Neither man spoke or even blinked. They simply stared at her.
Hadn’t the words come from her heart? Wasn’t she committing to her horse-shifting men? Why didn’t they say something?
She slipped free of their light holds, bending down to pick up the linen bag as she floundered for an explanation. Disappointment tried to claw its way into her throat, but she swallowed it. She refused to give up that easily.
Raising John’s hand, she pressed the packet into his palm and then placed Tanner’s hand over top of it. They would take care of her priceless treasures. “Carry them for me. Please. I trust you to keep them safe.”
A weight lifted from somewhere deep inside, and energy buzzed up her arms, seeming to originate from her men. As Elementals, did they possess another power?
No, they would’ve told me.
Sarah gasped at a sudden infusion of strength and vitality. John’s and Tanner’s essence soaked into her, filling her with optimism and a deep sense of rightness. In return, she imagined strands of her witching abilities flowing through her fingertips into their skin, sharing her gifts with them as they shared theirs with her.
Whether the exchange lasted seconds, minutes, or hours, she had no idea. Only the connection mattered—and Tanner had promised they couldn’t go back. She didn’t want to. The tingling along her nerve endings slowed, and she welcomed the almost post-coital peace in her soul.
Parting her lips, she tested her voice, not entirely sure she could speak after the amazing communion she’d partaken of. “We’re mated.”
Tanner’s crooked smile sent her pulse racing. “Yes.”
John grinned. “Forever.”
She stretched upward to kiss each of her mates, lingering long enough to show them the depth of her commitment. “I believe we’re ready to kick some Triad ass now.”
* * * *
Sarah adjusted the hood of her cape as she waited for her target to finish with his final victim. For a reason known only to him, he wouldn’t strike again. Nor would the authorities ever finger him. He had simply vanished without a trace.
According to her research, this particular serial murderer would end his killing spree in the alley where Sarah stood, flanked by the misty shadows of Tanner and John. Her lovers had been quite pleased to discover the ability to shift into ethereal form. It provided them with a legitimate rationalization for accompanying her—only someone with superior powers would know they were there with her. They weren’t so happy about having their wrists and ankles shackled.
Not that she minded. Since becoming mated to them that morning, the mere thought of going anywhere without them brought immediate denial. They were a vital part of her now, and she needed them by her side. She was still strong, but they made her stronger.
While standing by as an innocent died bothered her conscience, rewriting history was a risk she couldn’t take. She couldn’t save the unsuspecting young woman. The victim’s limp body crumpled to the ground, life and breath squeezed out of her by the hands of a psychopath.
Sarah averted her gaze as the killer continued with the usual dismemberment. When the flash of a sharp edge blinked in her peripheral vision, she focused on the faint outlines of her mates to calm her roiling stomach. A wave of nausea threatened to steal her equilibrium, and she sucked in a slow inhale to dispel the light-headedness.
Counting to twenty, she tried to block out the sickening slashes of knife through flesh. Shallow breaths through her nose brought the metallic tang of blood, setting her stomach churning again.
Metal clanked against the pavement.
The knife.
Footsteps told Sarah that he’d begun rearranging the woman’s arms and legs into a grotesque mutation of a human body, as he’d done with every previous victim. He hummed while he completed his task.
Now or never.
The stench of sick pleasure slowed her approach, but the moment she came within an arm’s length of her target, she took control of his mind. With no ability to feel remorse, his soul was blacker than any she’d ever seen before.
Staring into the dark depths of his eyes, she pushed her will on him. “You will come with me now.”
He nodded and then started to bend down.
“Leave the knife.” Keeping her head up to avoid seeing what was surely a grisly display at her feet, she gestured toward the end of the alley.
Faces pale and grim, John and Tanner solidified. They followed, their chains clanking, as the butcher walked away from the young woman he’d slaughtered.
At the deserted entrance to the street, Sarah blindfolded the man she planned to present to Naga. Even under her influence, a serial murderer was unpredictable.
She imagined a thread connecting all of them, careful not to allow her concern for Tanner and John to show. Hiding her emotions hadn’t been a problem in the past, but being mated and having a fertility cycle could easily change that. Distance was her only friend until she either succeeded or failed in her attempt to destroy the Triad.
Calling on her expanded powers, she opened a gateway to carry her and the men to the catacombs. Contact wasn’t necessary with her new strengths, and the pull of the time tunnel sucked them into the twisting, winding route.
A second of disorientation set off her nervous stomach, sending another wave of nausea sweeping over her. Gathering every ounce of self-discipline she could muster, she swallowed the bile rising in her throat long enough to reach her destination.
Her travel companions landed on their back ends on the sandy floor, but she managed to stay upright, clutching at the wall for balance.
“What gift
ss
have you brought me,
Ss
i
ss
ter?”
Naga’s hissing reminded Sarah of her mission, and she forced her spine straight. “I’ve found a truly black soul to join us. The others are for a test. Do you not recognize their origin?”
Slithering closer, Naga whipped his forked tongue in and out. “I
ss
mell…
Xs
anthu
ss
Elemental
ss.
You have done well.”
She pushed back her head covering, freeing her hair and revealing her disguised eyes. Thankfully, that skill hadn’t abandoned her. “I’ve done what Kazmer couldn’t. I captured two of our warlock enemies. The blindfolded one—he must kill them to prove his worth and earn the mark of the Black Triad.”
Naga rose to eye level, fanning his hood and baring his venomous fangs inches from her face. “The aroma of death
ss
urround
ss
him. He has the blood of inno
ce
nt
ss
on him.”
