Chapter Thirty-Nine
Asher
Maeve slams on the brakes as we block the street. She's out before the engine cuts, shouting, breathless.
"She's here—with Eira—she wants me—she's—"
"Get Maeve back to the house. Keep her safe," I tell the others. "Let's go," I command, looking to Kayden and Darius.
Eira's place is wrecked. Shattered glass, overturned furniture, the metallic scent of blood thick in the air.
And her, slumped on the floor, deadly still.
Kayden curses low. I kneel, check anyway, though I already know.
"She's close," Darius says behind me.
I nod once. "Split up. Find her."
Then I'm gone into the trees.
I usually move by logic and patterns, but none of that works now. The forest feels hollow. Everything feels like that. The ache in my chest spreads with every step, pulsing like a compass pointing straight to her.
Eira was under my protection. Winston, Eira… Sage. My failures.
We have to stop her before the list grows.
I push faster, scenting, scanning. Darius will sense her better—this is his domain. I have to trust that his love outweighs whatever duty he has to the powers that rule over him.
A flash.
Something moving too fast to track.
Then the impact—wood cracks, and I'm slammed against a tree.
Sage.
I move before I think, driving her back. We grapple. Power against power, a blur of force and fury.
"Sage, stop!" I grunt.
She does.
"What? Not having fun?" she asks, grinning with blood on her lips.
"No. Eira's dead."
Her smile widens. "Yeah. I made sure of it. And I warned you not to follow."
She lunges again, claws raking my chest. Fabric tears. Skin breaks. Blood runs hot down my ribs. I hit the tree, then shove back, forcing her down.
Even at full strength, I'm not sure I could take her. She's stronger than any vampire fledgling.
The forest darkens. Leaves shrivel. The air tastes like ash, spring collapsing into autumn in seconds as she sucks the life out of everything.
She pins me to the ground, straddling me, eyes burning black-green.
I stop fighting and look at her.
"Sage," I say quietly. "You're my wife."
She snorts. "Ugh, I know. Can't seem to get rid of you two." She glances down, fingers catching my dog tags through the torn shirt. "But…" she tugs the chain tight, eyes glinting. "I know where you hide your nightstone. One little pull…" Another tug. Metal bites my throat.
I glance past her. The clouds have parted, sunlight bleeding through, gold and merciless.
I meet her eyes. "Then do it."
She arches an eyebrow. "You think I won't?"
"You could've killed Kayden. Shot him clean through the heart," I say. "But you didn't."
She shrugs, casual and cruel. "Maybe I wanted him to suffer."
"Then do it. Let me burn, Sage."
Her fingers loop the chain. It bites at my skin as she pulls harder.
Then she stops.
Her jaw clenches, and for a second her expression changes. Frustration. Something else.
Then she's gone, faster than breath, slipping between the trees.
I collapse back against the damp earth, hand closing on the dog tags she let go of. I allow myself a small, bitter smile.
She's not gone. Not completely.