“And, to think, I considered sparing you. No, I guess Sindarys can now watch his lover die first,” Catherine spat before another blast caught me off guard. The next thing I knew, I was flat on my back, staring up at the night sky.
“That’s it, bitch,” I said as I leapt to my feet. My body ached where the energy had struck, but I was otherwise unhurt. “I don’t risk my neck every night just so I can deal with psychos like you.” With a nasty look at Arys, I added, “Next time you leave someone for dead, make sure they actually are dead, first.” With great self-restraint, I held back on shooting a slap of power at him.
Catherine gaped open-mouthed at me. “I knew you wouldn’t understand, not until he does it to you. He’ll take all you have to give until nothing remains that isn’t bitter and cold.”
“Only if I let him. Which from the looks of you, isn’t going to happen.” I saw her twitch, and with a snap of my fingers, an energy circle formed around me.
“This is between you and me, Catherine,” Arys spoke up, his tone was furious as he wiped the dirt from his jeans. “If you want to finish this, then I’m ready. Leave Alexa out of this.”
He shocked me by approaching the angry vampiress and grasping her tightly by both upper arms. He shook her hard enough to cause her to stumble into his lean frame.
“She should have goddammed told me!” Catherine’s voice rose into a yell, and she fought to escape his grip.
She had a point. I should have told her that it would be a conflict of interest as soon as I saw his photo. But, I’d been curious, and my personal interests won out.
“Any woman I take to my bed is none of your damn business. It never has been.” Arys’s voice grew in its intensity, and pulsating anger swept through him. I could feel it from where I stood.
“Of course not. That’s so very typical of you, Sindarys. Still very much the womanizing man-whore I see, even consorting with beasts now. I thought you enjoyed your women with a tasty, preferably dead, ending.”
“What I enjoy is a woman who knows how to stay dead, at least in memory anyway.” Arys spit the words into her face.
Even my guts hurt when I saw her face fall. I felt like I’d been kicked in the stomach. I took a clumsy step forward as if to break the painfully awkward moment. Unfortunately, it also broke the shield that I’d created.
Catherine’s attack was instant. She didn’t even look at me. Spitting dirt, I was on my feet again in a matter of seconds.
“Well shit, Cat!” I ground dirt between my teeth and lashed out at her simply from sheer spite, but she was ready for it. She escaped Arys with another assault against us both.
Now that Arys had successfully hurt and humiliated her, she had nothing left to lose. The onslaught of power that descended upon me in an offensive storm had me scrambling to create another circle. The atmosphere around us grew tight with all of us pushing the limits and laws of nature. Dammit, her power source had to have a limit.
Arys gave up the metaphysical fight and launched himself at her. The two of them went down, sprawled in a heap of fists and fangs like a wolf fight.
Any kind of energy attack risked Arys, so for the moment, I only watched because I sure as hell was not jumping in.
“Stop trying to force yourself on me,” he growled into her face. “How many more centuries will you stalk me before I’m forced to extinguish you? This ends now.”
Her sharp nails raked his face, and her pitifully small fists beat at his chest as he hovered over her, lying in the dirt. A struggle ensued, and they grappled until Arys held her tightly by the wrists.
“Have I ever been anything more to you than a nuisance?” Catherine never ceased struggling beneath Arys but from the way she wriggled her skinny ass, I guessed that she was trying to jog his memory. I rolled my eyes. I should have walked away and left them to it.
“Baby, a nuisance is all you’ll ever be. You’re backing me into a real corner here, you know.” Arys’s tone was low and smooth but as deadly as they come. “You’re starting to take my options away. Pretty soon, I’m going to be forced to finally do away with you.”
He said it so easily that I knew he would do it with no regrets. What did that say about how he looked at me?
“Do it then,” she hissed. “It’s about time you finish what you started. You killed me long ago. Finish the job, my love.”
She leaned up just enough to brush his lips with hers, and I choked on the jealousy that was becoming too commonplace for my liking. I watched in extreme discomfort as Arys returned her kiss.
My attention was momentarily distracted by the vibrations of my cell phone in the front pocket of my jeans. A quick glance revealed a text message from Shaz that read simply, ‘If you don’t reply in two minutes, I’m coming to look for you.’