Read A Council of Betrayal Online
Authors: Kim Schubert
Tags: #romance, #vampires, #witches, #djinn, #shape shifters, #mages, #succubus paranormal, #succubus romance, #shifter alpha
A Council of Betrayal
A Council of Betrayal
Kim Schubert
Dedication
To my husband, my biggest supporter and to my son the
reason I don’t sleep.
To my betas who took time from their busy lives to
help polish the story.
Facebook:
thekimschubert
Website: www.kimschubert.com
Copyright © Kim Schubert 2016
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the hard work of this author.
Other books by Kim Schubert:
Dead Shifter Walking, The Succubus
Executioner Book 1
Demigod Down, The Succubus Executioner Book
2
A Witch’s Fury, The Succubus Executioner Book
3
Table Of Contents
“How do
you want to do this?” Logan asked, resting his raw sienna gaze on
me.
I chewed on my bottom lip, meeting his
intrigued look with my own sea green gaze. So many options lingered
on my tongue, none of them appropriate for our current
situation.
I smiled at my own internal joke, turning my
attention to the window of the violet-eyed mage’s shop. It looked
the same as when I had been here with Blake. This time I had an
irritated shifter with me who had suffered the effects of Mae’s
magically enhanced silver cuffs firsthand. We both had. He had felt
the power of the cuffs pushing him to pure beast, and I had knocked
myself against a concrete basement floor sucking the magic in to
save him.
I drummed my fingers against my bottom lip,
catching Logan’s intent interest at the movement. “I’ll go in
first.”
“How long do you want me to wait?” he
questioned, with a knowing glance.
“Once I stop breaking things.” I knew my
smile was unhinged, can’t say I gave a shit. I was done not being
allowed in the backrooms of witches’ shops, or hell, not being
allowed in their shops at all. I was also done being tied down with
magical silver fucking chains.
The door chimed as I crossed the threshold,
announcing that the party was about to get started. I reached
behind me, slipping the lock home. Anticipation threaded through my
veins, putting a bounce in my step.
The silver haired mage pushed through the
beaded curtain separating the store from her private backroom. Her
greeting caught in her throat, her beautiful violet eyes widening
as she took a step back, mouth still hanging open.
I wasn’t sure if it was the throwing knives
secured around my thigh, or my open leather duster revealing the
dual guns resting against my sides.
I was betting on my off balanced smile.
“What do you want?” She took another step
back, into the safety of her backroom. I took several toward her. I
stopped at the counter, giving her the small illusion of
safety.
“Answers, Mae.”
“I won’t help you. You killed an
entire
coven
.” Disgust laced her words, giving her confidence as she
stepped forward, her arms crossed stiffly across her middle.
I shrugged. Technically, that wasn’t me, but
I’d take the compliment. The Fae, whom the coven had called forth,
claimed the witches’ lives as payment for being bothered. If
Destiny and her crew of flunkies were lucky, they were dead. The
Fae beat me hands down for finding creative ways to torture.
I’d admit to being jealous, but I was too
damn scared of those bastards.
I straightened up, drumming my fingers
against the glass counter.
“Let’s be honest, Mae. The witches aren’t
strong enough to put up a fight if I decide to kill you. And at
this point, I’m not sure I give a fuck.”
Her expression blanked, matching a mind that
had nothing intelligent to say.
The smile left my face. “You are a threat to
me and those I protect. I need to send a message, and it will be
sent brutally on your flesh.”
Stepping back, keeping my eyes trained on
Mae, I kicked over her impressive display case. She moved
instinctively closer to stop me.
“What is wrong with you?” she screamed. “Do
you have any idea how expensive those items are?”
I pulled off my leather duster, resting it
over the untouched cash register on top of a filing cabinet.
It was a new addition to my ensemble and I
was still weighing its merits.
Her hands clenched and unclenched as her plum
gaze swung around the shop, frantic.
“Looking for how to take down a pissed off
succubus, Mae?”
Her panicked stare landed back on me. “The
witches will protect me.” She was grasping at straws, and we both
knew it.
I laughed, a deep, roaring belly laugh. It
was totally misplaced there, but I didn’t give a fuck.
“Oh Mae, you are a fool. I’ll be honest, I
hadn’t pegged you for such easy prey.” I drew out the last word,
moving closer to her.
Her eyes widened, watching my progress with
trepidation.
“You can’t hurt me,” she repeated, trying to
convince herself, not me.
I laughed again, a silken sound this time.
“You going to stop me?” I asked, tilting my head.
She floundered backwards, displacing the
annoying hanging beads, finally attempting to escape.
I cleared the distance between us in an
instant, landing a hand on her shoulder with all the force of my
irritation. She spun, bringing a hand to her mouth and blowing a
dust at me. I coughed, caught off guard.
“Fucking witches,” I grunted, blinking
rapidly to clear my gaze.
Mae chanted words I didn’t understand,
drawing strength and conviction as I stayed still. Her arms rose
from her sides as her cadence quickened.
I spat out chunks of unknown shit, waiting
until my tears cleared the crap out of my eyes before moving.
Based on her terrified response, that wasn’t
what she was going for. “I — what — I don’t understand, you
shouldn’t be able to move!” She screamed the last word at me,
desperation forcing her voice up a few octaves.
