inside of me flared to life and my wings spread, glowing with a hue of teal magic.
His elongated nails dug into my wing and jerked my body around before pinning me to the wall. This time, there wasn’t an ounce of sexual need, and his spell over me was broken.
“I’m going to rip your throat out,” he sneered, and I was suddenly pissed the hell off that I was supposed to keep him alive. It would have been so much easier to just cut his head off with my wingtips.
“Yeah, that’s not going to happen,” I replied right before I used my left elbow to slam into his jaw and my right to blast him with paralyzing magic once again, this time not missing my mark.
My powers seeped into the vampire’s chest and caused him to stagger, but he recovered quicker than expected. His lips lifted as he snarled in my face and wrapped his hands around my neck.
I’d finally had enough and brought my wings forward, holding them right at his throat, ready to slice it open regardless of what Beatrix wanted. “Let go of me and I won’t remove your head.” My eyes narrowed and glowed as my power rose closer to the surface.
He flinched but didn’t back down. One hand pushed my wing just far enough to the side that his head had enough room to slam into mine. Dante seemed uncaring that my wingtips had nearly taken his fingers off.
His impact made my nose crack, causing me to let out several choice words before my fae healing began to kick in, and Dante didn’t give me a moment to recover. He went for my legs next, and my body crashed into the dirty concrete ground.
Damn, that hurt, but I was done playing around. It was time to show him who he was messing with.
“Now this is where you belong. Right on your back.” Dante’s fangs aimed for my neck as he moved in.
My wings were flat against the concrete, but I brought them forward before his mouth could reach my skin and the hardened tops sliced clean through his left ear. He froze in place before I could continue to his neck.
Trying to keep Beatrix in mind since Neva had made a deal, I didn’t immediately kill him. “Let’s have some real fun,” I said before driving my fist into his nose, breaking it like his marble skin did mine.
He might have been strong and given me a challenge, but he couldn’t beat me, and based on the flicker of rage in his eyes, he realized it, too.
“Screw you.” He spat blood and was lucky he missed my face.
“Awe, you’re not going to be that fortunate tonight, vampy.” Wasting no more time, I put my final moves into motion.
My wings pulled back—still attempting to keep him mostly in one piece for Beatrix—and I hooked my left leg around his while I pushed on his chest with both hands, slamming power into his core.
My magic had a visible effect this time, and the darker voice within me sung like a church choir. That was what I’d needed. This sex-on-a-stick deserved to have his ass handed to him, and I was glad to be the one to do it.
A wave of new magic entered the alleyway, so I wasted no time getting one last hit in, this time adding a bit of something special that would keep the vampire down for at least an hour. Enough time for the witch to get him wherever she needed.
“Neva,” I called out just once, and she appeared immediately. “Is that Beatrix I sense?”
The elf nodded at the same time the witch walked out of the shadows, a trail of fog behind her. I was interested in why she hid herself, but not enough to ask. Instead, I was ready to be done with Dante before I accidentally killed him and enraged an entire coven.
“I’d heard you were good, but I must say, I’m a little disappointed.” Beatrix tsked, and I instantly wanted to slice her in two. “You made that look too easy,” she added a second later, saving me the trouble of killing her and the vamp.
“Well, it is what you hired me for,” I replied with bite in my voice, still kneeling over Dante. Even if she hadn’t meant to insult me, she’d still struck a nerve and needed to know. Though, I wasn’t sure if my short temper had more to do with her or the fae that