Chapter 46 Adrian
Adrian
You shot my mate, I screamed over and over again, hoping it pained Dante as much as it hurt me.
I’d watched him raise the gun.
I’d watched him pull the trigger.
I’d watched as the bullet went into her shoulder.
And I’d felt it all like it was happening to me, too.
I knew I wasn’t just screaming inside his head, not when I felt the cold touch of someone else trying to get my attention.
I will be the one to kill you, I promised him, watching through his eyes as he stumbled out of the darkness into the hell that was his own making.
There were soldiers everywhere, but he was more focused on his stupid skull to care.
I stopped him from opening his mouth, from warning his guards that they were escaping.
By my hands, I added, you will suffer. You will wish you were dead. I will make it so much worse for you.
I felt him try to shove me out of his head, but I dug my fingers in more. I didn’t want to leave him just yet. I wanted to see more, wanted to know where he kept the skull, where he was hiding.
Through his eyes, I saw the traitor from Hawk’s team and felt sickness swell within me knowing he had betrayed us. Had likely been working with Dante since we met. And we’d allowed him to get close to us—to Ivy.
Knowing what Hawk was now, I couldn’t be surprised that Dante wanted him. A wraith. Fuck, it was lucky Ivy had gotten to him when she did.
I dug myself in deeper, as much as it physically and mentally pained me to do so. Inside Dante’s mind, there were blocks, thousands of them. And yet, they were weak, falling apart, no longer as strong as they should have been.
I saw a flash of stone; a face carved into it. Male, Fae. Felt the fleeting sense of adoration and shame. Then a name. Emris.
Another flash. I tried to pull this one free, but it slipped out of my grasp before I got more than Order from it.
Despite the rush of creatures trying to help him, Dante waved them all off as he entered an elevator. No one else followed, no soul dared. It was clear they were worried.
They knew Dante wasn’t in control anymore.
Once the doors were shut, Dante threw his fist into the wall. “I know you’re still there, little brother,” he hissed. “I don’t know how you figured out this little trick, but the longer you stay, the more I can destroy you, too.”
In my own body, I tensed. But in his mind, I laughed.
If you wanted me dead, you would have done it already, Dante.
You’re just scared you aren’t as smart as you thought you were.
You know, if I can do this, how many others might try?
How long before the voices of all your prisoners fill your head and you go mad?
Dante stared at himself in the reflection, eyes deranged, dark. “You know, I was trying to protect you. I never told Marion to do what she did.”
I don’t believe you, I replied, stomach twisting. Marion…the healer we’d brought to the safe house. Marion, the witch who we allowed near Ivy’s mother, her sisters.
Marion, who killed Kerry Sullivan? Who…
“You would have gotten the child, you have my word. But now…” He trailed off, straightening as soon as the doors opened.
The hallway ahead was unlike any of the other corridors he’d shown me.
“Now, if I find her, I’ll cut them out of her womb and feed them to my hellhounds.
Then, I will steal her power once and for all. ”
I lost my grip on his mind and was forcefully thrown out. Pain rushed through me as I came back to my own body. The cold chains around my chest. The chair beneath me.
Maeve’s eyes widened as she tipped my face upwards, forcing me to meet her stare. “What happened?”
I gasped for breath, feeling the fire of Ivy’s gunshot through my shoulder. How was it even possible when we hadn’t felt anything from her since she was taken?
I coughed hard, squeezing my eyes shut. As soon as I did, she appeared in my mind as she’d looked through Dante’s eyes. There was blood and dirt on her face. Her hair had been a wild mess. The nightgown she wore looked dirty and torn. And the collar…
Goddess above, I thought I might throw up at the sight of it.
“He shot Ivy,” I finally said, throat sore from shouting. “In the shoulder. She…fuck. She’s escaping right now, Maeve.”
Her hands fell from my face. I opened my eyes to watch her take a step back, red forming around her irises. “Are you sure? He could be tricking you.”
“I saw it all through his eyes,” I said, tears burning my eyes.
For the first time since losing her, I actually felt hope.
“I watched him shoot her. She had Hawk with her. And the Primal. A bear shifter. A winter Fae and another female. My father, the rest of my mother’s mates, they’re alive.
Ivy was going to meet them, and they were going to escape through tunnels—”
Maeve held up a hand, stopping me. “You saw this through his eyes?”
“Get Blythe down here if you don’t believe me,” I snapped, heart pounding. “She should be able to get him out of my head. He’s weak. Hurt. She can do it. I can do it. But we need to do it now.”
Suddenly, there were too many people in my cell. Blythe moved to stand behind me as Maeve, the Windermere matriarch, and two witch guards took up position by the wall.
