Page 77 of Marked By Moonlight

“Coming, coming,” Bene called irritably. And not just irritated with me, I realized when he opened the door. He grimaced, then tilted his head to the right. “Ah. You’ve heard about our new neighbor.”

As if on cue, the adjacent door opened, and a curvy woman stepped into view.

“Marius. So good to see you,” she purred.

My mouth fell open. Celeste?

“What the hell is she doing here?” I demanded of Bene.

Celeste chuckled. “Happy to see you too,cherie. Now, where is that delightful goddaughter of Gordon’s? She and I have so much to discuss.”

Not if I could help it, dammit.

Bene gave me a pained,This isn’t my faultlook, and for once, I didn’t blame him.

“Fucking Gordon…” I muttered.

“I’d much rather fuck you,” Celeste chuckled.

Bene grabbed my arm as I stormed toward her.

Her eyes sparkled. “In that much of a hurry, huh?”

To wring the life out of her? Yes.

Bene pulled me back. “Be nice, kids.”

“Ah, but Marius is so much better atbad,” Celeste hummed, giving the words layers of subtext. “Aren’t you,cherie?”

I wrenched myself away from Bene, shoved Celeste into her suite, and slammed the door behind us.

“God, you’re something when you’re angry.” Celeste grinned.

Sultry, succubus magic swirled through the air, trying to get a grip on me. In the past, I’d had to fight hard to resist. Now, it was easy.

“Whatever you’re here for, you will leave Mina out of it. Do you hear me?” I half shouted.

“That would be difficult since we’re here for the same thing. The art deal, of course.”

Her sugar-sweet tone suggested otherwise.

“If you so much as touch her…” I started.

Celeste hooted. “Oh, I wouldn’t dream of it, just as I’m sure you wouldn’t dream of touching her. Oh, wait. You already did.”

I snarled, clenching my fists before they flew at her.

“Touchy, touchy,” Celeste scolded. “And all for that scrawny, spoiled snob. Really, what do you see in her?”

I barely bit back my dragon’s roar. Mina wasn’t spoiled. She worked her ass off, and she didn’t have a hint of Celeste’s entitled attitude. And as for scrawny…

“Quite the Achilles’ heel, you know, caring about someone,” Celeste went on.

The blood froze in my veins, and I stalked closer, hissing. “What did you say?”

Celeste’s eyes didn’t so much as flicker. “I said, quite the Achilles’ heel. Even if you’re only fooling yourself about your feelings for her — or fooling her.” She cackled.

“What the hell doesthatmean?”