Page 49 of Vengeful Mates

Panic settled as Aaliyah focused on connecting us and drawing us closer. Soon we were reunited, camels side by side whining nervously. Thank fuck they weren’t as jumpy as horses and less likely to bolt.

Shadows approached from beyond the wall of sand. Ten or more wild dogs. The air crackled as a wolf tested our barrier. Magick zapped at its paw and it howled and backed away.

Sand parted for a tall form striding through the storm.

Colton.

Dark brown hair, almost black like his fucking soul. Eyes warm brown like whisky. Sharp features like the scalpel he wielded to slice people’s bodies to pieces.

Cunning fucker fooled my magick into detecting old traces of him. Frustration and humiliation burned under my skin.

Anubis’ powers of death chipped at the foundations of my barrier.

Aaliyah threw her powers behind mine to keep the shield up.

Our powers were no match for death, and he cracked open our shield like he broke the shell of an egg.

The break allowed the pack of protective animals to enter and do Colton’s work for him. A jackal rushed at my camel and captured its ankle in its jaws. My ride panicked and kicked its leg, injuring the dog, and it limped away, likely to die from the injuries sustained. A wolf leaped onto the back of Aaliyah’s ride, and she screamed as it bucked, holding onto the camel’s long neck with all her might.

“Sorceress!” I flung the beast into the sand with my magick. Next I turned my attention to Colton as he inched closer, jeweled dagger in hand.

Aaliyah wasted no time shifting into her falcon. Clothes tore and fell aside. Screeches peeled above the rush of sand as she took flight. Wind blustered, and she took a few moments to get her groove.

Defending my woman, I distracted Colton with a burst of energy that sent him staggering backward. The move gave my woman the inch she needed. Aiming right for our enemy, she swooped low, scratching her talons along his face. Pride exploded in my chest at the reckoning she delivered to an asshole who more than deserved it.

Colton grunted, swiping at the gush of blood and licking at it. Smiling, he forged closer. Another thrust of my powers shoved him further into the murk of the sandstorm, moves that hindered his progress but didn’t defeat him. We needed to get close. Wound him. Bind him with dark magick and kill him.

To fight death, we needed another master of it, and I sent the urgent tug on the bond. “Zethan, get your fucking ass here.”

The enforcer answered my summons, appearing in a flash of gold, crook and flail at the ready. Zethan took one look at the chaos and called it to a halt with his death powers.

“Give up, Colton. There’s nowhere to run.” He aimed his crook at Anubis’ avatar, the coward collapsing to his knees from the pressure of the command. King to a servant of the Duat.

Colton gritted his teeth, resisting the force demanding his submission. Bitterness bled from every pore. Disgraced, disregarded, and replaced like his god. Seeking vengeance against us for the demise of his cartel operations. Asshole needed to take responsibility for his own actions.

Years of representing clients introduced me to many crooks like this in court who refused to admit liability and used their power and influence to ruin their opponent financially through the legal system. Time for a reckoning. Time to smell the roses. Maat judged us all. No one escaped it. Certainly not avatars when we abused our powers for our own good.

“I should have let Hades fucking kill you. Crush your damn soul.” Zethan and Colton stared at one another, Death god to Death god. Both battling to destroy each other with the clash of gold magick between them. Let the best Underworld king win. “Instead, I took pity on you and saved your ass. Worst fucking decision of my life. Loyalty to you bought no mercy for my brothers or me.”

I slid off my camel to assist Zethan and bind the asshole with magick. Rope leaking dark vapor wove around my hands as I prepared to enforce the Maat and get us answers. Find out what else Colton fucked with. Did he send the cops after us? What else did they know? Were any other plans set against us?

Aaliyah dove for a second round, slashing the back of Colton’s neck. His shield weakened, and Zethan drove him back to all fours. My mate kept up her assault, angering him, and he raised a palm swirling with dark smoke. I wasn’t quick enough to protect her, and a blast from our enemy flung her to the dirt by his feet. Injured, she fluttered one wing, cradling the other tightly.

Fear clutched my throat in a vise grip. I released a bolt that hit Colton’s shoulder and threw him back three paces. Zethan hit him from the other side, golden light emitting from his crook. Our enemy blocked further attacks and caught Zethan in the leg with a nasty burn, and me in the gut, diminishing our offense. Zethan fell to one knee, and I clutched my stomach.

Smiling cruelly, Colton bent down to stroke Aaliyah’s belly, and she nipped his finger, taking a chunk out of his knuckle. He didn’t seem to feel it and laughed as she spat his flesh and blood on the sand.

“This ups the stakes in the game, doesn’t it, sweet Isis?” Cold as ice, he picked her up by her legs, swinging her upside down, and she flapped, splintering my heart with her pained shrieks. Taunting us, he stroked her belly, gaze sailing between her and us. “Shh. Don’t exert yourself. You wouldn’t want to hurt—”

Zethan recovered, stamping his cane, sand puffing up. “Enough, Colton!” he roared with the voice of a god, bracing himself with his cane to climb unsteadily to his feet. “Concede defeat.”

He couldn’t risk an explosion of magick harming our woman.

Colton hunched over, fighting his master’s command, Aaliyah trapped in his grasp. Defeat didn’t enter his vocabulary. He won at all costs, just like Slade.

“Let her go.” Zethan’s charge had the opposite effect.

“Justice for a pack of mutts.” Motherfucker tossed our woman to the looming pack of jackals and wolves.

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