funny as you do.”
Shya’s look changed to one of disdain. He so easily tired of my mortal antics. “If you had any sense at all, you’d know an opportunity when you see one. Once you die your mortal death and rise as a vampire, there will be no mortal constraints on your power. No headaches. No nosebleeds. No limits.”
The bastard demon always had talked a good game. I wasn’t buying it. “When I die, the balance shifts. Arys and I won’t have the balance of light. We will just be dark. I get it. You’re a demon. You like the dark. That’s not my world.”
“Ah, you silly mortal girl, it’s always been your world.”
Considering the scene I’d just made in the motel, it was hard to argue with him. My pulse raced, and my breath came fast. He was scaring me.
We reached the Charger, and I pulled the keys from my bag. “I won’t be controlled. Not by you, not by Lilah and not by the goddamn FPA. I’m sick of you all telling me what to do and when to do it. I’m not a sixteen-year-old newbie wolf anymore. If I have as much pull in this city as you all think I do, then you should know better than to fuck with me.”
The angry tirade spilled out. This shit had to stop. I was nobody’s puppet.
Shya’s expression grew absolutely venomous. His wings appeared with a loud snap, spread wide to intimidate. He shoved me hard against the car, closing in to trap me there.
“Is that so?” A pulse of scorching heat emanated from him. His mark on my arm throbbed in response, burning as if flames engulfed my flesh. “You know who shouldn’t be fucked with? Someone who knows how to get inside the head of those who love you.”
Logic told me to shut up, but the heady rush of the kill drove me to be bold. I wasn’t backing down. “I know what you’re doing with Arys. Taking advantage of his fear of losing me won’t get you very far. He’s not an idiot.”
“No, just a man with a lot to lose. Everything in fact. And, the more he worries about keeping you safe, the more likely it becomes that he himself will destroy you.” Shya leaned in dangerously close, searching me for something, weakness perhaps. “I promise you, I’ll be there when he does.”
This was not how I’d pictured our conversation. Shya knew too much. Had Gabriel also foreseen my death at Arys’s hand? Is that how Shya knew?
“Even if you find a way to take advantage of my death, I will never help you. I won’t lead vampires and wolves for you. I will, however, lead them against you.”
Shya laughed in my face. He smelled of wine and roses. Faintly beneath that was the bitter stench of sulfur.
“I look forward to it,” he said. “Now tell me, why did you really ask me here? I assume it wasn’t to argue about petty details.”
“Brook is working with Lilah. He delivered an invitation to me for tomorrow night. And, a chunk of my sister’s hair. I need to know she’s safe from him. That he won’t do anything to her between now and then.” Those petty details were my life and death, but he was right, I had called him because of concern for my sister. It was a risky call, and I knew he would take advantage of it.
“Oh I see.” He stepped back a few paces, allowing me some room to move. “So, you expect me to do something about that.”
“I know you have power over him,” I offered lamely. I had a bad feeling I would regret this. Still, I couldn’t leave Juliet in Brook’s hands.
“What do you want me to do?” There was intrigue in his eyes.
My stomach turned. This would lead to nothing good. “I just don’t want him to touch her in any way that would harm or violate her.”
Shya nodded thoughtfully. Pinning me with a deep red stare, he pursed his lips in consideration. “I may be able to do something about that. Falon’s recent indiscretions with Lilah have put him deeper in my debt. He’s playing double agent now. I can have him speak with Brook.”
Relief swept me.
“That’s not going to come without a price, is it?” I was wary, afraid to hear his demands, but if it meant keeping Juliet safe, it would be worth it.
He pulled his wings in close so they hugged his back. Stroking a