Sweeter Than Wine by Bianca D'Arc Page B

information. He warned me that the Venifucus might be back, but I was hoping it was some kind of hoax, or maybe a misunderstanding.”

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    “I heard about this too, Sebastian,” Matt confirmed. “An alert went out to all Alphas after the attack on our priestess. Dante d’Angleterre was given safe passage among all were . It came down from the current Lords themselves.”
    Sebastian turned back to Cameron. “So the Altor Custodis have gone bad?”
    Cameron tilted his head. “Not all of them. But some? Certainly. It’s my belief they’ve been infiltrated. I think the Venifucus used the Altor Custodis’s existing hierarchy to rebuild and hide in plain sight all these years.”
    “For what purpose? What could they hope to gain?” Sebastian wanted to know.
    “You’re not going to believe this, but multiple reliable witnesses heard it from the Venifucus mage himself before he was dispersed. They’ve got a plan to bring back Eslpeth. They want to return her to power in this mortal realm.”
    “Good Lord!” Sebastian shot to his feet, while Christy was left to wonder who the heck this Elspeth was. Suddenly, the words came to her from Sebastian’s agitated mind.
    Elspeth, Destroyer of Worlds.
    “Destroyer of Worlds?” Christy’s voice rose with shock. “You mean like the apocalypse or something?”
    “The very same, lass.” Cameron’s blue eyes focused on her. “If Elspeth comes back to this realm she’ll finish what she started eons ago. It will be the end of this world.
    That’s the honest truth.”
    “Well then, we’ve got to stop it.” It seemed straight forward to Christy and her stark statement won the attention of all three men.
    “We? Good lord, woman!” Sebastian was clearly upset as he stalked over to her.
    “You’re newly turned. You’re my mate! I’m not risking your safety for anything in the world.”
    His arms caged her in the seat and she withdrew, memory shooting her back to the times Jeff had physically threatened her. She knew it was unreasonable, but she couldn’t help it. Sebastian was just so much bigger than she was. Even though she knew in her heart he would never hurt her, in that moment, she grew afraid.
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    She knew Sebastian read the fear in their shared minds as anguish etched his face.
    He calmed and dropped down beside her on the love seat, pulling her into his arms and snuggling her close with gentle hands.
    “I would never hurt you, my love,” he crooned in a low whisper, rocking her as the fight or flight reaction shook her body. “I’m sorry, Christina. I didn’t mean to frighten you. Please forgive me.”
    She became self-conscious, knowing the other men were watching, but when she peeked up at them, they wore expressions of compassion. Pushing against Sebastian’s hold, she worked to gather her scattered emotions. She had to pull herself together. This wouldn’t do. She refused to be a coward.
    She felt Sebastian kiss her head as he let her go. “You were never a coward, my love,” he whispered in her mind. “You’re the bravest woman I know.”
    “So where does all this leave us?” She tried to breathe deep, and calm her racing pulse. Somehow Jeff was mixed up in all this. Her problem marriage had just become a much bigger problem for them all.
    Christy didn’t miss the significant look that passed between Cameron and Sebastian before the redhead resumed speaking. They all seemed to realize her predicament.
    “It leaves me wondering just where Benjamin Steel’s loyalties lie. I’ve been tracking him for a few months, but he’s a wily son of a gun. For the safety of all supernaturals, we need to find out if the Altor Custodis organization is aware of its own problems and if so, what they’re doing about it. My goal is to locate and talk to Steel. Your difficulties lie in the fact that he might or might not be a damned Venifucus agent. Or even if he’s still loyal to the Altor Custodis traditions, those in his chain of command