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She leans back and trails her fingers in the water. “I’m not permitted to kill humans. Actually, I can’t kill at all. My brothers are able to kill but only when the killing restores the balance between good and evil. We can, however, torment humans if we wish. We can turn them toward darkness. You are my little project.”
My stomach churns at the evil in her voice. Her eyes are glowing gold and the way she’s looking at me, I feel like a flounder about to be filleted. “I think you’re wasting your time.”
“We’ll see. Some time on the island with Jorge may show you there’s another way to live in your world, or this one.” She throws her head back, laughing.
“Jorge? The same Jorge who is a fallen angel that Mantus just sent back here?”
Jorge is certainly a prankster, but why would he have the ability to change me in any way?
“Oh, yes. He’s here and ready to take his revenge on my brother. He’ll show you why he lost his wings and make you a believer in chaos.” She sits forward and narrows her gaze on something beyond my shoulder.
I look back at the dark mass of land just as the boat bumps into the shore. I grip the side of the boat with my manacled hands to stay upright.
“Get out.” She pushes me and holds the sword tip to my back.
Once I’m on land, I turn back to her and push the sword aside. “You can’t kill me. You said so yourself.”
Her eyes burn with fury. “I can hurt you though.”
“No need. I’ll take it from here, sweet Kikia.” Jorge is taller than any of the persons he imitated when he was crashing my wedding parties. He must be nearly as big as Mantus, though slimmer and his skin is as light as a fish’s belly. His eyes are black with no white or iris that I can see.
He grabs my arm. “Come, human. I’m going to show you so much pleasure, you’ll be begging to stay in this place. All thoughts of your demon will fade away.”
I kick his shin, but he just laughs and tightens his grip. I wince at the bruising hold but keep fighting.
“Let her go.” Mantus’s voice is like pure heaven to my ears.
Drawing me in front of him like a shield, Jorge hisses.
Kikia screams. “No! How did you find me?”
Mantus steps off a boat ten times bigger than the canoe we arrived in. He narrows his gaze on Jorge but speaks to his sister. “You don’t think I can feel my mate? When I couldn’t find her, I knew this was the only place where her soul could be masked.”
Wrapping his hand around my throat, Jorge growls. “I will kill her. Hell is not worse than this life of nothing.”
With only a slight narrowing of his eyes, Mantus makes no moves. “I will see that your hell is something special if you dare harm my mate, Jorge. Nothing in this plane can compare to the fiery depths of Hades. I can make you burn a million times and never end your pain.”
I gag as Jorge’s grip tightens.
For the first time, there’s panic in Kikia’s voice. “I never gave permission to kill her. I only wanted her to be altered so you’d not want her or she’d not want you, Mantus. I knew that being pleasured by a fallen angel would change her irreparably, but I don’t want her dead.”
“Words, sister. Give me the sword and I will deal with you in a moment.”
She holds out her hand and Mantus takes the glowing sword.
Mantus’s eyes soften as he meets my gaze. “Trust me?”
I can’t move my head and speaking is out of the question so I can only hope my eyes show him that I do trust him. I had everything wrong, and I long for the chance to tell him that I should have listened to him. My heart is breaking as life is being squeezed out of my throat. I gasp.
In a blur, Mantus moves and lops off Jorge’s arm.
The hand around my throat drops to the ground.
On a shriek, Jorge stumbles backward.
I run into Mantus’s embrace and bury my face in his chest. “I’m sorry.”
Mantus holds me. “Unlock the manacles, Kikia.”
