Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Dalia
Nausea rushes through me as I feel the bond between Renwick and me growing stronger as he moves closer and closer.
I’ve been putting on a brave face for my sisters and my men, but I’m terrified.
What if he’s able to command me via the blood bond? It’s why he was able to control me so well at the beginning of our relationship.
Yes, I’d been able to fight the commands toward the end of my time with him. Having been away from him for forty-eight years should’ve suppressed the bond further, but what if he’s grown more powerful?
I shake my head as if I can shake off my thoughts so easily.
I need to get my head in the game. I can’t let him know how much his presence scares the shit out of me.
He might have broken me once, but I survived. I won’t allow him to break me again.
Straightening my shoulders, I lift my chin as the vehicles come to a stop about 300 feet from us. I repress a shiver as Renwick steps out of one of the vehicles.
Even at this distance, there’s no mistaking it’s him as he walks toward us alone. Someone calls out after him, but I can’t make out their words. He waves them off, not slowing down.
Tension radiates through those gathered around me, and it takes a determined effort not to seek out my sisters—to seek comfort in their presence.
“We’ve got this, Dalia.” Blaze squeezes my hand in his before quickly releasing it.
My head jerks in a sharp nod, but my eyes never leave Renwick’s approaching form.
“Well, what do we have here?” Renwick tilts his head when he’s close enough to be heard, his eyes scanning the gathered crowd before focusing on the three men surrounding me. “Ahh, you received a warning from the headless horsemen. That’s inconvenient.”
His eyes latch onto mine, darkening with equal parts hunger and hatred. “This would’ve been much easier if I could’ve just snagged you from your bed, then no one would have to die. Come now, Dalia. Return to me willingly, and I’ll leave your sisters and the others to live in peace.”
I snort, shaking my head. “Why in the world would I want to come back to you? So you can lock me in a room and abuse me? I think not.”
“Because you’re my wife. Because we share a blood bond. Because you’re mine.”
“I’m not yours.” I scoff. “I stopped being yours long ago. As far as being your wife and having a bond, I guess now would be a good time to tell you I want a divorce.”
His jaw clenches, eyes flashing. “Divorce isn’t an option, darling Dalia. You know there’s no way to break the blood bond, so why are you bothering to fight me on this? There’s nowhere you can hide from me. I’ll always find you. You’ll never be free of me.”
Titan, Blaze, and Steel tense, their chests vibrating with growls, but I hold up my hand to quiet them.
“How about you get fucked, Renwick?” I suggest with a tight smile. “Because I’m never going anywhere with you again.”
He sighs heavily. “If that’s the way you want to play it, then so be it.” He lifts his hand in the air and snaps his fingers. The next second, men appear behind him.
“Kill the sisters,” he commands, his eyes staying locked on mine.
My head whips to the side just in time to watch two of the men appear behind my sisters, blades sinking into their chests.
The sight tears a gasp from my lips as horror rises in my chest.
Sorrow and anger war inside me as I watch their lifeless bodies crumble to the ground.
They’re not dead dead, I remind myself.
As long as I’m alive, then so are they—no matter how dead they look.
“You act like I can’t bring them back,” I say as I turn my attention back to the asshole who made my life a living hell for so long.
He bares his teeth. “You can’t if you’re dead, too. If I can’t have you, then no one can. Kill her.”
The men who appeared behind him rush toward me, another set of people appearing in their place.
Pandemonium breaks out as Renwick’s army sets upon us.
“What the hell are the three of you doing?” I demand, hands on my hips, as Steel, Blaze, and Titan circle me.
“We’re just the first line of defense, Dalia.” I can almost hear the grin in Blaze’s voice as he lifts his gun, shooting into the crowd racing toward us.
I grunt and roll my eyes, but I know arguing with them will get me nowhere. Instead, I pull out my gun and shoot off a few rounds in the space between the guys.
