Chapter 74
Chapter Seventy-Four
The air is knocked out of my lungs, leaving me gasping until I remember that I don’t necessarily have to breathe.
Khan sinks his claws in my arms, the ripping of skin under their sharpness fueling my determination to see him suffer.
He expects a scream, but he receives a grin instead.
My own claws rake down his sides and back, his pained roar making me chuckle.
Khan snaps his jaws too close to my face, his madness making him reckless and wild.
One sharp fang splits the skin on my cheek, and the stinging is forgotten from the putrid smell of his breath.
My stomach roils from the stench, allowing him an opportunity to wedge himself between my legs, his erection pressing on my belly through the thin fabric of the dress.
Bile like acid floods my mouth, and I throw him off me, gagging.
He is back in a flash, lifting me up and slamming me on the ground.
Tiles crack under my body, my bones rattling under my skin.
Anger bubbles in my chest, and something snaps in my brain, causing me to shove him away with everything in me.
“Aww, does it hurt?” I send him flying into Irina’s throne, breaking it in half. “Oops, we broke a throne.”
Lifting up, I stalk to where he is sprawled on the ground, groaning. Blood runs freely from his wounds. I can feel it from mine too, warmth spreading down my shoulders, but centuries have passed, and the thirst for revenge is stronger than blood loss.
“Get up!” I kick him, and he slides a few feet, writhing on the ground.
Walking up to him, I grab his robes, yanking him up.
His eyes glint with triumph when I lift him to face me, my claws shredding the fabric of his robes.
Too late I notice the movement of his arm.
Searing pain like my body is burning from the inside out spreads through me.
I try to stumble away from him, but I can’t.
Looking down between our bodies, I see his hand gripping a large piece of the crystal throne that he pushed between my ribs, sinking his hand all the way to the knuckles inside me.
He grins victoriously.
A red haze overtakes my vision, bathing everything around me in swirls of pulsing rage.
Not again! He will not win this time even if he takes me with him.
Yanking him closer, I stifle a scream when the shard sinks deeper in my side.
Finally, the terror he should feel widens his eyes a second before I strike, ripping half of his neck with my fangs.
The hot, sour taste of tainted blood sprays my mouth, face, and neck, but I keep tearing the flesh, tendons, and bones until his head drops with a heavy thud at my feet.
Disgust makes me spit the remaining blood out of my mouth, and I shiver from the bitter aftertaste.
“Pathetic for a god, don’t you think?” Shaking him like a dog would a bone, I watch his headless body with loathing.
A roar echoes around me from the Guardians.
Startled out of my killing lust, I turn to see them all down on one knee, heads bowed together with whoever was left alive of the guests to this debacle.
Eshe and Sebastian are, as well, their heads lifted while they watch me with reverence on their faces.
I wipe my hand off the sodden skirts of the dress, my fingers brushing over the wooden stakes.
I don’t have time to take a full breath before the bond with all my kind snaps back into place.
Forgetting that it will happen now that Khan is dead, it brings me on my knees.
My back bows, bending me backward, my arms flinging back to my sides.
An awful scream of pain shatters every glass in the room into dust, the walls around us cracking when the remaining crystal thrones amplify it.
It echoes for a very long time, no doubt heard by everyone in a hundred-mile radius, leaving all those kneeling around me splayed on the floor with their hands pressed tightly to their bleeding ears.
My throat feels raw, and vocal cords are ripped apart.
When I finally drop on the ground, blood sprays through my lips when I cough.
The blurriness clears after a moment, millions of emotions from around the world hitting like a tsunami in my chest, leaving me breathless.
Strong, callused hands lift me up, and I press my face to Sebastian’s chest, inhaling his familiar scent.
Sebastian. My eyes snap open, and I lift my face to his.
His dark gaze full of concern is intent on me.
My hand glides down his chest to my lap, then further down my hip to my thigh.
Pain stabs my chest, but I push it away.
This is the way it has to be. Reminding myself sternly, I look around, searching for Andrei. He is nowhere to be found.
Good.
Locking my gaze on Sebastian, I lift my other hand, cupping his face and pulling him down for a kiss.
