Page 42 of Retribution

“Your vampire isn’t as strong as you thought, now is he?” Her voice scratched as she spoke, the sound nearly painful to my ears.

“He’s stronger.” I spat the words out, wanting her to feel the conviction behind them. He was strong, stronger than she would know, stronger than most people gave him credit for.

Before me, Justice and Sterling appeared, shielding me from her gaze. Sterling spoke, “You won’t touch her.”

The laugh that broke through the air around us was repulsive. “So much like your father. Issuing demands with no follow-through. Sometimes I wonder how my bloodline could be so weak.”

“He’s not weak.” My hand found his and squeezed.

Greta no doubt latched on to that fact when she sneered, “Repulsive.”

Without warning, she sent a blast of pure energy coursing toward us, and if it weren’t for Lenin’s training, I wouldn’t have had the skills needed to react. Instead, in a blink, I threw up a protective shield, surrounding our bodies at the exact time her energy hit. The stream of energy bounced against the guard but didn’t penetrate, instead only falling lamely to the ground.

“Your reflexes are fast; I see you’ve been working on them.” She looked impressed, but I knew it was all for show.

My body began to tense uncontrollably, and pain started to seep in. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. If this child were any less like her father, giving me trouble at the most inconvenient of times, I would be shocked. I tried to hide it, tried to avoid the obvious pain that was traveling up my body, but it was no use. I winced, and laughter filled the air.

“Do you think I should kill the child with you? Or maybe harvest it, use it as my next protégé? That is if she’s even remotely powerful at all. That has yet to be seen.”

If these damn contractions were any indication, she is likely more powerful than all human and paranormal combined. In front of me, Justice growled. Greta’s eyes falling to him before she began walking in our direction. I wanted to pull all the energy I could and blast her away, push her away from my men as she walked with intent toward them, but I always knew I had to reserve what I could. Under no circumstances could I not be calculated in the actions I took. I couldn’t afford it. Not when one of my loves was dead, two hung from chains, and two just battled as their life depended on it. Which it did, but I knew there was more to come.

She slowly scrutinized the men in front of me; her head cocked to the side. “My lover.”

My hair lifted with the electricity the anger caused just hearing the words. My mouth grew sour as bile rose. I swallowed hard, forcing it down my throat.Lover, never. Never again would she touch him. He was mine, mine. And the thought of them together in any capacity made my vision spot.

“I’ve made mistakes,” Justice responded, his head held high and regal.

“Tell me, how did your people fare? I had plans for them, but poof.” She made a dramatic quick ball of fire in her hands that extinguished as quickly as it ignited. “They just disappeared.”

In the distance, I saw Horo closing in behind her, Rolland from the other side, Maggie and Michelle following their lead. But I knew it would do no good, not when she was as powerful as she was.

“My family is well, thanks for asking.” Justice smirked before taunting her by adding, “It’s growing rapidly.”

She sneered. “If it will even survive that long.”

She wouldn’t hurt the baby, of that I was sure. Not as long as I or any of my mates were alive. We would stop her or die trying. We would protect our child with every last bit of strength that coursed through our bodies.

Justice, looking far more confident than I knew he felt, only shrugged. “She will survive and thrive.”

“She?” Greta looked contemplative. She bit her bottom lip, looking way more attractive than she should for someone whose body carried so much evil. “I just assumed a strong male like you would produce a male. You were always so . . . dominant.”

I swear to the fates, my temperature made the room ten degrees hotter. She was trying to bait me, trying to see what power I had that was unseen, of that I was sure. And I shouldn’t play into her trap, I shouldn’t let her anger me, but I was furious. I knew my mate had a past; it was clear from the first moment I met him but never had the reminder been sitting so clearly in front of me.

“Does that anger you? The fact that I know every intimate part of your mate? That I’ve fucked him until the only name he knew was mine? Does he still call it? Does he still moan my name?”

I would kill her; I would end her life and not even feel a tiny iota of remorse. Justice gritted his teeth. “The only names worthy enough to leave my lips are Liberty’s and Lenin’s.”

“Oh?” She looked shocked. “Two mates? That makes for interesting nights.”

Her eyes searched around until she found Lenin, the mate mark exposed from a tear in his tunic. His eyes held anger I never knew he could possess. But he didn’t struggle. His body remained calm. I wondered what simmered under the surface, what power my gentle giant held onto tightly.

She stopped in front of Justice and raised her palm, her fingers stroking his cheeks, and I stepped forward, but a hand in front of my body stopped me. “She wants a reaction,” Sterling said, and I knew it was true. But she was touching what was mine. Her fingers rubbed against his skin, and he hated it. I could feel the repulsion coming off him in waves, and I could do nothing to stop it.

“Now shift!” Greta’s order caught me off guard. I hadn’t expected a direct attack on Justice, not when I was this close and her main target to kill. But before me, Justice's body tensed, his limbs contorting as he fell to his knees. He tried to fight, tried to resist, and I knew just the fight to go against the command was painful. As his limbs cracked and he panted with the pain, Greta stood before him with a smirk on her face.

I stepped forward. “Don’t shift, Justice. Do not shift.”

He whimpered before the stiffness left his body, his bones popping back in place as he sighed. I worried; I was afraid he would be furious that I had commanded him, that I ordered him and his body as if I owned it. But I hated that Greta controlled him. That her power was greater than my mate’s, and he had no will to fight against it.

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