Page 53 of Wicked Warlock
The man’s eyes widened, and his face turned a pale green. Sweat dotted his forehead and soaked his brown hair, making it look even darker. His white button-down shirt was torn in several places, revealing his skin. His pants were also ripped to shreds, like he’d been dragged over glass or scratched to bits by a feral cat.
“Beck, you don’t have to do this.” I held my hand out to him.
“He does if he wants the soulmate mark removed.” The crone cut into our conversation.
Soulmate mark removed? I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t speak. I turned toward Tuck and he cleared his throat. “We know you, man. This isn’t who you are. Killing people was never in the cards for you, man. Come home. Let us help you.”
“I don’t need help.” He met my eye. “Turn around.”
“No, I’m not looking away.” If he wanted rid of our mark so badly, then he would have to say it to my face. “Don’t do this. Please.”
“I’m your best friend. This isn’t you.” Tuck took a step toward him.
“This is exactly who I am.” Beckett grabbed the guy’s hair and yanked back his head. He dragged the knife across the man’s throat, splitting it wide open.
“NO!” I covered my mouth, trying to hold in my scream.
Blood poured from the man’s neck onto the crappy threadbare carpets. His eyes nearly popped out of his head as he wrapped his hands around his own gaping wound. But it was too late. Blood gushed between his fingers and soaked into his shirt. His body slumped to the side, and he fell to the floor, dead in a matter of seconds.
I didn’t believe it until now, didn’t want to believe he was a murderer. I stepped back from him. “What did you do?”
Beckett leaned down and wiped the blade on the man’s sleeve, leaving a trail of blood down the white fabric. He turned and met the crone’s gaze. “One less thing.”
The crone gave him a single nod. “The price has been paid. Take me to her.”
Chapter 26
Astrid
The crone walked into Beckett’s portal without a second thought. She led the way and didn’t look back. Beckett fell into step beside me, and I glanced up at him.
“What the hell is wrong with you?”
I didn’t want to fight with him, didn’t want to start this here, but all the killing and he looked completely unphased by any of it. He looked down at me with those bottomless blue eyes and there wasn’t an ounce of regret in them. “What do you mean? Everything is fine now.”
“Oh, is it?” The portal swirled around us. It was the calmest Beckett portal I’d ever been in.
“Yes.” He nodded and we walked through the portal. He grabbed my arm and jerked me to the side.
“Beck, what the…” My words died off the second I took in the scene in the courtyard.
Matteaus stood in the middle of the courtyard with his wings extended out to his sides and a sword drawn. He held his arm still as stone as he pointed the sword right at the crone’s throat. Every muscle in his body thrummed with power and tension. Strands of his hair fell across his face, and the muscle in his jaw twitched. Two daggers were strapped across his chest, one was strapped to his thigh, and the hilts of two more swords peeked from behind his shoulders.
He growled a low menacing sound and took a step closer to the crone, changing his position. If he wanted to stab her, it would happen in an instant and her head would be gone. “Do it, then get out. And never come back.”
Her lips parted, flashing him a sloppy smile and her only three teeth. “Indeed.”
Matteaus dropped the sword from her throat and held it at his side. He pulled in his wings, pumping them one time, then shot up into the sky. He twisted midair and dove down toward the roof of the school. At the last second, he pulled up and touched down on the roof. He walked to the edge and sat down with one leg dangling over the side and his other pulled up. He rested the sword across his knee and stared down at all of us, gargoyle-style.
Kumi, Zinnia’s familiar, prowled out into the courtyard with her head low and those nine tails swishing. The hackles on the back of her neck stood at attention and her lips pulled back from her teeth. Drool dripped from her jowls. Each drop smoked and steamed when it hit the frozen ground. She stopped only inches from the crone’s face. The crone didn’t back down, didn’t even flinch.
“I haven’t gotten one of you in a cage yet.”
Kumi snarled and Zinnia stepped out from behind her. Silver power flowed around her face and arms. Her hair stood on end. “I don’t think she likes that idea.”
The crone shrugged. “In time, all things are possible.”
Maze walked up on the other side of Kumi with Odin trotting around just behind him. He stopped just in front of me and Beckett. He met Beckett’s eye and lowered his voice. “This better have been worth the price you paid.”