His eyes close, and he comes eagerly, his tongue parting my lips, sending a burning desire through me.
I can never get enough of him. I kept lying to myself all this time that I hate him, that I can never forgive his treachery for turning me into something I hated.
I was an idiot. He is like a drug, and I am a willing addict.
You must do this, April. The voice in my head pulls me out of the lust clouding my mind.
My fingers tighten around the wooden stake, and in one smooth motion, I pull it out, plunging it in Sebastian’s heart.
He jerks back, eyes widening. Slowly, his head tilts, his gaze moving to the wood sticking from his chest. My hand still wrapped around the runes, I expect to see hurt or betrayal when he looks back at me.
Acceptance and love shine strong, even through the bond I still hold blocked between us. A soft smile lifts his kissable lips, and his trembling hand grazes my cheek.
“La mia redenzione, ricordati di me.” ‘My redemption, remember me.’ I find it difficult to breathe when I hear his words.
His hand falls limply to his side, my body following his when he drops on the ground.
I can’t pull my eyes away from his, but my heart breaks because it has come to this.
Holding on to the block on the bond, I watch his angelic face shrivel and dry out, the muscles that I traced with my hands while he was filling me turning into nothing next to me.
Tears trickle down my face like rivulets gathering under my chin before dropping on my chest.
Silence.
Lifting my head, I look at the faces around us.
Disbelief, shock, and horror, mixes with tears and blood over their skin.
They blame me at this very moment for taking him away from them, as if I didn’t take him away from me too.
The last thump of his heart is like I have plunged the same stake in my own chest. Turning away from their judgment, with a trembling hand, I pull the damn wood from his heart.
Ripping my wrist open, I press it on top of his dry lips.
“Drink.” My shaking words get everyone around me to press closer.
They are all holding their breath just like I am.
The blood drips down his chin, spilling through his parted lips.
“Drink!” My hand shakes when I try to move his jaw to close it.
I only manage to tilt his head to the side, spilling out whatever was left from my blood.
My body shakes, teeth chattering from fear or shock, but I’m not sure which. Ripping open my now-healed wrist, I press it to his lips again. “Drink, damn you!” Curling a fist, I thump him on his shriveled chest. “Drink!” My scream echoes through the crystal behind me.
His lips close on my skin, the pull when he takes what I offer releasing the vise around my chest. I watch with tears running down my face as his body fills up, and finally, his back bows off the floor when he takes his first breath.
“April…” My name is the first thing he says, like a prayer on his lips.
“Oh, Sebastian.” Throwing myself across his chest, I hiccup with my sobs. “I want to kill you again for scaring the shit out of me, you asshole.” His arms wrap around me, dragging my body on top of his. “You deserve to be stabbed again.”
“What did you do, my redemption?” His deep voice sounds raw.
Lifting my head, I look down at him, my tears dropping like raindrops on his angelic face. “New era, as Khan said. New blood is my legacy.”
Sebastian surges up, taking my lips in a searing kiss while the Guardians roar around us in victory.
Draped over the throne like a cat on Sunday morning, I rub mutt’s ears with my toe.
He whimpers and wiggles, his tail going crazy and thumping in a fast beat on the floor.
My hand is wrapped around Sebastian’s, who is sprawled on the second throne just as unwilling to leave my sight. Or stop touching me for that matter.
“Did the woman make it safely out of here?” I ask no one in particular.
“She is back at the hotel with the two you appointed as her keepers,” Marcus says from near Sebastian.
“You feel like you’re expecting something to happen.” Sebastian’s deep voice is soft, but I feel it inside my chest, warming my insides.
“What if I am?” mutt perks his ears up, lifting his head to focus his intelligent brown eyes on me. “You buddy, are too judgmental for a dog.” Sebastian chuckles at that.
I feel him before I see him. Lifting myself up, I straighten on the throne, Sebastian becoming alert along with me.
We are still dressed in our bloodied clothes, including everyone else that refused to leave our side.
Marcus is sitting with his legs thrown in front of him, his back leaning on Sebastian’s throne.
Andrei walks through the doors, his eyes finding mine the same second.
