Page 34 of The Monsters We Are

Delilah snorted. “Works of fiction are a form of entertainment, nothing more.”

“Your negativity is not appreciated.”

“I’m not being negative, I’m being real.”

“You’re being a tight-assed bit—”

“Enough.” Wynter nudged a grinning Delilah. “Stop winding up old ladies and go shop. Hattie, ease up on the insults, would you?”

“For you, Wynter,” agreed Hattie, ever so benevolent.

Honest to Christ, they were a handful.

The five of them headed into the store and each grabbed a basket. They usually split up to go nab what they needed. But today the coven insisted that Wynter wasn’t to be left alone. They were still pissed that they hadn’t noticed she’d been snatched by Missy, Kyra, and Vera until it was almost too late.

As a group, they went from aisle to aisle, chucking items into their baskets. Xavier didn’t need much, so he quickly got bored and started throwing unnecessary stuff into Delilah’s basket. That led to yet another argument between the two. An argument that continued even as they bagged up their purchases and then walked out the exit. And that, in turn, led to Anabel once again ordering them to “quit it already”. It was as the annoyed blonde marched off in a strop that she almost crashed into Shelia, one of Ishtar’s aides.

The female vampire sneered. “Watch where you’re going.”

“I am watching, I’m not impressed with what I see,” snarked Anabel.

Shelia blinked in surprise. The three female vamps behind her looked equally stunned. Yeah, people didn’t always sense that Anabel wasn’t quite as innocent or harmless as she looked. Wynter got the feeling that the witch liked that.

“Oh, is that so? Well, that makes two of us.” Shelia skimmed her gaze over the rest of the coven. “Nope, nothing impressive to see here.”

The other vampires shifted nervously.

Sidling up to Anabel, Wynter gave Shelia a sweet smile. “Well, you could continue to watch us not give a crumb of a fuck what you think about literally anything . . . or you could walk away. Totally up to you.”

Shelia scoffed. “You think you’re special just because you get to ride Cain’s cock. Sorry to point out what should be obvious to you, sweetie, but you’re not the first. Plenty of women had him before you, and plenty will have him after he dumps your ass. Which he will. It’s merely a matter of time. And when that day comes, I’ll remind you of this conversation.”

“And my give-a-shit-o-meter still ain’t moving.” Wynter gave her a “what can you do?” shrug. “Lovelychatting with you.” She went to pass the vampires, but Shelia stupidly slipped in front of her.

The vampire snarled. “You think I’m afraid of you?”

Wynter took a step forward, pleased when the little bitch tensed. “What I think is that you believe being Ishtar’s aide protects you. Maybe it does usually. But it won’t protect you from me. You don’t believe that? Well, consider that it didn’t protect Azazel’s aide. You never wondered where Bowen went?”

Shelia’s eyes flickered.

One of the other vamps rested a hand on Shelia’s shoulder, avoiding Wynter’s gaze. “Come on, let’s go.”

“Yes, do go.” Wynter skirted around Shelia, whose hand shot out and gripped her arm. Wynter didn’t hesitate to act. She struck with magick, lashing it like a whip.

Stumbling aside, Shelia stared at her decaying hand in horror. It burned, charred, and flaked away. She screamed and screamed and screamed . . . and then she stopped as her hand “returned” to normal, only then realizing it had been a mere illusion.

“I can make it happen for real, if you’d like,” Wynter offered.

Shelia swallowed, looking dazed. She didn’t protest as her friends led her away.

Anabel looked at Wynter as they and the rest of the coven resumed walking. “Do you think Ishtar encouragesallher hirelings to hate you?”

“Probably,” Wynter replied. “I can understand why those who are excessively loyal to her would loathe me so much. Maxim would be pissed at anyone who gave Cain problems.”

“Hmm, I guess so,” said Anabel. “I still don’t like it.”

“Me neither,” Delilah fairly growled. “I’m in the mood to cut a bitch up right now.”

“That’ll have to wait until we’ve been to the bookstore,” Hattie declared. “I’m not missing—” She jumped as thunder cracked the air.

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