Fated for Her Wolves - Tara West Page 0,47

unfinished stairway held together with two-by-fours and shielded by scaffolding, construction workers from the looks of their paint-stained clothes and tool belts. “I mean you no harm. Get out of here. This place is about to burn.”

They looked at her as if they’d seen a ghoul, then scrambled away, piss running down one man’s leg. She didn’t know why they were so frightened until she caught sight of herself in an antique gilded mirror hanging above a crumbling fireplace. Her clothes were painted in blood and her hair was wild, most likely from childbirth. And she pulsed with a white glow. That was some powerful magic!

The farther she went down the corridor, the stronger the demon smell. After busting down every door, she came to the room she’d been searching for. Disco music blared and the smell of sex wafted from under the door. She blasted it open, not surprised to see a naked Balban riding a guard. She separated them and sent the shocked guard out of the room and into the hall, then stepped inside the room and slammed the door behind her with a flick of her fingers.

Balban crab-walked to the antique headboard of the disheveled bed. “Hello, witch. Don’t harm me, and I promise to give you the best orgasms of your life.”

Eilea threw her head back with a laugh. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

Balban reached for something, and Eilea twirled her fingers until she heard the audible snapping of Balban’s neck. Shielding her baby, she waited for Balban’s spirit to descend. It didn’t take long for the winged dragon to leave its stolen mortal skin. Hovering over her, she let out a deafening roar.

Eilea threw a burst of wind at the spirit and whispered a banishment spell, including the demon’s name. A giant hole opened in the stone floor, revealing a long vertical tunnel that resembled an inflamed, fleshy throat. Balban spun into the hole like water swirling down a sink drain. The portal sealed over the tip of her wing and disappeared.

“One demon banished to hell, one to go,” Eilea whispered to her baby, kissing the soft, black tuft of hair on his temple.

She abruptly remembered Katarina, who’d almost cost Eilea and her baby their lives. “Make that two demons.”

TATIANA BOLTED UPRIGHT when she heard a loud blast, followed by terrified screams, echoing down the hall. “It’s Eilea! She’s coming for me!”

Katarina clutched the cell bars, peering into the darkness. She turned to Tatiana with wide eyes. “You must make her save me, too.”

Tatiana was flabbergasted. “No. I tried to help you once.” She rattled her chains for emphasis. “Look where it got me.”

“You would abandon your mates’ mother?” Katarina screeched.

Another blast sounded down the hall, and the temperature in the cell rose by several degrees. They must have really pissed off Eilea. Tatiana hoped the baby was unharmed.

Katarina had a look in her eyes, like she was a helpless, abandoned puppy. Tatiana wasn’t buying it. The woman was a narcissistic psychopath who cared only for herself. “You have brought this on yourself because of your hatefulness toward others. I’m not abandoning my mates’ mother.” Brilliant red and orange lights shone beneath the door. “Eilea is more of a mother to them than you ever were.”

Katarina’s pouty puppy expression vanished, replaced with a menacing snarl. “My sons deserve better than a heartless mate.”

Tatiana’s voice dripped with sugary sweetness. “You’re right, and that’s why the Ancients picked a mate for them who is opposite their mother.”

Katarina launched into the air, shifting into wolf form, jowls snapping as she dove for Tatiana. With no way to defend herself, Tatiana turned to the wall, praying Eilea reached her in time. She cried out when Katarina bit her shoulder, digging in her fangs until she crunched bone. Excruciating pain shot through her.

A powerful boom rent the air, and the ceiling caved in. Tatiana coughed from dust and ash and felt the heavy beating of wings bear down on her. Katarina yelped, then whimpered before going completely silent.

Tatiana cried out when a large horned demon broke apart the iron rails of her bed and hoisted her up, her chains hanging by her sides.

“You’re coming with me, my little wolf,” the demon with a black, glistening hide, who smelled exactly like Sitri, said.

“No!” She punched him to no avail.

Holding her in his arms, he leaped into the air, his wings at least two men in length.

Terrified, Tatiana struggled as the ground beneath them disappeared, and they were swallowed by frigid