I brushed off my shoulder before turning to
her.
“Now would be a good time to run.”
She took my advice, heading to the back door.
I smiled as I stalked after her.
I wasn’t expecting Logan to toss her back
into the room.
“Oh come on! You are ruining all my fun,” I
scolded him.
He rolled his eyes. “You’ve had enough time
to play; we need answers. In case you don’t remember, I was the one
chained up with the magic restraints.”
I huffed, pulling out the chair Mae used for
customers.
“Sit her here. It’s sturdy enough.” Indeed it
was. Thick arms arched up from the seat in hand carved designs,
melting solidly into the high back.
I pulled out rope and a worn leather case
from my duster pocket.
“I have to say, the duster does allow me to
stash more,” I informed Logan, tying Mae into the chair
securely.
“I’m glad you like it.”
“I haven’t decided if I like it, or if I’m
accepting it.”
It was Logan’s turn to chuckle as he watched
me unroll my toys. Destiny had a knack for flare and it wasn’t lost
on me. Oftentimes the anticipation of pain is a greater motivator
than pain itself.
I caressed my blades, secured with leather
bindings, my fingers knowing each groove and ridge. I wasn’t ready
to slice at her though. I had some aggression I needed to work out,
brutally.
Logan’s lips at my ear had me jumping
slightly. “It was a gift, Olivia, accept it.”
I huffed, turned on by the violence running
through my veins and the warmth of his breath on my skin. I cracked
my neck, turning to look at him. He certainly was different lately.
I mean, the man got me a random birthday present. I didn’t even
know when my birthday was. He had just shrugged and assured me that
would only help him surprise me. As in, he planned to do it again.
A small part of my still-healing heart liked that, a lot. The
remainder, fuck, didn’t know how to feel about it.
For now, I’d settle for hurting Mae.
I pulled a chair in front of her, leaving my
pretty tools on the counter, for now.
“Answers, Mae. Answers.”
“No,” she hissed at me.
I smiled, my shoulder relaxing. “I was hoping
you’d say that.”
My fist cracked against her delicate nose,
smashing the cartilage. Her head snapped against the plush chair as
she cried out in pain. She hung her head, whimpering, blood
dripping onto her silk dress.
I caressed the side of her face. “I want to
hurt you, Mae. I need to. But I’ll give you an out. Tell me what I
want to know, and I’ll make it quick,” I whispered into her
ear.
Sitting down, I braced my elbows on my knees,
tensely awaiting her decision.
“Since when is it a crime to fabricate an
item for a client?” she asked softly.
“Since I said so. You created two very unique
sets of chains. One designed specifically to drive a shifter to
pure beast, and one to restrain rogue vampires. You’ve played both
sides with two powerful groups. This visit cannot be a
surprise.”
She grimaced, looking up at me. “Go back to
the hell that spawned you.”
I smiled. “Right answer.”
…
“I’d like to play a game,” I told my
violet-eyed mage, twirling a blade around my finger as I leisurely
sat in front of her.
She wheezed, keeping her gaze trained on the
blood-stained carpeting in front of her. I had to give her credit,
she had taken a full twenty minutes of my beating before blacking
out.
“You’re insane,” Mae rasped.
I gave her a soft laugh. “Probably,” I
admitted, with a nonchalant shrug of my shoulders. “I want to know
who you made the spelled chains for.”
“A client,” she huffed out, her back
vibrating with the effort.
I gave her a weary look. “Are you certain you
want to continue?”
She coughed, blood spilling down her chin as
she finally looked up at me again. Her silver hair was matted with
blood, her formerly pristine skin bruised, her left eye swollen
shut.
So I might have gone a little overboard on
the beating. The bitch had tried to fry me with her magic.
“Vampires,” she wheezed.
I looked sharply up at Logan. We had ended up
in the clutches of a Fae-loving witch and a magically enhanced,
crazy shifter. That was not the answer I was expecting.
I looked back down at Mae, wondering if
perhaps she wasn’t lying.
Even Nari, the demigod who had a horde of
rogue vampires tied up with the magical chains, would have been an
acceptable answer. It was interesting to note, though, that she was
with the vampires called to release said magical chains. Perhaps
the vampire answer made sense?
“More,” I demanded, pushing on her dislocated
shoulder.
She cried out, blood bubbling down her chin.
“I don’t know!” she screamed. Her tortured cry turned into
sobbing.
“He put me on retainer for a million dollars
to make chains on demand for a year,” she finally muttered, her
head hung low, her bound body the only thing keeping her
upright.
“How did he pay you?” Logan asked.
“Wire transfer,” Mae exhaled.
“Paper trail?” I asked hopefully.
Mae shook her head. “I hope they get you,”
she sneered at me.
I laughed before snapping her neck.
“Hey, can you call Tommy? Last time I got
blood on my phone he was super pissed at me.”
“Yep.” Logan dialed as I found the small
bathroom, warming the water up to wash off my hands.
“Your reigning champion is online,” Tommy
answered on speakerphone. I snorted in amusement, opening my mouth
to respond.
“You beat me at that racing game once, Tommy.
You can’t claim that title yet,” Logan grunted.
I looked at Logan, shocked. When was he at
the manor?