Chapter 58 Katarina
My heart sank as I lowered my body back to the ground.
It was hard to let go of the power—it felt so damn good. But Murielle reeked of desperation and I knew she would kill Roman even if it was the last thing she ever did.
The men behind me snarled and snapped at her. Their anger and fear coursing through our bond. Tears trickled down my cheeks. I was so tired of this. Tired of fighting. Worn out from the power fluxes. And really fucking sick of Murielle ruining my life.
“Let him go, Murielle. This is over,” I said calmly.
She smirked. “You don’t get to tell me what to do.”
“Look around,” I shouted, stepping a little closer. “You lost.”
Twisting Roman in her arms, she shook her head and pointed the sword at Blaise. “Give him to me in exchange for your precious vampire.”
“No.”
“Give him to me!”
Blaise growled, the sound echoing off the rubble. “He is not mine to give.”
There was movement in the trees behind what remained of the coven. Slowly, methodically, two dozen wolves and several voodoo practitioners emerged from the shadows. They didn’t engage, but it was clear from the way Antione’s silvery eyes narrowed on Murielle that they would fight if necessary.
“You fucking traitors,” Murielle spat at them. She turned her attention back to us and held that sword against Roman’s throat again. “Vampires don’t survive decapitation.”
This was it. This was the moment when everything was going to change. I didn’t know what to do, fear paralyzing me in place. But thankfully, I was surrounded by men who’d fought with Roman for many years, and the last thing they would ever do was freeze under pressure.
Aiden teleported behind Murielle, wrapped his arm around her neck, and disappeared again with her in tow, all within a single breath. The sword she was holding fell to the ground with a thump.
Dorian leaped forward and grabbed the silver stake in Roman’s chest between his jaws, pulling it free with one move. He licked at Roman’s face until he finally blinked and the color returned. Sucking in a deep, trembling breath, Roman immediately sat up and searched for me.
But Blaise had crawled over my head to snatch up the few witches foolish enough to try and run. Several of them were ripped in two when Blaise clamped his teeth across their bodies. I tried not to watch that part.
Antione’s pack stopped the rest of the scattering coven members and corralled them into a group now standing between me and Roman.
Dorian and my vampire limped back to me, Roman wrapping me in a hug and muttering his apologies in my ear.
I cried against his chest, the blood from his wound staining my tank top.
I didn’t care. He was alive and that was all that mattered. Roman was the glue to this family.
We wouldn’t survive without him.
Aiden reappeared next to the ten or so witches left, tossing Murielle to the ground and holding her firmly by the hair. He looked at Roman and winked.
Antione pulled his pack members back, still observing but giving us the space we needed to settle this once and for all.
When Murielle’s furious gaze met Roman’s, she snarled. “This isn’t over!”
“It is,” Roman said calmly, taking my hand in his and leading me toward her. “This is the second time you invaded my territory, Murielle. I do not give second chances.”
She spit at his feet. I had to give her credit… she wasn’t going down without a fight.
Roman pulled me closer and wrapped an arm across my back. I felt Dorian and Blaise step forward, too. Aiden looked at me with worry in his eyes and then quickly dropped his gaze.
“Katarina,” Roman started. “You may not like what we have to do next…” He let his voice trail off, and through our bond, I could feel both his desire for revenge and the need to make sure I wouldn’t hate him for it.
I was a part of The House of Shadows now. And if these men taught me anything, it was that we needed to protect each other at all costs. I watched Murielle gaze longingly at Blaise. She was never going to stop coming after us as long as she was alive. I understood that we needed to end her tonight.
“What about them?” I asked, jerking my chin to the small group of coven witches and warlocks remaining.
Roman sighed and dropped his head. “Them too,” he whispered to me.
I squeezed my eyes shut to hold in the tears. I’d already killed a dozen of them if not more. I was still feeling rather numb about that part, but it was a fact I would need to live with and eventually forgive myself for.
Roman needed to run this house in a way that deterred all others from invading ever again. Or at least for a long while. Understanding that but not wanting to do it myself, I selfishly kissed Roman on the cheek and walked away until I could wrap myself up against Blaise and his massive wings.
I didn’t want to watch. But Blaise nudged me until I was facing Roman and Murielle again. Warmth seeped through the bond. A show of solidarity. Okay, I got it.
Whatever Murielle saw in Roman’s glare, it made all color disappear from her face. “Roman, you will not get away with this! You will pay for—ah!”
Roman bit down on her neck and literally tore out her throat. It was gross. And bloody. And a very medieval thing to do. It was also hard not to turn away for some reason.
By the time Murielle bled out, and her body collapsed to the ground, Aiden and Dorian had killed the rest of the witches. Snapped necks and more ripped throats. I really did love blood-thirsty men.
I would just need a little bit of time to get those images out of my head.
Silence fell over the abbey. The crackling of the fire still echoed in the night, but it was burning itself out. Somehow. I wondered, ever so briefly, if Aiden had helped ensure that it didn’t spread into the main living quarters.
Roman, Aiden, and Dorian gathered close to me and Blaise as Antione walked over and shook his head.
“Holy fuck, Roman. How do you always come out on top?” Antione was smiling, but there was definitely a hint of fear wafting out of him when he kept glancing up at Blaise.
