“Only cousin,” she muttered, repeating what she so often said.
“Yet still so lovely.”
She had to grin. “Laying it on a little thick, eh?”
“Hoping that one of these days you’ll put me out of my misery and say yes.”
“Honey, if I didn’t think I’d end up killing you, I surely would.”
His eyes grew brighter. “That only makes me want you more.”
She laughed. When a server neared, she ordered a drink, because she deserved it. “You know why I’m here.”
“I do.” He lost his grin. “Bad juju around this thing, Riley. You should give it a pass.”
“I wish, but I can’t. Do you know where it is?”
He shook his head. “But I know where it was.”
He just watched her.
She sighed. “How much?”
Talon winked. “How much have you got?”
CHAPTERSIX
Kraft gloweredat the goddess while trying not to notice how attractive she was...or how much he preferred Riley’s glower and powerful physique to Hecate’s current form. As a three-formed goddess, Hecate often took shape as maiden, mother, or crone. This evening, she appeared as a beautiful woman of child-bearing age, soft and feminine with all the mysteries of the moon.
She wore a long, red dress, her auburn hair done up in coils, her feet bare, a red polish on her nails. She had the palest skin tonight, and in the low living room light, looked almost anemic.
“Kraft, we need to talk.”
He felt a growl surge and did his best to hold it back. Something about the witch goddess set the wolf inside him on permanent snarl. She didn’t smell evil, nor did she smell of death as he might have expected of a goddess with ties to necromancy. The scent of her power overwhelmed, and it tickled his nose when she drew too close.
He took a subtle step back. “I’m kind of busy.”
“Not too busy for me.” She smiled, showing straight white teeth. “You do not understand what’s at stake.”
“You mean about the Darkness that’s coming to end everything? Yeah, I get it.” Not like she and Mormo didn’t spout off about the great evil coming to kill everything in sight every few days. Like a broken record, they remained full of doom and gloom concerning the future.
She raised a brow and stared, though it felt like she was trying to lookthroughhim instead of at him.
Their quiet stalemate went on for what felt like forever, until he blinked first. “Hör auf damit!” Stop it.
Hecate sighed. “Fine. Let’s talk about something else. This lycan you’re going to see. A friend has mentioned her part in the great battle to come. You may not kill her.”
“I’m not an idiot. I won’t touch her until after we get the artifact.”
“No. Not after, either.”
He scowled. “Since when can I not kill prey?” Not that he intended to kill Riley right away; he hadn’t been lying about that. But he didn’t like the goddess telling him what to do. Normally, Hecate remained hands-off his kin, using Mormo to issue orders. “Why are you so interested in Riley?”
“I have need of a berserker’s blood, Kraft. Do not disappoint me.” Her eyes blazed red, and she sparked with power.
“I’m not scared of you.” And he wasn’t. Vampires didn’t fear. Okay, so he felt cautious around Khent. Not afraid. Only an imbecile wouldn’t tread warily around a reaper. Kraft would rather be true dead then kept semi-alive, dancing around on Khent’s puppet strings.
Sure, Hecate could very well obliterate him. Kraft didn’t care. If she killed him, she killed him. Torture, pain, horror. He’d already been there, done that too many times to count.
