Eating back her screams, not wanting the last thing he heard to be the sound of her cries, she accepted her reality. She pressed her forehead against his, and his clammy skin connected with hers. “I’m so glad I met you. No matter how short our time together was. I don’t regret a moment of my life. Not then. Not now. Not ever.”
His gurgling weakened. His force to stay alive slowly exhausted away. She raised her head, searching his eyes, hoping to see some spark declaring he was still with her, but she suspected he only saw darkness now.
“I’m here…with you…I’m right here,” she whispered.
A long gasp sounded from Drake’s mouth before all the air escaped his body. She released his neck, sitting back on her legs, watching his chest. It no longer moved. She explored his eyes, but they were empty. She pressed against his pulse point, she felt no heartbeat, and she sobbed a breath.
Her hands trembled as she looked down at them, completely drenched in his blood. “No.” How could she have lost him? Her stomach tightened as she studied Drake, searching for breath—any trace of movement to confirm this untrue.
He had died.
A pain so intense ripped through her soul. An emptiness that was bottomless and profound filled her so that she couldn’t think, breath, or move. A cold sweat gathered along her skin as reality settled in. She closed her eyes, trying anything to wake up from this horrible nightmare—an endless nightmare that begun the night of her parents’ murder.
Time ceased to exist.
The world escaped her.
Nothing existed around her. Nothing, but the intense, unfathomable agony that broke her heart into pieces. She inhaled the wretched scent of death, which deepened her anguish, yet fueled her need to push on.
As much as she could have given in, wept until her tears ran dry and her suffering emptied away to exhaustion, this wasn’t the time to mourn. She needed to fulfill the reason they set out on this mission, or Drake’s death would be for nothing. She had to save Kyden and end this with Lazarus, once and for all.
Emptiness made her insides ache as she forced her eyes open and stared at her father’s lifeless body. Her stomach clenched with a horror she didn’t think she could survive. She stood, grabbed her sword from the ground with shaky hands, then pressed the tip into Drake’s stomach.
Within seconds, no evidence that Drake ever existed remained. His body vanished. His blood, gone from her hands.
Only she remained.
She, and the score she burned to settle.
Chapter Twenty
The moment Nexi teleported into in the Council’s Foyer, she wrapped her hand around the portal’s door and opened it, thinking of the one place that had always been special and safe. Right before the portal took her, she could’ve sworn she heard the sounds of fighting around her, but maybe she’d imagined that.
Revenge seethed inside of her. Anger burned, urging her on.
If Lazarus wanted a fight, she’d rip his damn fangs out.
Once the bright flash from the portal dimmed, and her feet touched hard ground, she opened her eyes, scanning the dark forest. Above her, in the night sky, stars twinkled, and her willow rested behind her. She drew in a deep breath, inhaling the warm air infused with the scents of nature.
She’d come to her willow for one reason: to look at her house from a distance. She knew the wolves at her home with Lazarus would scent her arrival, but the last thing she needed was to land directly in the center of trouble without a plan, or any idea where exactly her attackers were stationed.
After a final look at her willow—in its stunning beauty—she turned on her heel and jogged along the Tahoe Rim Trail, as she had so many times. Of course, that was back when life hadn’t been so complicated. The warm breeze raised goose bumps across her skin, as she pushed forward.
Within minutes she broke free from the path and positioned herself at the edge of the forest to look upon her family’s farm home. Drake had told her a couple weeks ago the farm hadn’t been sold yet because of Nexi’s missing status.
Right now, she was only too glad. The idea of another family being injured in this house was unthinkable, especially considering she knew that’s exactly what would’ve happened. To her happiness, she had found Lazarus’s location.
The two men—wolves—standing on her wraparound porch were evidence the bastard had brought Kyden to the place her old life ended and her new life began. Nexi watched as the wolves stared in her direction, their noses high, sniffing her out.
