Chapter 32 Donovan #2
Is he actually considering it?
Astra looks nervously at me, but I have no way to reassure her that it will be okay. The thought of Torrin dying in that alleyway is like a stab to my heart. And here I am, unable to protect Fabien. I’ve let my best friend—my damn brother—down again tonight.
“Fabien?” Astra says his name with so many emotions rolled into it. But he won’t look up. “Fabien, look at me. Don’t do this. Please. If I ask one thing of you, don’t do this.”
“You’ve already started it?” Fabien asks Sandra, but his tone says he already knows the answer. “You’ve made this coven? It’s yours?”
“Well, yes. There aren’t many of us, but I assure you, we’re strong.” The way Sandra is talking down to him gets under my skin. I’m ready to tear out of my bindings and end her. “I’m very picky about who I choose to invite. You should feel special, Fabien.”
It sinks in a split second before Fabien cuts his eyes to me.
Well, fuck.
I look over at my beautiful Astra. My love. The woman I am fucking determined to spend the rest of my life with, and I’m hell-bent to make sure it’s going to be a long one.
I came here to kill Aubert with the hope it would end the curse.
If I sever the tie of the one who put it on her, maybe it would end.
Fabien had been sure of it when he came to me earlier.
So sure that he encouraged me to go for it.
To kill the man who can’t be killed. Which, yes, I know I have to get around that part first.
But now, I don’t have to.
I don’t need Aubert to save our lives.
All I need is a coven elder, and they just presented one on a silver platter to me. Because if Sandra started her own coven, it would automatically make her an elder.
It’s so fucking hard not to smile.
Astra cries out in pain. I see her body collapsing, but my arms are tied behind my back, and I can’t fucking catch her. Still, I try anyway. If anything, I can at least cushion her fall with my body.
I’m taken out the moment I move.
And now we’re both on the dirty concrete floor.
“Astra,” I whisper as I feel my chest beginning to burn.
Is this how it goes? Are we going to burn from the inside?
“Donovan,” she tries to call out, but her voice cracks. Her eyes flare with something I can’t explain.
The air becomes charged.
I wiggle like a jackass until I’m flush against her body.
“I’m here,” I whisper.
We’re not going out like this.
My gaze catches on the cut along her hairline. It’s stopped bleeding, but it’s deep enough that it wouldn’t take much to open the wound again.
I run my tongue over my bottom lip as an idea comes to mind. I’ve got to at least try.
“Look at me,” I say so low only she can hear.
I see the emotions fighting in her eyes.
She’s doing her best to control them. I hold her gaze as I press my forehead against hers.
I can’t hold her hand, but at least this is some sort of connection between us.
I don’t hesitate as I say the next words.
“My heart is in your hands, and yours in mine. I will protect it and bring no harm to it.”
I’m taking a chance, hoping that since she said the words in the early hours of this morning, it will still work. It might be bordering on trickery, but I don’t fucking care at this point. It’s not just about saving our lives. Astra is mine, and I will make it so everyone fucking knows it.
She gasps, but I don’t stop to soak in her expression. I’ll probably regret that later when we make it out of this. I bite my bottom lip until I can taste the blood oozing from the split there. Then I press my lips against her forehead, licking her wound open. Her blood is sweet in my mouth.
I want to feel something as our blood mixes. I want to know it’s the end of this damn curse. But nothing changes.
Maybe I was wrong.
Fuck, I hate this.
Aubert’s laugh rings out in the background.
Astra is fading before me.
“Thank you,” she whispers with a weak smile.
“Don’t leave me. Don’t…” I choke back my emotions. “I love you.”
“You do?”
“I really fucking do. You’re mine, My Beauty. And this won’t be the end.”
I get to my feet, hating the fact that I have to leave her behind.
All my energy goes to pushing away the fire burning through my veins and the lines stretching out on my skin, which are starting to make everything feel tight.
Fabien’s eyes are wide as I come at him, but he snaps out of it at the last second and remembers the silent exchange we had not even five minutes ago.
I turn around, Fabien slices through the rope binding me, and a second later, my hand is wrapped around my blade. I’m surprised it plays out so smoothly. It’s almost a fucking miracle at this point.
Aubert stops laughing the moment he notices I’m on my feet and coming for him.
He puts his hand up, the flash of the red jewel of his pinky ring catching the light.
“The ring,” Fabien says the moment it clicks in my head.
Shots ring out behind me.
There’s a commotion, but strangely, it doesn’t sound like it’s coming for me. I don’t dare take my eyes off of Aubert, so I have no clue what’s going on.
A new sensation flows through me, and though I can’t fucking explain it, I know Astra is okay. I can feel her.
That’s all I need to give my full attention to the man in front of me. I don’t stop the wicked grin that spreads across my face.
The asshole tries to back away, hiding behind his witch.
She spits at me and mutters something in a tongue that is foreign to my ears. I don’t stop as I wipe her vileness from my chin.
“You’re dead,” I tell… well, both of them.
I feel Astra’s pull. I feel the air turn electric. I feel her power swirl around me.
Sandra is no match for My Beauty. I don’t even have to push her out of the way, because it’s like one minute she’s there, and the next, she’s stumbling away like some invisible rope is pulling at her or something. I don’t stop to find out what the hell is going on.
A blur of red flashes in my peripheral vision before the sound of a shot rings out. Something heavy falls behind me, or rather someone, and I have a feeling they won’t be getting up.
I wrap my hand around Aubert’s thick neck, squeezing just enough to make it uncomfortable. He’s flailing around like a jackass, and I’m having a hard time pinning his hand down with the knife in my grip.
Suddenly, a hand takes over, holding Aubert’s wrist firmly against the hard surface of the desk.
“Need some help?” Torrin asks as I turn my head and look at him. He’s got dried blood all down his face and on his suit coat. His cheek is swollen, and I can already see the black and blue turning the skin. His eyes say he’s had enough of this shit and he’s ready for bed.
“Thought you were dead,” I say flatly, though inside I’m fucking glad he isn’t.
“Me? No way. You can’t kill the Devil,” he replies, and my gaze flicks up to see he is still wearing those damn horns. I snort and shake my head. “Just needed a little nap, was all.”
Aubert grunts and tries to wiggle free.
“Ready?” Torrin asks.
I don’t bother answering. I bring my blade down on Aubert’s meaty pinky, chopping just below the band of the ring.
It takes more than one chop, and I’m suddenly glad I didn’t sharpen my knife before I gave it to Fabien.
Once his finger is free, I fling it across the room, grinning as I hear the clunk of the metal ring ping off the wall.
“This is for my father,” I say as I stand tall.
I plunge my blade into his heart. I see the fear in his eyes. I eat it up, committing it to memory.
Normally, I’m not like this. I handle shit and move on. But with him, this death is for pleasure.
I pull my blade out, blood instantly running out of the wound in his chest.
“This is for Astra,” I tell him as I jab my blade under his chin, likely slicing right through his tongue. His mouth fills with blood, overflowing and running down his face when I jerk my knife back out.
“You’ve fucked with me for the last time, Aubert.” I stab him in the throat for good measure. “Go to Hell.”
I watch until what little life he has left fades from his eyes.
That’s it.
It’s done.
I turn to find Astra fighting her own demons, and I can’t help but smile.
She’s fucking stunning. Watching her charged up on magic is making my dick hard.
Torrin must notice when I shift to adjust myself because he shakes his head at me.
I don’t fucking care.
This night has ended the way I hoped it would
Everything is going to be just fine.