There would be nothing Reia could do to help if she didn’t want to die as well.

Jabez narrowed his eyes and pulled away from Katerina.

His head tilted to the side when he stepped towards her.

“You have not smelt of fear from the moment I brought you here,” he said, twisting his head the other way as he examined Reia, who began backing up. “Why do you suddenly smell of it at the mention of his death?”

Oh, shit. Reia halted and lifted her chin up at him.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“You can pretend, human, but you cannot hide it from me.” He started smacking his lips, licking across them with a wet tongue. “The Demons won’t be able to smell it, but I am the conjurer of the aroma spell and even if it isn’t strong, it doesn’t hide the scent of fear wafting from you now.”

She said nothing, staring up at him with her hands slowly clenching.

No matter how hard she tried to push down her emotions, her worry for Orpheus was too strong. She hadn’t feared for herself, but she feared for him.

He doesn’t deserve this.

“Reia?” Katerina asked softly, her dark brows creasing.

Reia turned her gaze to her instead, her teeth clenching so tightly she knew her jaw muscle had knotted. Her chest pumped in and out heavily but steadily.

“I don’t know what he’s talking about,” Reia said with a sneer in her voice. “I’m not afraid because of Orpheus dying. Why should I care? You know what he’s done.”

Katerina’s eyes darked as her lips thinned.

“Then why are you suddenly afraid?” Her tone was deep, like a warning to watch how she answered.

She couldn’t say she was suddenly afraid of being here, that would be too obvious.

“I’m worried I’ll get hurt in the process.”

Katerina’s features softened in understanding, but Jabez twisted his head once more.

“She’s lying. Her heart rate is spiking.”

His ears flickered like he was listening intently to Reia and what was happening beneath her skin.

Katerina’s face hardened once more.

“You don’t care for him, do you?”

“No,” Reia quickly answered, staring her in the eyes.

“That would be good,” Katerina laughed, her eyelids crinkling. “If it was true. You care for him. Him, a Duskwalker.” Her lips began to twist horribly, smearing her pretty face into something truly horrendous, her blue eyes turning icy. “You didn’t actually want to have sex with him, did you?”

Welp! Cat’s out of the bag, I guess. There was no point in pretending anymore.

Reia’s lips curled brightly into a mocking smile.

“Sure, I did.” Then she placed her hand against her chin to tap at it with a forefinger. “Actually, I’m almost certain I begged for his cock the first time, tentacles and all.”

Disgust marred her face, and Reia chuckled.

She raised her arms to the side to present herself.

“So, what’s going to happen to me now?”

“You will die,” Jabez said, stepping for her with the claws of his right hand raising.

She immediately twisted her head to him with a glare.

“No,” Katerina cut in as she grabbed him by the arm. “It’ll be more fun if she gets to watch him die first. If you like him so much, you can see me kill him for lying to me, letting me think you understood how I felt. I tried to save you.”

“It’s only saving someone if they wanted to be taken away.” She nodded her head towards Jabez. “And he’s already told me that you only brought me here to use me in getting Orpheus here. You’re nothing but a selfish bitch.”

She headed for Reia herself, who stood there without backing down. Katerina slapped her, making her head snap

to the side.

She hissed in a breath. Well, that hurt a whole bunch. The entire left side of her face was stinging.

Katerina then reached up and grabbed Reia’s jaw, squishing her cheeks in with her fingers as she yanked her face closer, until they were almost nose-to-nose.

“Don’t think because you like him that you’re special.

You’re nothing but my poor replacement. He has always longed for me, wanted me. He’s mine, he’s always been mine.”

Clenching her teeth, her lips twisted with a scowl as she let Katerina grip her like this. It’s not like there was anything she could do in return, and if she tried, she’d probably just anger them. As long as she was still alive, there was a chance they could escape, no matter how slim.

Anger soared, but so did intense jealousy. Reia had accepted him, he was hers.

Katerina had sex with Orpheus, was the first female he’d ever touched, and envy like she’d never known flared like a wildfire in her gut. This woman didn’t appreciate it, but Reia did, would have, and she hated that Katerina had touched him at all.

She’d felt jealous the day he’d told her he’d been with another woman after she’d stroked him to release for the first time. She’d been upset then, and she hadn’t even known that the woman had been this bitch who was beautiful on the outside, but remarkably ugly on the inside.

Katerina had given him a name and Reia wished it had been her instead. She wouldn’t change it, but she wished it had been her that had done it, that she was the first human he found. That he hadn’t had to go through all his pain and suffering because of a heinous cow.

She could feign niceness, but she’d treated Orpheus horribly. Reia found that unforgiveable.

“That would be good,” Reia said, saying her words back to her. “If it were the truth. Orpheus is mine. He is coming here

for me.”

“Is that what you think?” she laughed, letting her go by throwing her head back. “He probably thinks you’ve come here willingly, like I did. You think if he was given the choice, he’d pick you over me?”

Without a single shred of doubt, Reia said, “Yes.”