She had hoped once Valor and Briggs discovered Lazarus’s house in New York was empty they’d come to her family’s home, because help would be good right about now. In fact, it surprised her they hadn’t beaten her there, since she’d spent some time with Drake and came to the location from her willow. But maybe Lazarus had made this move on purpose, and Valor and Briggs had a world of trouble waiting for them, too.
Now staring at her childhood home, she knew one thing for certain: Lazarus made a big mistake coming to her parents’ house. Returning there reminded her of all she’d lost—a life with the people who loved her unconditionally—but her present had been forged there as well.
Lazarus had brutally stolen her past away. He damned well wouldn’t take her future, too.
No more lives would be lost.
Not on her watch.
Shutting her eyes, she inhaled deeply to settle her nerves. The danger ahead loomed over her, and she accepted she might not leave this house alive. But how dare this vampire think she’d idly sit by and watch him destroy the world around her.
He apparently didn’t know her at all.
After a long exhale, she sucked the air sharply into her lungs, then approached the house. On her way, she scanned the wraparound porch where she used to spend hours reading with her mother on Sunday afternoon.
Nearing the wolves, she shoved the thoughts of her family aside, and she called the guards forward. “Come on, boys. Let’s play.”
Both men exchanged a look before the shorter one said, “It’s you.”
“You know,” she said through clenched teeth. “I’m getting really sick of hearing that.” The moment the words passed her lips, the wolves shifted, and as they lunged forward, so did she.
When the first wolf reached her, she plowed her thumbs deep into his eyes sockets, and he dropped like dead weight near the porch steps. His howls cut through the silent night, and Nexi turned to the other wolf.
He came at her with teeth snarling and spit flying everywhere. As he flew through the air, he shifted into his human form. Nexi gasped as they collided, which turned into a groan as her back scrapped against the paved walkway.
The man jumped off, threw a punch, but she blocked his move and slammed her fist into his gut, followed up by a hard knee to his groin. He dropped to the ground, his hands bracing himself. “F-f-fuck.”
Men always had a disadvantage.
Without hesitation, she reached for her sword, then slammed the blade deep into his heart. Blood pooled from the wound as the man gargled. With a quick twist of her sword, the man went silent and she withdrew her blade.
A low whimper had her twirling around, and she discovered the other wolf, rubbing his paws over his bleeding eyes. While she always was an animal lover and seeing such a sight probably would have upset her before, this was no furry sweetheart. These werewolves were damned.
Once she reached him, she plunged her sword deep into his chest, then pulled it out just as fast. Surely, anyone in or around the house had heard the commotion she’d caused, but no one came out to join her.
She hesitated, listening hard, and she heard voices carrying on from the backyard. Keeping her sword tight in her hand, she strode around the side of the house when suddenly she realized she wasn’t alone.
A ridiculously large werewolf waited near the raspberry bushes with a crowbar in his hands. Raspberry bushes that she planted with her father—bushes that wolf shouldn’t be anywhere near. Before she had a chance to step forward to e
nsure he realized his mistake in coming to her house, he ran at her yelling like some beast out of the Amazon. She couldn’t withhold her snort of laughter. “What’s this, the Hulk?”
The man attempted to swing the bar at her head, but she slipped under his arm and positioned herself behind him. Kyden had been right—this was a vulnerable position for the werewolf to find himself in.
Raising her sword, she turned sideways, then she shoved her blade straight through his back and twisted. The Hulk went down with a heavy thud, dead as a doornail.
Without a hitch to her step, she yanked her sword from his back and continued on, walking around the side of the house. In a few short steps, she rounded the corner to enter the backyard. She inhaled the scent of rich, lush flowers from the garden that had been her mother’s passion, when suddenly her boots slipped on the grass.
Bending down, she ran her finger along it, and noticed the ground was drenched with blood. A long path of shiny, dark liquid trailed ahead. She hurried forward, following the path of red, when a soft whimper drew her gaze up.
She spotted the figure chained to the tree, and her heart sank.
