CHAPTER 16 #3
And in his hand, suspended like a broken doll, is Lexa.
Her legs kick weakly, boots scraping uselessly at nothing. He holds her aloft by the throat with effortless strength, fingers curled around her neck like a noose. Her body trembles, twitching in his grip.
It’s like watching a butterfly pinned alive—fragile, beautiful, and completely at his mercy.
My mind snaps to one name: Revenant.
But when I really look, I see the differences. Revenant’s features are chiseled, almost dignified; the face I’m looking at is much harsher, the cheekbones too pronounced, the jaw squared and brutish, as if it were carved for violence. His eyes are a signature red, too, like Clementine’s.
He is not Revenant, but someone built in the same terrible image.
Another Whiteshade.
Every instinct in me goes sharp—Reaper. “Cain.”
“Ding ding,” he says, his voice lilting like a nursery rhyme twisted sideways. “Tell me, Seraph, was the ambush too obvious, or was it just obvious enough?”
My stomach twists, almost wishing it were Revenant instead. Cain smirks down at me, as if daring me to try. As if he knows exactly how this ends.
Everything about this screams trap, but I’m already breaking into a run, not taking any chances. Not on Lexa.
I navigate the facility with desperate speed, every step driven by the fear of what I’ll find. As I land on the rooftop with determined feet, the scene that greets me will haunt my nightmares for years to come.
“Let her go!” I shout, aiming my pistol at Cain’s chest. Behind him stand at least twenty vampires, and those are just the ones flanking him.
I spot Rhodes and Wei forced to their knees, but Martinez is nowhere in sight.
My breath comes in shallow gasps, fast and uneven, forcing myself to stop thinking about what could’ve happened to him.
To everyone else.
Lexa struggles weakly in his grip, blood trickling from her nose and mouth, her eyes wide with pain and fear. “Run,” she mouths at me.
Cain smiles, slow and venomous. His coat is scorched, the fabric clinging to half-healed skin.
Burns from gardenia crawl up his neck and across the back of his hand, still in the process of sealing shut.
Lexa must’ve fought like hell, but he doesn’t seem the least bit fazed.
He doesn’t even seem inconvenienced. If anything, he looks bored, wearing the damage like old jewelry, familiar and unimportant.
As if he’s endured this kind of injury a thousand times before and barely remembers what the pain feels like.
He tightens his hold, nearly choking her. “Put down your weapons, or I’ll crush her windpipe.”
With Lexa’s life hanging literally in his hands, I don’t hesitate.
Slowly, I lower my gun.
“Kick it away,” he commands.
I comply, sending it skidding across the concrete before removing my dagger from its holster and letting it clatter to the ground. Then my crossbow.
He loosens his grip on Lexa just enough to let her draw a ragged breath. “Now we can talk like civilized beings.”
“What do you want?” I ask, unable to suppress the hostility in my voice.
His smile widens, revealing fangs longer and sharper than any I’ve seen before. “I would have thought that was obvious by now.”
“Humor me,” I spit, refusing to shrink away despite the danger.
“I want you,” he says flatly. “More specifically, I want what makes you special, Seraph. Your ability to walk in daylight.”
He doesn’t give me the time to respond. Instead, he shifts his grip, slowly, deliberately, extending his arm out over the rooftop’s edge.
Now Lexa dangles above the drop, with nothing beneath her but gravel five stories down.
His fingers are still wrapped around her throat, but just barely.
If he lets go, she won’t just suffocate.
She will fall. Hard. It’s not a threat spoken aloud.
It’s worse. A silent ultimatum that dares me to move, to choose.
“I’ll come with you,” I offer, taking a determined step forward. “If you let everyone else go.”
Cain chuckles, the sound echoing off the metal tanks. “That’s not quite enough, darling. I’m going to need insurance against your rebellious nature.” He gestures to one of his vampires, who drags forward a struggling Rhodes. “Perhaps a demonstration is in order.”
Before I can react, Cain nods, and the vampire sinks his fangs into Rhodes’s neck. She screams, thrashing as vesia enters her bloodstream, beginning the transition process.
“Stop!” I cry out, horrified. But it’s already too late.
“But I’m just getting started,” Cain croons, like a lover making a promise. He swings his arm back in front of him while releasing Lexa, who crumples to the rooftop floor, gasping. “Bring the other.”
“No!” Lexa shouts in my stead, both our eyes watering as Wei is forced forward.
He screams, equally terrified and in pain, as a pair of fangs pierce his neck, our cries mingling in a horrific chorus. Lexa pushes herself to her knees, her eyes blazing with hatred as she glares at Cain.
“You monster,” she spits, blood bubbling at her lips.
Cain regards her with mild interest. “Monster? I prefer visionary.” He crouches beside her, lifting her chin with one finger. “You’ll make a fine addition to my collection, Captain.”
“Please,” I beg, desperation clawing at my throat. “Don’t turn her. I’ll do whatever you want.”
Cain’s eyes shift to me then, a predatory gleam in their bottomless depths. “Anything?”
“Yes,” I say without hesitation. “Let her go, and I’m yours.”
Lexa shakes her head frantically. “Seraph, don’t—”
“Silence,” Cain snaps, then returns his attention to me. “No dirty tricks? No resistance?”
I swallow hard, then take another step forward, my hands raised in surrender. “I won’t fight you. I won’t try to escape. Just let Lexa and the others go.”
Cain studies me, his head tilted slightly. “Your loyalty is admirable, if misplaced.” He beckons me closer. “Come here, dhampir.”
I approach slowly, every instinct screaming at me to run. But I can’t abandon Lexa and the others to this fate. Not when I can save them.
Once I’m within arm’s reach, Cain strikes with blinding speed. His hand closes around my throat, lifting me as he had Lexa. Pain explodes through my neck as he squeezes, making me wheeze just enough to demonstrate his terrifying power.
“I accept your offer,” he says, his face inches from mine. “Captain Ventura and her surviving team may go free. But you, my dear, belong to me now.”
He releases me, and I drop to my knees, coughing. “How do I know you’ll keep your word?” I rasp.
“You don’t.” He smiles coldly. “But what choice do you have?”
From the floor, Lexa lunges suddenly, a hidden blade flashing in her hand as she aims for Cain’s heart. He sidesteps effortlessly, catching her wrist and twisting until bones snap. She cries out, the knife clattering to the ground.
My protest is cut short as something hard connects with the back of my head. Stars explode across my vision, then darkness rushes in.
The last thing I hear is Lexa screaming my name.