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I rolled over, my laugh more a gurgled wheeze. “Fuck. You’re a joke.”
“What?” she demanded, standing over me.
“What is this? Defending him after he’s already dead? A little late, don’t you think?” The words hit her just like they hit me, all things I had said to myself over and over. “They knew the price, just like everyone else. They knew what would happen if they touched her.”
Her face crumpled, and she shrieked. She was on me once more, dragging me up by my shirt. I glared at her even as I fought against her grip.
“He loved you.”
“Love?” I let out a bitter, broken laugh. “No, he didn’t. You wouldn’t sell out someone’s last living family member if you loved them. You wouldn’t lie to them, hurt them, and betray them as he did. That’s not love.”
I brought my knee up hard into her groin. She yelped, and her hold on me eased enough that I could rear back and headbutt her. That was another mistake on my part. We both stumbled back, and I wiped the blood from my face.
“Why do you even care?” I stumbled back, my vision blurring. Yellow eyes glowed around the room as her clan watched and waited. They wouldn’t move unless their queen said so, and she wouldn’t. She always loved to finish the kill.
“Because I loved him.” Grief flickered in her eyes, her mortality showing for a brief second. Drake had loved her enough to change her. A forever bond she broke, not me. “You speak of sacrifices but know nothing of them. I married into that coven to save Drake and Ethan. It didn’t mean I didn’t care or love him still.”
“Listen,” I wiped at the blood dripping down my face, “I really don’t care.”
Her eyes swam with unshed tears as she circled me. “Drake was the reason my heart beat, why I stayed. Now he is gone forever because of you.”
“That sounds really romantic, and again, I don’t care.”
“You wouldn’t because the vicious and vile Dianna loves nothing. You used your sister as a shield to hide all the terrible things you enjoyed over the centuries. As soon as she died, the real you came out.” Seraphine sneered, fangs glistening. “You may have lost your sister, but how many have you taken from others? How many families have you separated, lovers you have killed? You may hate Kaden, but you are just like him.”
The words were brutal but the absolute truth.
“I agree.”
Seraphine’s head snapped back in shock. She must have thought that I would wilt. Obviously, she didn’t know me at all because it only strengthened my resolve.
“Although I think I’m worse because I enjoyed it when I killed Ethan and his wife and burned that mansion to cinders. I felt nothing but satisfaction when I ripped Drake to pieces and destroyed everything they loved and cared for. ”
A snarl erupted from her throat. I prepared for the feel of her fangs ripping into my throat, wondering how bad it would hurt. What would it feel like to die? Would I see Gabby again before they dragged me to Iassulyn? But the attack never came.
Seraphine stopped mid-step, less than a fraction away from me. Her eyes glazed over, and her mouth went slack. My gaze dropped to the silver blade sticking out of her chest. She whimpered as realization clicked, and fire raced through her body, leaving nothing behind but ash.
Blazing silver eyes stared at me through the cloud that had once been Seraphine. I never cowered from Samkiel, but right now, every story of the world-ending warrior king came rushing back. He stepped forward, and I winced in pain as I took one back. I opened my mouth to say something but closed it again when Samkiel raised his hands. His palms radiated with the silver glow of his power as he tenderly cupped my aching head. I felt my skin knit, a small hiss leaving me at the burn of healing. He scanned me from head to toe, checking for any life-threatening injuries. Once assured I would live, he leaned down and lifted me into his arms without saying a word.
I gasped and gripped his shoulders, trying to pull myself off his arm. He froze, his burning gaze meeting mine. “My back. It has glass in it.”
Samkiel adjusted me in his arms, and I noticed the gray ash painting the entire room. Every vampire that had come with Seraphine now coated the walls.
Fifty-Eight
Dianna
We landed on the stone pavilion. The small jolt had me groaning, and my grip tightened on Samkiel’s shoulder. He carried me with my shoes dangling from his fingertips near my thighs. Cameron followed a few paces behind us, Xavier at his side. No one had said anything. Not when Samkiel carried me out of the bathroom, not when we walked through the club lit by the lights from the celestials that had arrived with Samkiel, and not a single word as we returned to the remains of Rashearim.
I knew Samkiel was mad, and I suspected the others were unhappy with me, too. Samkiel always spoke when upset, and seeing him so still and quiet set my nerves on edge.
We passed through the courtyard and kitchen before entering the living room. Samkiel spun with me in his arms, startling Cameron and Xavier.
“Stay here.” The two words, simply clipped and laden with the promise of I’m not through with you.
They nodded, the humor from earlier gone, their posture straight and guarded. Soldiers, that’s what they were, and their commander just gave them an order. I clung to Samkiel as he spun with me in his arms and carried me upstairs. He didn’t speak to me even once we entered the bedroom, and he remained silent as he sat me down on the edge of the bed.
He placed his hands on his hips, closed his eyes, and blew out a long breath as if trying to compose himself. I held myself stiffly, my body aching, fatigue eating at me, but I forced myself to focus on him. My blood streaked his white and gold council garb, and he held himself as if struggling to maintain control of himself. He took another shuddering breath before opening his eyes. The silver had receded to a shimmering ring around his gray irises.
