Page 21 of The Witching Hour
Apparently, I’d begun choking him again. With an annoyed growl, I eased up.
Then I countered her reasoning. “I wanted to avoid a war with your coven, love. I’m sure you’ve noticed that ship has sailed. So I fail to see why I can’t rid the world of this piece of trash.”
“You know why,” she scolded.
I did. But I’d been ignoring it in favor of the satisfaction I’d receive from seeing the light in his eyes snuffed out.
“You’re asking me to be reasonable when it comes to you, baby. But you’re the only person who has ever made me act irrationally. All of my rules go out the fucking window.”
“That’s fair,” she conceded, “since you make me lose all sense as well. But for right now, how about you let me be the clear-headed one. Will you trust me?”
There was a hint of vulnerability behind her question, and my face went soft when I immediately answered, “Of course.”
Celeste beamed at me. “Great. So why don’t you let go of his neck?”
“Only if I can put manacles attached to a collar on him.”
“Manacles?” she repeated, her lips quirking with amusement. “Sometimes, I forget how old you are.”
“Hasn’t slowed me down any,” I quipped with a crooked smile as steel shackles with a chain that connected to a thick, metal neck brace appeared on Arthur.
“Touché.”
I sighed and shoved Arthur around, then pushed him again to get him walking. “Let’s get this shit over with.”
We marched him back out into the clearing, and I gazed at the melee all around us. My first instinct was to jump in and help, but the best thing I could do was end all this and avoid a conflict with witches everywhere.
Considering I was clearly threatening the life of her son, it came as no surprise when the High Priestess hurried over to us.
“How dare?—”
I shoved Arthur to his knees between us.
“I’d think very carefully before you speak another word,” I suggested in a sharp, lethal tone.
My nails grew and sharpened into vampiric claws, and I placed the tips over an artery. I knew she could see the deadly intent on my face because she paled and pursed her lips.
“Your coven is strong. But the Bancrofts have been around for centuries, some even for millennia. Do you really think this is our first rumble with witches?” I scoffed.
End it.
I telepathically sent the thought to every vampire fighting with us. Within a few minutes, every witch was subdued, unconscious, or had disappeared.
The High Priestess’s jaw dropped as she took in her surroundings.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen her speechless before,” Celeste whispered in my ear.
When the leader’s eyes returned to mine, they were once again filled with disdain, but the fear lurking underneath was still visible.
“You’ve won,” the High Priestess spat. “Let him go.”
“No.”
“I don’t understand,” she admitted stiffly.
“I think the term you’re looking for is ‘misdirection,’” Abel said cheerily as he strolled by us. “Or we could just say we were messing with ya.”
“Thanks, Abel,” Celeste drawled sarcastically.