Now she did.
He was one of them. Which meant he had a harthfret, too. And if she could find it …
Then he would be hers to command for all eternity.
* * *
“So, you didn’t lie. How ever did you manage to get one of his ilk here?”
Vine smiled at the dark Seraphia who stood before her. Clad in the ancient bloodred armor her species had once donned for battle, Gadreyal was a winged beauty of extreme and utter grace. Tall. Sleek. Voluptuous. It was easy to see why she was the first among those sent to tempt the army of the Kalosum to their downfall.
And as a member of that same loathsome, sanctimonious army, Paden shrank away from her approach. He cringed even more as Gadreyal reached for him. “Don’t touch me!”
His Seraph form activated, turning his hair instantly white and causing his own wings to spring out of his back. The golden feathers extended out and slashed at them both.
Laughing, Gadreyal caught one of his wings and snapped it. The sound of breaking bone was harsh even to Vine.
Paden cried out and arched his back against the pain.
With a fake, sympathetic tsk, Gadreyal cradled his head against her shoulder, exposing his throat. “There now, little one. Don’t come at your betters. I’m not one of the halflings or mickles you’ve been fighting.” She ran her silver talon over his Adam’s apple. “And I can make all this misery go away in an instant. All you have to do is give me your vow of loyalty. Fight for us and I’ll free you.”
Tears welled in his eyes. “Never!”
“Awww.” She mocked his pain with a treble note. “Poor little Seraph. All alone in this hole. No one to care for you. To rescue you. Do you really think the Sarim will come? That my brother cares what happens to you? I promise Gabriel laughs at your suffering. Michael even more so.”
“I will not turn.”
“Aye, you will,” Gadreyal whispered in his ear. “And you will cut the throat of your own sister to give me that medallion before all is over, too. Trust me, little man. Far greater warriors than you have fallen to my wiles.” She kissed his cheek and stepped away.
Her gaze turned bright red as she closed the distance between her and Vine. “You should leave now, Deruvian. I will take it from here.”
“What of my reward?”
Gadreyal smiled coldly. “I haven’t forgotten. The moment I have his medallion and his soul, you will be freed. That is what we do.”
* * *
Thorn felt the shift in the air around him and knew instantly what caused it. Fury spread through his veins like lava, demanding satisfaction.
And blood.
“Misery!” He summoned his demon companion from her hole. Honestly, he should have killed her long ago. She was a feckless bitch who could never be trusted for anything.
Other than sheer treachery.
Which was why he trusted her. Because he knew better, and therefore she was incapable of betraying him. His guard never laxed around her.
She appeared before him with an irritated grimace. “You shouted, my rampaging overlord?”
“What are your sisters up to?”
Shrugging, she started to leave, but he caught her wrist and jerked her back toward him.
“Don’t play this game with me, Misery. Or I’ll make you earn that name.”
Fear replaced her smug expression as she saw the face of Forneus and realized the tenuous ground she stood upon. For all her arrogance, she was his slave and at his utter mercy.
Something he ran very short on, especially when it came to creatures like her.
