So many things we aren’t “supposed to” do.
“Don’t lie to her.” It was the other woman’s voice…the witch. Another being that Lila was supposed to stay far away from because a witch was a dark paranormal. “Don’t give her false hope. We’re all dying in this hell.” She came toward the bars of her cell. Her beautiful face showed sympathy as she looked at Lila. “Better go ahead and accept it now.” Her hands lifted. She had such gorgeous coffee cream skin. When Lila had first met the witch, the other woman had seemed to glow with power. Her whole body had seemed to shine with an inner light. But that light had been fading. Slowly, day by day.
“I’m not lying,” the muse shot back, sounding annoyed. “I’m trying to inspire. It’s kind of my thing, you know.”
The witch laughed.
The witch and the muse. She thought they might be friends, of a sort.
“Your thing is to screw with the minds of mortals,” the witch threw back. “Don’t even try that shit with us.”
Maybe they weren’t friends.
Lila cleared her throat. “Our captor…he’s human. Why doesn’t your ‘thing’ work on him?”
There was silence, and she thought the muse wouldn’t answer her. She shouldn’t have spoken. They knew just how different from them she truly was. They were dark paranormals, bound to Luke Thorne, while she was tied to his twin brother, the Lord of the Light.
Tied to Leo.
Or…to the “dick” as the muse had called him.
Though she didn’t think he was a dick. Leo was her friend. When she’d first been taken, Lila had been so sure that Leo would come find her. But the days had slipped by.
He hadn’t appeared.
“I can’t do my ‘thing’ on him,” the muse muttered, “because he’s already obsessed enough. Why do you think we’re all here?”
“I have no idea.” No, that wasn’t true. He’d been taking her power away, one feather at a time. “I thought he wanted our magic.”
“Oh, he does.” The witch laughed. “But he wants it because he has a purpose. A plan.”
“What plan?”
“This is just going to make her cry more,” the muse warned. She seemed to be scolding the witch.
The witch backed away from her bars.
“Ignore her,” the muse ordered. She flashed Lila a smile.
She’s beautiful, too. All muses were supposed to be beautiful. It was part of their charm. Leo had said creatures like the muse were beautiful on the outside, but rotten on the inside.
The muse didn’t seem rotten, though.
“The witch is mad,” her voice carried easily to Lila, “because the jerkoff who took us locked down her magic. She’s too weak to crack a spell and get our sorry asses out of this place.”
The witch began cursing. Very inventive curses.
The muse laughed.
“I need a fourth,” the witch muttered. “Air, fire, earth, and wind. If I could get all that, we’d be in business.”
“I’m guessing the angel counts as air…” The muse tapped her foot. “What are you, witch? Fire?”
“No, that’s you. You burn right through a man’s soul, leaving only obsession in your wake.”
The muse glanced down. “You say it like I have a choice.”
Lila frowned.
“I’m wind,” the witch said. “My power blows down my enemies. When I’m not fucking imprisoned by a freak.”
Lila licked her lips. “What…what kind of being would be your earth?”
The muse replied, “Probably someone who’s been dead. Earth to earth, ashes to ashes and all that jazz.”
Nervously, Lila slipped back a step. “And what happens if we do get a fourth?”
The witch laughed. “I make hell come to town.”
That didn’t sound good.
“Want to know the other option, sweet angel?” The witch’s voice had dropped. “The other option is that the jerkoff kills us all. Because he is never going to let us go. He does have a plan, and for that plan to work, he’s going to destroy us.”
She stopped retreating. Her wings curled closer to her body.
“When the time comes…” the witch stared at her with dark eyes. “Will you fight with us?”
Angels weren’t supposed to fight. Her chin lifted. “Yes.”
Chapter Nine
“That little one-on-one didn’t go so well, did it?” Rayce murmured.
Julian had just marched back into the main house. He paused in the doorway, glaring at the wolf who was his semi-friend.
“I ask because well…you came back in without the girl.”
“She’s not a girl. She’s a woman.”
“Right. Yes, absolutely. I mean you came back in without the sexy vampire who—” His words broke off because Julian had lunged forward and grabbed the guy by the throat. Julian shoved Rayce against the nearest wall. Rayce’s flailing hands hit a table and a vase crashed.
Luke would be pissed. So what?
“Watch what you say about her.” He eased his hold, just enough for Rayce to speak.
“What’s wrong with what I said? The woman is gorgeous! She’s sexy as all hell. I’ve always had a thing for women with bite and—”