“Biting them is not the answer,” Bane’s deep voice rumbled.
Katy gasped. “Otto, no. They’re innocent, victims.”
“No one is innocent,” Otto grumbled. “I old. I know things.”
“But they don’t deserve death,” Katy argued, her voice tight. “You don’t get to decide when they die.”
“I not let you die,” Otto bellowed, and his shoulders shook. “Mistress may hate me, but you be live. That enough for me.”
He moved toward the females, and they tried to push farther against the wall. “I won’t hurt,” he told them. They were looking at him as if he were crazy. Probably because they’d neverencountered a talking lizard, or one that planned on killing them. “It will be fast.”
“Otto, stop right this instant.” Katy’s voice came through the phone.
Otto could hear the battle still being waged between Azure and the other shifters. He heard Marissa’s voice and, beyond that, Nico, who even laughed. Crazy shaman.
“Would Visata want you to do this?” his mistress asked.
Otto dropped his eyes to the floor. How many things had he done for Azure that Visata would not have approved of? “I fall from grace long time ago, mistress.” Otto noticed his shaking hands and clenched them into fists, the claws pressing deep into his palms.
“You can’t fall from grace, Otto,” Katy said softly. “Grace is what catches youwhenyou fall.”
“Think of who is actually deserving of your bite, Otto.” Bane’s eyes narrowed. “Who created the tie between Katy and these females?”
Otto’s eyes drifted to the window in the room. The dark curtains that hung in front of it were parted so he could see out to where Azure’s scales shimmered in the moonlight. The huge snake darted forward, striking at one of the beasts fighting him. Otto didn’t know if the three lions and wolf could defeat Azure. He was powerful, especially with his tie to Marissa. Her dark magic helped fuel Azure’s own power. “The witch,” he said softly as the pain and fear in his mind began to clear. He’d been so focused on the tie between the human females and Katy that he hadn’t considered taking out Marissa. Otto’s bite was one of the most poisonous of the Damarians. She might wield dark magic, but she was stilljusta human.
“Otto, come back to me, please,” Katy pleaded with him.
Suddenly, the noise from outside stopped. Otto’s head snapped back up.
“Katy, what’s happening?” Bane asked.
“Zeena.” Katy breathed out.
Bane tapped the phone and shoved it back in his pocket as Otto looked up at him. “Let’s go. Marissa’s evil ends tonight, and you will be the weapon that takes her out.” Bane reached over to the women and untied them. “I’ll be back for you both. You’re going to be fine. Do not leave, understand?”
Both females nodded as they stared up at him with wide eyes.
“Get on,” he told Otto as he shifted into his panther form.
Otto scuttled up the feline’s hind quarters onto his back and then ducked his head as Bane lunged through the window, glass shattering around them. His paws hit the ground with a soft thud, and then they were running back toward the boat, toward the sudden silence.
“Close enough to jump,” Otto told Bane. He wanted to bite her on her neck, in the largest artery, so the poison would travel fast. Otto dreaded the idea of tasting the witch’s blood, but it was a necessary evil. He’d need to make sure he injected enough venom to kill her. Her dark magic might help her fight off his poison. Once Marissa was dead, the link between the females and Katy would be broken.
“Stop this.” Zeena’s voice was rough with emotion as she watched her mate be ripped to shreds by the cats and wolf. Every slice tore through her soul. Despite the raging animals, Azure heard her immediately and pulled back, his hood flaring wide. Thanks to the voodoo priestess, he could speak in his serpent form. Zeena had never particularly liked Marissa, but she’d never felt threatened by her either. Azure was her bonded mate. Their souls were practically one.
“How long have we been together, Azure?” She stalked toward her mate, unafraid, confident he wouldn’t harm her. “How many millennia have I stood beside you?”
His tongue flicked out, and she knew he’d smell her scent, one that was as familiar to him as his own. He would taste her skin from the sweat that surfaced on her flesh.
“Where have you been, mate?” Azure’s eyes focused on her. “I feel the bond now, but it had been gone.”
She shook her head. “Not gone, just muted for a bit.” She glanced at Marissa. “I needed a break from certain parts of your life.”
The priestess cackled like a fool. “I told you she wasn’t as resilient as you, Azure.” Marissa’s voice grated along Zeena’s scales.
In the blink of an eye, Azure was a man again, though scales covered his skin. “Shut up, witch,” he spat at the priestess. “Do not speak of my mate in such a way.”
Zeena wondered where this possessiveness was coming from. It had been so long since he’d shown her real focus and desire. He took a step toward her, but she shook her head and took a step back. “We have matters to discuss.” Her heart was breaking all over again. She couldn’t believe the man he had become, and she couldn’t believe she had supported him. What had gone wrong? She’d asked herself over and over, but she had no answer. All she could see was a man who’d started out wanting the best for their people, who had now turned into someone who craved power, unable to get enough of it.
