I tried to push down the anger the demon could smell, but it was no use. The rage tangled with my grace, burning me from the inside out, demanding to be used...or fed.
It wanted out, that rage. It hadn’t ended with putting Misha down. It had started there.
Roth was correct. I wanted revenge, because Faye and whoever else had taken part deserved to die.
Layla had been hurt.
Zayne had almost died. I had no idea whether, if they hadn’t sold us out, that night would’ve gone any differently, but they’d played a major role in what had happened and they deserved to suffer lasting consequences from that night.
Faye deserved whatever was coming to her, but...seeking revenge wasn’t right.
I’d learned that when I was six years old and I’d pushed a boy at the park who’d knocked me over to get to the swing set. Mom had taught me that. She’d sat me down and explained that two wrongs never made anything right. Thierry had reinforced it numerous times when Misha and I were younger and I’d retaliated whenever he bested me in training by hiding his shoes or taking his favorite chips or cookies and eating them or throwing them away.
Man, I had been a little terror.
But anyway, killing Faye and her coven wasn’t the same thing as hiding Misha’s shoes or throwing away his favorite chips. It was more like what I’d done to Ryker after he’d murdered my mother.
I’d killed him.
Immediately and without regret.
No one had punished me for that. I’d never thought twice about the fact that I’d killed him. What I’d done didn’t seem to matter in comparison to what he had done.
This wasn’t the same, though.
Or was it?
Killing Ryker had been an act of immediate retribution. The crimes were different. Just like killing...killing Misha. It was the same. I’d had to do it.
Low in my stomach, my grace burned and pulsed. It was the source of my strength and power. A weapon welded from Heaven’s own fire coursed through my veins, and it wanted to be used. For what Roth was requesting. Confusion swirled. Shouldn’t it be shrinking away from such a request? Or was I wrong? Maybe I was supposed to do this, not because I owed Roth a favor but because the coven was indirectly tied to this Harbinger. When they’d helped Senator Fisher obtain the enchantment for the humans who’d attacked the community I’d grown up in, they had helped Misha and Bael, who were both connected to the Harbinger.
I thought about the Warden who’d died last night. And I thought about all those innocent humans who’d been infected and left to rot in the abandoned building. The witches hadn’t done any of that directly, but they were still a part of it.
I took a breath. It went nowhere.
“What if I refuse?” I asked as I stared out the window, seeing nothing.
Roth didn’t answer immediately. An eternity seemed to stretch out between us. “I don’t think you will, so why ask the question?”
I’d been wrong about that breath I took. It did go somewhere. Air swelled in my chest. Pressure clamped down as my grace pulsed like a hot flash. My thoughts raced as I tried to come to terms with the crystal clear fact that...I wanted to take out the coven.
I wanted to make them pay.
I wasn’t even all that furious with Roth for making the request. Sure, I was ticked off. The bastard was using my need for revenge to do his dirty work, but I also understood his deadly desire and that understanding dampened my outrage.
I started to reach for my phone, tucked away in the pocket of my jeans, then stopped, wondering who I was going to call. Zayne? Yes. That was who I was reaching for, and wasn’t that bizarre? It had to be the bond, because I rarely thought to ask anyone for advice. I kind of just did whatever without talking to anyone. Not Jada. Not even Misha before...well, before everything had gone to crap with him. What would Zayne say? I doubted he’d sign off on this.
Knowing him, he’d come up with a less deadly alternative.
I opened my eyes and looked at Roth. He was watching me in a curious way, as if waiting to see what I’d say even though he’d already claimed I wouldn’t refuse. “What if I can make Faye release Bambi without killing her?”
One side of his lips curled up in a secretive half grin. “Well, why don’t we see how