I nod, and he grimly nods back.
Reaching behind him, he drags Sara through the haphazardly draped bodies on the floor.
She looks pale, the hair escaping her braid and curling around her face while her wide eyes turn defiant when she finally sees me.
Sebastian stiffens, and Marcus jerks upright when they see Andrei pushing her on her knees in front of me.
“Hello, Sara.” She glares at my smile. “I’m happy to see you are safe from all the monsters now.”
Her lips press in a thin line, and she refuses to look away from my penetrating gaze.
“What’s the meaning of this?” Sebastian frowns, looking from me to Sara.
“Are you going to tell him, or should I?” Her eyes widen in shock, but she bites her lips, not saying a word.
“April?” Marcus moves to my other side, looking coiled up and confused.
“Why don’t you tell them where your brother is, Sara.” She jerks back at my question.
“He is struggling with the transformation.” Marcus grumbles, but Andrei just shakes his head, cutting off whatever else he was about to say.
“He must’ve made a miraculous recovery since I saw him protecting Irina from the sunlight when she ran from the hotel.”
“You traitor!” Sebastian roars, but I grab his forearm, holding him back.
“But that’s not all, is it Sara?” Her glare turns wary.
“You have more secrets, don’t you, my dear friend?
How about you tell them about the group that you are part of.
” She tries to run, but Andrei grabs her, throwing her back down on the floor.
“About the hunters that are planning to kill us all in our sleep.”
Sebastian jumps up, his body shaking in rage. “I will rip you apart!” he roars in her face.
“Where will the fun of that be, tesoro?” Standing up next to him, I give Sara a cold smile. “I have other plans for her. Much, much better than ripping her apart.” My eyes flick to Andrei. “Go get her brother.”
Andrei stumbles midturn, catching himself before he topples down.
My arms fling to my sides so I can keep my balance, Sebastian and Marcus taking hold of the crystal thrones to stay standing.
The ground under our feet shudders violently, raising everyone to their feet.
Confusion clouds my mind. This feels nothing like an earthquake.
A niggling thought that we’ve missed something fleetingly passes my mind but the strengthening of the building and the ground under my feet pushes it away.
“The building is going to collapse if it keeps going. We need to get out!” Sebastian reaches for my hand, grasping my fingers tightly.
A hard body tackles me to the floor, wide shoulders digging into my ribs, sandwiching me between it and Sebastian when we hit the ground.
Fire bursts all around us and I turn my head to see Marcus, his face twisted in pain as he shields me and Sebastian with his own body.
Everything above him is just flames. Fires lick at his back and hair, and my eyes water from the heat.
My lips press firmly to stop me from screaming when I wrap my arms around him to pull him closer and away from the raging inferno.
A lump weakly wiggles between me and Marcus, and I realize he has taken mutt along with him before he pushed us out of the trajectory of the flames.
Sebastian holds onto me tightly, rolling us over and away, pulling all four of us behind the crystal throne.
My skin feels like it is melting, blisters popping up and oozing down my arms. Marcus groans painfully and slumps unconscious next to me, mutt whimpering, his paws clawing at my leg.
Pressing my hand on Marcus’s chest, I assure myself he is still alive before I turn to Sebastian.
He is as hurt as me, mutt almost unharmed, but none of us are as bad as Marcus.
Andrei! my mind screams, and I scramble over Sebastian to poke my head out from behind the throne.
The fire has stopped like it was never there.
Charred bodies litter the ground, pained groans and screams filling up the room.
One is unmoving in the same place where Andrei used to be, and shock makes my heart stop for a second.
A stirring at the entrance catches my attention, my eyes jerking there and widening at the sight.
The mage that I removed the limbs from when he tried to blind me is well and whole, his hand holding Sara’s while they focus their hatred-filled eyes on mine.
How the fuck did we forget about the mages?
I allowed this to happen. Guilt pushes bile up my throat.
Sara grins an ugly, twisted smile my way.
Squaring my shoulders, my power sends a wave at them, slamming them into the opposite wall.
She hurt those that are mine. Staring her down, I make sure she hears me before the mage pulls her away.
“I’m coming for you!”