Free Charmed & Deadly by Candace Havens

table.
    “No. I don’t like the troublesome wizard, but I had no wish for his death. I had nothing to do with it. Stop that, you are like a rat in a cage.” She emphasized the word rat .
    He grunted again. The man really needed to work on his communication skills, but he did sit down.
    “Did you send the Stuark demon to kill me that night?” Her eyes were closed now.
    She didn’t see the second look of shock on his face, and the pain.
    “A Stuark tried to kill you?” There was concern in his voice. I could see him check himself. When he spoke again, it was with little emotion. “I told you, I do not use demon spawn to do my dirty work.”
    “Is that what I was, Con, dirty work?” This time she stood and paced. “It explains so much. Was the big plan to screw the little witch and then kill her? So many nights you could have gone through with your plan. Why did you wait?”
    Wow! This was better than Footballers Wives on BBC America, and I love that show.
    I didn’t think it possible but he stuck his chiseled chin out even farther. Still, he made no comment.
    That made Lilyana even angrier. “You are a coward. It does you no harm to admit the truth now. Yet you sit there in silence.”
    He kicked the chair across the room. “I am no coward, witch.” He growled the words. “If I had wanted you dead I could have done it a hundred times over. So you tell me, Lil, why would I not kill someone who I discovered is my sworn enemy? Tell me.” The anger came off him in waves.
    He wouldn’t hurt her. He loved her. Though she was too dense to see it. Oh my god. This whole mess between the covens was over a lovers quarrel. The family feud had been going on for years, but had never crossed the Atlantic until these two. Pathetic. Countless lives had been taken and many others ruined because of this ridiculous spat.
    I should kill them both for their idiotic selfishness and stupidity.
    Lilyana backed against the wall. “My brother told me the truth. He explained all of it to me. You and your coven had planned to use me as a sacrifice. That night the demon was in your apartment, you pretended to be ill, knowing I would come to care for you.” She grew more hysterical by the minute.
    He chuckled, but it wasn’t a happy sound.
    “Think about what you are saying. Why would I send a demon to kill you if I needed you as a sacrifice? These are lies from that worthless brother of yours. Nox is the one who sent the demon to kill you that night, not me. He couldn’t stand the fact that his lovely and powerful sister had a thing for the enemy.”
    Backing closer to the wall she screamed at him. “My brother loves me. He would never do such a thing. I will kill you for saying such filth.”
    Constantine shook his head. “Your brother loves power. Look at the lives he’s ruined over the past few months. So many in both of our covens have died. And for what?
    “I love you, Lil, I always have, and I would give my life for you. Can you say the same for your brother? Would he sacrifice his life for you?”
    Something must have clicked in her brain, as realization dawned on her face. She slid down the wall. I clicked my fingers and the handcuffs fell off them both. Constantine caught her before she hit the floor.
    My, my. Looked like I’d locked up the wrong people. Oh, I wasn’t about to let them go—they still had things to work out. Meanwhile, I thought I might go visit this Nox guy.
    I hope he tried to kill me. I’d been itching to blow someone up all day.

Nine
    Manhattan
Fired-up witches: 1
Dead guys: 1
    W ell, that was entertaining. Nox turned out to be one nasty, festering soul who really hates chicks. Especially witchy chicks.
    Yay, me!
    Thanks to Lilyana’s connection to him, it only took me a few minutes to locate him. I could see him in a SoHo loft, sound asleep. Evidently he didn’t know his sister had been kidnapped.
    After a few words to the investigators asking that they look after Garnout, I grabbed a taxi. I