Blood Trinity (Belador #1)(44)

Oh, to be able to blast the arrogant snot until he bled. But that would no doubt tip off Deek that a Belador was here.

Grinding her teeth in frustration, she all but left a vapor trail as she rushed through the club, trying to get outside to catch Kardos.

She ran to her bike and shoved her helmet on.

By the time she circled around the street along the back of the club, Kardos was hauling ass, but still in sight.

That was the good news.

The bad news was that he had a young woman with him.

The really bad news?

That girl was Bettina D’Alimonte, Deek’s nineteen-year-old sister he treated like a goddess.

As in an untouchable virginal goddess. And Deek demanded that any man who came within a mile of her must sacrifice his penis or his life.

Damn, that boy was working hard to die young.

Deek wouldn’t care that Kardos was a year younger than Bettina, only that Kardos was a witch who came with a full set of male running gear.

Evalle raced forward and sped twenty feet past the teenage pair strolling along as if Kardos’s death wasn’t imminent. She slammed onto the sidewalk, cutting them off. She flipped up her face shield, which should have made anyone walking toward her on a semi-lit street take notice, since her eyes glowed in the darkness.

A sick lump clenched her stomach when they kept coming as if they didn’t see her.

How could one person be so stupid? All she wanted was a five-minute conversation with him. Not a new migraine. She had to separate those two and return Bettina to the nightclub before the girl was reported missing and Deek started a manhunt. Or more to the point, a testicle hunt.

Evalle glared at Kardos. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Bettina answered in a lifeless voice that said someone else had control of her. “Walk out the back door to the first street. Turn left.”

Oh crap.

Who had them locked in a trance? More to the point, what had them in a trance?

When the teens reached Evalle, she held up her hand. “Stop.”

They walked right past her, still heading down the street that extended into a dark void where the streetlights didn’t reach.

After kicking down the side stand, she ran forward to grab them. A wave of power blew past the teens, stirring their hair. They stopped walking.

That energy came at Evalle.

She put up a shield an instant before it blasted her. Her shield allowed the energy to flow over her without effect.

But it gave her a blast of something she could use. The majik smelled old, centuries old, and dry as a desert.

Kardos and Bettina stood still, facing the dark end of the street.

Evalle lifted her hands and shoved back at the majik, pushing it toward the source.

Sparks exploded around the teens.

Okay, that hadn’t worked.

She was lucky it hadn’t hurt one of them. “You can’t have these two.” She moved around to position herself in front of the teens. Wary of what was coming for them, Evalle braced herself.

The air stirred like a sinister cloud, announcing that something badass wasn’t happy.

Out of the darkness came a man with the slow, casual lope of a predator heading for his prey. His leather duster fanned out behind him. Since there was no air current to move it, it was a sign of his power radiating around him. Black hair fell past his shoulders, with two thin braids hanging along each side of his face. His eyes radiated bright yellow in the darkness, their double pupils making a spot in each one that was obvious even from this distance. Gorgeous and masculine all the way, he didn’t stop until he reached the streetlight.

The hairs on the back of her neck rose as fury sped through her veins.

Vyan.

The Kujoo who’d pulled the Beladors into an unsanctioned battle two years ago and almost unleashed an army that would have destroyed everyone and everything. Never had the Beladors confronted an enemy so strong, but it was because Vyan had possessed the Ngak Stone then.

A sick feeling of dread permeated her bones. If he was here now, it was so that he could reclaim the stone and finish what he’d started.

His gaze radiated his hatred and repugnance for her.

That was okay. She didn’t like him much either.

“You interfere with me once again, half-breed,” Vyan said as if Evalle merely stood in his path and wasn’t a true threat.

She tsked at him and returned the disdain full force. “Poor Vyan, ever posturing. Trey kicked your ass once, and I can do it this time.” That threat had a nice ring to it even if she was bluffing her boots off. Had it not been for her linking with Tzader, Quinn and Trey, Vyan could have annihilated her along with everyone else while he’d held the Ngak Stone.

Hopefully, he’d forgotten that part.

She looked over to Kardos and Bettina, who were still in his thrall. “I have to say that you are brave to risk your freedom for them.” Shiva had allowed him his freedom on one condition—he had to behave in the human world.

He laughed evilly. “The terms were that I not attack the Beladors.” He glanced over to the teenagers. “Lucky me, neither of them are in your ranks.”

True, but she was admitting to nothing, and he wasn’t touching these two kids. Cocking her head at the pair, Evalle asked, “What do you want with them?”

“I merely played Cupid. The boy said he wanted the girl. Voila. Isn’t love grand?”