My sword is strapped to my back, but I won’t be able to use it with the guys surrounding me like they are. I’m better with it and the dagger on my hip, but I’m thankful I learned to use a gun—otherwise I’d be standing here like a lump on a log.
“Fuck,” Steel curses, pulling his sword off his back. “There are too many of them.”
“Then you should let me help—”
Titan cuts me off as he yanks his sword out. “You are. Just keep shooting. We’ll keep them back.”
Fucking men.
I’m choosing to ignore the butterflies in my stomach that their protective natures have evoked.
How can I both love and hate it so much?
As more and more people pile toward us, the three of them are forced to step back until their shoulders are brushing and there isn’t enough room for me to move. At least not if I don’t want to end up touching all of them, but if I do that, then I’ll die for real and so will my sisters.
I lower my gun, unable to see anything except the bulky mass of my fated mates.
“Damn it. We can’t hold them back,” Titan’s words are practically growled. “What do we do, Steel?”
“Keep fighting,” he yells.
Blaze snorts, unamused as he lops off the head of an attacker. “Like we’d stop. But that doesn’t keep them from pushing us back. We’re good, but we’re not that good.”
“We have to stop giving them ground. If we don’t, then we’ll kill Dalia—and her sisters alongside her.” Steel tries to push against his attackers, but he’s immediately pushed back again.
The storm that’s been brewing finally breaks over us, rain pouring down on the battlefield. I tip my head back to stare up at the dark sky, wondering how everyone else is faring.
I hope those who chose to defend me and Iero aren’t dying for nothing.
“It doesn’t feel like my time to die,” I admit as they’re forced back another small step, smiling into the sky.
What I wouldn’t give to be able to see the strings of fate once more—to know for certain if this is the end for my sisters and me.
If this is really my last moment on this plane, then I’m thankful to have been able to feel the love of the three men around me. Dying at their hands is better than dying at Renwick’s.
I’ve barely had time to get to know them, but I love them, and they love me. It should be too fast, but that’s just how it works when you’re fated—love comes easily.
My only regrets will be taking my sisters with me to death and not having enough time with my men.
Because they are mine, and I’m theirs—not Renwick’s, no matter how much he seems to think otherwise.
Thunder rumbles in the distance as lightning flashes across the sky.
“I love the three of you,” I yell, wanting to make sure they can hear me over the noise of the battle and in the sky. “No matter what happens, I’m so glad I met you.”
“Don’t you dare fucking give up on us, Dalia,” Steel growls.
I shake my head, still smiling. “I’m not. I just want to make sure you know I love you.”
“Sure as fuck sounds like you’re giving up,” Titan argues.
I shrug even though he can’t see me. I understand how my words would make them think I’m giving up, but accepting my fate isn’t the same as giving up. If it’s time for my life to end, there’s nothing I can do to change it. I can’t fight fate, and even if I could, I wouldn’t.
I’m moirai. I’m literally one of the Fates. We might have lost our power over the strings, but that doesn’t mean I’ve lost my belief in them.
Everything happens for a reason, and if my death is meant to come today, then so be it.
“I love you, too, gorgeous,” Blaze calls.
Titan and Steel grumble under their breath, making my smile widen.
“Of course I love you,” Titan growls.
Steel pushes his attacker away from him. “We’ll protect you until our dying breaths. I don’t know what says I love you more than that.”
I snort out a laugh. “But you’re already dead.”
“Doesn’t mean I don’t love you.” He grunts as he’s forced to take another small step backward. “Now, shut the hell up so we can focus. No one’s dying today.”
As much as I’d love to believe him, I know better.
Another rumble of thunder reaches my ears, but instead of falling away, the sound just continues to fill the air.
“Fuck!” Blaze curses as the three of them are forced back once more.
I’ve made myself as small as I can, but it’s no use. There’s no way I can avoid their touches any longer.
My eyes fall shut as their bodies press against mine.
At least I get to die with them at my side.