Page 70 of Cruelest Kiss and Fairest Blood (Tales So Wicked #2)

“Fuck,” Renard growls, ripping the rose from his jacket.

He squeezes it, letting the thorns dig into his palm until blood seeps between his fingers.

A swirling yellow light spirals up. The magic lifts his long hair until it’s floating around him.

The brightness builds, stealing my sight.

When it dims, the man is gone. The Beast now stands in his place.

Crushed petals float to the ground as he opens his oversized paw.

Deep brown fur coats his heavily muscled form.

Horns protrude from the top of his mountainous height.

His eyes are the same, just as human and blue, but they reside in a face that resembles a jackal or wolf. A fang-filled snout bares its teeth.

“You’d better make sure I get home to my wife.” His voice was deep before. Now, as the Beast, it is a thunderous rumble.

“You’ll make it back to your beloved.” We both will .

Dropping my shadows, I give Catreena a view of Renard’s beast. The shock in her eyes is exquisitely satisfying. My monster takes over next. It bursts forth with a screech loud enough to shake the castle foundations.

I sense the moment an invisible shield rises before Catreena. We’ve scared her. Good.

“Holy shit.” The Beast eyes my new form. “You’re a fucking bird?”

My wings flare in annoyance. “You’re judging my monster? When’s the last time you looked in the mirror?”

The Beast glares. “Looked in a mirror? Haven’t you seen the trouble mirrors have caused recently? I told you, I never transform anymore.”

I leer over him. “It seemed to come easily enough just now.”

The Beast rises up, meeting me nose to nose. “That’s because?—”

“Oh, for demon’s sake. You two bicker like an old married couple.” Catreena launches the first attack.

Her power charges through the room. I’m able to throw up a shield of shadows at the last moment, saving the both of us. Violet power crackles against the outermost layer.

“Did you know she could do that?” The Beast takes a panicked step back.

“No, but her power has already weakened. She probably only has a few good shots in her.” I can sense the dip in strength from across the room.

Catreena’s strength lies in overpowering humans and stealing souls.

The lightning is merely a party trick. Likely something she’s mastered over the last few decades.

I bet she’s never had to use it more than once to make her point.

We’re about to test just how powerful she truly is.

“You’ve got the army of the dead. I’ll take care of the monster.”

“Who’s killing the witch?” The Beast stares at her, tongue swiping across his maw.

“I need her alive.”

His growl is pure animal. “That’s no fun.”

“It is imperative that she lives.” My growl matches his.

“Fine. I’ll do my best not to kill her.” His words lack conviction.

“I’ll murder your entire family if you disobey.”

His startled expression is quickly masked. “I meant to say I will make sure to not kill her. Happy?”

“Quite.”

“Now how do we avoid getting fried by her lightning?” He taps a beastly paw against my shadows.

“We get her to use up all her power at once.”

The Beast sighs deeply. “You’ve got a plan for that?”

“Yes, I do. We’re going to make her panic.”

The cluster of shadows I’m working between my hands thickens and swirls.

My shield vanishes. Catreena never sees the dark mass coming.

It slams into her face and wraps fully around.

Her head disappears beneath a veil of pure black.

The tendrils pull tighter, sealing over her until the outline of her nose and gaping mouth are visible as she fights to suck in a breath.

Catreena drops to the floor, clutching her face. The second she hits the ground, the assault begins.

Lightning explodes from her body, filling the room with its blinding violet. The temperature spikes as heat radiates off each strike.

My wings are tucked in so tightly they nearly knock me off-balance. They’re the hardest to heal. The wounds from the severance of my lower wings hurt even after all these years. I can’t risk one getting burned off.

Shadowing, I barely miss a bolt that continues to spawn even after it hits the floor. Electric fingers reach out in all directions. Tiny fires and smoking holes mark the places her power lands. My shadows are quick to snuff out the flames.

I’m confident I can’t die, but I’ve never tested what happens if I’m burned to a cinder.

It’s possible I would remain alive, my consciousness trapped, unable to summon enough power to build a new body.

I may become so weak I lose the ability to call upon my shadows or return to my realm.

I’d be trapped, at the mercy of the wind, swept around the world in the guise of a few sooty particles of ash.

