“Fool,” the demon said, its voice a low growl. “I will tell my master of this and he will punish you.”
Andre laughed at that, closing the last few feet between the two of them. He placed his boot on the demon’s throat. The creature reached up, its claws ready to sink into Andre’s leg.
He pointed the gun. “We have the same enemies at the moment. If you cooperate, I will not send you back to hell.”
The demon stopped struggling and eyed him warily.
“Where is Gabrielle?”
The creature smiled. “Can’t say I know.”
Andre’s boot dug into the demon’s neck and he cocked the gun. “Try again.”
“She’s on this island somewhere.”
Still not good enough. He shifted his aim and shot the demon’s other kneecap.
The thing screamed, the sound not of this world.
“Where is she?”
The demon began to laugh. Andre could smell its blood seeping out. The wounds weren’t healing. It couldn’t fly, it couldn’t walk, it clearly felt pain, and yet it laughed at the prospect of more. “Beyond your reach, vampire.”
Andre should’ve stayed in that neighborhood.
He shot the demon point blank in the forehead, and the creature dissolved into smoke and ash.
Another dead end.
How to find Gabrielle before the others did?
Of course.
Andre pulled out his phone. There was one seer out there who cared about his soulmate, and she was going to help him find her.
Gabrielle
Their conjured car careened down the highway, headed for the city of Douglas.
Leanne’s phone buzzed. “About time,” she muttered. She pulled it out of her pocket, the car swerving as she did so, and brought it to her ears. “She’s safe and she wants to see you,” Leanne answered.
A beat of silence passed before the caller spoke. “Gabrielle’s with you?”
I stopped breathing at the sound of Andre’s voice. Goosebumps broke out along my skin. And then oxygen was rushing into my lungs and it felt like I was coming up for air for the first time all evening.
“Let me talk to him,” I said.
“Gabrielle.” Andre’s voice changed at the sound of my own.
“Neither of you gets to talk to the other,” Leanne said. “I’m not fucking with the future. Right now, Andre, you need to listen to me,” she said. “We’re heading to Douglas Cafe. Meet us there as soon as you can.”
“Is my mate alright?” Andre growled. “At the very least, you can tell me that.”
“She’s fine.”
“I’m trusting you with her life.”
I didn’t realize I’d been biting my lip until I tasted blood. I knew it was important to heed Leanne’s advice, but that didn’t make it easy. My surroundings all took on a rosy hue, and I blinked away the tears. It was wrong to love someone this much when they were no longer yours.
“I know,” Leanne said, “and I know what you do to people who betray that trust.”
“He eats them!” Oliver yelled oh-so-helpfully.
Andre sighed. I’d seeded that misconception—that vampires ate people—and Oliver had latched onto it with his normal enthusiasm.
Leanne pulled the phone away from her mouth. “Thanks for the visual, Oliver.”
Into the receiver she said, “Douglas Café in twenty.” Leanne clicked the phone off and blew out a breath, rumpling her hair. “I don’t know how you deal with that man, Gabrielle. He’s so … “
“Overbearing?” Oliver piped in. “Ridiculously protective? Scarily possessive? It’s okay, Leanne. We know he’s too much man for you to handle. It’s a good thing Gabrielle and I like strong men. And now that Sabertooth’s hitched to the lord of the Underworld, that frees up her honeypie for me.”
He was only joking, but my stomach flipped anyway because he was right. Andre was no longer mine, and there was nothing I could do about it.
Chapter 6
Gabrielle
Leanne, Oliver, and I waited in line, and when I got weird looks for my blood-spattered, spider-web dress and bare feet, Oliver shook his head. “Sabertooth, you’re stealing my thunder,” he said, patting his ice blond hair self-consciously. “It’s like … I don’t even exist next to your weird.”
“Someone’s going to recognize me,” I said. I’d seen the news crews stationed across the street from Castle Rushen.
“No one will act on it,” Leanne said, facing forward. “Guys, go sit down, I’ve got this.”
She ended up buying us all hot chocolates, bringing them over to the table we’d chosen, one nestled close to the back entrance where we’d parked our car. Outside it had started raining again, and it splattered against the window
The whole thing was so … normal, something I hadn’t had in a very long time. I couldn’t remember when exactly I had lost it.
“So,” Leanne said, “Tell us about it.”
“About what?” I looked at her, startled.
She lifted her hand and gestured to my getup. “The last time we saw you, the devil claimed you as his mate … and then the two of you disappeared.”