The Prince was watching us closely. His eyes moving from my red face to hers, which showed not an ounce of remorse. I wasn’t as attached to Chandra like I was the others in my small coven. If she spoke, I'd take her out and while I hated doing so she knew the rules. She'd taken the same oath I had, the one to protect our coven by every means.
“Who does she work for?” Ryder gently asked Chandra who looked only too willing to give up who I was and why I had come.
“She’s the—”
I closed my eyes, feeling a slight twinge of regret as I did the only thing I could to prevent her from pointing blame at the Guild.
She coughed violently, as I sent my dark magic inside her with a whisper, seeking her lungs with thousands of needles that would stop air from entering her lungs. It wouldn't be completely painless but I was trying to make it a clean death, so she wouldn’t suffer more than she had to. She cried out as blood exploded from her lungs, flowing freely from her lips seconds before she suffocated and collapsed to the floor with a soft thud.
The Dark Prince watched with mock amusement on his hard beautiful face, his golden eyes rising from her crumpled form to my face. I couldn’t look away from Chandra. She had panicked and given me no other choice but to take her life. She was dying slowly, drowning on blood that had filled her lungs—because of me.
“You killed her?” He asked surprised, but I ignored him.
For what seemed like minutes after Chandra had slumped onto the floor cold and lifeless I continued to push dark magic inside of her, until Adam spoke low and leveled calling me by code to keep our names secret. “Mag's, stop she’s dead.”
Her dark brown hair was now taking on an angry red tint from the blood that still flowed from her lips to create a pool around her face. I'd done what I was taught, I'd had no choice. I kept telling myself this over and over inside my head as my heart increased its rate at what I had just done—I'd killed her.
Guilt crept up my spine. I hated killing, even if I was good at it. To talk of the Guild, or tell a mark who sent us was treason. If you got caught, you went silently to your death as I would surely do now at the hands of this deadly Fae.
“Mag's, look at me,” Adam said gently but firmly.
I raised my eyes meeting his gentle green eyes. His hair was covered in perspiration and clung wildly to his face. His face showed no fear, no anger for the kill, just acceptance. “Blood oath Syn. You had no choice."
“It was a good kill, painless.” I choked on bile with each word, “Hecate, keep her safe.” I felt hot angry tears push against my eyes again. "Exussum, Chandra," I said the word focusing as I pushed enough power into the words, drawing from the limited reserve I now had after pulling from dark magic.
Smoke billowed from the body inches from my feet. And then flames erupted from her body and the ferociously awful smell of putrid flesh misted the air. I raised my eyes from Adam's comforting face to the Dark Princes and found him still watching me.
Intense eyes met and held mine, a look of respect and awe entered them fleetingly before he turned to look at Adam. He waved the gun away with a magicians flourish and placed his wide hands on his hips and shook his head, as if he was trying to piece together why I’d killed her.
I coughed and choked on the smoke billowing up from her body. Flesh burning is something you never get used to, no matter how many times you have smelled it before. The smoke burned my eyes causing water to rush from them.
“That was…interesting,” Ryder said stepping up to face Adam who also hadn’t taken his eyes from me.
“Mag's…” He whispered placing all his love into his voice.
“Who is it you work for?” Ryder asked Adam.
“Go to hell Fairy,” he growled still watching me.
Ryder brought his fingers up to pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration. Shaking his head, he turned and looked directly at me. His eyes taking in everything about me so slowly that I couldn’t miss his intentions. “Bring her down Ristan, place her on the bed.”
I fought down the surge of panic that threatened to seize control of my brain with his words. He was Fae. He could seduce and feed on me until I told him everything. He could take away my mind and will with his skillful fingers, leaving a shell of who I had once been.
The Demon moved closer, his oily magic slithering over my skin leaving me helpless against its deadly touch. The chains they had used must have been spelled with magic to keep me from escaping.
Instead of undoing the chains, he released them from the hook leaving me locked inside their manacles and kept from using blood magic. I exhaled, accepting the fate that was to come with a surprising calmness I shouldn’t have felt.