Yonnie keyed in on Nuit's oily tone of jealousy. "I know him," Yon�nie said in Dananu with the slightest disdain registering in his voice. It was time to bargain. "I saw him when he came to the Gray Zone as a Neteru king and went for Damali." He allowed the information to fester in Nuit's mind for a moment, also fully remembering Nuit's de�sire for her as a prize. "He's not one of us, really. He's a hybrid."
"Then, you know his... weaknesses?"
Yonnie smiled at Nuit and a quiet alliance was formed. "His, hers, and Carlos's."
Nuit leaned in and smelled Yonnie's jugular, testing for a lie and then sat back appearing temporarily satisfied. "That you do.Tres bon."
"Yeah, it's all good," Yonnie murmured, extending a handshake to Nuit. "Now hook a brother up, so I can go to work."
Lilith calmly walked through Gabrielle's Nevada condo and sat down in a Queen Anne chair in the living room and crossed her legs. She watched in amusement as Gabrielle worked hard to focus on the dead crystal ball that was set in the center of her dining room table.
"Your powers are weak these evenings. Such a shame," Lilith mur�mured, causing Gabrielle to turn with a start.
Lilith stood and sauntered over to her and stroked her hair, sending a pleasure shiver down Gabrielle's spine. She kissed Gabrielle's shoul�der and began a lazy trail up Gabrielle's neck that made her tense. "I would never hurt you, as long as you're doing my bidding," Lilith whispered against the vein in her neck.
"I... I know," Gabrielle said with a dry swallow. "Just tell me what you need me to do tonight."
Lilith's hands trailed down Gabrielle's shoulders, putting gooseflesh on her arms. Gabrielle closed her eyes as fear and disgust fought for dominance over the excruciating pleasure Lilith invoked. She struggled against a gasp as Lilith's hands cupped her br**sts and she began to knead her ni**les until they pouted to taut pebbles beneath her fingers.
"You're getting so wet," Lilith murmured, suckling Gabrielle's ear. "How long has it been since you were truly pleasured?" she asked in a breathy whisper, sending a phantom caress between Gabrielle's legs until they parted. Lilith flicked her tongue against Gabrielle's jugular until she moaned. "I bet never like this," she said, leaning in closer to trail her hand down Gabrielle's torso and dip her hand beneath her silk robe to part her lips.
Gabrielle arched as the caress found her bud. "Please don't," she said in a quiet, panicked whisper.
"Why not?" Lilith murmured seductively, gliding her finger in agony-producing sweeps against the swollen, slick slit, and massaging it until Gabrielle arched again. "Surely your virginity is long gone... and you can't be saving your virtue for a husband." Lilith giggled low in her throat as she inserted her finger gently inside Gabrielle, causing her to clutch the edge of the table.
"I can't concentrate for you, dark queen," Gabrielle gasped, trying to bargain her way out of the situation. "I was trying to contact my initiates for you... and... oh... I was... I was..."
"We've already found them," Lilith hissed seductively and then chuckled low in her throat when Gabrielle tensed. "Why so ner-vous?"
"I thought you might be displeased that you'd located them before I had," Gabrielle said quickly.
"You did help us, immensely," Lilith whispered, sending a blinding orgasm into Gabrielle's canal. She laughed as Gabrielle cried out. "Your initiates were our beacon...just like your loyalty to Jack Rider and your family was. Now I'm here to reward you with your fondest wish, one that you had asked us for years ago."
Faint, Gabrielle tried to turn to look at Lilith. Tears stung her eyes and she spoke on a strangled whisper. "Please... I've changed my mind. I only wanted Yonnie to do that."
"I know," Lilith cooed. "But he has been remanded for other tasks. However, now that Tara is dead, you can take her place beside him as his wife."
"No!"
The strike that tore at Gabrielle's jugular was so violent that the scream never left her throat.
CHAPTER TEN
The carnage that met Damali's eyes made her run toward the villa in a flat-out dash. Big Mike was on the ground panting, sweat pouring down his contorted face as he struggled against a huge section of deck-rail wood that had pierced his abdomen like a stake. The over�whelmed nymph flitted anxiously between Mike and Hubert as she furiously tried to heal wounds, not sure of who to tend to first, her loyalties severely divided.
"Medic! Marlene!" Damali shouted, coming to a hard slide next to Mike in the sand. "Berkfield! We've got a man down!"
Berkfield struggled to rise from the sand, dazed from the blast, but couldn't. On a mission to save a life, undaunted, he tried to drag his injured leg with a compound fracture behind him. He yelled out in pain as the broken thigh bone shifted under his skin.
"Okay, okay, stand down," Damali said quickly, realizing that Berk�field was too weak from his own injuries to help her heal. She gently pressed one hand to Mike's forehead to siphon away the pain, causing him to groan when she touched her other hand near the gaping wound, and then threw her head back, panting. "Where's Mar? I need another healer to go in with me," Damali called out. She opened her eyes and looked down at Mike. "You hang in there with me, Michael Roberts. You hear me, you big ox!"
Inez came through the shattered doors first, screamed, and rushed to kneel beside Damali. "Oh, Jesus, Lord have mercy!" she said, rock�
ing on her knees next to Mike with her arms wrapped around her waist.
"Whereis Marlene?" Damali shouted.
"She fell down hard and hit her head on the counter trying to body-shield Sara from a black blast. Marjorie is trying to get her up," Inez said, choked. "She was unconscious."