Immortals After Dark 12 - Lothaire

quickened. I yawned loudly when I worked one’s head free. The last thing he ever heard was me tsking over my impoliteness. You’d do well to fear my fury, to understand that my very name strikes fear in the hearts of those who know me— for a reason .”
    “I understand that you’re scary, sick, and perverse! I understand that the Enemy of Old and Saroya the Soul Reaper are absolutely perfect for each other. Two broken puzzle pieces jammed together.”
    Again, her words struck a nerve. His hand tightened on her arm, his expression promising pain.
    “Is this what your life is like?”
    He sneered, “Most nights for millennia.”
    “Then I feel sorry for you. That’s right—Elizabeth, your pet , the peasant you scorn, ‘the body’— pities you.” She gazed at his face. “Uh-oh, we’ve got that muscle tickin’ in your jaw. Spells trouble for me! What’s the matter? You can’t take it when someone tells you like it is? I’m probably the first person to do so in centuries.”
    Was there a flicker in those red eyes?
    “Like it is,” he grated. “And how is it that you could possibly pity me ?”
    “I’m twenty-four years old. I’ve spent more than twenty percent of my life on death row. And I’ve still known more happiness in my short life than you have in your unending one.”

31
    T hat Elizabeth would fucking dare! “As usual, you speak about things your mind can’t even comprehend!”
    “ Me? I bet you don’t even know what happiness is!”
    Lothaire wanted to snap, “Of course I do!” But he . . . didn’t.
    He believed he’d known it as a child with his mother, but he couldn’t remember those early years vividly, not after eons had come and passed, not after his life had become devoted to revenge.
    And he couldn’t resurrect whatever he’d felt then, because he hadn’t felt anything approaching it since.
    He often spied on others, studying their ways. He’d watched two Sorceri sisters snickering over wry jokes. He’d observed Lykae roughhousing, then laughing so hard they’d had to hold their sides. They experienced happiness; Lothaire did not.
    He knew he was different from others. And yet, he couldn’t ascertain if he was un happy—since that would mean he could recognize the opposite.
    “Well, do you know what it is?” Elizabeth demanded.
    Can’t lie. Contentment, happiness, satisfaction—all these things were unfathomable to him.
    One of the reasons he fought so hard for his Endgame was that he’dsurely be content once all his vows had been fulfilled. Once his toiling had finally ended.
    She gasped. “You don’t know. How ignorant am I? I’ve sat in my ‘squalid trailer,’ experiencing something your mind can’t even comprehend!”
    “I might not kill you, but I could hurt you, break your fragile bones!”
    “You would . You’d hurt the one person who could teach you to be happy!” She grasped her forehead. “Oh, God . . . now?”
    Saroya rises? “Elizabeth, you do not recede. You finish this with me!”
    She narrowed her eyes up at him. “Just keeping the terms of our
deal. If Saroya wants her turn, then I’m supposed to get out of the way, right?”
    “You little bitch, don’t you run from this!” His voice boomed in the cavern.
    “Uh-oh, here I go. . . . Whoa, whoa, receding right before your eyes. Red Rover, send Saroya right over. See how happy the Soul Reaper can make you!” And then she collapsed.
    Lothaire yanked her to him, catching her just as Saroya said, “Where am I? I sensed blood and violence.”
    He gave a furious yell. Elizabeth had mocked him, gotten the last word, then receded purposely! Fucking throttle her!
    “Lothaire, what is wrong with you?” Then Saroya scowled, fighting to stand on her own. But he left his hand on her arm, keeping her cloaked. “Why am I dressed thus? Oh, my skin!”
    Get control. Before he crushed Saroya in fury. Inhale. Exhale. “The mortal proves . . . vexatious.” And confounding. She continued to astonish him at every turn.
    “You can’t handle a human girl?” Saroya peered around at all the carnage. “But look at this splendid slaughter! Yours?”
    Elizabeth had been disgusted. Saroya not only accepted what he was, she exulted over it.
    “Are there no more lives to take? All of these are completely spent. Selfish Lothaire.” She toed a severed leg. “Why have you brought Elizabeth here? Does this have something to do with the ring?”
    “I make progress on that score.”
    “So you