“Your men failed me,” Vincent said as he paced in front of the two beasts kneeling before him. “They were supposed to completely dispatch of the entire village, and yet Terrenia now has new allies! Which is exactly what I was trying to avoid!” He tried to rein in his temper.
“The Phoenix showed up! They didn’t stand a chance!” Renly, Danu’s second-in-command, pleaded. The undertone of fear in his voice had Vincent’s temper snapping. He closed his fist and the Brute fell to the ground to expel his last breath.
He turned to the desert creature. “What do you have to say?”
“I am glad they killed them. Or I would have done it myself. We’s do not tolerate failure.”
“Good answer,” Vincent responded, and dismissed the beast.
“You sure showed him,” Monique offered sarcastically from her seat by the window. She was still dampened, and it was beginning to take its toll on her. She was intoxicated by her own magic. Unlike other magical creatures, the Sorceress’s magic was limitless. She felt no drain on herself, it just continued to build.
Vincent knew it was like playing chicken with a high-speed train, but if her magical buildup was just enough, perhaps when she finally snapped she would come around more to his way of thinking.
If not, she would die. It seemed like the only two options there were. He just hoped that if the latter came to pass, her magic would spread to the next powerful person in line. Himself.
“Come in,” Vincent said at the soft knocking on his door. Gwen stepped in and sneered at Monique.
“What’s she doing in here?” Gwen pouted.
Monique rolled her eyes and continued staring out the window.
“Nothing. Simply taking in the view of this lovely city.” He stood to walk around the desk and pulled Gwen in for a heated kiss that he hoped would stir some jealousy from Monique.
“I was hoping for a bit more than that,” Gwen said with a grin.
“Later.” He grabbed her butt and she squealed.
“Why not now? I don’t mind if she watches.” Gwen sneered.
“Please just kill me now,” Monique said sarcastically.
“Now ladies, perhaps you two can get along. Gwen, Monique is my guest, and I don’t put on sexual shows for my guests. Go and wait for me, I’ll be in shortly.”
Disappointed, Gwen nodded and left the room.
“You’re disgusting,” Monique said under her breath.
“You used to love me.”
“I was young and foolish. Soon that girl will realize what a monster you are and leave you too.”
Vincent bit back his anger and instead pulled her to her feet and marched her back to her room.
“You’re wrong,” he said, and slammed the door.
The second the door shut, Monique let the tears fall from her cheeks as she curled into a ball on the bed. Being here with him, having him so close and knowing that she couldn’t bring him back from what he’d done, was killing her. Even more so than not being able to use her magic to escape.
She knew that he was an evil man who had done unspeakable things, and yet a part of her still yearned for the young man who had stolen her heart so many years ago. Would she ever not miss him?
The door creaked open and Monique turned to see Gwen standing in the doorway, a sharp blade in her hands.
“I could kill you,” she said with a sneer.
“Sure, but how would your master feel about that?”
“He’d get over it. It would only take a little pleasure on my part to move him past it.” She grinned and Monique bit back the bile that rose in her throat. “You see,” she took a step further into the room and shut the door behind her, “you may have been his first, but I’m going to be his last, and you will not get in the way of that.”
Monique rolled her eyes. “I don’t want him. Why don’t you free me instead? I can leave and you can have him all to yourself again.”
Gwen’s mouth twitched, and Monique wondered if she wasn’t considering it. “Your mind games won’t work on me, witch. I know the second you’re free you will kill me so you can have him back. It won’t work if I kill you first.” She took another step closer and Monique wondered if this was truly how she was going to die.
She didn’t possess the energy to fight Gwen off if she did choose to attack. Monique only hoped that what she’d seen would still come to pass even if her death came at the hand of this manicured psycho.
The door opened suddenly. “What are you doing in here?” the tattooed man who entered asked.
“Girl talk.” Gwen smiled, but he had already seen the knife.
“Get out.”
“You seriously think you can order me around?”
“I think if you kill her you are going to find yourself dead as well.” He looked her up and down. “And I rather like your pretty face the way it is.”
Monique wanted to vomit, or die—either way, she had no interest in this conversation.
Gwen turned back to her. “Stay away from him or I’ll finish what he couldn’t all those years ago,” she warned, and stepped from the room.
Once again, Monique fell back onto the mattress, exhausted and wondering just how she was going to get herself out of the prison she was in.
* * *
Vincent paced the hall. You should just kill her now, the voice inside his head told him. It had been years since he had heard it, and he wondered what part of him was awake now that hadn’t been before. Was it possible that it was because of Monique and the way she affected him? Why is she still alive? “Because I am weak!” he yelled to no one. “I can’t kill her when I still love her.” You tried to kill her all those years ago, and you loved her then. “That was different.” He ran his hands over his face. “There is nothing standing in my way now, she is dampened and no longer is a threat.” You won’t be thinking that when you find yourself lying in a pool of your own blood.
“Carmen and Anastasia are the only real threats now, and I will take care of them tonight.” He rubbed his hands together as the plan formed in his mind. Yes, the voice agreed, and Vincent smiled. He pulled his door open and stuck his head out. “Gage!” he yelled.
The response took longer than Vincent would have liked, and he had to bite back his anger.
“Yes?” Gage came down the hall and stopped in front of his door.
“Go get Anderson and come back here, quickly.”
Gage nodded and headed back down the hall. He returned only minutes later with the arrogant tattooed man from the other day. Vincent had decided it might be worth learning the names of his followers if for no other reason than to push that fear a little bit further into their minds.
“I have a job for you two, and I don’t think I need to remind you what’s at risk if you screw it up,” he said to Gage.
Gage instantly straightened. “No, master, you do not. That’s right, you fucker, the voice said, worship and fear me.