Chapter 115
Nix
His shirt is open.
His sleeves are torn.
Blood coats his mouth. His chin. And tendrils of shadow crawl under his skin.
Volik is holding a dagger out at his side as the coastal breeze flutters his clothes around him.
He’s perfect.
Magnificent.
He’s worth everything.
Worth trying anything.
And I see it now.
What has to happen.
Volik doesn’t have to save me.
I’m going to save him.
Calmness settles over me.
My heart slows even more.
Slowly, I lift one hand and press it to my chest. Over my heart.
I inhale.
Volik lifts his empty hand and presses it to his chest.
We are here.
I exhale.
Volik shifts. Tenses.
I dart my hands up, like I’m going to halt him.
“What are you trying to do?” Morell laughs behind me. The dagger nicks my throat with his movement. “You’re just a powerless human.”
I hold Volik’s gaze. “I am not human.”
Blade cutting into my skin, I turn my head to look at my mate’s enemy. “And I am not powerless.”
I twist my hands.
And my gravito obeys.
The dagger at my neck rips out of Morell’s grip and shoots off to the side.
His head turns as he watches his dagger fly away.
And his shock loosens his grip.
Rocks slide off the ledge as I rotate.
One foot on the cliff, one foot in the air, I turn my body.
And I close my fingers around the hilt of Volik’s dagger as it flies into my grip.
Magic crackles against my skin as I shove the blade up under Morell’s rib cage.
He jerks back, looking down.
My left hand is still wrapped around the hilt, my fingers fitting perfectly in the grooves.
Morell smiles as he starts to lift his gaze. “You miss—”
I curl the fingers of my right hand.
And the second dagger, the one stained with my blood, slams into my hold.
Training.
Nights of no sleep with Volik.
Practice.
It all comes together in that moment.
And relief fills me as I move with meaning.
As I shove Morell’s own dagger between his ribs.
As I sink the tip of it into his heart.
He takes a step back.
He makes a choked sound.
And he meets my eyes. “What are you?”
“I am a vampire’s mate,” I hiss. “And you threatened what’s mine.” I slam my palm against the end of the dagger, pushing it deeper.