“You sneaky son-of-a-bitch. You really do have a dragon.”
Blaise shook out his wings and Antione immediately stepped away. With a nod, he said to Roman, “Until next time.”
Roman simply bobbed his chin and we all watched as the Voodoo Pack disappeared into the shadows once more. “Convenient that they waited to show up until the real fighting was mostly over.” Dorian coughed as he struggled to hold himself up in his human form.
I rushed to his side and pulled his arm over my shoulder. “You’re hurt.”
He kissed me hard, not even caring that despite the wounds up and down his naked body, his erection started to grow. I chuckled underneath his lips when I felt it. “You are crazy.”
We all laughed and turned to make our way back to the abbey when Roman suddenly stiffened and a sharp breeze blew all our hair back.
A petite woman who looked like she could be Roman’s younger sister was now blocking our path.
With jet black hair that hung down to her waist, smokey eyes, and dark lips, she was flawless.
She wore a bright red minidress and heels so high they had to hurt her feet. How did she even walk in those?
“Sorinah,” Roman grumbled with just enough respect that she couldn’t call him insubordinate. “Your timing is impeccable.”
Ah, so this was Roman’s sire. The dreaded Sorinah. I wondered if I should introduce myself, but when I looked up and noticed her piercing blue eyes solely on Blaise, I stepped closer to him. He was mine.
She noticed, and a feral grin spread across her face. “I came as soon as I heard that Murielle attacked early.”
Aiden huffed and Dorian shook his head.
“Thank you,” Roman pushed past gritted teeth. “And now you may leave.”
“Don’t you want to know what I decided to do for you?” Again, she couldn’t tear her eyes away from Blaise. “So beautiful,” she whispered.
This time, Roman stepped in front of her to block her view of our dragon. “What are you talking about, Sorinah?” His voice was tired, and I knew he had to be hurting.
“I cleaned up the mess Murielle made,” she said brightly. “It will take a few weeks for the legal paperwork to finish moving through the system, but all charges have been dismissed without prejudice.” Beaming like she wanted some kind of prize, I held back a chuckle when Roman sighed.
Sorinah’s eyes found Dorian’s naked body and she raked them over his skin like a lethal predator. “You owe me now, Roman.”
“I do not owe you anything,” he snapped and the hair on the back of my neck stood. I really wanted to be done with the fighting.
Sorinah tsked at him. “You do. But do not worry your pretty little face. I won’t call in my favor just yet.” She stood on her toes and grabbed Roman’s cheeks. “Besides, I couldn’t just sit back and watch you be destroyed by human laws. I mean, how ridiculous.”
She reminded me of a bad impression of a valley girl. Or maybe it was just the depths of exhaustion finally reaching my soul.
Giving Roman a long and very intimate kiss, she finally stepped back and spared one more glance at Blaise. “Come visit me in Romania sometime, Roman. I still have that castle you love so much.”
Flames of jealousy burned beneath my skin and Aiden immediately grabbed my hand and squeezed. I felt him pushing a calming vibe through our bond and decided I better listen to his warning.
“Goodbye, Sorinah,” Roman said once she finally stopped staring at my dragon. At our dragon.
Without saying another word, she disappeared in another spurt of wind. “Does anyone else think that ended way too quickly?” Aiden asked.
“Yes,” Roman growled. “But I don’t have the energy to dissect her words tonight.” He beckoned me forward under his arm, so I wrapped my own around his waist. “Let’s just go home.”
We all looked at the burned part of the abbey and watched as the last of the flames flicker to their death. Then we looked at all the bodies littering the ground.
A problem for another day, I guessed.
But Blaise made a noise and suddenly stopped walking with us.
“What is it?” I asked him. He jerked his chin to the carnage and then glanced at the sky. “You want to clean this up? Tonight?”
He nodded.
“You just want to fly some more, you bastard,” Aiden teased and I swear if a dragon could smile, Blaise did.
“Stay hidden,” Roman added. “We’re going to have a hard enough time explaining you to the supernatural community.”
Again, Blaise nodded.
I jogged over to him and held up my arms. He gently lowered his massive face into my palms. I kissed his nose. “Come back to us soon.”
His eyes traveled over to where Grim was still lying and I sucked in a sharp, guilty breath.
Oh my god, how could I have forgotten about him?
I was a terrible, terrible person. And an awful mother.
“Grim!” I shouted and his head slowly lifted from the ground.
He was alive! I looked back at Aiden through my tears. “Can you take him inside?”
“Of course,” he said without hesitation.
Grim groaned as Aiden slipped his hands underneath his black body but disappeared before my dog had a chance to make any more noises.
“I am so awful,” I sobbed against Roman’s chest. “I killed so many and then I forgot about Grim and I—”
“Katarina, stop,” he said gently. “Now is not the time to process all that happened tonight. Trust me. Trust us. There will be a time to debrief and mourn and learn from our mistakes. But that is not tonight.”
“Okay,” I cried.
“We are all alive and that is the most important thing right now,” Dorian added.
“You’re right.”
“Come on,” Roman said, tugging me forward again. “Let’s go home and make sure everyone is all right.”
I leaned into him and Dorian and sighed. They were both correct. We would focus on making sure everyone is healed and healthy tonight and tomorrow… well, tomorrow we would start planning the rest of our lives.