Page 68 of The Last Slayer
I scowled. It was either that or cry, and as a general rule, I don’t cry. Nothing had gone right since the “Selena” job. Even my new appearance seemed more trouble than it was worth.
The memory of Ramiel’s hot hands on my face popped into my head. He’d held me like he’d never let go, like I was the most precious thing in the world. He’d never done that before. Not that I’d given him the chance, but I hadn’t been beautiful then. It wasn’t his fault that he was enthralled by my new looks, and really, I didn’t care.
Oh for pity’s sake. Who was I kidding?
Of course it bothered me that Ramiel had reacted the way he did now that I looked just like my mother.
My shoulder muscles began tensing up. I shouldn’t think about men—or demigods—who weren’t worth my time. Hadn’t that been my resolution after I’d broken up with my latest turned-out-to-be-good-for-nothing boyfriend? It was annoying when my subconscious refused to stick with the program.
I forced myself to relax and have happy thoughts. A big tub of almond fudge-flavored ice cream with extra whipped cream and loads of chocolate caramel on top. Mmmm. Decapitating an incubus or two. Or maybe a large strawberry margarita and a handsome Swedish masseur at my beck and—
Maybe Ramiel was trying to bind you to him, to use you against Nathanael. If he was in love with Leh, he would view Nathanael as his rival. And since the real Leh is gone—
Okay, now I was pissed off.
I put pressure on my eyebrows with my fingertips. My stupid mind just wouldn’t shut up about Ramiel. Why couldn’t it understand that I preferred to fantasize about ice cream and good-looking, normal men dying to serve me? I submerged my head and stayed under the water until my chest burned and my temples began pounding. Still, I didn’t move. I wanted all thoughts out of my mind.
Finally, self-preservation kicked in. I pushed upward and gasped, sucking in as much air as my starved lungs could handle. Water ran down my face in rivulets, and I wiped it away. When I opened my eyes, Ramiel’s face occupied the majority of my vision.
I blinked. He didn’t disappear.
“What are you doing here?” My voice probably came out a little hostile.
“I wanted to see if you were all right.” His tone was as flat as his eyes.
“Of course I’m all right. I’m taking a bath.” I leaned back in the tub. With him there I was suddenly aware of my new body. The breasts rising almost out of the water, the tiny waist that flared out into perfect hips, the long legs tapering into neat ankles. Thank god for the petals floating on the water. “I’m fine. I met my mother and got what I wanted. On top of that, I’m now so gorgeous I turned you speechless. Yippee!”
His cheeks pinkened slightly. I almost wanted to laugh. I’d always fantasized about doing something like this to a man—striking him dumb and slightly embarrassed with just my looks and a pithy line. I just never thought it would be Ramiel, Dragonlord of Besade.
The demigod who’d given me multiple orgasms.
The one who might be in love with my mother.
Hell.
He cleared his throat. “That’s—”
“Are you in love with Leh?”
“What?”
“Oh come on. Your reaction out there when you mistook me for her was really quite interesting. I just want to hear the truth from you. Thought you might prefer that to my hearing it from Nahemah.” I was satisfied with how cool I sounded, despite the large ball of agitated vipers that suddenly seemed to have set up house in my stomach.
He regarded me as if I were a jigsaw puzzle he hadn’t been able to put together yet. “You overstep yourself.”
“So it’s true.”
“Leh is dead and bound to the Mystic Forest.” He leaned closer, and I immediately wanted to sink into him. I hated him for that attraction, and I hated myself for not being disgusted by him—by what he’d likely had with my mother. “Nathanael created that binding so he could visit her, exclusively, without having to petition Nahemah,” Ramiel continued. “All for—”
“Is that why you want him dead?” It came out before I could stop myself. I had to know if Ramiel was using me in some petty revenge scheme against Nathanael over my mother.
Scorn turned his eyes bright green. “If only it were that! A loss in love can be overcome, forgotten in time.” The scorn slowly changed into a look of pain. “No. He crippled me.”
I glanced at his legs. Sure enough, they still looked like a decathlete’s. “You seem to have recovered.”
Ramiel stared at me until I wanted to squirm. Maybe it was something I hadn’t noticed…but how could he be crippled? He always moved with such fluid elegance.
“How little you know.” He straightened, frustration adding a definite bite to his presence. Magic gathered around him, and I shivered. It wasn’t tinted with coldness like Semangelaf’s or with malice like Apollyon’s. It seethed like a furious, injured beast. “Very well. Watch, and learn.” A knot stood out in his jaw and his hands curled into fists. With a loud rip of muscle and bone, a wing shot out from his left shoulder blade. I had to put my hand over my mouth to stop myself from screaming
