Please, God, have mercy and kill me!
“Go ahead, Adarian. Do your worst.”
She wanted him to blast her into oblivion. Nay, she needed him to so that the constant pain in her heart would finally cease and leave her be. She braced herself for it and waited.
And waited.
Instead of giving her what she wanted most, the wretched, heartless bastard pursed his lips and narrowed those demonic eyes as if he were assessing her mettle.
Or something worse.
Without warning, rats burst up from the floor, rushing around her feet.
Shrieking, Valynda danced around, trying to avoid them as they did their best to shred her legs and climb up them.
“So, you are at least squeamish.”
She did her best to keep them at bay as she glared at him and beat them away. “No one likes a rat.” Especially not a six-foot-something demonic red asshole of one who thought this funny!
Her breathing ragged, she cursed them and him as she continued stomping.
“Unless it’s another rat.”
He had a point, she supposed.
Suddenly, the two of them were outside the room.
Valynda jerked her skirt out of the paws of one last rat, which sent the little beast tumbling away from her. It scurried off.
Bright light blinded her as she found herself on an island beneath a bent palm tree. Grateful she was no longer under assault from the furry little rodents, she held her hand up to shield her eyes from the glare.
The Malachai seemed even taller here. Somehow more massive even though they weren’t in a confined space. And that said a lot for his presence and powers.
His skin faded to that of a normal man. Well, “normal” was a stretch given that he was exceedingly handsome with eyes so clear and blue they’d rival the very sky for its cerulean clarity.
Her jaw went slack.
An evil smile curved his lips. “Transmutation is only one of my many powers.”
She snapped her mouth closed, unwilling to feed his massive ego any more, lest it grow larger. “Am I supposed to be impressed?”
“Depends. Are you ready to be human again?”
Valynda held her breath at an offer that was too good to be true. Aye, she knew that adage and then some. Looking a gift horse in the mouth never turned out well. It made enemies all around.
And when things were too good, people turned into Voodoo dolls and life slid straight into the very bowels of hell.
“I wasn’t born yesterday, sirrah. No one makes such an offer without exacting a dear price for it.” And having already paid a price so dear that it left her soul raw and bleeding, she had no desire to repeat such a mistake.
She had no more blood to give. Literally and figuratively.
“True. There is something I want.”
Of course there was. No one gave because they were altruistic. There was no such thing as a “good” Samaritan. Better than anyone, she knew that. So, she braced herself for the repercussions of refusing him because there was no way she intended to play this game with something like the Malachai when she knew she was going to lose. “And that is?”
“You to join my ušumgallu.”
Stunned to her very straw core, she stared at him. Was he serious?