Holding her ground, she met the penetrating gaze of his vertical pupils. “I waited for him to complete his evening’s entertainment before journeying to the catacombs for his presentation.”
“He ha
ss
killed many.” Swaying toward the men, Naga flicked his tongue again, clearly entranced by the scent of a fresh kill. “Remove the blindfold.”
Loath to approach the cold-blooded predator, she worked the knot loose in her mind.
The strip of black cloth fell to his chin, and he turned to look at her from his place on the sandy floor. A slow, chilling smile warned her she was on his hit list. No emotion emanated from him, only determination and ruthlessness. He even seemed unafraid of the deadly cobra hovering over him.
Beside him, Tanner and John struggled to sit up, the shackles impeding their efforts. After several failed attempts, they managed to push up against the near wall.
John narrowed his eyes at her and scowled. “The Goddess will see to the destruction of the Black Triad, whether through Xanthus bounty hunters or someone else on the side of good.”
Waving her hand at him and Tanner, she held her calm expression. “Do you think your Goddess has anyone on her side strong enough to capture me? Did I not escape the binding spell you cast? Your Goddess has no power compared to the elders of the Triad.”
The killer rose, facing Naga. “This Triad. What is it? You allow a woman to wield power over men?”
“
Ss
ilen
ce.
I choo
ss
e tho
ss
e who are worthy of becoming an elder.” Naga seemed to study the possible replacement for Kazmer for a moment before slithering a few feet away and then back again. The shoosh of his scales over the sand was almost soothing to Sarah’s hidden tension.
As Naga turned for another lap of pacing, the murderer yanked a switchblade from his back pocket and snapped it open. His slice at Naga’s neck missed by several inches, but the cobra’s lightning-fast strike didn’t. Long, curved fangs sank into the recruit’s shoulder and held for several seconds. No doubt, enough venom streamed into the bite to take down a creature much larger than a human.
A garbled cry echoed along the narrow corridors, and the predator turned prey sank to the ground, dropping the knife and clutching at the teeth marks in his shirt. The color drained from his previously flushed cheeks. “You can’t do this to me.”
Clawing at the sand, he curled into a tight ball. His neck bulged, swelling from the toxins infecting his muscles and nerves. Spittle seeped from his mouth, and his body convulsed. The sound of wheezing broke the eerie silence.
Frozen in place, Sarah counted the minutes in her head.
One.
Two.
Three.
Finally, the shallow breaths ceased. Death had claimed him quickly—far quicker than normal for a cobra bite. Staying out of striking range seemed wise.
“He wa
ss
too ambi
ti
ou
ss
.” Moving away from his victim, Naga swayed closer to John and Tanner, and Sarah forced her heart to maintain its steady beat. “Their
ss
oul
ss
are too clean for my ta
ss
te. You will kill them,
Ss
i
ss
ter.”
Blanketing her relief in false pleasure, she gave a nod. “Yes, Naga.”
The leader of the Black Triad twisted to give her an uncomfortable stare. “Will you make them
ss
uffer, as you do with all your male victim
ss
?”
She turned her gaze to her lovers, letting a smirk curve her lips. “I will.”
His hypnotic sway put her senses on alert, but she didn’t step back. “
Sso
loyal to the Triad. But if you wi
sh
ed for another child, I would gladly have impregnated you again.”
Another child? Again? Can he mean…
Her throat constricted, and she nearly choked trying to swallow her panic. Had Naga raped her more than three hundred years ago? How could he know if she’d conceived with John and Tanner? Was he attempting to trick her into confessing her relationship with the Xanthus warlocks?
Our children. I have to protect them.
She pressed against the wall around Naga’s mind in search of the truth, even as she covered her abdomen with her palm. Her blood chilled with the sudden memories of having her body violated by a stranger. Why had he chosen her?
Images zipped through her thoughts with an all-out shove into the darkness of his consciousness, confirming her suspicion about the man who’d attacked her but not the reasons for his actions.
Her unanswered screams for help echoed in her ears. The joy of holding Samuel became tainted, and the knowledge that she’d joined the ranks of such utter scum of the earth disgusted her. If she hadn’t been ready to destroy the embodiment of pure evil before, this enlightening information assured her that she was now. “You will die this day for what you did to me and the world, Naga.”
His thin lips slid into a superior smile. “You are weak, witch. You lack the power of the Black Triad.”
His statement confirmed what she’d already been told. She wasn’t a true elder—but she wasn’t weak.
“But I do not.”
The familiar voice sent Sarah’s composure fleeing. She flinched from learned response of his angry warnings paired with the painful lashings across her back. Only one man could spark a response so automatic, and she prayed he was still dead. Hadn’t she witnessed—carried out—the stabbing that had taken his life?
“You dared to touch my property, Naga?” Percy Ellington stepped into the torch lit tunnel, his bearing as arrogant and self-righteous as it had been in 1692. His soul was blacker than the darkest night.
The cobra spared a look toward the intruder. “It wa
ss
ne
cesss
ary for my plan, Brother. A man who can take the life of a child ha
ss
no morality. You proved your worth to me. Did I not make you an elder?”
“I knew the bratling was not my own. That’s why I killed him and blamed that whore I called wife.”
Horror rushed over Sarah, followed by hatred so intense a primal growl roared up her throat. Samuel hadn’t died because of her failings. Ego and jealousy had taken her baby. She’d been used and abused by Naga and her husband, one for creation and one for destruction. They’d allowed her to believe her son had perished because she hadn’t been talented enough to save him.