Page 28 of Hunted By Her Demon Wolves

Phoenix tried to swallow past the lump lodged in her throat. “What happened?”

She stopped pacing and growled down at Phoenix. “He’s captured just about every demon in this dimension, including my mates.”

All moisture evaporated from her throat. This was bad. Very bad. “I’m sorry.”

She raised her front paws, her claws looking far too lethal and sharp. “Now I know who to blame for his rise in power,” she said with a sneer.

Magic crackled in Phoenix’s palms, and she prayed she wouldn’t have to defend herself against her sister’s friend. “We had no choice.” She cursed the whine that had slipped into her voice. “The Vindictus had captured my sister and her mate.”

Tigress’s eyes widened, then her shoulders slumped. She had a defeated look in her posture, in the way the glow in her eyes had dulled.

Phoenix cleared her throat. “Perhaps we can help each other. I’m looking for four wolf shifters. Have you seen them?”

“The lechers?” Tigress cocked her head, looking at Phoenix as if she’d sprouted a hairy cock on her forehead.

“Lechers?” Phoenix asked, then tensed, fearing the answer.

“Gorgo’s goons.” Tigress folded her arms and tapped her foot while looking at Phoenix as if she carried the plague. “The ones who captured my mates.”

The thought of her mates doing that evil demon’s bidding soured her stomach. It also explained Tigress’s hostility. “They must be under his spell,” she blurted. For surely her mates wouldn’t have willingly participated in torture with an evil demon. At least, she hoped so. Unlike her sister, she had no visions of her past life, no memories of the demon wolves who were once her mates.

“They’ve been working for him for centuries,” Tigress stated as if she’d been reading her thoughts.

Phoenix smoothed her hands down her pants, doing her best to quell her trembling limbs. “Can you take me to them?”

“No.” Tigress gave her a cool look before backing up into the shadows. “In fact, this is where we must part ways.”

“Why?” Phoenix stumbled to her feet, clutching the wall for support. The room swayed and shifted as if she was on a boat in the middle of a gale.

“Gorgo is an oracle,” Tigress hissed. “He has the power to see everything and everyone in this dimension. He’s probably already sent his goons after you.”

What little moisture was left in Phoenix’s mouth evaporated. “My mates?”

Tigress stepped out of the shadows, her mouth turned in a frown. “They might be your mates, but they’re mindless now. They only do Gorgo’s bidding. They’ll capture you and give you to Gorgo, and if you knew what the oracle did to pretty, young witches, you’d leave this dimension and never come back.”

“I’m not leaving without my mates.” Phoenix hadn’t risked everything to come down here and then leave again.

Tigress let out a cross between a growl and a laugh. “Then prepare for an eternity of torture.”

She jutted a foot forward, and the room swayed with her. “Maybe we can work together to save both our mates,” she said while dragging a hand down her face. She had to get over this dizziness.

“Did you not hear me?” Tigress’s voice rose and cracked, urgency puncturing her words. “Gorgo is an oracle. He can see your next move before you think about it.”

Phoenix cocked her head, regretting the movement as the room swayed again. Something about Tigress’s story wasn’t adding up. “Then how have you managed to evade him?”

“My celaris magic is the only thing keeping me out of his clutches.” Tigress held up her paws, magic crackling between them. That mint smell grew stronger.

“I’ve heard of celaris magic,” Phoenix blurted, a plan suddenly taking shape in her mind. “Hecate says I was learning it in a past life. Can you teach me how to wield it?”

“No.” Tigress backed away from her, back toward the rays of light seeping in from the tunnel opening. “It took me decades to master it. In the time it takes me to teach you, Gorgo will have tracked you, and we’ll both be caught.”

Frustrated, Phoenix threw up her hands. “Then what do I do?”

Tigress narrowed her eyes, a low, dark grumble vibrating off her. “I told you what to do—leave.”

She followed the demon’s retreat, stumbling across the slick slate floors. “And I told you I’m not leaving.”

The demon growled but said nothing else as she leapt into the air, landing on the long slide that led to the tunnel opening. Digging her claws into the slate, she crawled up the slide.

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