Forgetting everything around her, she rushed to Kyden’s side, and dropped to her knees in front of him. The bloody grass below soaked her legs. Raising her hand, she instantly brought it back to her lap, her throat tightening. Her chest hurt with a pain she could barely endure, as tears streamed down her cheeks. She didn’t even want to touch him, not wanting to cause him more pain, and the ghastly scene stole the warmth from her veins.
Metal chains held Kyden caged to the tall oak tree—a tree Nexi used to sit under to watch her mother garden. Now, perversely, he was bound to the tree by his wrists so that he hung limply.
She scanned him from head to toe, and the almost unrecognizable sight of him sickened her. She tried to deny the horrendous truth staring her dead in the face. He’d been beaten so badly, with two large gashes cut deep into his stomach and hundreds of lashes spread over his body. His skin wasn’t its normal tanned color, but was mottled with the dark red of his blood.
“Oh, god…” she breathed.
Kyden lifted his face, but his eyes were swollen shut, black and blue. “N…e…xi,” he moaned.
“Yes, Kyden.” She reached out for him again, but even his legs had so many cuts on them she suspected that if she touched him, he’d scream out in agony. “I’m here.” Doing the only thing she could do, she rubbed a toe.
Seeing someone die horrified her, but this…was worse.
Kyden suffered. He’d endured such pain that the guardian who had been so strong looked as if he’d beg for his death.
A sob broke free from her throat in the same moment a sudden tsk came over her shoulder, cutting through the silence around her. “All alone, Nexi. Didn’t the Council train you better than that?”
The low, smooth tones of the voice radiated danger, but now she wasn’t afraid. As she stared at Kyden’s beaten face, fury burned in her blood, making it difficult to breath. Her emotions were raw and vengeance, finally, was hers for the taking.
Pushing herself off the grass, she noticed her hands and legs were covered in Kyden’s blood. Once on her feet, she slid her sword into her scabbard. She craved to pummel Lazarus into a fine pulp, not give him any easy death.
She backed away from Kyden, keeping her focus on the dark, cruel eyes set in a thin pale face. “You’ve taken everyone I’ve ever loved. Of course, I’d come.”
Lazarus slithered by and kicked Kyden in the leg as he passed, eliciting a deep, pained moan. “I planned on making Talon an offer he couldn’t refuse.” Lazarus glanced at her with an arched brow. “His son for you. Now it looks as if this one is no longer needed.”
Her muscles tightened, as she continued to put distance between her and Kyden, anger pulsating in her veins. “Don’t touch him.” Her voice did not even sound like her own, it was so consumed with abhorrence.
Lazarus matched her steps, moving into the center of the yard. His grin was nearly as wicked as the evil in his eyes. “Ah, what will you do to stop me?”
Hatred for him burst through her veins. “Let’s find out.”
Charging forward with all the strength she had, she landed a right hook to his jaw. His head whipped to the side, but as she’d expected, he recovered instantly. Angered, he reciprocated with a lightning-quick blow to her shoulder, sending her flying across the yard.
She crashed into a tree trunk and cried out as her bare back scrapped against the bark, but she fought the pain. “What are you after?”
Lazarus ran a hand over his dark hair, as he continued to circle her. “It’s time to bring the darkness out of the shadows.”
Nexi rose to her feet, ignoring the ache of her back, unsure of his cryptic statement. But only one truth mattered. “The Council will never allow you to succeed. You failed before. You will fail again.”
A slow smile spread over his sleazy face. “That was then, and this is now. Your powers will fulfill my destiny to lead the vampires in a new world. One where we don’t kneel at humans’ feet—but they kneel at ours.”
Nexi glared at him in disgust. Her fists tightened and profound revulsion filled her as he continued, “With what your blood will give me, the Council will be left with little choice other than to comply with my demands, or they shall all die.”
Perhaps she hadn’t allowed herself to believe that all of this was because he desired the power in her blood, because right now she wanted to gut this vampire for his stupidity. All the deaths up to this moment, and even Kyden’s broken condition, were for nothing.
Somehow what she would say next was the sweetest revenge. Lazarus had spent all this time anticipating this moment. He’d gone to unthinkable measures for power. And she was about to send his entire plan crashing down around him.