That’s a visual worthy of any hellscape from the in-between.

Catreena’s lightning continues. She hasn’t hit either of us. It’s a good sign. Her skill is not as finely honed as she would like to believe. One of the undead humans explodes in a pile of ectoplasmic vapors. She hit one of her own. Even better.

“She’s releasing power, but she can’t aim,” I call to the Beast. Lightning shoots toward the sound of my voice. I’ve shadowed before it lands.

“Is that supposed to reassure me?” The Beast’s large body is incredibly agile, but being unable to shadow, his calls with the lightning are far closer than my own.

“She’s just guessing where we are. Keep moving. Chances are she won’t hit?—”

The Beast roars. The scent of singed fur reaches me. A trail of smoke leads from his left shoulder down to his middle flank. There’s no bubbled-up flesh beneath, which means the stray bolt burned through fur only. Lucky bastard. His glowing eyes narrow. “She won’t hit us?”

“I said chances are she wouldn’t hit us.

” In monster form, we’re both much larger targets.

Our voices are also giving us away. My ability to shadow serves me well.

The Beast possesses no such gift. His talent lies in being unexpectedly stealthy for so large a creature.

I press a finger to my lips, signaling him to stay quiet.

Embracing a boldness that impresses the hell out of me, he stalks closer to where Catreena is floundering on the floor.

His approach is silent. Not a single fucking sound.

He’d fit in quite well in the Underworld.

Imagine the potential if such a creature could shadow too.

An assassin, beast and man, silent and lethal. Reminds me of myself.

My heart rate picks up as he hovers near Catreena. She screams in frustration, unable to rid herself of the shadows wrapped around her pretty face. There’s a dark twinkle in his eye as he gazes down. If he kills her…

The Beast shoots me a look that says, give me a little credit .

He doesn’t break his word. Instead, he moves behind Catreena, crouching next to her throne.

Lightning strikes the spots where he and I were just standing.

She’s still trying to locate us by aiming for the locations she last heard us speak.

His movements were so quiet that she doesn’t know he’s prowled clear across the room and is sitting close enough to tear her throat out.

No lightning manifests behind her. Why would it? She would never assume someone was able to pass by so closely. I’m impressed he had the balls to try.

The next few minutes are spent shadowing around the room while the Beast watches.

I expected the mirror monster and army of the dead to activate the moment Catreena was incapacitated.

Why hasn’t the monster attacked? Perhaps Catreena isn’t in control.

Or maybe the monster’s motives aren’t the same as its dark queen.

Most of the room is smoky and black when the storm halts.

Cool night air streams in through a blown-out window.

It dissipates the worst of the heat. Probing through Catreena’s energetic shield, I tap into her well of magic.

The sea of excess energy that was surrounding her has dried up.

There’s more power deep within her, but it will cost her her beauty to use it.

I’m surprised when Catreena rallies, dropping into that internal source.

Desperate animals are always more dangerous.

What abilities will she conjure in a last-ditch effort to survive?

We don’t have time to find out. I need her as whole and filled with power as possible.

She won’t be worth as much if she’s depleted and aged.

“I wouldn’t.”

Her head blindly snaps toward my voice. The Beast rises, silently rejoining me across the room. Once he’s by my side, I release the shadows that have been swarming her face.

Catreena gulps in breath after breath, her nails digging into her chest. “I will”—her chest heaves—“kill you”—another gasp—“for that.”

“If you start pulling power from that deep within you, you’ll risk losing your youth.

I’m telling you now, your demon will not leave this encounter alive.

If you use up your energy in this fight, your beauty will fade for good.

The mirror won’t be here to replenish you.

That bracelet may keep you alive, but it won’t restore your youth.

You’ll live forever as an old hag.” There’s a flicker of fear in her now-yellow, bloodshot eyes.

“You’ve already expended too much energy. The signs of aging have begun to show.”

That makes her flinch. I need Catreena to stay young and beautiful. It’s imperative that she’s still desirable and full of dark magic when this ends.

She looks to her monster and back. The slight action has Lenore’s words ringing in my ears. It’s tasted my blood . I only had an hour before it was going to come looking. That could explain why it’s standing so statuesque. It’s counting down the minutes before the hunt begins.