Page 27 of Villainous Greed

Melinda nodded. “I do.” She turned her hand palm up and a small vial with green liquid appeared in her hand. “You can track her by your essence.”

“You didn’t whip that up for me to drink, did you?” I pointed at the vial. “I ain’t fucking drinking that. It could be poison for all I know.”

She exhaled. “Really, August? How much more do I need to do before you see we’re on the same side? You need to get her away from Harvest. Do you realize how long it’s been? How many—” Melinda stopped and took a deep breath. “If I had known much sooner… Regardless, the real question is, do you want your marked mate or is she too far gone in your eyes to reach?”

“You know the fucking answer to that!” I yelled. “Why do you think I’m here? If I could find her on my own, I would have.”

Melinda stretched out her arm. “Then you must drink it.”

“What is it?”

“A tracking serum, but it’ll track your essence.”

“My essence? How will tracking myself help me?”

“What does every marked mate have in common with their soulmate?” she asked.

I swore, then said, “They share the same essence.”

When I snagged the vial from her, she kept examining my arm. “What is it, witch?”

She frowned as her shoulders drooped. “Tell me, August, how much will you sacrifice to save her?”

“I’ll do anything,” I vowed.

“The cost might be steep. To reach her, you’ll be going up against her. But if you can get her to listen, I can reveal the truth.”

“What truth?”

“I know when it’s my time to intervene, and it’s not now. Get her ready, August, and I’ll help you both.”

“Fucking witches,” I muttered as I turned to leave.

“The tracker only lasts a few hours. Find her by then or you’ll be drinking another. And August… Be careful. You are becoming mortal at random, and she knows it.”

“You know, Joy said something about Nova being angry with me. I don’t understand. If anyone should be angry, it’sme.”

I had to be the oldest virgin in history!

Nova got herself into trouble. I’d rescue her and see if her getting her ass spanked was one of those things we liked. With that thought, the concoction was much easier to swallow.

Chapter Twelve

Nova

My brain liked to think and do too much when alone. During the decades I spent locked in a cell, silly scenarios would seep into my conscious mind. My thoughts were all I had. Sometimes, I’d imagine escaping, plunging a dagger into Harvest’s chest. In my dreams, he was always mortal while I was free and powerful. Killing him was satisfying and easy. Over and over, I’d kill him, Derrick, and August Reaper. I became forever trapped because of them.

I lost track of time in that cell. My stomach was so hollow, hunger kept me from moving. I couldn’t understand how I survived. My teeth would rot, and I felt like the rest of me should have too. But I never died, and when I pulled enough power from my shackled limbs, I’d blow my mouth apart because the pain of the decay hurt too much.

My teeth always grew back, perfect once more, as if the pain I endured never happened. When Harvest inflicted punishment or broke my bones, I always healed. I hated healing because it meant living. No matter how tired, even when I couldn’t do anything more than sleep, I never stayed dead. For so long, Ididn’t understand how that was possible. Until Harvest found another angel and pulled me from the cell to be at his side.

The first angel told Harvest how he’d start the apocalypse. His new angel gave more secrets. One was about the Reaper siblings. They had marked soulmates. The Devil set in motion something he hadn’t predicted when he cursed them. He had a soulmate, too, and Harvest wanted to know which sibling it was. Maureen and Prudence had found their marked soulmates, which narrowed it down to Joy or Kara Reaper. Kidnapping and torturing Joy gave Harvest no response from the Devil, which meant the Devil’s mate was the baby sister. The one they called Kitty, Kara Reaper. Harvest was obsessed with his creator as much as he loathed him. He wanted to bring pain to the Devil. Harvest believed Kara would be the Devil’s downfall and the key to assuring he walked through the portal when it opened in the end instead of the Devil. Harvest was trying to steal his creator’s fate.

I was a mere pawn. I was stronger than everyone that harmed me—knewit in my bones. But a shackled proxy might as well be human. First trapped by Derrick, then Harvest, I’d never had the chance to defend myself. Someone always owned me and my power.

Staring at the wreckage Joy’s marked mate left when he rescued her weeks ago, I had another annoying thought. The brain once more infuriated me. For I didn’t want to think or imagine August, but as I walked through the blood and torn bodies. As I saw the huge chunks of rocks scattered everywhere from the dragon who plowed through the cave, killing everything to get to Joy, I understood. Soulmates protected each other.

My fate was a cruel joke, like the man who was supposedly my soulmate. August was my ruin, not my mate. He didn’t protect me. He plunged me into agony.

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