“Prepare yourself for bad news.” At his slow tilt of his head and inquisitive look, she added, “I don’t have any magic.”
One second he stood a few feet away and the next his hand was wrapped around her neck. He had her pinned up against the tree trunk, her feet dangling. Her body heated as the air oddly seemed to increase around her.
“Are you lying to me?” He almost cooed the words at her, as though luring a kitten.
“No,” she managed.
His cruel eyes diminished as darkness swept across her vision, then he released her and her butt hit the ground with a heavy thud. Her head pounded and she struggled to her feet, only to have him grab her throat again, lifting her inches off the ground.
Rage stormed in the pinpoints of his eyes and his grip tightened. “You’re a lying little bitch,” he screamed into her face. “All witches have powers.”
“Not…this…one…”
Chapter Twenty-One
A loud curse echoed around Nexi, as the darkness threatened to consume her. The pain at her throat was a dull ache as the world drifted away. On the verge of blacking out, she found herself suddenly floating as Lazarus threw her across the yard as if she were an empty beer can, sending her straight into another tree.
Smacking her head against the trunk, she tumbled to the ground, blood oozing down her neck. Now more aware, she inhaled and pain laced her lungs, concentrating in one spot then blasting up her body. His throw had clearly shattered her rib, but she did her best to push past the pain. She wouldn’t give Lazarus the satisfaction or the advantage of knowing he’d injured her.
Rising to her feet, she breathed shallowly so her broken rib didn’t hinder her. Before she managed to straighten her back, he grabbed her arm and yanked her up, and she screamed out in agony.
“This is quite the dilemma, isn’t it?” He sneered. “Your mother was much easier to kill. Rather pathetic, even. She used all of her strength to protect you and it drained her magic, leaving her defenseless—stupidity on her part.”
Nexi’s rage took her to a place she’d never travelled. The thirst to kill was more than revenge, but downright hunger to make this vampire bleed, to stand ov
er his body and watch the life drain from his eyes. “It’s because you don’t know love,” she roared. “You wouldn’t know what it’s like to care for anything or anyone but yourself. You’re not capable of understanding such a thing.”
His chin lifted high. “Of course, I don’t. I’m a vampire.”
“No,” she snarled. “You’re an asshole.”
His mouth curved, amusement lighting his dark eyes. “Some might see it that way.”
He forced her back against the tree, and she gasped as pain shattered her ribcage. He ran his fingers along the side of her face, trapped her in his harsh stare. “I suppose I’ll have to keep you around until this power comes in then, won’t I?”
The pain in her chest was sucked away as he sandwiched their bodies together. Nexi watched his beady eyes rake over her face and sickness rolled through her at what she saw in their depths: desire. Leaning in toward her, he pressed his mouth against her cheek, his fangs trailing over her skin. “You’ll be useful to me in more ways than—”
Hitting him square in the nose with her head, she didn’t allow him the chance to finish that statement. Revulsion made the sense of fear, the knowledge she was in serious trouble, not stand in comparison to the horrific thoughts engulfing her. Hell would freeze over before she’d let him come anywhere near her body.
A loud crack echoed through the backyard before Lazarus grunted. With a sneer marring his face, he grabbed her hair and proceeded to drag her over to Kyden. “Learn this, witch—if you don’t behave, I’ll make you suffer.”
She winced at the ache in her skull, matched with the piercing pain in her chest, as he tossed her to the grass and turned to Kyden. “And I’ll start with removing this guardian from your life.” Twisting Kyden’s head, Lazarus sank his fangs deep into Kyden’s neck, causing him to scream out in torment.
She didn’t care how screwed she was at the moment—and she was royally fucked—common sense and care for herself ceased to exist in her mind. Rushing forward, she slammed into Lazarus with such strength it detached his lecherous mouth from Kyden’s neck, sending him flying across the yard. He landed by the herb garden, then jerked his head toward her, eyes blazing with ferocity.
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