Beauty Awakened (Angels of the Dark #2)(68)
Author: Gena Showalter

His father looked him over, triumph twisting his features and revealing the ugliness of his core. “Aren’t you a pretty thing?” His voice was deep. Husky.

Hated.

The only reason Nox had never forcibly shaved Koldo’s head, pierced Koldo’s face or tattooed Koldo’s body was because the traits were considered admirable among the Nefas and Koldo hadn’t yet earned the right.

“You should be dead,” Koldo said.

A smug smirk, one of thousands Koldo had received over the years. “Oh, you mean that pathetic attempt you made to kill me all those years ago? I saw you coming and flashed away. Your rain of fire failed to singe a single part of me.”

He raised his chin. “Your people can’t say the same. You abandoned them, choosing to save yourself rather than to stay and issue a warning.”

In a snap, the smugness gave way to fury. “You are responsible for their deaths, not me. You’re the reason I’ve had to spend all this time rebuilding. Planning. Waiting. I knew I couldn’t hurt a man who had nothing to lose.”

Having Nox’s intentions stated so plainly—to hurt Nicola in an effort to hurt Koldo—doused his rage with fear. Nox never made an empty threat. He only made promises.

“Where are the girls?” Koldo demanded.

“We’ll get to that,” Nox replied smoothly.

A whoosh of air, and then Axel was beside him, wings tucked into his back.

Nox grinned slowly. “You made a friend. How nice. But all that means is that more blood will spill today.”

Humans walked past, spotted them and picked up the pace.

“Aw. The ugly Nefas thinks he’s going to win.” Axel placed a hand over his heart. “It’d be cute if it wasn’t so stupid. I bet you’re a crier, aren’t you? Yeah, you’ll cry when you’re spanked. I can tell.”

“The girls,” Koldo insisted.

“Here.”

The new speaker had him turning to the left. He watched as Sirena stepped from a puff of black smoke, dragging Nicola and Laila behind her.

The girls were bound, pale and shaking. Sirena gave a vicious tug of her wrists, yanking at their ties, and they tripped forward, falling to the ground. Nicola had a split lip and a bruised jaw, but Laila was otherwise unharmed. There was a clear strip of tape covering both their mouths, and tears had stained red tracks down Laila’s cheeks. Nicola radiated anger and determination.

She would fight. Till her dying breath, she would fight.

Koldo’s rage returned full force, guilt fast on its heels. He should have protected her. But he hadn’t. He had failed. And he would punish himself for it, he vowed. No one would have to do it for him. He would make sure he suffered for this.

“How?” he demanded.

Sirena preened, fluffing her hair. “Like you, I can flash. I’m surprised you didn’t realize. But I do appreciate the suggested stay at Chez Caveman.”

She could flash. She wasn’t bald, but she could produce black smoke when she flashed. She was definitely Nefas, though she must be of mixed race, like him. Her other half wasn’t Sent One, that was for sure. She had no wings, hidden or otherwise. No sword of fire.

“Look at that,” his father said. “My only children are getting along so well. How delightful.”

Axel, who had moved, but had remained at Koldo’s side, stiffened.

But then, so did Koldo. Nox’s only…children? Koldo’s study of Sirena intensified. She was short. He was tall. She was blonde, her eyes blue. He was dark-headed, his eyes amber. But…their features were somewhat similar, he realized. They had the same strong cheekbones, the same proud nose and stubborn chin.

He…he had a sister.

“I’ll give you one chance,” Nox said. As he spoke, five serp demons rose from the dirt and slithered to his sides. “Just one to make things right between us. Bind yourself to Sirena and continue my bloodline, or die here with your woman—after I play with her a little.”

A trick, surely. “You expect me to wed a blood relation?”

“Expect? No.” Nox laughed with evil intent, the sound chilling. “Demand? Yes.”

Koldo popped his jaw, not allowing himself to so much as glance at Nicola and catch her reaction to this.

“Sirena’s a tasty little treat,” his father added, reaching out to pat her bottom. “You’ll quite enjoy her. I did.”

Disgusting male. And I sprang from his loins. “Are you agreeable to this?” he barked at Sirena.

“I am,” she said, and bent over Nicola. She placed a kiss against the tape covering her mouth as the girl tried to turn her head away. Sirena’s intentions were clear: she wanted Nicola’s soul. All the while her gaze remained on Koldo. “You’ve been promised to me since my birth, and I will have you. One way or another. What happens to the human depends on you.”

Four other Nefas strolled over to their group, one eating from a bag of popcorn, another biting into a caramel apple and another drinking a cup of coffee. But he could see the guns and knives stashed at their wrists, waist and ankles. They were warriors.

Worse, there were two demons with them. Lefty and Righty. Lefty’s arm had been reattached, though it hung limply at his side, but Righty’s horn was still missing. Both males were grinning.

I’ll flash to the girls and throw them at you, he projected into Axel’s mind. Catch them and fly them to safety. I’ll stay behind to fight.

He expected resistance. After all, a Sent One had just found out that Koldo was half-Nefas, the vilest race to walk the earth.

Instead, Axel said, Dude, you better keep yourself alive. There’s no way I can deal with those two ladies for long…without throwing a shagging party.

“What’s it to be?” Nox demanded.

The serps slithered to the girls, mouths hovering near their ears, ready to breathe their toxin all over them. The girls would experience intense waves of fear, and that fear would open their minds to harsher attack. Were they strong enough to resist? To overcome?

Sirena gave Nicola’s taped mouth another kiss, and grinned.

“I’ll have her,” he said—though he failed to specify which one. And the word have had many different meanings, didn’t it?

Nicola flinched. Laila sobbed into the ground.

Sirena straightened.

Nox nodded with satisfaction, but said, “I don’t actually believe you. But that’s okay. You won’t leave this spot until it’s done. Then, you’ll have to be punished for killing my people.”