Chapter 41
Ivana stares down at Ajax’s unmoving body, and the look on her face is one I’ll probably have nightmares about for a long time.
She scrambles to where her best friend lies, falling to her knees beside him as she shakes him in desperation.
She cries out again, and the sound portrays a thousand words.
Kaia stands across from them, her face twisted in silent rage.
I drag my eyes away as they lift to Willow’s, and for a moment the black fades away, and in its place are the soft eyes I’m so familiar with.
Heartbreak fills my chest as I stare at the one person I love more than anyone in the world.
A deep sadness twists her features as she looks at me, and I shake my head at the silent plea in her eyes.
“Please,” she begs.
I shake my head again. “No.”
Her expression turns cold once more, and her eyes fill with the inky black stain that trails down her cheeks in a scatter of veins.
A screech leaves her mouth as she opens it wide to reveal the jagged teeth within.
She charges at me with a speed that sends her plunging straight into the dagger I have just pulled from my thigh.
I feel it sink into her chest as a cry leaves my mouth.
I wrap my free arm around her as her body goes limp against me, and we both fall to our knees.
I pull her close, and for a fleeting moment, her eyes are her own again as they meet mine.
A small smile touches her lips as a tear falls down the side of her face, and then she’s gone.
“No.”
The entire world seems to slow down as I take in what I’ve just done.
I killed her. I killed Willow. My chest tightens in a grip that has me gasping for air, and Ivana’s screams still pierce my ears.
I shake my head repeatedly. This can’t be real.
This can’t be happening. Willow’s thin frame seems to slip from my grasp, but my body remains frozen as the reality of what I just did makes bile rise to my throat.
“Adina!” The world snaps back, and everything speeds up.
Iza stands in front of me, and the noise of the room swirls around me.
Humans who were sitting with their houses have morphed into the same creatures that Willow did, and they are attacking every vampire in here.
My eyes fall to Ivana, whose face is buried in Ajax’s chest as her sobs shake her entire body.
Ajax is dead. The thought doesn’t feel real. None of this can be real, and yet it is. And it’s all my fault. Iza screams my name again as she pulls me to my feet.
Kaia fights three impures as they come at her from every angle, and Piper stands in frozen horror as she stares down at Ivana and Ajax.
I fight back the tears because if we don’t fight, if we don’t stop this, then we’re all dead.
I can’t think about Ajax or Willow right now.
All I can think about is surviving. Fight now. Mourn later.
“Don’t just stand there, you fools, fight!
” A vampire with dark eyes bellows as he projects his anger toward a set of guards who stand watching.
Just then, a familiar figure rises from the crowd, her beautiful face set in awe as the scene plays out before her.
Amabel. She looks straight at the noble vampire and shakes her head.
“They don’t take orders from you anymore,” she says in a voice that has haunted most of my childhood.
She lifts a silver chain with a pendant from around her neck, throwing the item to the ground as her brown eyes morph into crimson.
Even past the chaos, I hear a collective gasp come from the nobles. “They have a new master now.”
She nods to the guards, and they surge forward, joining the impures in their assault on the nobles.
Every bone in my body wants to charge over there and rip her throat out, but it’s not the time. There’s too much at stake. I will avenge Tori one day and foil whatever plan Amabel has, but right now, my friends need my help.
I clutch the dagger in my hand, ignoring the stain of Willow’s blood that coats it, and race at an impure that is heading right into Piper’s path.
I leap over the fallen bodies, creating a pile on the floor, using one to provide leverage as I throw my body through the air, swiping my blade across its throat.
I land in front of Piper and grab hold of her arms, shaking her vigorously.
“Piper, you need to snap out of it. Our friends are dying.” My words seem to pull her from the depths of where she just sank as she takes in the surrounding room. Her eyes lift to meet mine, but a deep sadness swirls there that I’m not sure can ever be healed.
“He’s dead,” she says.
“I know, and if we don’t kill these bastards, then it was for nothing.”
My words seem to awaken something in her. She nods.
“For Ajax,” she says through broken words. “And Willow.”
I hold back the tears burning my eyes. The emotions threatening to rip me apart. “For Ajax and Willow.”
Once I’m sure she’s ok, I head toward Ivana. I try not to look at the bodies on the ground. I cannot afford to break down. I grab hold of her arm, and she shoots up into the air, and the tip of her blade presses against my throat.
“It’s me,” I say, but it doesn’t lessen the rage that heats her stare or the tears that fall down her cheeks.
“He’ll pay for what he did, even if I have to die to make it happen. I promise,” I tell her.
Her lips tremble with a mixture of sadness and rage before she finally nods.
Then, the press of her blade leaves my throat, and she darts into the crowd.
Impures are everywhere, but I have no interest in fighting them.
I want the monster who caused all of this.
The beast who hid beneath my skin for fourteen years, just waiting to destroy my life.
I don’t care whether he remembered what he was. I hate him.
