Chapter 56
Chapter Fifty-Six
SEBASTIAN
The sound of my shoes clicking on the floor is the only thing breaking the pregnant quiet that blankets the hotel.
“Minchia!” Cussing, not knowing what my snapped “fuck” is aimed at, I rub a hand over my face.
The male jumps slightly at my outburst. He knows better than to say anything or even to turn my way. With rigid shoulders, he keeps walking purposely toward the ruined, patched up part of our nest. What a disaster this whole thing turned out to be.
For April’s sake, I waste my time, waiting on some miracle that will awaken the matron that she was born, and reborn, to be. And for what? To have vermin destroy what I have claimed to protect.
Unacceptable!
In hindsight, I realize I allowed my heart to rule my actions.
And that can get us all killed or trapped somewhere underground while the Council gloats and torments us for centuries.
Like a lovesick fool, I follow at the heels of a wisp of a woman, instead of standing my ground and sticking to the original plan.
Thinking with my dick, I’ll let hundreds of people down while they trusted me with their very lives and the lives of those they protect.
“Minchia!” snapping even louder, I glare at everything around me.
“It was here we saw the movement, Sire.” The male speaks, his posture stiff as if ready to bolt at any moment.
While stewing in anger, we have reached the far end of what’s left of our nest. Following his outstretched arm, I inch closer to the opening between the broken walls peering into the darkness.
They have destroyed all the streetlights and possibly killed the power to the entire block.
A dark silver hue covers everything while I scan as far as my eyes can see.
A body moves between stacked up vehicles on my left, and I lean forward, concentrating on that area.
Another movement, someone slinking closer, makes me grip the wall, cracking it under my fingers.
I need to kill something. To remove at least a little of the guilt that’s slamming and rattling my chest, I’ll need to take it out on a vermin.
Even if it’s not a Council member. Leaning further out between the walls and preparing to attack whoever it is hiding in the shadows, I don’t notice the trap before it’s too late.
My head snaps in the direction of the male that led me here when he starts murmuring a chant in the ancient language we heard from the mole.
My fangs drop down, and my claws snap out, but I feel the magic like a snake coiling around my chest. Staggering, I reach sluggishly to get hold of the scum, but my arm is too heavy, and it flops to my side.
“Betrayer!” Slurring the words, I watch him grin at me menacingly.
He better pray I don’t survive whatever this is.
Because if I do, he and everything he holds dear and everything he values will be mine for the taking.
And I will take. Oh, how I will take and relish the screams and the tears.
My chest feels like it will explode at any moment, dark spots dancing at the corners of my eyes when I drop to my knees.
April. Her name floats through my hazy mind.
Even if I brought this on my head, I still can’t find it in me to regret it.
In my final moments, I understand clearly that she is worth to me more than my honor, my pride, or my thirst for revenge.
She is worth everything, and I will not be able to protect her.
Panic surges through my veins, but the darkness pulls me deeper into its cursed embrace no matter how I struggle to stay here for her.
I’m sorry, my redemption, I tell her if only in my mind.
And I truly am sorry for everything I have put her through.
Slapping my hands on the dirty floors, I stay there on all fours, my head hanging limply between my shoulders.
My ears are ringing, the pressure creating a cacophony of sounds in my head.
And then it all stops. Sucking in a deep breath, I topple over, dropping on my back, shaking and staring at the half-broken ceiling.
“I figured you could use a hand, tesoro.” April’s husky accented voice lifts my head up so I can look at her. “Don’t worry, you still look good enough to eat.” Grinning at me, she snaps the neck of the betrayer.
She didn’t kill him. She only incapacitated him, saving him for later when I can stand on my feet and do what I have promised him in my mind.
“How?” I cough when the words hurt my raw throat.
“I guess Marcus was right.” Shrugging, she drops the limp body at her feet. “I had a sneezing fit, had to blow my nose that apparently cleared all that was blocking my sense of smell, and here I am. In all my glory.” She spreads her arms wide, winking at me.
Chuckling, I shake my head, dropping down on my back. I can feel my strength returning with each passing second. Soon I’ll be up on my feet, just not yet. April comes closer, standing protectively over me, her head moving while she studies our surroundings.
“How is it that this jerk used magic?”
All the humor is gone from her beautiful face when she looks down at me.
Her hair falls over her shoulders like a curtain.
My fingers twitch with the need to wrap it in my hand.
But she makes a valid point. What exactly is the Council doing?
Breeding hybrids of a vampire and mage? Because the betrayer was a vampire, there is no doubt about that.
“Was he a mage?” April frowns, giving the heap on the ground a quick glance.
“No.” Pushing myself up, I take her offered hand to stand. “That’s what I was thinking too. It seems the Council has more secrets than I originally thought.”
“What? That vampires use magic?” She laughs without humor. “I could’ve told you that if you asked. What have you been learning before you decided to bring me back and take on the Council?”
“You knew?” Looking at her sharply, I feel like kicking myself.
“It’s not a secret, tesoro.” Dismissing me with a wave of her tiny hand, she turns towards the gap at the entrance.
“But we can chat about it later, no? Let’s go have some fun first. I feel like snapping a few more necks before I wake them up for a meeting.
” Without waiting for an answer, she disappears in the night like the wind.
I keep underestimating her and treating her like fragile glass while doing more damage than actually helping her. She is fragile, yes. But not like glass. She is fragile like a ticking bomb. And I’m the one holding the button.
With a wicked smile, I follow her in the darkness.