~ TWENTY-TWO ~

Judging Amber’s response, Jessie knew she was truly Tobias’s sister. Even through an illusion of Amber, Guss would’ve never admitted to being weaker than Tobias. She couldn’t stand back and do nothing to help Tobias’ sister. “Where is he taking her?”

“It doesn’t matter to you. You can’t help her. You don’t even have any hope of helping yourself.”

She decided to use his ego to distract him and buy a little extra time as she expanded her mind to reach for Tobias. “I know. You’re very powerful.”

“She has known Oliver for many years. I am sure they’ll have a good time getting reacquainted.”

“May I ask a question?”

“If you must.”

“I’ve many things to learn. Is he as powerful as you?”

“Oliver?”

She nodded. Unable to detect Tobias nearby, she reached further.

“He’s nothing. He’s a wolf. She would’ve easily overpowered and destroyed him if I hadn’t disabled her.”

“I’ve been to one of your spiritual awakening retreats. You have some amazing powers and abilities.”

“You came to find your friend.”

“At first. But then, after sticking around for a few days, I saw why she chose to follow you.”

“You ran off and never returned.”

“I betrayed your trust by attending your meetings under false pretenses. You’re the closest thing to a god. I felt too unworthy to receive your forgiveness.”

 “You’re lying to me.”

“Not at all.” She shrugged. “But I understand why you believe I am.”

“I intend to kill Tobias today.”

She continued to reach for Tobias. She couldn’t allow Amber to be killed without trying to get help. “You need Tobias to show up to kill him. If you let Amber go, I will call him to me.”

“I’ve no reason to barter with you to get him here. I brought you here. He will come to witness your death.”

She lifted her head, her gaze colliding with his. His eyes were black, including the whites, glowing with flecks of red flickering flames. “You might kill me, but you will never kill him.”

“I don’t need to touch him to kill him. I only need to kill you. It’s an easy thing considering you’re a pathetic human. It’s funny to think that killing one human is all it’ll take to destroy a demon rumored to be entirely invincible.”

“He won’t allow you to kill me.”

“He can’t stop me. I could kill you with a thought. With a simple wave of my hand I could turn your body inside out.”

“Prove it.”

He laughed, a sickening echo of the tainted beliefs and desires filling his vile, twisted mind. “Not until he’s here to watch you die. He’s your mate. He belongs to you. You belong to him. He has no life without you. He will follow you.”

She smiled at him. “But first, I am sure he will make sure you’ve been punished.”

“He won’t last long enough.”

She took a deep breath and released it with a sigh. “I am curious, what do you think he would consider a proper punishment for the crime of killing his mate? I am sure he will come up with some brilliant ideas to make sure you suffer greater agony and pain than you intend to make me endure. You just don’t seem to be the creative type.”

“He will not have the will to fight me after your dead. He will beg me to kill him.”

“You’re wrong. I haven’t known him for as long as you have known him, but I’m pretty damn sure he will not allow my death to go unavenged. He’s going to fry your ass.”

“He cannot kill me. He’s weak. He’s pathetic. He was created to be a god. And yet, he chooses to live as a protector and servant to lesser beings.”

“How so?”

He stared down at her for a few seconds. His cold, dark, lifeless gaze seemed to penetrate her soul as he studied her face. “Your species and others would’ve died out long ago, if it had not been for demons like him interfering and intervening to prevent humans and other lower life forms from dying out.”

“I am confused. If you’re such an almighty powerful god, why are you so threatened by humans and what you refer to as lower life forms?”

“You’re trying to piss me off. You want me to kill you before he gets here. It won’t work. I’ve waited hundreds of years for this moment. Come to me.”

Against her will, she stood up and, her leg hurting like hell, she started to move toward Guss. She didn’t have any control over her body. It was like everything was moving in slow motion. She tried to stop, but she couldn’t.

“There are many ways to torture you, to drag out your death.”

“I am not afraid of pain. I am not afraid of death.”

Guss grabbed her by the throat and threw her. Landing face first, she turned onto her back to face him. Using his body weight to pin her to the floor, he squeezed her throat, his fingers digging deep gouges. Then, keeping his hands clenched around her throat, he lifted her and smashed her body against the wall with enough force to crack and shatter bricks and mortar.

***

The instant Amber felt Wes’ presence, she allowed her mind to merge with his. What took you so long to find me? Didn’t you miss me a little?

Ask me after I put you over my knee and spank your ass.

He was close. I really need your help, Wes.

I’m coming to you.

No. Not me. Jessie is in this damn thing somewhere. Guss has her. You need to go to her right now. I can handle this idiot.