I race up the dais to an open door at the back of the hall.
None of the vampires can cross this line now that Celeste is dead.
The shadows in the sky have vanished, and the sun glares down, ready to scorch any vampire that dares cross its path.
I run across it, but an impure jumps into my path, its sharp teeth snapping in my direction.
But I don’t have time for this. Athriel has my fucking mate, and he isn’t leaving this palace with him.
But before I can make a move, the creature hisses in my direction, tilting its mouth into a cruel smile.
“You cannot stop me, my sweet Adina. There is no stopping the wheels that have been put in motion now,” the voice slithers like a snake from hell itself.
“Where are you?” I grit out.
The answering laugh boils my blood, and with the absence of Athriel, I know for once that the rage is all my own.
I sink my dagger into the monster’s chest, throwing it to the ground before leaping over it.
I sprint down the hall, my calves screaming as if aflame.
Impures come at me from all sides, but I cut them down effortlessly, every strike fueled by pure rage.
I race down several hallways and turn corner after corner, using my dagger to kill anything in my path until I finally reach him.
As soon as he hears me approaching, he stops.
He turns to face me as though my presence does not bother him at all.
I storm over to him, slamming his back against the wall and pressing my blade against his throat.
“You tricked me,” I hiss. The hurt that creeps into my voice only heightens my rage.
He smiles. “I did not trick you. I knew not who I was, but my creations…my kin remembered, and they freed me from the walls of your mind. They led you to my salvation.”
“You’re a monster,” I hiss.
“Monsters are made, not born. I feel that you, too, will come to learn this very soon.”
I add pressure to the blade and growl in his face.
“Do not blame anyone for what you are.”
“No? Do you know how they did it? The gods created her, you know, from their own raw magic. Your ancestor. The first of your kind. She was beautiful, just like you. I remember it all now. She made me love her. Begged me to fill her with my essence so that she could follow me to the ends of the world, just like my kin. I believed that she loved me. But she was a liar. A trickster,” he spits.
“She stole my entire essence and trapped me. And every time another one of your bloodline was born, I was passed on like a disease. A prisoner. But you were different. You spoke to me, trusted me. Loved m—”
“I never loved you.”
“You did. And you will learn to again when I have returned to my true form.”
His words cause a panic to fill my chest.
“You’re not leaving here with him. You’re not taking him from me.”
“Oh, my dear child, you cannot stop me. To kill me, you must kill him, and we both know you will do no such thing. You may deny it, but I have been inside your head. It may sicken me, but I know how you feel about the prince, even if you still deny it.”
“You know nothing,” I say.
My hand shakes against its hold on the blade, and I hate how weak it makes me look.
“I will return for you. When I have shed this skin and found my own, you and I will become this world’s most powerful rulers.”
“I would sooner die than rule beside a monster like you.”
“You say that now because you do not know the full story, but one day, when I am wholly me, I will tell you everything, my love, and then we shall see what you decide.”
He pushes my blade from his neck, knowing I can do nothing to stop him. I cannot hurt him without hurting Karius, and he’s too powerful for me to bring down. I watch in horror as he walks away with my mate, and there’s nothing I can do.
Footsteps pound against the floor, and I remember that the vampires had to go the long way to avoid the blaring sun in the hall.
“Where is he?” Eamon asks. I shake my head.
“I couldn’t stop him without hurting Karius.” My words sound as defeated as I feel. “He’s taken everything.”
I’m not sure who I say it to. I look up and find several pairs of eyes on me. I cannot look at Kaia without seeing Ajax’s face, so I look away.
More footsteps come from down the hallway, but I don’t recognize the nobles who join us.
“What the hell are you all doing? You’re the royal guard, for goodness’ sake. Go after him! Our very lives are in his hands!” A short, chubby male says.
“We can’t,” Eamon tells them. “He’s too powerful, and we cannot stop him without killing the prince, and that is not an option.”
“And what about her?” His finger jabs in my direction. “She brought this hell on us. We may not be able to kill her, but we need to lock her in the dungeons until we can find a way to break that cursed bond between them.”
“You will not lay a finger on her.” I’m surprised that the words come from Kaia. Ivana steps forward too, blocking them from me, and something squeezes inside my chest.
“You’ll have to go through me, too,” Eamon adds.
“And me.” Piper steps forward, and to my surprise, Iza joins them, her bravery warming my heart.
Even though we’re broken as a group, fractured in ways that I’m not sure we can repair, they still stand united for me. Tears burn my eyes, but I fight to hold them back.
“How dare you threaten me?” he spits. “I’m a member of this court, and I will be reporting this to the council, who, lest you have forgotten, are your acting crowns in the absence of the prince.”
Eamon steps forward, eyeing the man with venom that I would not want directed at me.
“Perhaps you are a fool or just plain ignorant, but no council member has authority over a crown’s mate, and lest you forget, Adina holds that position. So, step the fuck back and bow to your crown.”