Free Sweet Revenge (Dueling with the Devil) by Vivi Dumas Page B

thing I know Bell and I share is  survival instinct. Like a ca t, she’ll land on her feet . ”
    Bell fell back into the tree behind he r, throwing her hands over her mouth to keep from being heard. A cauldron of emotions welled inside of her. She didn’t need Angel’s pity. The human knew nothing about her pain. Demons felt no pai n, except for those too stupid to bury them away as they were meant to do. She excelled at locking away the annoying inconvenience of her feelings. Her mother taught her this as soon as she was old enough to understand languages.
    Unable to continue absorbing the ramblings of the crazy human and her baby brothe r, Bell ran to the garage. She looked around at the vehicles and remembered she didn’t drive her Benz. She rode with Laurent. Xavier followed on his bike. In the corne r, she spotted Xavier’s Ducati. Perfect. She needed a little reckless a b a n d o n. Rummaging through the lockbo x, she found the key. She donned the helme t, revved the engin e, and escaped the ugliness of her current situation.

 
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER EIGHT
     
     
     
    The plaster crumbled under the force of Xavier’s fist. That girl would be his ruin. He didn’t understand why he let her get to him. She wasn’t the first female to look down on hi m, and most likely wouldn’t be the last. But her words were like daggers to his heart. A heart he fought hard to ignore. Feelings equaled weakness. Something he taunted his empathetic brother about all their lives. Toda y, his brother’s happiness and success proved him wrong.
    “ Etienne is going to have a fit when he sees the damage you’ve cause d , ” an airy female voice called from down the hall.
    Xavier turned and watched Marie Laveau glide toward him. Her quiet dignity and strong stature surrounded her with a r e f i n e d e l e g a n ce .
    “ I’ll get it fixed .” Her light brown eyes glittered with amusement .“ Bell can get the best of any man . ”
    “ She’s a handfu l , ” he grumbled.
    She stared so deepl y, it seemed she was searching his soul .“ You will be good for her. Once you let go of your own pai n, you can help mend hers . ”
    Uncomfortabl e, he stepped away from Marie .“ What makes you think I’m in pain or that I’m sticking around long enough to help Bell with anything ? ”
    She reached ou t, taking his hand. A chill ran up his arm. He hadn’t realized the extent of Marie’s power .“ You hide behind your anger and pai n, but somewhere inside there is a male who can love and wants love. When you are no longer ashamed of w h o y o u a r e and u n d e r s t a n d y o ur v a l u e , y o u w i ll f i n d t h e p e ac e y o u s o d e s p e r a t e l y d e s i r e . ”
    Giving the Queen of Voodoo the opportunity to read you might not be the best ide a, dumbass.
    He jerked his arm away from her. He couldn’t risk her finding out any more information. Being in the house with their enemies might not have been such a bad idea after all. Everyone they needed to fulfill their contract was in one spot when the time came to deliver them to Lucifer. He stepped further awa y, wiping the thoughts from his mind.
    Turning back to Mari e, he replie d, “ Yeah. When I called the Psychic Friends Network back in the 90’ s, they told me the same thing. Wel l, I gotta get out of here for a minute. Thanks for the reading . ”
    “ Don’t fear lov e, my chameleon. You can’t evade it foreve r, no matter what disguise you wear .” She began down the hal l, then halte d, spun toward him and smiled sweetly .“ My instinct tells me you will turn out fine. Good luck . ”
    Xavier was speechless. Marie was scary and amazing all in the same breath. Did she know who he was? If she di d, she wasn’t afraid. Or maybe she was running off to tell Angel and Jacque. No. She wasn’t going to rat him ou t, even if she knew who he was. She understood something no one else realized. Marie planned to see it play out. He had no idea how she ended