Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 125179 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 501(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125179 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 626(@200wpm)___ 501(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Swallowing hard, the aide did an honest to God’s curtsy and then left.
Ishtar stared at Wynter. “If you have falsely accused one of my aides—”
“What reason could she possibly have to do that?” asked Seth, folding his arms.
Ishtar gave him a look that questioned his intelligence. “So that Cain would suspect and turn on me, of course. She could be spurring him to kill me.”
Wynter narrowed her eyes. “If there ever comes a time when I want you dead, I’ll see to it myself—I don’t need anyone to do it for me. You know that.”
Ishtar’s eyelids flickered. Yeah, she knew it.
“Did you put your aide up to this?” Azazel asked the Ancient.
Ishtar’s face hardened. “Does it really make sense to you that at a time of great upheaval, when we are so close to gaining what we want and it is more necessary than ever that all the Ancients stick together, I would truly do something like that?”
Actually, no, it didn’t. Cain must have doubted it also because, well, he hadn’t yanked her head right off her body.
A knock came at the door, and Ishtar called for the new arrival to enter.
Shelia breezed inside with a cocky strut. “You called for me, Your Grace?” She idly let her gaze drift over the others in the room. When her eyes landed on Wynter, her face drained of color. Stark fear crossed her features and glittered in her eyes.
Wynter gave her a dark grin. “If you hadn’t been so keen to teleport away quickly, you would have noticed that things didn’t exactly go to plan for you or the vampires.”
Squinting in suspicion, Ishtar strolled toward the aide. “The witch is telling the truth?”
Shelia’s eyes widened. “No, of course not! She is Cain’s consort. I would never be so stupid as to anger an Ancient.”
Cain growled. “You lie.”
Shelia cast him a brief sideways look, her posture submissive. “I do not, I swear to you I do not.”
Cain’s brow hiked up. “So you are calling my consort a liar?”
“I am making no accusations, I am simply stating my innocence.”
Innocence my ass. “No one’s going to buy your bullshit, Shelia. You teleported me to the vampires, you advised them to shoot me in the leg to keep me weak, and you told me to enjoy my time with Adam. You allegedly also told the vamps that an iron bullet to the heart or brain would kill me. It may interest you to know that you were wrong.”
Shelia’s gaze clashed with hers. “I said no such thing to anyone—”
“Stop fucking lying!” Cain shouted, the words echoing with a power that Wynter felt in her bones.
Shelia jumped. “I swear I’m not.”
“Yes, you are,” said Ishtar, squinting. “I see it.”
Wynter blinked, shocked by the Ancient failing to take her aide’s side. If the faces of the other Ancients were anything to go by, they were equally surprised.
Shelia shook her head in denial.
“Why would you assist those vampires?” Ishtar demanded. “What did they offer you that convinced you to betray me in such a way?”
“I would never betray you,” Shelia swore.
Ishtar’s nostrils flared. “I will never understand why, but Cain took the witch as his consort. By delivering her to those vampires, you betrayed him. And to betray one Ancient is to betray them all.”
“I thought you’d want her gone!”
“If I wanted her gone, she would be gone.”
Wynter snorted. The Ancient really shouldn’t be so sure of that.
Shelia began to sob. “I’m sorry.”
“Your apologies are wasted,” Cain snarled. He sliced his gaze to Ishtar. “I won’t allow her to live.”
Ishtar jutted out her chin. “She is my aide. It is my right to punish her.”
Cain prowled toward her like a predator eager to battle another. “Do not test me. My consort could have died because of what she did. The right to end the bitch’s life is mine.”
“I cannot permit such an act to go unaddressed by me, or it would encourage others to believe they can take similar risks,” said Ishtar.
“Then you may punish her,” began Cain, “but the killing blow will be mine.”
Wynter would much rather that the killing blow was hers, but she knew he needed this; knew that he needed to avenge her in some way. And since she’d already taken care of the vampires, there was only the aide left to punish.
“I can agree to that,” Ishtar told him, surprising Wynter—the female Ancient wasn’t the most reasonable of people. “It will be a public execution. An example needs to be made of her.”
“Agreed,” said Cain.
Ishtar took a step toward him. “But let me be clear on this. I will not pay for Shelia’s betrayal. No matter what you might wish to believe, I did not put her up to this.”
Cain cocked his head in an almost wolf-like way. “Ishtar . . . if I’d thought you were behind this, you’d already be dead.”