Page 128 of Soul Sucker

Vadim cleared this throat. “So do I, but don’t you think we should bring him to justice?”

“Why?” She stepped back until she was against Vadim’s chest. “You promised me vengeance, remember?” He kissed the top of her head. “After the trial we can turn him over to the Otherworld prison system. Trust me, they’ll make him suffer for the rest of his life.”

“Never!”

The Siren leapt toward Ella, his hands raised to her throat, his power arching inside her like an electrical storm. Even as she fired her gun, Vadim was quicker. Magic roared through him and the Siren was lifted in the air and slammed against the opposite wall. He landed in a tangle of limbs; his neck broken, his gray eyes wide open and tinged with shock. Blood dripped from his shoulder where Ella’s bullet had lodged.

Vadim drew Ella close. “If I act now, I can bring him back to life in a different form and we can kill him again.”

She shuddered. “No, once was quite enough, thanks.”

“Are you sure?”

She punched him in the chest. “Stop showing off.” He bent to kiss her mouth, kissed her again until she stopped shivering and returned the kiss. After a long while, she drew away from him. “We should call this in.”

“We should.” He headed for the door, still holding her hand. “Why the hell did you let him take you into his office like that?”

“Because I didn’t realize who he was at that point.” She glared at him. “He seemed sonice. I understand exactly how he got all those empaths to trust him now. As some weird kind of empath himself he understood and sounded as if he genuinely wanted what was best for them.” She put her gun away. “Dammit, the man almost had me convinced.”

Vadim took his cell phone out of his pocket. “What stopped you?”

She made a face. “You did.”

His smile was slow in coming but incredibly self-satisfied. “I knew it.”

“He wasn’t expecting us to be fully mated. He couldn’t gain total control of my mind because I’d already found someone to take on my psychic burden.” Ella looked around the main office. “No wonder he knew who to pick next. He knew everything about us.”

“I’m sure there’ll be a full investigation as to how he ended up working in here.” Vadim pressed a few keys. “I wonder why he waited until the empaths chose a mate?”

“Either because he knew they wouldn’t be going mad by themselves or because he wanted them to feel saved and relaxed when he came to call.” Ella grimaced. “It depends whether you believe he genuinely wanted the best for empaths, or simply hated us and wanted more power.”

“As I said, that will all come out in the investigation. Personally I think he was in it for the power and control. But I might be biased because he just tried to make you shoot me.” He propelled her toward the door. “Let’s get out of here before anything else happens.”

“But won’t they want to…” Ella stopped talking as she noticed the small gathering out by the main road.

“Oh hell,” muttered Vadim.

He took her hand and walked into the center of the crowd. Sitting in the midst of a group of Fae was the most beautiful woman Ella had ever seen.

“Has she got anything to do with your reluctance to return to Otherworld?” Ella whispered.

“Yes.”

“Are you engaged to her?”

“It’s much worse than that.”

“She’s your wife?”

Vadim’s laugh was short. “No, she’s my grandmother.”

“No way. She doesn’t look old enough.”

“That’s because she’s Fae.”

“Morosov, she’s wearing a crown.” Ella smiled at the woman who had dark hair and blue eyes just like Vadim. She didn’t smile back. “Are we going to say hello?”

“Unless we want to die a slow and painful death, I suppose we have to.” Vadim kept hold of Ella’s hand and inclined his head a regal inch.

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