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Will gazed down at her struggling to keep up with his strides Her eyes glowed succubus green "Never Happening"

Munro stopped Just when Will thought he'd given up, Munro called, "She was discarded like trash by her father That's why she was searching for hi, but the bastard revealed nothing to her, leaving her in misery for weeks-with no idea how to live as an i mate was abandoned by her only fae She'd been defenseless, vulnerable to the entire Lore Kidnapped by witches! That this had happened to his mate-

Nay, nay, I should do worse to her! She deserved nothing less

He slowed as realization dawned There'd be no revenge Webb wouldn't give a shite about as defiling his daughter-because he didn't give a shite about his succubus offspring

Chloe used the opportunity to resu hiave her a shake

With a "You prick!" she kicked harder

"Look at her!" Munro jogged up to the in Gaelic "She's no' like any succubus I've ever seen She's no' changed Like you said, she's fierce as a Lykae"

She had seemed fierce But then, she'd also seemed human

When Chloe sank her teeth into his arave her another shake, loosing her bite "Give her time, and she'll become the devious, selfish succubus she was born to be"

"You're no' thinking clearly"

"Nay, you are no' You truly want me to be mated to a female ill take over ?" He drew his lips back froranddaughter or niece or cousin! There are no' that many of them on this plane Did you think of that possibility?"

That shut Munro up

Will couldn't catch his breath Ruelle laughing froht even harder "Don't, MacRieve! I'lish, he sneered, "Do you no' want to see your new allies-"

Suddenly a sharp pain pierced his flank

He gaped down at a shard of glass protruding froreen eyes were slitted, her teeth bared

"You stabbedit away "I should return that to you in kind! Mayhap you're more like your father than your mother"

Munro snapped in Gaelic, "If she's harmed, you and I will no' come back from it! Do you wantit for centuries" Will clasped the back of her neck, forcing her up the stairs toward the watchtower

She twisted back to cast Munro a look Seeking Munro's goddalish, "He will no' harm you I trust this"

Then Munro was vastly more confident than Will

Atop the tower, he and Chloe passed a shocked Madadh "What are you about, MacRieve?"

"Out ofthe wall Beings teemed directly below theht of Chloe She'd stopped struggling, gaze darting over the crowd Though her heart skipped with fear, she put her shoulders back, as bold as a queen

So much fire How much he'd already co succubus

Her looks had already been altered; her personality would transform as well

That fire in her would soon ebb to ash

"You all wait here," MacRieve addressed the mass of creatures, "for the chance to take this fe about the Lore She has no idea how to find her father or the other Order prisons"

His grip on Chloe's nape was like a vise She was trapped here in front of these beings Munro ht trust MacRieve, but she didn't

A centaur called, "Don't give a daood bait"

MacRieve cast his "You all assuht have Except for the fact that she's turned into a succubus"

That got the crowd talking Then a feolden antlers cried, "You seek to deceive deceivers? Her scent was human at the auction!"

"But it's no' now, is it? Looks like the cohter seean to turn Then he disposed of her like garbage"

Chloe was about to yell that that wasn't true Surely it wasn't But she knew she'd be safer if these creatures believed it

Was MacRieve telling the-or simply to humiliate her?

"He will no' want the refuse he's discarded, lad you saved yourselves a Bridefinder"

Hisses and mutters sounded as the monsters discussed this new turn of events

"Why should we believe you?" asked one woh she was dressed in a scanty outfit made mostly of metal pieces and an elaborate mask

"I vow to the Lore that she was betrayed by her own father I vow to you that she's worthless in regard to him And I vow that you could no' be ainst hi, "And I couldn't hate you ainst the wall Shter of Webb crosses this boundary, we'll know it"

MacRieve ignored her, telling the crowd: "Go away, you sodding fools Do you really think he'll fight to reclaim a creature he's ashamed of?"

At that, some did start to depart Others remained, unconvinced, or perhaps out of spite

Two feht Chloe's attention They stood in the shadows of a distant tree One had black hair, the other chestnut brown; both were clad in flowing gowns, their shining locks intricately styled The brunette spoke, hardly above a whisper, yet Chloe could hear her say, "She's of our kind, Lykae You've no claim to her Send her past the wall"

Their kind! Chloe was drawn to the wo to be anywhere but here They didn't look malicious or evil They appeared concerned for her She thrashed against MacRieve, reaching her hand toward the two Would they have known Fiore?

He grated at her ear, "Look at the for them But you will never, never be with them"

Chapter Twenty-Six

The succubus was pacing inside the adjoining guest roory with him?

Her scent was still that luscious, ethereal smell, but noas underscored with the faint scent of her species, the one other males found irresistible

Will was at once attracted to her scent-and plagued by it

Earlier when he'd taken her from the wall, he'd shoved her into that room "Your new accommodations"

"Why do I have to stay so close to you?" she'd asked "Clearly I disgust you, and you repulse me So why keep me nearby?"

He'd had no ready answer, still shocked by her attack with the shard-and shocked by the appearance of those succubae, the first two he'd encountered that he hadn't killed Twenty-four had died by his hand-the sa when you were sucking one red, she'd answered, "That was before I sahat you really are"

Now questions arose within Will, one after the other Had she knohat she was turning into? What was she thinking as she paced? Plotting an escape, no doubt

When would she grow hungry again? A day or two? Some twisted part of him could hardly wait He'd make her plead to be fed

She'd be at his mercy