Page 73 of Vengeful Mates

Crimson juice and flesh dripped on Mads’ designer clothes, reminding me of the blood to be spilled in this war. Calmly, he grabbed a napkin and swiped away the mess dripping down his forehead. From the stories Castor told me about Mads’ misadventures, getting cherry bombed was tame compared to what he was used to.

Locke called to Slade’s love cord and twisted, and he gasped, clawing at his chest. “How about I fuck you up for threatening my man and ruining his Burberry shirt?”

This war raged too long, and Slade was tired and wanted to abandon the battlefield for his family, brothers, and club. His impatience to end this and his temper got the better of him sometimes.

My hands tightened on the table, wondering if I should intervene.

“Enough, Locke,” I barked, pretty sure Slade would not be happy I intruded and took away his manhood. “It’s just his sense of humor. Slade, buy him another damn Burberry.”

Locke sighed and released Slade.

He leaned forward, clutching his chest. “What was that shit?”

“I can read the love in a person’s heart. If they have any.” She sniffed. “I suspect Colton has a cold, black heart. But let’s look, shall we?”

The vibe I got from Colton was colder than a damn butcher’s freezer. Definitely no love in that dead heart.

Cupid’s avatar eyes glazed the way they had throughout the night. “Interesting.”

“What?” Slade hung on her every word, his vengeful flames launching like someone pressed the button in a crematory fire.

“Colton has a lady,” Locke’s voice sounded distant, as if she spoke from another room. “Oh! Classy broad. Beautiful. Rich. Powerful. Brutal. Deadly.”

Slade and Zethan exchanged glances, and the sourness in my stomach flared, drawing my hand to it for a dose of calming energy. They hadn’t told me every detail about their hunt for Colton to avoid worrying me.

This news lit a new fire in Slade’s bond. Colton loved another person besides himself. Probably his mother or grandmother, when the man didn’t have the capacity for love. Whoever she was, she could be used as leverage, and as much as I objected to dragging innocents into a war, I knew Slade would stamp down my protests on that one.

“Brunette?” Slade slammed down her details. “Tanned skin? Red nails? Five feet six? Egyptian?”

Huh? They hadn’t told me about some brunette.

“Looks like her.” Locke nodded absently, her gaze somewhere else, trailing Colton’s love life.

“Feline looking?” Zethan chipped in.

Locke clicked her fingers, her focus returning to the room. “That’s her!”

Slade met the eye of everyone in the room. “Her name’s Faline.”

The name hammered like a bell as my godly senses interpreted it. Avatar to Bastet. Cat and War goddess. Stealthy. Formidable. Deadly. Every bit as ruthless as Colton and my men.

“She’s from a rival family,” Slade went on with his explanation. “The way she spoke about him, she’s got serious motive for vengeance.”

Locke did her trick again, reading the cord and delivering her analysis. “He broke her heart, but he never lets her leave his sight.”

Zethan tugged at his tie. “He wasn’t anywhere near her when we visited her. I would have felt his Underworld magick.”

Locke shrugged. “He’s persistent. Obsessed. Very unhinged.”

Slade’s bond exploded with fireworks. Game. Set. Match. Faline was their key to winning this war. First, they had to catch a cunning and stealthy avatar to stand a chance.

He jumped out of his seat. “We get her and draw Raine out of hiding? Who’s in?”

Every Jackal’s hand flew up, and Slade looked to me for support.

Mine stayed stationary for a few moments as I mulled over the details. The plan hit a serious nerve, reminding me of my own situation a year ago, when the Jackals rescued me after Danny paid a mugger to beat me, took me to their shelter, and mended me while my magick healed me. Technically, they sort of held me captive. Zethan snapped my cell phone sim card, and probably confiscated my wallet, leaving me unable to make a call and pay for a taxi. Later, they held me prisoner in their basement cell when they discovered my infiltration.

Agreeing to kidnap Faline and hold her as ransom made me sick to the stomach.

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