’s demon nature viscerally, as if he were staring at rotting flesh and not a woman who was so perfect she might have been carved from marble. Beautiful but wrong. Deadly. Repulsive. He took a step back.
“Have you taken her to see Dr. Viel? He’ll be able to help her.” Pierre took another step away from her, knowing that what Delphine wanted was not anything Viel could deliver, but desperately trying to distract her.
“Don’t sell yourself short, Pierre. I think you’re exactly what she needs.”
Seized from behind, Pierre turned to see the hands on his chest belonged to Lucienne, who’d attacked while he’d been distracted with Delphine. He struggled against her grip, but his efforts were in vain. Her strength was uncanny. Unlike Delphine, shelookedsickly, her hair caked with filth, her skin hanging from her bones, but somehow, her arms were as solid as any man’s. Stronger even. He turned back to Delphine, whose eyes bled from gold to bright red as her teeth extended into fangs.
“Relax, Pierre, and take it like aman.” She closed in as Lucienne’s teeth sank into his neck.
ChapterFourteen
Isis mopped her tears and felt like a foolish child. Alone in her room, she wept over the way Pierre had dismissed her and the fear she’d seen in his eyes. Her heart was broken, and she couldn’t even lean on her sisters for support. No way could she reveal to Medea all the things she’d shared with Pierre. She’d performed magic in his presence multiple times. She’d told him everything.
And she didn’t regret it.
The truth was, she was falling in love with the man. Desperately, she prayed to the goddess that he’d come to understand what she’d done to Allyette was necessary, and that he’d see her again.
Between her sobs, she could almost hear his voice crying out to her. She dabbed her eyes again, then held her breath, turning toward the mirror in the corner of her room. That was his voice! Pierre was in trouble!
She raced to the looking glass, the image of Pierre in the clutches of the Devereaux sisters revealing itself to her. “Oh Hades, no!”
With a twist of her wand, she called the shadows and materialized behind Delphine. She had to catch her breath. Lucienne’s mouth sucked at Pierre’s neck, his body pale and limp in her arms, as Delphine lapped from the same bite, catching the blood that her sister spilled.
“Ekdioko,”Isis bellowed, casting silver light at Pierre’s body. The resulting blast flung Delphine and Lucienne away from him as if by a mighty wind. Isis rushed forward and caught Pierre in her arms, immediately casting a protective ward around them. He was pale, so frightfully pale, but she noticed with no small relief that he was still breathing.
“Pierre? Say something!” She tapped his cheek with her palm, but his head only rolled to the side.
“You might as well feed the rest of him to us, witch,” Delphine said, hovering outside the protective ward that shimmered purple in a dome around them. “He’s too far gone. He’ll never survive.”
Isis locked eyes with the woman. “Why? Why would you do this?”
Delphine scoffed just as Lucienne came into view, her skin glowing with newfound energy. “He spoke of me to the wrong person. I didn’t like it.” She bared her fangs, and Isis cringed. “Did you think you were the only creature deserving of a life here? The only one who wants something better for herself and her family? I know you didn’t respect me as an equal when I was human, but if you know what’s good for you, you will now.”
“Pierre? Pierre?” She ran her fingers through his hair and over his face. He was so cold.
Delphine chuckled. “Don’t act like you care about the blood bag. The gods don’t worry about the plight of the ants, Isis.”
Clutching Pierre, Isis gnashed her teeth at Delphine and Lucienne. “What do you know of being a goddess? As far as I can see, you are nothing but a devil, a damned demon!”
“That’s rich, coming from you.”
Isis glared at Delphine, willing her to explain.
The vampire laughed, long and wicked. “I suppose I should thank you for sending Asmodeus my way after he visited us both the night we met on that ship. Those red eyes in the darkness. He came straight to me when you cast him aside, and I was more than happy to meet his needs.”
Sharp realization speared her chest and twisted. “Asmodeus made you what you are.”
