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“Don’t touch him!” Imani shouted.
“If you don’t sit still and be quiet, Imani, you’re going to have me to deal with. Are we clear?” Lulu’s warning cut through the noise. “Zip that lip.”
I spared Imani enough of a glance to watch her shrink back on the couch and fold her hands in her lap. “Yes, ma’am.”
The hand on my back was gentle and soothing. “Asmodeus.” Catalina’s face appeared in my peripheral. “Where is Eden?”
My thoughts filled the silence. So loud and endlessly buzzing.
Eden. My wife. Where was my wife?
The heat of Eden’s flesh still burned my hands, a reminder I held her only moments ago. The scent of her was seared into my skin. So potent each breath intoxicated me. My mind went back to the moment she disappeared. To the aura and the shadow that lurked behind her.
“The witch. Vindictia.” It was her. It had to be. There was no one else in this world who would want Eden. No one else would dare to steal her away from me.
“The same witch who attacked Catalina?”
“You were attacked?” Vi asked before Lulu shot her a harsh look that made her shrink as quickly as Imani had. Her eyes dropped down to the hands folded in her lap as she picked at her fingers.
“What does the witch want?” Catalina asked, ignoring Vi’s question.
It took all the strength I had to push myself up off the floor through the dizziness that made my saliva thin. I sat on the carpet, not trusting my legs beneath me as I looked at Catalina. Her eyes were intense with worry as she wrapped her hand firmly around mine.
My chest quieted slightly. It felt disconcerting to suddenly feel so out of control. My body was a weapon being used against me.
Not my body. Eden’s.
Adjusting on the floor, I folded my arms over my bent knees, my hand still wrapped in Catalina’s. “She will use Eden to punish me.”
“For what?”
Her vengeance was one she laid out, whispered cruelly in my ear. “I seem to be responsible for the death of her sister.”
“Seem to be?” Vi threw her hands up. “Have you killed so many people you don’t know?”
In all honesty, I haven’t killed many in my long life. Why would I? I was a demon who was always fully submerged in lust and pleasure. Death seldom played a role in either.
Lulu snapped her fingers, eyes hard as she narrowed them at Vi. “You’ve never been one to make good choices, Olivia. Don’t make me show you the consequences of your bad choices right now.”
“But…”
Sarika’s hand whipped across Imani’s chest to clamp over Vi’s mouth.
“Alright.” Lulu’s fists settled on her waist. My eyes burned as I looked at her, her pose so similar to Eden’s. “How do we get her back?”
I wish I knew. Muscles worked through my jaw as I worried that thought over in my mind. I had barely gotten her. The urge to remove the key from her chest and go back to my life had barely fled me before she had been taken away. The thought that I couldn’t quickly get through this conversation so I could have her in my arms once again filled me with blinding rage.
Desperation to have her back made my eyes glass over.
These blasted emotions. Were they always so impossible to sort through?
“Hey.” Catalina’s hand gently pressed under my chin and she turned my face. “Breathe.”
My chest heaved, the command one I wasn’t compelled to follow.
“Asmodeus.” Her voice was a soft coo I wasn’t used to hearing from her. I had known this woman to be nothing but cross and now suddenly, her hushed tone brought me warmth. This must be the lure. The one that caught Eden and made this woman someone she held so dearly. “How did you…” Her eyes held mine, soft but determined. “Handle her sister?”
It had been a long time since I had thought about Maledictia. She had been dark and haunted. A woman who wanted more than just spells but the fires that flowed through me. It was her ambition that brought us together, at least, that was what I thought. She spoke of my power as though it was this godly thing — or it would be once it was in her hands. I had been young then. Restless. A lot of my interaction with her was a blur.
