Casting my stare toward the giggling, handsy couple, I nodded in their direction. “The porcelain doll and sex-toy on two legs over by the rail.”
Nyx started to move, only to be struck by yet another pause. “With a comment like that, are you sure you want vengeance and not another go at him? Because we should really establish that before storming over there.”
I’m not proud of the fact that I hesitated. But in my defense, it had been a full year since I last got a little touch, and—if memory served—he had a truly glorious cock. “Vengeance. Definitely vengeance.”
Lips pressed in a thin line, she folded her arms across her chest, forcing her cleavage against the leather bodice of her gown. “You sure you don’t want a few more minutes to toss that idea around? Just saying we have a little time if you need to deliberate.”
Grabbing hold of her upper arm, I dragged her on. “Let’s just go.”
“Before you change your mind?”
“Do me a favor? Shut the fuck up.”
I brushed shoulders with my mouse as we strode across the deck. Chin to my shoulder, I offered him a firm directive. “Start stretching. We’re moments from being a sweat-soaked tangle of joined flesh.”
“Do you know him?” Nyx’s brows creased as she tossed a glance back in his direction.
“Not yet, but I plan to.” Wetting my lips, I bumped her elbow with mine. “Remember, you’re going to distract Nekau long enough for me to warn the girl. I suggest hiking up what little boob you have and—”
Before I could finish my thought, Nyx lunged. She grabbed the fae’s upper arm, flung her aside, and seized Nekau by the throat. Leaning him back over the rail, she lifted his flailing feet from the ground. Nothing but her strength and his desperate hands clinging to her arm kept him from toppling overboard.
“Who are you? What the hell do you want?” the stunned former magi gasped, face morphing from red to purple.
“I’m the face of beautiful vengeance. And tonight, fuckface, I come for you.”
A quick glance around alerted me of what I already knew—she was attracting attention in the very worst way possible. The same two gargoyles who worked the door and acted as bouncers for the night appeared as if from nowhere, ready to intercede if necessary.
“Uh… Nyx? I feel there was a critical misunderstanding in the plan.” To stop the fae from escalating the situation further, I held her back with one arm. She was puny. It didn’t take much.
“There’s no misunderstanding.” Her top lip twitched into a snarl, yet her stare remained distant and unaffected. “You said it yourself; this is what I do. This is my calling. To ensure that, in the end, all souls are judged for their sins.” Pressing Nekau into the rail, Nyx breathed her threat against his cheek. “And you will. Did you take pleasure in each life you took? Or was every one of them simply a way for you to advance your station?”
“You… can’t… kill... aboard… the… ship,” my horrific ex managed to rasp.
He wasn’t wrong.
The identical gargoyles closed in while maintaining a tight formation, intending to block the view of the chaos as they extinguished it.
While my teeth were grinding to the point of pain, my nostrils flared. “He’s right, Nyx. I’m not entirely sure what these mountainous men creeping ever closer intend to do, but I doubt it will be a slap on the wrist and firm warning.”
Nyx’s head tilted, and her hair lashed around her face like living blue flames. “Oh, I don’t intend to kill him. We’re going to go for a swim, he and I. I’m going to keep a tight hold on him, and we’re going to sail right over this rail. Down, down, down to the waters below. Did you know hitting water from this height has the same impact as driving a speeding car into a brick wall? Every bone in your body will shatter before you sink to the depths.”
Nekau’s head jerked, the closest he could come to shaking his head. “You wouldn’t do that. You’ll die, too.”
As she straightened her spine, the corners of her mouth lifted into a sad smile that came nowhere near reaching her eyes. “Boy, I am Death. I’ll swim away with a few bruises and the wind momentarily knocked out of me. The same will not be said for you.” Letting go of his neck with one hand, Nyx seized hold of the fabric of his suit coat at his shoulder and forced him back at a deadly angle. “If you have any last words, now would be the time.”
At that, the security team launched forward, sprinting in to spare the dangling man.
Even as they ran, the world slowed, and I knew exactly what I had to do.
I loathed Nekau.
Dreamed of a bloody revenge far beyond the limitations of The Monster Ball.
Longed to see him alone, suffering and broken just as I was in the cold isolation of that tomb.
But… I loved Nyx more.
While fires of purpose burned through my veins, my head snapped in the direction of the frightened fae. “That man will kill you the first chance he gets. If you have even a lick of sense, you’ll run. Now.”
With wide eyes brimming with tears, she stumbled back only to be caught by one of the dread-locked gargoyles and ushered carefully behind him.
“Nyx!” Positioning myself between the incoming security and the only true friend I had in centuries, I shouted my throat raw in hopes of breaking through the cloud of fury fogging rational thought. “I was wrong. That’s not him. I made a mistake. I was so blinded by my own hatred I couldn’t see the truth. If you kill him, you’ll be murdering an innocent, and that’s not you. We both know what it means to be a merchant of death. It’s not targeted cruelty. It’s a sweeping inevitability that comes for both sinners and saints. Put the man down. Step away from the rail. Don’t let a simple mistake turn you into something you’re not.”
Nyx jerked as if slapped, rapidly blinking her way back into focus. Her fingers loosened from Nekau’s throat, causing him to slide farther over the railing. Quickly seizing hold of his coat, she coaxed him back to his feet. Hands trembling, she let him go as if the contact scalded her and took a generous step back. The expression on her face was equal parts shock and horror at the atrocity she had almost committed.
Rushing to her side, I gathered her in my arms and turned a brave face toward the looming bouncers. “You will have to excuse my friend. This man attempted to murder me for my wealth and power long ago, and tonight, we helplessly watched as he picked his next victim. Acting as a true hero, my friend was merely trying to protect anyone else from suffering the fate I did... or worse.”
I could feel the heat of Nyx’s stare on my face, her voice dropping to a whisper. “But you said—”
“I know what I said,” I muttered out of the corner of my mouth. “I was trying to protect you from yourself. Now shut the hell up.”
The gargoyle who fished me out of the garment bag at the beginning of the night glanced from me to Nekau and back again. “Is this true?”
“I have no idea what she’s talking about!” Nekau hollered, rubbing his bruised throat. “I’ve never even been to Egypt!”
My mouth curled into a victorious smirk. “I don’t believe I mentioned where I am from. You pinpointing that with such accuracy might as well be a confession.”