“Where are Rowan and Elias?” I asked, straightening when I felt Blythe’s fingers against my temple. “They’re going to need to hear what I have to say.”
Maeve shook her head, lips pressed together. “I’ll tell you once you’re free of him. For now, focus on that.”
My stomach sank, but I gave her a single nod in response.
Are you ready? Blythe asked inside my head, her voice chilling, but not nearly as painful as Dante’s.
Yes, I replied, feeling stronger than I had in weeks. It was almost like he’d stolen my energy and power, but now that he was weakened, I could finally get my strength back.
Close your eyes, she said. Take me to that place where he resides.
I blew out a breath and did as instructed. In the darkness, I felt lighter than I had half an hour ago. Freer. Like taking that ounce of control back really did something for me.
I moved to the corner of my mind where Dante liked to sulk, but where his presence usually hid, there was nothing but that darkened path that would take me back to his head.
His hold is weak, Blythe said, sounding surprised. Good. I’m going to strengthen your ability to block him out. I will help you, but it’s you who needs to force him out.
I could do that. I could kick him out and keep him away. Especially knowing what I knew now. Especially when Ivy was so close to getting out.
The others needed what I knew to save her. To find her and get her out before Dante could hurt her, this time worse.
I couldn’t risk him entering my head again, not with her coming back. Especially not with what he told me.
Imagine a wall around your mind, but especially where that path is.
Before you can successfully block him, you need to destroy that pathway.
Just putting up a wall won’t help long term.
If you are weakened again, he will be able to break through that barrier.
What you need to do is cut it down so he may never use that road again.
Do you understand? Blythe asked, like she was standing at the edge of the path with me, looking down at it.
How do I destroy it? I turned to her, confusion swelling within me. What do I need to do?
You need to cut yourself off from him, she replied. Imagine yourself severing any ties you might have with him. He is no longer your brother. No longer a friend. He cannot be anything. He must be removed from your emotions completely.
I wasn’t sure how I could do that. There was a part of me, a small, terrified piece that still looked at him like the older brother he once was.
Yeah, there were moments that I understood better now that were…
off. Moments I’d explained away as Dante being Dante but realised later were signs of how twisted and cruel he could be.
I couldn’t use the justification of him being my brother anymore to explain his cruelty away. No more looking at my memories of him with rose tinted glasses.
I expected to feel some sort of sadness about having to let him go, but I didn’t.
Everything he’d done flashed through my mind; his promise to feed my child to his army, shooting my mate, taking her captive and putting a collar around her throat, imprisoning shifters and forcing them to remain in their animal forms. Killing our mother, and all the justifications he tried to make for it.
Overthrowing Ivy, destroying our home, taking over the minds of innocents.
It was easy enough to let go of any good memories I had left of him when I remembered all of that.
Ahead, the path started to crumble. The darkness shifted as I let it go.
Good. Now, place the walls, Blythe instructed, fading into darkness. My power is yours.
From the darkness, a wall rose. Taller than anything I’d ever seen before, it cut through what was left of the path, tearing it apart until there was nothing but the whisper of his control over me. And finally, I felt his presence snap away completely.
When I opened my eyes again, and the cell came into focus, I couldn’t stop the tears from flowing. Not because I would miss him, but because I finally felt free.
“It’s done?” Maeve asked, taking a step towards me.
The chains trapping me to the chair fell away. “Dante is gone. There’s no part of him left in Adrian’s mind,” Blythe said quietly. “And no chance he’ll be back. Adrian cut off any way for Dante to come back.”
I couldn’t hold myself up anymore. I fell from the chair to the cold stone ground and gasped for breath. Tears blurred my vision, but I felt Maeve’s hand on my back, her fingers cool, comforting.
“You did it,” she murmured, her voice soft.
I sucked in a breath and met her stare. “Ivy is pregnant,” I said, swallowing hard. “That’s what Sable was hiding. We need to go to Luna, find her when she escapes. Because if Dante finds her first—”
Rage darkened Maeve’s eyes, and when she rose, I couldn’t help but watch the fury explode from within her.
“Go find the search party now and tell them there is no time to wait. Get Cyrus from his cell and make him tell us where she’ll be.
I want healers and guards on standby. Go!
” As soon as the orders left her lips, the cell emptied; Windermere looked shocked, but she said nothing as she disappeared, calling for someone, and the two witch guards were gone with simple bows.
Blythe was the only one left, but Maeve wasn’t done with her. “Go to Orion. Make sure his mind is free of Dante. I want him ready to move.”
“Move where?” I asked, struggling to my feet. My vision blurred, stomach churning. “What are you planning?”
Maeve shot me a look. “I’m taking her somewhere he won’t find her. Not again.”