I am your mate. I am coming to you.

He’ll kill her.

Tobias is here. He’s looking for her. He’ll take care of her.

She felt his mind merge deeper with hers. He sensed her physical pain and he was searching for the source of it.

Show me. At his mental prompting, she glanced down at her wound. You’ve been poisoned.

No shit.

She felt his power, his strength wrapping around her, filling her.

Don’t try to merge any deeper with me. It hurts like a bitch.

Give it to me. You’re holding on to it.

No. It’s really…

Give me the goddamn pain, Amber. Do it, now.

She looked up at the sudden burst of storm clouds overhead. “Your day is about to take a terrible turn.”

Oliver looked up at the stormy sky and growled.

“Growling?” She laughed. “That’s hilarious. You know damn well you can’t use psychological warfare against a demon.”

Tilting his head to the side, he stared at her for a few seconds. “I am not scared of Tobias. He can’t do shit to me.”

Amber laughed. “He could wad you up and use you to wipe his ass if he wanted to defile himself.”

Broken, partially decayed fangs lengthening, his glowing, blood-red eyes locked onto hers. “Guss has Tobias’ mate. He won’t come to you first.”

“Wow. It’s not just Guss. You’ve also been guzzling tainted blood.” She pointed at the sky. “You look so pleased with yourself that I almost regret bursting your happy bubble by telling you that’s not Tobias.”

“It isn’t?”

She shook her head. “But don’t feel too sad. I’m sure Tobias is around somewhere. Unfortunately, I don’t think you’re going to be around long enough to see him.”

For the first time ever, she realized how deeply she loved Wes. And she realized how deeply he loved her.

My charm is finally getting to you.

She laughed.  Your charm is not what I need right now.

“Who is it?”

“Wes Corbett. You remember him, don’t you?” She smiled. “Just kidding. I’m sure you do. After all, just a few years ago, you had a run in with him. Didn’t he have a talk with you about staying out of trouble. He put you on puppy probation. He’s going to be mad as hell when he finds out what you’ve done with your second chance.”

“He wouldn’t come here for you,” he hissed. “He’s too busy fucking around with humans.”

“He wouldn’t be much of a mate if he willingly abandoned me in my time of need.”

I am most definitely making progress with you if you’re admitting our union aloud.

I never said I like you.

“You’re lying.”

“A mate simply does not look away when his or her mate is in distress. It’s in the official manual that explains what to expect when you happen to find yourself in the position of being a demon’s mate.”

“There’s no book.”

“Try selling that notion to a male demon.”

“He’s not your mate.”

“I suppose you could try to convince him that he’s full of crap, but I doubt he’ll listen. I’ve tried many times. He’s stubborn as hell, and…oh, damn, Oliver.” She waved her hand in front of her face. “Did you just shit yourself? Do you need a minute to change your underpants?”

He shoved himself away from the wall and lunged for her, but he was thrown back by an invisible force.

“And just like that,” she snapped her fingers, “my hope is dashed to bits. It’s obvious Wes doesn’t plan to give you a chance to explain anything. For a second, I truly thought you would be the one to convince him to move on and look elsewhere for his mate.”

It’s never happening.

You never know.

“I know.” Wes came up from behind. He glanced at her as he headed straight for Oliver. “Do you want to try to convince me that Amber isn’t my mate?”

“No…I don’t…I…”

Heart pounding with a surge of adrenaline, Amber jumped to her feet and got in front of him, palms flat against his chest attempting to stop him. “Don’t you dare kill him.”

Luckily, since she had no hope of physically forcing him to stop, he did so rather than mow her over. He growled, a deep, ominous sound as he looked down at her. His black, ice-cold gaze moved over her face, searching for something.

He smiled. Then, wrapping his arm around her, he pulled her to his side, lifted his other arm and sent a bolt of lightning through the center of Oliver’s forehead. A few seconds later, his head exploded into flames.

“Damn it.” She shoved him, hard. “Damn you, Wes.”

He didn’t move. He didn’t budge an inch.

“Guss has Jessie. We needed to get him to tell us where.”

“I took it from his brain before I incinerated it. I have the information,” he pointed at his head, “up here.” He smiled at her, completely unapologetic.

“You’re such an asshole.”

“Shouldn’t you be more thankful. I just saved your ass.”

“What about Tobias?”

“I passed the information to him.”

“Let’s go help him. I think she’s actually trying to prevent Tobias from finding her.”

“Are you strong enough to keep going?”

“I can take a nap later. The son of a bitch plans to kill my brother’s mate.”