Blood Assassin (The Sentinels #2)(110)

“True.” A malicious smile curved her lips. “I wanted to punish you and I knew that nothing would hurt you as much as losing your precious Molly.”

“Because I didn’t realize you hadn’t died in a fire?”

“For that.” She glanced toward the nearby bed. “And because you humiliated me in front of my friend. No man turns down the opportunity to become my lover.”

He clenched his teeth as her magic sliced wildly through the air, striking against his skin like a whip. He restrained his own power. He would only have one chance to strike before she could conjure a spell that might very well disable him.

“You’ve terrorized a mere baby because I pricked your vanity?”

The bitch had the nerve to look offended. “Molly is fine.”

He waved aside her assurance. In just a few minutes he intended to discover for himself if Molly was fine or not.

Surely Serra had to be getting close?

“What do you want with Anna?” he asked, abruptly changing the subject.

Once he had Molly safe he would have to find a way to return the dangerous high-blood to her protected cell.

Jael shrugged. “I want her to be who she was meant to be.”

“Is that supposed to make sense?”

The witch took a covert step toward the center of the room.

Bas frowned. Why?

Did she have some hidden trap she was trying to lure him into?

“You’ve tormented the poor woman long enough,” Jael said, taking another step.

Realization abruptly hit Bas. The witch was trying to inch her way toward the nearby table where a collection of bottles was lined against the wall. He’d bet among the oils and perfumes was at least one lethal potion.

“I’ve done nothing but protect her,” he said, shifting so he was blocking her path to the table.

Jael stiffened, but her brittle composure never faltered. “She’s been held in stasis for endless years,” she accused. As if she gave a shit about Anna or the limited life she was forced to endure. “Like Sleeping Beauty with no prince to waken her. Can you imagine the horror of that existence?”

Bas offered a taunting smile. “And you intend to waken her?”

The witch reached into the small handbag she was carrying, unaware that Bas had reached behind his back for his gun. She was a powerful high-blood so a bullet probably wouldn’t kill her, but it would hurt like a bitch.

“It’s already in process,” she said, pulling out a cell phone.

Bas frowned. “What do you mean?”

“My men called just an hour ago.” She gave a wave of the phone. “The wagon carrying Anna has broken down. I gave the word to start killing your witches.”

A chill inched down Bas’s spine. He might not be a hero. Hell, he was probably a villain. But the thought of the four young witches being butchered made him sick.

Not to mention the fact that Anna’s powers might even now be spreading through the land . . .

It was enough to make him wish the evil bitch had died on the stake.

“You’re going to release her powers?”

A feverish anticipation flared through the dark eyes. Just another glimpse of the madness seething just below the surface.

“She deserves to be free.”

“You don’t give a shit about Anna,” he said. “What do you hope to gain?”

She paused, as if considering a lie. Then, with a shrug, she gave him the blunt truth.

“Chaos. War. Destruction.”

Even expecting her answer, Bas was shocked. “Why?”

She stepped toward him, a snarl on her ravaged face. “Because I’ve discovered that I don’t particularly like this world,” she ground out. “I was abandoned by my own people and burned at the stake by norms. All of you deserve to suffer.”

Bas shook his head. He’d always known Jael wasn’t entirely stable. Not just because of her love for delivering pain, but her unpredictable mood swings.

Now it seemed she had also been harboring delusions of grandeur.

“And after the destruction?” he pressed.

“Then I rebuild. I’ll reconstruct a world where I’m in charge.” She said it with the blithe confidence of a true narcissist. “So I killed two birds with one stone. I kidnapped Molly to force you to bring Anna out of her hibernation—”

“Why did you have me take her across the country?” he interrupted.

“There’s the chance that the spreading devastation might be traced back to Anna,” she admitted. “If that happened I didn’t want any connection to the high-blood.”

Bas shook his head in self-disgust. He’d jumped through rings to try to protect his daughter, and it’d all been nothing but a game to stroke this woman’s damaged ego.

“You were never going to release Molly, were you?” he growled.

“Not as long as I was enjoying our game.” With a taunting smile she lifted her phone and swiftly pressed in a number. “But now you’ve violated the rules. It’s time to move to the next level.”

Molly. His heart stuttered to an agonizing halt.

“What are you doing?”

“Calling my men to make sure they’ve gained control of Anna.”

Bas nearly went to his knees as relief blasted through him. Shit. He couldn’t stand much more.