She couldn’t believe any of this was happening. The look in Rex’s eyes before he’d shifted had told her all she needed to know. He believed she had done this to him. And he wasn’t wrong. Not when it came down to it.
In a million years, she couldn’t have predicted Kendrick Kane would show up. She’d never seen him before in her life. Why would she have thought Drea would be in contact with him? She swallowed. On the other hand, she shouldn’t be surprised. Maybe evil simply attracted evil.
The wolves growled and snarled as they tore into each other. A piece of black fur torn from Rex’s body, flew across the room, and she cried out.
“I think you like wolf-boy.” Charra spoke in her ear, a whisper of evil traveling throughout Elizabeth’s spine. “Killing him will be so much better knowing the pain it will cause you.”
“You’re not going to kill him.” Liz spoke through clenched teeth. Her jaw ached and every bone in her body felt brittle. Any sudden movements and she feared her body might snap apart from the tension.
“Want to bet? Mom is going to let us take our turn hurting him before we destroy you.”
Elizabeth would never count Rex out of a fight. She could feel his fierce determination in her soul where it had settled when they had mated. If she ever got the chance, she would study whatever spell it was that bound mates together the way it did.
Now that she had him inside of her, she was never letting him go.
Well, if he was still speaking to her when this was over…
The door swung open to the hotel room with a bang. Next to her, Penny squealed.
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. Only one thing ever made the twins happy and it was seeing their mother. Drea must have arrived.
“Enough, Kendrick. If you keep that up, you’ll kill him, and you promised me we would use him first.”
Kendrick grunted as he shifted back into his human form. Elizabeth flinched at the sight of his naked body. She hadn’t minded looking at Rex during his changes, but his father in the nude was not something she ever wanted to see. Evil seemed to radiate through his skin, like an infection which could be caught if she wasn’t careful. He made her want to go bathe in disinfectant.
Kendrick shook his head. “Whatever you want, my love.” What? Elizabeth swallowed back a shriek as Rex lunged at his father, teeth bared, and was slammed back against the wall.
Drea laughed. “Other witches might not be able to handle him, but he’ll never be able to beat me.”
Rex lay still against the wall, eyes closed, unmoving. Elizabeth struggled in Charra’s arms. Penny grabbed onto her, and between the two of them Liz knew she’d never be able to break away. Still, it didn’t stop her from trying. Her love was on the floor, maybe dead, and she wasn’t going to leave him there alone. Not while she had breath in her body.
“He’s not dead.” Drea addressed her directly. “Just stunned. He’ll stay frozen until we can get him back home to play with him. Although, I think it’s just adorable you’ve developed feelings for the Kane runt. Not that I blame you, mind you. I’ve been in love with a Kane my entire life.”
If Elizabeth could have growled, she would have. “You’re not his mate.”
“Oh, but I am. And I always have been. Right, Kendrick?” He nodded. “It’s right. And Rex isn’t a Kane. Not my son. His mother briefly woke up from her spell and had him with her actual mate. Of course, I had to kill the son-of-a-bitch. Couldn’t let him going around telling people what we had done. Anyone with a brain could have seen he wasn’t mine. Looks just like his mother, which I suppose confused people. Same dark hair, dark eyes.”
Elizabeth wanted to point out Kendrick had those same features, but he was still talking, and she wasn’t given the chance to interrupt as Charra kicked her in the shin to stop her. It hurt and she promised she’d get the other woman back just as soon as she got the chance.
“You don’t have to tell her anything, Kendrick. She’s just our slave. Her whole family is under our control. She takes care of my girls.” Kendrick sniffed the air. “She’s mated with Rex. I can smell it all over both of them.”
Drea raised a brown eyebrow. “Really? How fascinating. Bring them both back to the mansion. Maybe we’ll perform some tests.”
Mansion? Elizabeth had no time to contemplate what she’d just been told. Drea pointed at her, and she had one second to realize she’d just been attacked by a spell before everything went black around her.
* * * *
A cold cloth being wiped across her forehead roused Elizabeth from her stupor. Her mother’s face, just as she always remembered it except now it held more worry lines around her eyes and mouth, regarded her. She couldn’t help smiling. The aging aside, her mother’s rounded cheeks, pixie nose and oval blue eyes were something she’d been dreaming about for years. Even though she knew the happiness could only last a moment, she was glad to revel in it for a few seconds.