“I’m not marrying him,” I repeated.
“You are if you want your friend to live.”
I went rigid. “Caleb? Where is he? What have you done to him?”
“He’s safe, so long as you cooperate.”
This all had the horrible echo of Samhain. But unlike Samhain, I didn’t have Leanne to help me figure this one out, nor did I have Cecilia working behind the scenes to save my life. The devil had upped his game, and I was on my own.
“You are going to cooperate?” she asked.
I hesitated, then nodded. I couldn’t do it again, couldn’t allow others to sacrifice themselves so that I could live a bit longer before I met the devil.
“Why does he want me so badly?” I asked.
“You’ve been fated to be together for a very long time, and he’s impatient to make you his.”
Ugh, barf in my mouth. “Why would he care about me at all?” I asked. “He’s the devil.”
“He’s Pluto,” she corrected me, “and he is not all evil.”
“Agree to disagree,” I mumbled.
“It doesn’t matter. Within the hour, you’ll be his.”
Chapter 25
“Fuck, shit, goddamnit, bloody-fucking hell.” Andre kept going.
There was an accident, a huge goddamned accident, blocking the one road they needed to take to get to Hoia Baciu. Even now he could hear the crunch of metal as cars ahead of him slammed on their brakes a second too late.
The fairy whistled. “That’s not good.”
Andre ran his hands through his hair. His options were limited at this point. Every moment they lost now brought Gabrielle closer to death.
He stared at the pileup in front of him. Even as he watched, he heard the skid of cars behind him, and the crunch of metal as they slammed into one another. The wreckage was only getting worse with each passing second. It was a small miracle they hadn’t hit his car—yet. Other than completely abandoning his vehicle, he could only think of one alternative.
Andre opened his car door up and got out, crossing his fingers that no one would total his car before he had the chance to get back in it.
“What are you doing?” the fairy called after him.
Andre didn’t bother looking behind him when he answered. “Clearing the road.”
My throat seized up. Within the next hour? I began yanking against the ties, not caring that the enemy sat next to me.
“Don’t bother,” Morta said, “those bindings are enchanted. Only I can remove them.”
Still I struggled. What other option did I have?
Morta sighed. “It’s always got to be hard with you, doesn’t it?”
“You don’t know anything about me,” I snapped.
“I know everything about you, mortal, and it’s best you don’t forget it. I am doing you a kindness, making you into a queen and a goddess.”
“You can take those titles and shove them up—”
The air shifted, and then Morta’s hand connected with my cheek, whipping my head to the side. The sound of the slap echoed throughout the room long before the pain blossomed.
“We’re done here.” The bed rocked as Morta stood up.
“Wait!” I begged. I wasn’t ready to die.
Her footfalls moved away from me.
“Fate can’t be the only reason he wants me!” I yelled after her.
Her footfalls stopped. “You’re right, it isn’t. You tip the scales in his favor.”
Your lifeblood drips, the scales tip.
“In favor of what?” I called after her, dread settling into my bones.
The door clicked shut in response, and she was gone.
Once he’d moved the cars aside, Andre got back into his own. Some idiot driver had ended up ramming into his car from behind. What was that, two accidents and a busted steering wheel all within a week? Even for him that was an impressive amount of damage.
But it didn’t matter. Andre would wreck all of his cars getting to Gabrielle if he had to. He stepped off the clutch and shifted the car into first.
He could feel the fairy’s eyes on his face.
“What?” he said.
“You moved those cars … with your bare hands.”
“And?” he asked, shifting gears.
The fairy raised his eyebrows and began fanning himself, his leg jiggling furiously. “Lucky fucking siren,” he said, under his breath.
Andre gunned the engine, letting off only a little when the car lost traction. He cast a glance at Oliver. “Not lucky, fairy. Cursed.”
“Please,” I begged at the door, willing the fate to return. “I promise to be respectful if you come back.”
I listened.
Nothing.
I growled out my frustration. Damn my bound legs. I doubt Morta had even locked the door. Not when I’d have to roll my way out of here. Which was tempting … but no.
I scooted up to the bed’s headboard and leaned against it. Morta hadn’t slipped the gag back on me, and that was a mistake I was going to fully exploit. She might be immune to my voice, but anyone else in the area wouldn’t be.
I cleared my throat. Did I want to do what I was considering? If it didn’t work, I might end up worse off.
Worse off than dying and marrying the devil?
I leaned my head back as a hum built in the back of my throat. Tendrils of my power snaked to the surface of my skin. The siren was awake, and she was a formidable monster when I embraced her carnal cruelty.
A smile curled along my lips as my power built. What I was about to do would be different from the glamour I’d used in the past.
Tonight, the siren was going to sing.
“Stop here,” Oliver said.
Andre pulled onto the shoulder of the road, and he and the fairy got out. He nodded to the back of his car, where he’d stashed extra weaponry. “Might be a good idea to arm yourself, fairy.”
Rather than responding, the fairy leaned inside the car and grabbed a gun from the back seat.
He held the gun up to the light, a gleeful smile forming along his lips. “Now I am one badass bitch,” he said, posing with it. “Is it loaded?”
Andre nodded, leaning inside the car to grab the weapons he couldn’t wear while he drove.