Life Cycle by Zoe Winters Read Free Book Online

the cards,
not wanting to look at them anymore. In the scatter, they all
turned face down—except the death card. It was hard to read one’s
own cards anyway. You couldn’t be as objective, always seeing what
you wanted instead of what was there. Though there was no
interpretation of those cards that sounded like a fun time.
    There was a disturbance outside the tent, raised
voices. Tam gathered the cards and wrapped them back in the silk
before moving toward the doorway. She heard Cain and a demon guard
on the other side.
    “Why is only one of you still here?” he snarled.
“What is with this sudden rash of disobedience?”
    “That witch of yours was doing magic in there. Mace
went in to check it out and came back with a scorch mark on his
shoulder. She sent him on a cheeseburger run. I don’t know why
we’re keeping her alive. She’s a danger to us. We should kill her
now. We don’t owe the other preternaturals anything.”
    Cain growled. “I’ll be the one to
kill her. There is no we in this equation. And I’ll kill her when I’m good
and damn ready.”
    “Y-yes, sir,” the demon said, losing his
bravery.
    Tam stumbled back as Cain ran into her. He arched a
brow in that sexy way she didn’t want to overthink.
    “You sent one of my demons on a cheeseburger
run?”
    “I’m hungry . Do you understand humans eat
food?”
    He looked sheepish but quickly recovered his badass
demeanor. “What kind of magic were you doing in here?”
    “Just unpacking my things.”
    “For what purpose?”
    “What do you mean for what purpose? To fucking have
them. To wear normal freaking clothes! You think I want to flounce
around here wearing something a micro-step above a negligee? Are
you for real?”
    Cain pushed past her and emptied the bags, sorting
through her things. “I’m taking the books and all magical tools and
herbs and potions. You’ll have no use for them here, and if you
think I’m sitting around while you concoct some incantation to seal
me in a jar for all eternity, you’re insane.”
    She wouldn’t tell him that she hardly needed any of
that to incant. She was far past that level. All she needed was her
mind and voice. Even so, it took everything in her to keep her
anger at bay. If Cain intended to kill her, taking her books and
tools away was like he was taking her identity with him. Asking him
to kill her had seemed like a smart option, but if she was going to
just sit on death row waiting for him to lose control with her
while everything that held any meaning in her life was taken
away... It made her blood boil.
    She struggled with the last energy reserves she had
to throw a ball of gleaming purple energy at him. He dropped the
books and rounded on her, his eyes glowing red, fangs descending.
He let the demon come out and shifted fully, letting his true face
and form out. He was larger as a demon, with reddish-brown-scaled
skin. Deadly claws forced their way out of larger fingertips, and
horns popped out of his shoulders like antlers. His clothing ripped
from the transformation like a cheesy Hulk movie. In his true form,
he oozed menace and fear and hatred and anger and every bad feeling
in the universe.
    His voice was distorted when he spoke. “Do you have a
death wish?”
    Maybe someone else would have huddled in a corner and
cried, but Tam wasn’t someone else. “Do you have a thirty-second
memory? We’ve had this conversation. I want you to take me out of
this world. Are you tired of me yet? Bored yet?”
    She threw another ball of energy. It had formed much
more slowly than the others, but she didn’t care. She threw it
anyway. Cain leaped out of the way and charged her. He gripped her
wrists so she couldn’t throw any more. The joke was on him, because
she was tapped out.
    “Not even close,” he growled. He was still in the
demon form, looking her over like she was prime rib. “Let me tell
you how it’s going to go, little girl. You’ve pissed me off for the
last time. I will