Go for it, o jelä sielamak,Benedek encouraged. He faced the demon, his body a shield for Silke.
Silke didn’t hesitate. “As for reading your mind, Castello, it isn’t difficult. You’re so smug in your belief that you’re superior to humans that you didn’t think to guard yourself. I’m adept at slipping into a mind such as yours and reading thoughts. You think to slay me with your poisonous blade. It is dipped in not only venom but those little spawns, the parasites that enter through the bloodstream, travel to the brain and hide.”
Castello’s lips drew back to show his teeth in a snarl. Before he could react, she continued in that same low, compelling tone.
“Did you know that several people here were infected with the little demons? They grew quickly, but they couldn’t resist my commands. I called them to me and they came. I slayed them. That’s what I do, Castello. I look for demons, find them and destroy them.”
His face grew a dark, mottled purple as she so casually mentioned destroying his allies.
Her smile turned even sweeter. “You were here, speaking to me at great length, attempting to force me to answer your questions, using a compulsion embedded in your tone. Even when it was impossible to penetrate my mind, impossible to use your voice on me, you still believed Fenja was the slayer. What does that say about you and your abilities?”
Benedek could see that every word she said undermined the demon’s confidence in himself. She used subtle attacks, but her tone was so low and mesmerizing, nearly impossible to ignore.
You need to remember this moment when you have disagreements with your lifemate,Mataias whispered into his mind.
There was an edge of humor to Mataias’ comment, something that could only happen when they were locked in with a Carpathian lifemate they shared a mind with. It made Benedek happy to know that Silke could provide a little respite for his friends.
That woman of yours is no pushover,Lojos added, volunteering his opinion. There was even a note of respect and admiration in his tone.She’s going to keep you on your toes.
Don’t be like Castello and believe you have all the advantages because you’re ancient and she’s a baby in our world,Tomas cautioned, giving his advice.
You caught a she-wolf by the tail,Nicu said. He switched his comments to their private path, long established from their many hunts together.She’s fearless, Benedek. While I admire her, she is your lifemate and should she be killed, you would be at great risk.
Benedek didn’t need Nicu’s warning. He knew he was too far gone to recover if he lost Silke, but he wasn’t thinking of himself and what would happen should he turn. He thought about her. About how he didn’t want her injured or, worse, killed. Not because he needed her so much, and he acknowledged to himself he did, but because he thought the world needed her brightness. Her compassion. And her courage.
Unlike him, Benedek knew Silke had the capacity to love. That emotion was deep and enduring for her mother and for Tora. He knew he wanted her to love him with that same fierce intensity she had for those she let into her life. He had thought he had nothing to give her but his loyalty; now he wasn’t so certain. She was lonely. She wanted a partner. Family. Children. She wanted her partner to care for and respect Fenja. He could do that. He wanted to do all of it. But first, he had to keep his lifemate alive. She was the demon slayer, and she wouldn’t take kindly to any interference on his part. He might want to fight her battles for her, but to be a good partner to her he had to respect her experience and expertise just as he would expect her to give deference to him during battles with vampires—or Lilith’s army.
“You should drop that knife you’ve got. You don’t really want to use it. You’d much rather pit your skills against mine. You’ve never been happy when Lilith gives you orders.” She tilted her head, studying the demon. “She doesn’t even give you the courtesy of giving orders directly to you. All the years you’ve served her, allowed her to torture and punish you when you weren’t at fault. She never valued your service. I value you as my opponent. I believe you have skills and secretsthat will challenge me. But the knife, that’s beneath you. You really want to put it on the floor and shove it under the chair.”
Castello’s face was a study in confusion. Twice he leaned down to place the ceremonial blade beneath the chair and then sat up quickly as if he thought she might attack him. His fist tightened around the hilt. “You know too much about me.”
“I told you”—Silke’s tone had turned soothing—“I can read minds. I can see you take your duty seriously. There’s honor in that. I’m not certain Lilith understands loyalty and how much you have sacrificed on her behalf.”
Benedek was astounded at the sympathy and compassion she exuded. The emotions enveloped Castello. The more he studied Silke’s mind, the more Benedek realized the reason those emotions swamped Castello and penetrated his cold heart was because they were genuine. Silke genuinely felt compassion for him. She felt very real sympathy for him. She also felt that he was a loyal man and did his best to carry out every order, no matter how difficult, for his cruel mistress. It was impossible not to feel that as she surrounded the demon with her emotions, including her respect.
Castello sighed and placed the knife on the floor, watching her the entire time. With his foot, he pushed it beneath the chair. “I do wish I could have recruited you. It is with genuine regret that I will have to kill you.”
Visser and Bakker both reacted, reaching for weapons. Benedek and Tora reacted simultaneously, halting all action, freezing them where they stood on the steps and then forcing them to walk down the stairs and move completely out of the line of fire before encasing them in a cocoon of safeguards.
“Kill them,” Castello ordered Ese Jordan. “Do it now.”
Ese didn’t hesitate. He spun around, raced down the stairs, gun in hand, firing a hail of bullets at the two law enforcement officers. The bullets couldn’t penetrate the safeguards woven around Visserand Bakker, who stood frozen like statues encased in the protective cocoon.
Silke struck, leaping from her chair, crystal sword in hand, to take herself four steps forward, getting Benedek out of the line of fire. Sacred water shot from the rolled lily petals, hitting Castello across his chest, running down his arms and dousing his face. He screamed in pain and rage, coming to his feet so fast the chair fell over, covering the ceremonial knife.
Castello seemed to have forgotten all about the knife. He lunged at Silke, ran into an invisible wall and bounced back. The holes caused by the sacred water began to smoke. She continued to spray the water over the demon, circling to the right and chanting softly. The holes widened over his chest and began to fracture so that great cracks appeared all over his body. One rip went up his throat and around his neck, so his head tilted to one side.
He threw his hands into the air and began calling out in a demonic voice, one that reverberated through skin and bones to shake the body. His fingers curled and uncurled as he wove his spell of death. His nails grew thick and tapered with every curl until they were weapons, looking for all the world like stiletto scalpels. Tiny drops of venom glistened on the sharp points.
Watch your eyes,Silke cautioned all of them.He will throw the venom at your eyes to blind you.
Benedek felt the force of the dark words as they hissed and smoked in the droplets of water raining down on the demon. Each drop created more holes in the demon’s frame. Cracks immediately opened so that smoke poured out.
He’s breaking apart,Lojos said.Can he be that easy to slay?
No demon is that easy,Silke answered calmly.Not even the lesser demons, and this one is in a high position. Expect the unexpected.
Take his head off with a sword and be done with it,Tomas advised.
