Page 93 of Bound

“You were sad and sweet and potentially very selfish.” Istrapped my shoulder holster on. “Your life wasn’t as good there as you have ithere. I’m actually worried about what you, the other you, is going to do withthat computer.”

Dante looks vaguely pleased. “Probably something incrediblyevil. I always thought I’d make a good super villain.”

I check the .357. The weight feels good in my hands.“Speaking of villains, tell me the blonde bitch who’s trying to kill myhusbands is Liadan.”

“Is that the chick Beck’s been banging?” He quickly correctshimself. “I mean was banging before he met his one true love and started beingcompletely faithful?”

I should have expected Dante will always back his cousin up.“You’re a good wingman. And yes, I’m talking about Beck’s ex-honey. Please tellme I get to kill her.”

Dante takes a long gulp of Scotch. When he looks back, I seethe fear in his clear eyes. “If she doesn’t kill you first. She’s quitehorrible. I saw her face, her real face. I wish I didn’t have to see it again.”

I place the .357 Magnum in the holster and reach for thejacket the vampire offered me. It’s too big, but it will keep me dry. “Youdon’t have to. You point me in the right direction, and I’ll take care of her.It’s my responsibility, not yours. You’ve done your job.”

Those clear green eyes roll back. “Stuff it, sweetheart.Don’t give me the lone warrior routine. I’m still a freaking vampire, and Ihave my pride. Besides, my cousins would kick my ass if they found out I senttheir wife in to face a hag and her nasty cat while I stayed safe and dry in mytent. I’m going with you, and that’s that. Now, since we’ve gone ahead andacknowledged that we’re about to die, how about some end-of-the-world sex? Ifwe’re going out, we should go out with a bang and a really good orgasm.”

I pointedly zip up the jacket. “You’re worried Beck and Ciwill be upset if you send me in alone, but you think they’ll be okay with alittle infidelity?”

“It’s for a good cause,” Dante explains innocently.“Besides, if they don’t understand and we happen to survive and they happen tosurvive, then the ass-kicking I get will be totally worth it. And if you doanal, that would make my impending death so much more meaningful.”

“I might shoot you myself,” I promise as I pull the hood up,covering my head.

“What are you going to shoot me with?” Dante zips up his ownjacket. “And what was that cool-looking toy you hid in your jacket?”

I stop and stare at the vampire, trying to figure out ifhe’s joking. “You don’t know what a gun is?”

“No.” Dante pulls the hood of his jacket over his red-goldhair. “What does it do?”

If the vampires don’t have guns, then there’s no way Liadanwill know what’s coming.

“They kill people, my friend.” A deep satisfaction settlesinside my soul. Finally, I have the upper hand. “And here’s something evenbetter. I’ll make you a deal. If you manage to survive, I’ve got a present foryou. I brought back three bottles of the strongest sunscreen from the Earthplane. I’m sure that one of those brilliant vampire scientists will be able toreverse engineer something from them.”

Dante’s eyes light up. “Oh, yeah, they can, and I’ll be theone who brought it to them. This is going to get me out of refurb hell. Nice.I’m totally going to live. Profits are on the line. No vampire goes down whenprofit is on the line.”

“I thought you might say something like that,” I reply,heading for the door to the tent. “But, Dante, I’m going to need a cut.”

I let the flap close behind me as I hear the vampire curse.

I look through Dante’s binoculars. The enhancedglasses give me an up-close view of Beck and Cian’s small fortress, eventhrough the rain. Dante eases down and nudges me. He points to a figurestanding mere feet from the green sanctuary. A black cat twitches anxiouslyaround the woman’s ankles. Kitty doesn’t like the storm, it seems.

It’s Liadan, all right, but she doesn’t look the way she didbefore. She stands on the ground with her hands at her sides. Her previouslypristine dress is soaked and caked with mud. There’s a deer walking toward heras though she called it. In an instant, Liadan attacks the gentle creature,slitting its throat from ear to ear.

“She uses the blood to strengthen her spells.” Dante leansclose. “I wish she would use a spell to make her not look like that.”

Liadan shed the vestiges of her public persona. Gone was thelovely Fae woman, and in her place stands the hag. Her face is withered andcracked. Her hair, though still blonde, is gnarled, as though rats nest in it.She has long fingernails, and she uses them to extract the blood she needs.

The hag begins chanting something in a language I don’tunderstand. After a long moment, some of the vines protecting the sanctuaryretreat. I can begin to see the walls of the structure. The minute Liadanmanages to unveil the door, she’ll be able to attack my husbands.

“She’s been doing it for days,” Dante explains. “She’sgetting close.”

If only I could stop the driving rain. It pours down insheets, making visibility a real problem. While I can see Liadan’s body, thedownpour makes it a hazy thing. I’m not sure I can properly aim. Weeks ofpractice sharpened my skills, but I don’t want to risk it in this drenchingdownpour. I might only get one real shot.

I can’t stop the storm, but I know someone who can. I haveto hope my husbands aren’t so far gone that they can’t respond. Silently, I putthe binoculars down and open the connection I share with my husbands. I closemy eyes and seek them with my mind. A tendril of psychic energy brushes againstmy brain. Cian. It’s a soft touch so I know it’s my intellectual husband. Thatwave of psychic energy reaches out toward me. He’s weak, so weak, but I sendthe message anyway. I let my mind wrap around his energy for a moment, pleadingwith him to be okay.

After a long moment, the rain recedes.

Dante tenses beside me. He looks up as though he can figureout why the rain stopped. “Is that a bad sign? Does that mean something’s wrongwith Beck?”

I reach up and tug on Dante’s jacket until he kneels backdown. I don’t want to give up our position because now the hag is trying tofigure out what happened, too. Liadan is paying attention to the forest aroundher. The hag turns, those black eyes of hers flashing back and forth, taking ineverything.