PAY FOR YOUR CRIMES

“Fuck.” I groaned. “Was that really necessary?”

He snarled in return and sat on me before I could get up. “Was it necessary to kill those kids?”

Now, it was my turn to be shocked…

“What are you—” Before I could finish my question, he punched me just beneath my neck. Like really fucking punched me.

Sure, I’d hit him first, but still, I was a little more than shocked by the impact.

Before I could physically respond, his hands covered my throat, but they only squeezed hard enough to keep me pinned. “You’re not my mate. You’re just using magic to trick me.”

He spoke with conviction, but I could see the uncertainty in his cognac eyes that were darkening by the second.

“Listen, psycho stranger. I don’t know who you think I am, but I hardly have any magic.” My words were garbled, and the longer I spoke, the more my vocal cords burned from his touch, but I kept going. “And I wouldn’t hurt a child, let alone multiple of them.”

Flickers of something I didn’t recognize appeared in his eyes, then he blinked several times before finally squeezing them tightly shut. The weight of his body wasn’t leaving my neck, and even though I knew the truth, he seemed to be struggling a little too much with our predicament for me to allow him to keep me in this position.

With my not-mate distracted, I bucked my hips up and punched his kidney before attempting to roll out from under him. “Seriously. What is your problem?” I demanded, ignoring the stabbing pain in my cheek from his previous punch.

He grunted in reply and got up before me. The black boot on his right foot was coming right for my head. Instead of hoping I got out of the way in time, I raised my forearm, blocking the kick, and reaching up with my other hand to press on his knee.

A fun trick I’d learned throughout my years of training.

He winced, trying to stay upright, but there wasn’t a chance in hell of that unless he wanted to risk breaking a bone or two.

With a triumphant smile, I watched as he fell back on his ass. Though, my glee only lasted a mere second before he was scrambling back to his feet.

The flickers I’d seen in his eyes before turned to flames, and I was pretty sure his skin was darkening with every step forward.

I’d sworn this guy was a wolf shifter from first sight, but no shifter I’d ever seen visit the coven could do anything like that.

Thanks to the distraction, he was able to grab a hold of me again. His fingers dug into my biceps, pressing my arms into my sides and forcing me to remain immobile. “Who are you?” he spat.

“Elena. A powerless witch that’s never left this coven,” I answered.

His head shook roughly. “Lies.”

I tried meeting his fiery gaze, but he wouldn’t focus on my stare. “Maybe you can tell me why you wanted to kill me in the first place, and we can answer some of each other’s questions?”

Reasoning with a psychopath didn’t seem like the best solution, but I didn’t see any other way out of this. Sure, thanks to the shitty-but-should-have-been-amazing mate connection between us, he couldn’t kill me, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t hurt me if he wanted to.

And I was more than sure he wanted to.

ATLAS

I’d fucking known better. I should have listened to my instincts. I shouldn’t have taken this job. What was supposed to be a simple snatch, grab, and maybe kill had turned into something more, something I wasn’t sure I could believe.

Normally, it was easy for me to decipher the truth from any lie, but when Elena spoke, my mind felt foggy as it fought between believing what I was told and what she was saying.

The mate bond, if it was even real, was the last thing I needed.

I’d always known the possibility of meeting my mate was there, but I’d hoped that day would never come.

Now, looking everywhere but at Elena’s tempting, cerulean eyes, I tried to reject her again.

“If you accept my rejection, I won’t kill you,” I bargained.

The job didn’t actually require me to take her life, so I wasn’t lying. Though, taking her life had been preferable after seeing the photos of those children.

She scoffed in my face. “Bullshit. You can’t even look me in the eyes when you say that. How about we back up a hot minute and you tell me why the hell you’re here?”

The sincerity of her confusion only served to make matters worse for me.

Nobody knew of my extra ability to tell truth from lie. At least, none who were still alive. Well, aside from D, but he wouldn’t have anything to do with this. I knew that without a single doubt.

And this mate bond… Could it have been fabricated by a powerful enough witch?

I hadn’t thought so, but the more muddled my thoughts became, the more I believed and hoped that might be the case.

I secured her wrist and jerked her toward me. Her chest collided with mine, but I ignored the heat that scorched through me from the contact.

“You don’t get to ask the questions here,” I snarled. “You are my prisoner and nothing more. Keep your mouth shut and this will go a lot easier for the both of us.”

She surprised me when she used her other hand to punch me right in the neck, causing my throat to ache instantly. It was just another thing to add to my confusion. She kept using physical defensive moves instead of magical ones.

Thanks to my shock, she broke free of my hold and began running in the opposite direction, back toward her coven.

With a growl, I lengthened my stride and wrapped both arms around her waist. “I said you’re coming with me. Whatever magic you’re using might prevent me from killing you, but that won’t stop me from taking you where you belong.”

She struggled against me, and once again, I was impressed by her strength. “And where would that be?”

“No Man’s Land. To pay for your crimes.