Blood Assassin (The Sentinels #2)(109)

Without warning, Jael dropped the illusion she’d wrapped around herself to reveal that one side of her face was deeply scarred. The silvery spiderweb of damage could only have been caused by a deep, near lethal burn.

“Believe me, I spent weeks wishing I had died.” A vicious hatred abruptly smoldered in the dark eyes. “Not that you cared. Or even bothered to search for me.”

If Bas were a better man he might have felt sympathy. But he wasn’t, and all he felt was a cold, brutal fury that this woman had nearly destroyed his life.

“Your death was witnessed by a dozen people,” he said, not bothering to hide his indifference. “I had no reason to doubt their claim.”

Her face twisted with a bitterness that came from the very soul.

“Just admit the truth,” she spat out. “You didn’t care if I was dead or alive. As far as you’re concerned your ‘people’ are just tools you use to gain power.”

He couldn’t deny her accusation.

Hell, he didn’t want to deny her accusation.

He did his best to protect his people and make certain they all shared in the wealth. He even had a rare few he considered friends.

But his ultimate goal was always power.

No matter who he had to use to gain it.

“How did you survive?” he instead demanded.

Her hand lifted to touch the scars, the festering fury in her eyes tinged with madness.

“The Brotherhood captured me in my hotel room and set me on fire in the alley, but I had enough magic to survive the initial blaze.”

He grimaced. Being burned alive was a nasty way to die.

It had to have been an even worse hell to survive.

“But you escaped?” he asked, not because he actually wanted to know, but because he had to keep her distracted until Serra could find Molly.

“No. I was still tied to the stake, barely clinging to life, when one of the Brotherhood had the bright idea they could use me as a weapon.” She curled her lips as she flicked a practiced gaze of derision over him. She’d obviously spent a great deal of time considering what she would say to him if they were ever face-to-face. “You have a lot in common with them.”

He shrugged. “They held you hostage?”

“Yes.” She tilted her head so her hair slipped over her scarred face. “In the beginning I was too weak to try to escape. It took me months to heal. Then I remained because they had something I wanted.”

Bas frowned in confusion. Was she saying that she’d become a member of the Brotherhood?

“You became a traitor to your people?”

She gave a sharp, near hysterical laugh. “You of all people dare to call me a traitor? That would be amusing if it weren’t so predictable.” Her features twisted with a soul-deep loathing. “You really are the most arrogant son of a bitch I’ve ever met.”

Bas silently breathed a spell as the female spiraled toward a complete meltdown.

He didn’t have the magic of a true witch, but he had a few stun spells that could disable her long enough for him to snap her neck.

“What did you do for the Brotherhood?”

She glanced toward the whips that lined the walls. “The same thing I did for you. Pain, terror . . . torture.”

Bas grimaced. It offended him to think of her sharing her high-blood talents with a bunch of idiots who hoped to destroy them.

“Did you tell them about Anna?” he snapped.

She scowled. “Of course not.”

“Then they aren’t behind Molly’s kidnapping?”

“The Brotherhood?” She studied him as if he’d lost his mind. “They’re a bunch of bumbling idiots. They couldn’t plan their way out of their own asses.”

He agreed. But that didn’t answer his question.

“Then why did you stay with them?”

“Because they have excellent taste in illegal weapons.”

Ah. That explained where the weapons had come from, and why they’d traced back to the Brotherhood.

“You stole them.”

“Yes.” She trailed a red-lacquered fingernail along the edge of her plunging neckline. “I knew a large supply was coming in from Mexico so I waited until I had the exact dates and times. In the meantime I had Lee gathering us a small army of norms.”

“And kidnapped my daughter?”

She tilted her head to an aggressive angle. “Yes.”

He leaned down, the heat of his fury blasting through the air.

This twisted, bitter female had stolen a mere babe from her bed and used her as a bargaining chip.

That was nothing less than evil.

“Why?”

The madness in her eyes glittered in the muted light. “Because I’m done with being at the mercy of * men who think they can use and abandon me without consequences.” Tingles of magic began to fill the air as the woman teetered on the edge of sanity. “From now on I’m in charge.”

Bas’s gaze lowered to her neck, imagining the pleasure of wrapping his fingers around the slender length and squeezing.

“Being in charge means kidnapping innocent little girls from their beds?” he mocked in disgust.

“How else could I have gotten my hands on Anna?”

He narrowed his gaze. “Any number of ways.”