Page 160 of Wrath

The shadows surrounding him flickered in tandem with his anger. Or maybe it was his fear. Heaven only knew I felt both emotions.

“Ryland’s right. We’re not going to lose her. We’ll figure this out, just like we did before.” The frost in Dair’s tone could rival that of a winter storm.

“We nearly lost her when she consumed the kings’ magic. That was only a fraction of what Aaliyah possesses,” Killian pointed out.

His voice sounded choked and wobbly, and a part of me wanted to punch him. How dare he give up on our mate? How fucking dare he?

But I forced myself to take a deep breath, to calm down and look at things from his perspective. After all, he was the one who’d dealt with her the first time she consumed dark magic. He saw the corruption firsthand.

“Why are they just standing there?” Lupe asked. “What’s happening?”

“At this moment, your mate is trying to decide whether or not she’ll accept the dark magic,” an unfamiliar voice remarked from behind us.

All seven of us spun, prepared to fend off the newest threat.

Peter arched his eyebrows in a knowing way as he glanced from one face to the next before finally focusing on Z.

I hated the way he looked at her. It wasn’t in a lecherous way or anything like that, but it emanated a familiarity that made me see red. How dare he act like he knew her, after what he’d done?

I stealthily moved to step in front of the two women, blocking them from Peter’s prying eyes, and Lupe joined me, his arms folded over his chest.

“Z’s very strong, isn't she?” Peter brimmed with pride, practically puffing his chest out.

I wanted to eat his damn soul.

“What do you want?” A guttural growl vibrated Lupe’s chest as he glared at the angel.

I knew what we were doing was risky and borderline suicidal. After all, this was an angelic entity, not a random nightmare. We had no idea what power he possessed or how he could utilize it. He could obliterate us in a blink of an eye if he wanted to.

But I didn’t give a fuck.

I wouldn’t cower or hide away, not after I’d learned what he did to Z a long time ago.

Bile inched up my throat at just the reminder.

“Z’s strong,” Peter continued with a lazy grin. “But she’s not strong enough to resist this. She’ll give in to the influence of the dark magic, just as she did before, and lose her mind. But this time, there’ll be no saving her. You’ll need to put her down in order to save this world.”

Anger licked up my spine, and power manifested in my palms.

“You watch your mouth,” I hissed.

Peter gave me a droll look. “It’s the truth, Greed.” He paused, allowing his meaning to sink in, before smiling. It wasn’t a nice smile. “But I can help.”

“Explain yourself.” It took considerable effort to keep those two words calm but assertive.

But god help me, that smug smile on his face was a detriment to my self-control.

“I can drain the dark magic from her,” Peter said, arrogance dripping from every pore. He hefted his chin up imperiously. “And you already know what I want in return.”

“No, we don’t know what you want,” Jax snapped. “You won’t tell us.”

Peter shrugged a single shoulder, the corners of his lips twitching up microscopically. “You can either accept my deal or watch your mate die—but only after she loses her mind first. Your choice.”

There was an incessant pounding in my head, as if my heart had taken up residency there and was beating against my skull. I felt both cold and hot simultaneously, and a strange pang lit along my sternum.

Could I handle losing Z to the darkness? Peter had insinuated that there would be no saving her this time around, but I refused to believe that.

Maybe the seven of us couldn’t save her, but Z could damn well save herself. She was stronger than anyone I’d ever met before and had proved time and time again that the word “impossible” didn’t apply to her.

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