Darkness Unleashed (Guardians of Eternity #5)(82)

When Salvatore had commanded Duncan to meet him at a private sanctuary less than an hour north of St. Louis, Levet had held on to the hope the place would be along the lines of Hefner’s Playboy Mansion. Salvatore might be a dog, but he was King of the Dogs, and rumors were that he liked the ladies.

Stupid Were.

The splash of water wrenched Levet out of his satisfying bout of self-pity, and with a sinking heart he turned toward the river to watch as Bella’s head popped into view, the rest of her body remaining hidden in the murky waves.

“Well, well.” A smug smile touched her lovely face. “If it isn’t the stunted gargoyle.”

“Sacrebleu.” Levet threw up his hands in resignation. “Am I to be forever tormented by you? Why will you not go away?”

The water sprite pouted. Oy. She managed to make even that a thing of beauty.

“Until the cur makes his third wish, I am free to roam as I please.”

“Then roam somewhere else, you annoying pest.”

She swam closer. “You’re only mad because I managed to lure you into a trap.”

Levet snorted, refusing to admit his pride was stung at having been so easily distracted by the tempting sprite.

“I am mad because you make my head hurt.” His eyes narrowed as he was struck by a sudden thought. “Wait. Duncan has wishes?”

“He summoned me,” she said, sounding annoyed that he would even ask such an obvious question. “That’s the deal. You summon me, you get three wishes.”

Of course Levet knew the basics of calling a water sprite. He’d accidentally done it just a few weeks ago. His interest was in whether or not Duncan was playing some devious game.

“Then why didn’t he just wish for you to make him impervious to harm?” Levet snapped.

“I’m a sprite, not a god. I can alter physical appearances, as I did with you, or conjure material possessions.” She deliberately reminded him of his brief stint as a full-sized gargoyle. One capable of plundering, pillaging, and wholesale destruction. Ah, good times. “But I can’t make someone immortal, or influence anyone other than the person making the wish.”

“So he couldn’t wish away his enemies?”

“Nope.”

“Or make Caine forget him?”

“Again, nope.”

“So what did he wish for?”

She grimaced. “The usual.”

Levet’s brief suspicion began to ease. “Riches?”

“Of course. So tedious.”

“What else?”

“His own private island.”

“Why would he want an island?”

“I believe he has some grandiose scheme to take over the renegade curs and start his own pack, once Salvatore kills Caine for him.”

His wings snapped with mocking amusement. “What a titty.”

“Titty?” Bella blinked in confusion. “Oh…do you mean boob?”

“Titty, boob, whatever,” he dismissed. “Salvatore will never allow the curs to escape to some private Garden of Eden. They’ll be lucky to keep their hides. The King of Weres might be a pureblood, but he’s as rabid as any dog. He should have been put down years ago, if you ask me.”

“I don’t tell my victims…” Bella hastily tried to cover her slip. “I mean, I don’t tell my fortunate masters what to wish for. I just obey.”

Levet wasn’t fooled. As a full blooded demon, he was immune to the water sprite’s curse, but most men greedy enough to accept the offer of her three wishes, soon learned the truth in the old saying, “If it sounds too good to be true…”

“So why hasn’t Duncan demanded his last wish?”

Her lips curled. “He’s a cur, not a demon.”

It took a minute, then his eyes widened. “Ah. So like a human, his last wish will condemn him to the watery depths of your nest?”

“Such a smart little gargoyle,” she murmured, swimming forward and stepping out of the river to reveal her full glory.

And what glory it was.

Levet’s tail went stiff as the moonlight lapped over the tiny, perfectly formed woman wearing nothing more than a sheer toga. The sprite might be the most dim-witted, annoying creature ever to have crossed his path, but with her white skin, slanted blue eyes, and pale green hair, she was causing all sorts of things to hum and jump and grow.

Grow really hard.

“Mon Dieu,” he groaned in genuine pain.

Smiling, she sashayed toward him, her hands running down her generous curves. “Do you like?”

Levet muttered his favorite curses. The damned sprite had made a fool of him once. He was horny (holy bat dung, was he horny), but he wasn’t stupid.

“I am a male—I enjoy a good ogle as well as the next—but I am also a gargoyle with powers that make the demon-world shudder in fear,” he muttered. “My…man parts do not rule me.”

“A shame.” She closed the tiny space he’d managed to earn, enveloping him in the scent of spring rain. “I’ve thought about you so often during my long, lonely days beneath the water.”

“Oui, thoughts about putting my precious testicles into a vise.”

“Oh, no. When I thought about your testicles, they were in quite a different place.”