Rhiannon Frater - Pretty When She Destroys

A black Navigator waited on the driveway, Gregorio holding open the back door. The Summoner waited for the sword to slip inside, then followed. A quick gesture from Bianca’s hand indicated that Amaliya was to sit next to The Summoner. She slid inside just as Etzli climbed into the front seat.

In eerie silence, Amaliya watched the big house slide out of view as the SUV turned out the front gates and drove toward their destination.

Grabbing his coat out of the hall closet, Jeff bumped into Eduardo when he took a step back to shut the door. The coyote was as quiet as ever. Jeff started, not having heard him approach.

Tilting his head, Eduardo regarded Jeff with the eyes of a coyote, not a man. “I heard you and Alexia talking,” Eduardo said after a long, unnerving moment of silence between them.

“Yeah?” Jeff shrugged on his coat.

“And I saw you talking to Cian,” Eduardo continued. His teeth were sharp behind his lips.

“Okay. Your point?” Jeff fought to maintain a calm exterior.

“Stay out of my business.”

“Your business?”

The cabal was scattered through the house and the front drive as they rushed about in preparation. Cian was gone, having departed to hunt for blood in the neighborhood. The vampire had promised to catch up with them on the road.

Eduardo smirked, leaning his beefy shoulder against the wall. “Yeah. My business. And yes, our friends are too far away to stop me if I decide to rip out your throat.”

“Why would you do that?” Jeff slung his winter scarf about his threatened throat.

Chuckling, Eduardo wagged his head. “Don’t play innocent, Jeff. We’re old friends. I know when you’re trying to bullshit your way out of something.”

“Really? Well, I know you well enough to know you’re worried about the fact I figured out your secret.”

“You don’t know anything.” Eduardo said gruffly, his look predatory.

“Then why are you worried?”

“You have no idea what it’s like to be two-natured. The needs I struggle with.” Eduardo shrugged his shoulders, flexing his muscles.

“Yeah, I don’t. But you know the rules of the city. Cian’s rules and my rules. No killing. And you’ve killed close to twenty women this year.”

“There’s no proof of that. The cops haven’t found anything – not even bodies – and neither have you.”

“I haven’t started to look yet,” Jeff answered. His hands plunged into his coat and he found his pockets empty. He was unarmed, yet he met Eduardo’s gaze steadily. There was nothing he could do about his accelerated heartbeat, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to back down in his own house. Sadly, he realized that Aimee’s wards were not going to work against Eduardo. All the cabal members had their name engraved into the wards that protected their homes. Jeff maybe should have changed that fact when it had come to Eduardo, but he hadn’t wanted to believe the worst of his college buddy.

“I’m helping you tonight. I’m going to go fuck this asshole up and save the fuckin’ world. That has to count for something.”

“So I should just look the other way as you kill Amaliya lookalikes?”

Eduardo snarled. “Amaliya just looks like the girls I like to play with.”

“You mean kill.”

“I like to play with my food, okay?” Eduardo gave another dismissive shrug, but from the way his head was tilted Jeff suspected he was listening to keep track of the cabal.

“That’s sick, Eduardo. You do realize that?”

“If Amaliya would come play with me, maybe that would take the edge off my needs.” Eduardo didn’t seem aware of how ridiculous his words actually were, for he wore a completely sincere expression.

“You want Cian to let you fuck his girlfriend and do who knows to her what so you won’t kill in his city?” Jeff shook his head in disbelief.

“I’m helping to save her.”

“Right,” Jeff intoned sarcastically. “Well, Eduardo, this is what’s going to happen. You’re going to help us tonight then stop killing.”

Laughing, Eduardo drew closer to Jeff, his face increasingly feral. “Yeah, sure. What’s in it for me? Maybe I should step back and watch the world go to hell so I can kill whenever I want to.”

“You and I both know that weres are going to be stuck in their animal form forever once the abyss takes the world. Some might like that, but I don’t think you will.”

“What?” Eduardo flinched. “No one told me that!”

“Well, it’s the truth. You’ll be in your were form all the time. An animal. And you know how demons and vampires treat weres. You’ll end up some vampire’s lap dog. Do you really think you’re going to make it out of this on top?” Jeff skewered Eduardo with his most forceful stare.

Eduardo sniffed at Jeff. “You’re telling the truth?”

“This is how it’s going to go down. We save the world. You stop killing.”

“I could just kill you.”

“And that solves what? You don’t think Cian won’t find you and kill you even if the world goes to hell tonight? You think he’ll forgive you for not helping him save Amaliya?”

Shifting on his feet anxiously, Eduardo finally looked away from Jeff.

“What makes you think you are in control of your life right now? How do you know that the wards Aimee set up in this house won’t fry your ass the second you sink your teeth into me? This is my house.” Jeff stepped closer to the coyote. “My house. My rules. My wards.”

Eduardo’s jaw flexed, his throat moving as he swallowed angry words.

“Are you with us? Or not?”

Eduardo nodded curtly, stepping back.

“Right. This conversation is done.” Jeff strode past the coyote toward the front door just as Cassandra walked through the dining room with bags of weapons, Aimee hot on her heels.

Jeff motioned toward the door with his head. “We roll now.”

Eduardo stalked out of the house. If he had been in his were form, he would have had his tail between his legs.

“What’s that all about?” Cassandra asked.

“Nothing. It’s taken care of,” Jeff assured her, and hoped it was true. Looking toward the kitchen, Jeff shouted, “Sam!”

Samantha finished pouring extra food for Beatrice, then picked up the annoyed cat to press kisses to the top of her head. Even if she died tonight, she’d find a way to have her cat taken care of from beyond the grave.

“Love you, snookum,” she said.

The cat endured it all, one eye on the food.

Setting Beatrice on the kitchen floor, Samantha grabbed her big Betsey Johnson purse and ran through the house as Jeff called her name yet again. The rest of the cabal was already packed into Benchley’s passenger van. The engine was running and Benchley couldn’t keep his hand off the horn.

“Sam!”

“I’m here!”

She ran past her boyfriend onto the front porch, then down the walkway to the drive. The air was freezing and damp. She had wanted to wear something dramatic for the epic final battle, but ended up grabbing whatever was first in her drawers and closet, which was jeans, cowboy boots, a long sleeved t-shirt, and her leather coat. Jeff’s reassuring footfalls revealed he was close behind her.

As soon as she and Jeff clambered into the van, Benchley punched his foot down on the pedal and the vehicle roared downhill to the opening gates. Samantha flopped onto the middle bench between Jeff and Alexia. The tech girl was busy on her smart phone. Behind them were Cassandra, Baptiste, and a very sulky Eduardo. Samantha wondered what was up with the coyote, but didn’t bother to ask.

Aimee sat in the front seat with a map on her lap. The magical glow emanating from the paper was comforting as was the tiny red dot that was making its way toward San Antonio. It gave Samantha the impression things were looking up for their ragtag cabal. Nestling her hand in Jeff’s palm, she glanced at her fiancée. He looked more imposing and tough than she’d ever seen him before, yet the sweetness was still there. Heart swelling with love for him, she laid her head against his shoulder.