“You… creatures… think I need to impress you? You’re nothing! Worthless!” The wizard glared around the room, then his gaze settled back on Pete. “You, Valdez. You’re a big talker when you think you’re the only one in danger. But you’re not. You have a daughter you’d die to protect. And I know where she lives.”

Pete’s entire body tensed as he tried to lunge at Lamorat, but he couldn’t move from where he stood. As he opened his mouth to shout out his rage, the wizard smirked cruelly and said, “Silence.”

Pete has a daughter? Ethan thought. He mentally calculated ages, realized that she couldn’t be more than fifteen, and was torn between fury at a man cruel enough to threaten a young girl and bewilderment at why Pete had never even mentioned that she existed.

“And you,” the wizard said, turning on Ransom. “Quiet as a snake in the grass. I silenced you first so you couldn’t warn the others, but maybe I didn’t need to. You’re a born betrayer.”

Ransom, of course, said nothing. Could say nothing. But Ethan saw a flicker of some unknowable emotion in his dark eyes, and felt a chill. Was Lamorat just trying to drive a wedge between them, or did he know something they didn’t?

To Merlin, he said, “Both your powers are so appropriate for a man who changes identities like other people change clothes. What will your friends think if they ever learn the truth behind your innumerable lies?”

Merlin shrugged and spread his hands in a broad gesture of unconcern, but it looked forced.

Lamorat turned to Ethan, who felt himself tense. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me, he told himself, but the old saying rang hollow. After his childhood, the version of it that he believed was Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words cause permanent damage.

His tiger snorted. Words and talk may bother humans, but fangs and claws are what kill them.

You missed the part where it’s supposed to rhyme, Ethan replied. But his tiger’s remark gave him as much strength as the warm grip of Destiny’s hand.

“Ethan McNeil,” sneered the wizard. “Rejected by your own parents. Unloved by the very people who—”

Destiny interrupted. “And I’m a freak of nature and Catalina’s a reckless woman who doesn’t know females are meant to be scared and Nick’s a criminal and Shane and Justin were assassins, blah, blah, blah, we all have things you can throw in our faces. And you know what? Nobody cares!”

Lamorat glared at her. “Si—”

Destiny’s nails suddenly dug into his palm. Ethan didn’t know her exact plan, other than the general idea of “stall and distract him,” but her urgency was unmistakable. He didn’t just need to distract the wizard in general, he needed to distract him now.

“Merlin was right,” Ethan said loudly. “You are stupid. You think you can make us into your pet assassins? Don’t make me laugh! You already tried that with Shane and Catalina and Justin, and you failed miserably!”

“I don’t want you as assassins, you fool!” Lamorat snapped. “That was Apex. Little government minions with little ambitions. The wizard council and I have something much more ambitious in store for you all.”

The wizard began to glance away. Once again, Destiny dug in her nails. But she didn’t need to. Ethan had spotted the urgent flick of Ransom’s eyes toward him, and the deceptively cool way that Shane had also glanced at him. Whatever was going on was out of Ethan’s line of sight. But the others were depending on him to keep Lamorat from noticing. Ethan couldn’t let them down.

“Who gives a shit?” Ethan demanded in a tone even ruder than his words. “Whatever it is, we won’t do it. And you can’t make us!”

“You forget,” sneered the wizard, looking back at him. “It’s the mate bond that gives you strength. I’ve already ensured that your new friends here will never form one. And as for the rest of you, I can break yours.”

“Bullshit! You think anything you say can make my mate turn against me, or me turn against her? You actually think you can wave your magic wand and break our bond?” Ethan jeered. The anger in the wizard’s narrow eyes was cold, not hot. For the first time, Ethan feared him. But he’d gone too far to turn back now. “Let’s see you try it! Gonna sprinkle me with sparkly magic bond-breaking glitter dust? Gonna—”

“Silence!” shouted the wizard.

The silence that fell was broken by Destiny’s sudden jeer of “Turnip-brain!”

“ALL OF YOU! SILENCE!”

And that was that. Ethan hoped he and Destiny had done enough. They’d definitely gotten Lamorat’s full attention. The wizard was giving him a glare chilly enough to turn Hell into a ski resort.

“You’re forgetting that I control you. All of you. Utterly. Time for a demonstration of what that means. Everyone, watch and see the price of defiance.” The wizard bared his teeth in a cruel parody of a smile. “Ethan McNeil. I order you to kill your mate.”

Chapter 16

Destiny

T he wizard’s words echoed in Destiny’s ears: “Ethan McNeil. Kill your mate.”

She’d seen that Lamorat could control them. Even now, she couldn’t make herself speak. But she still couldn’t believe that Ethan would ever hurt her.

And so she felt no fear of him. She saw the corded tension in his body and the set determinati

Tags: Zoe Chant Protection, Inc Paranormal
Source: readsnovelonline.net