by Katie May
I always knew that my father was evil personified, but it had never felt
more true than at that moment. Tavvy, behind me, began to chuckle darkly.
“No reason.”
That same smile remained plastered on his face. The urge to punch it off
of him was overwhelming. As I watched, the smile contorted itself into
something I would almost describe as sly. It was one I was intimately
familiar with - one that demanded pain.
“Come, my dear son. Let’s have a private meeting in my study, shall
we?”
TWENTY-NINE
Z
Istared up at the man I barely knew yet already hated with an intensity
that was staggering. Zack’s glacial stare begged me to submit, to fall
onto my hands and knees in front of him, but I would die before I
bowed down to that bastard.
“Come.” With an imperious set to his chin, he turned and walked down
the hallway, Mali beside him. There was no fear in his stroll, a stroll I would
almost describe as carefree. He truly didn’t believe I was capable of harming
him.
And he was right. With his hand on Mali’s waist, I knew I wouldn’t risk
my friend’s life, no matter how betrayed I felt by her actions. I would walk
into the mouth of hell willingly.
“Stay here,” I whispered harshly to Diego. He stared at me incredulously.
“No way in hell.”
“Go grab the princes.” When he still didn’t move, I shoved at his
shoulder. “Go!”
A new determination to my step, I hurried after Zack and Mali. I could
only pray that Diego, for once, would listen to me.
The room Zack led me to was large and similar in appearance to my own
suite. Mali moved around the room with a familiarity that made my throat
closed. How long has she been keeping this from me? Why had she kept this
from me?
The door opened and closed behind me. Diego, expression fierce, gave
me a nod of solidarity. Damn him. Didn’t he realize I was trying to protect
him? He moved to stand beside me, and I noticed Zack watching our
exchange with curious eyes.
Ignoring Zack completely, I turned towards Mali.
“I thought Atta was your mate,” I said. Simple and to the point. It was
almost as if I was speaking to a stranger. I supposed, in a way, I was. I no
longer knew the Vampire in front of me. Tears welled in her eyes, but I didn’t
allow them to deter me. She had betrayed me, betrayed us all. People were
dead because of her and Zack.
“She is.” Mali’s words were choked, and she moved to wrap her thin
arms around her waist. “They both are.”
I watched her pathetic attempt at holding herself together. She would
come to realize that the physical gesture would do little to sooth her mental
anguish. It was impossible to hold together all of the fucked up pieces of
yourself. I would know.
Suddenly, I found that I couldn’t look at Mali anymore. I couldn’t bear to
see the pain in her gaze, the agony, as if she wasn’t a willing recipient in this
entire situation. She made her choice, and now she had to live with the
consequences. I forged a steel barrier around my heart at that moment and
turned to glare at Zack.
“Why am I here?”
“He promised that he wouldn’t hurt you,” Mali broke in desperately.
“I did, my dear.” Despite his words being directed at Mali, he didn’t tear
his gaze away from me. There was so much darkness in his pitch black eyes
that it was like staring into an abyss. One could get lost in those eyes, and not
in a good way. Down and down you fell with no hope of ever escaping. There
was no wisdom in that ancient gaze, only an evilness that would make even
the devil look tame in comparison.
My heart hammered as I fully came to terms with how terrifying a man
like Zack actually was. How dangerous.
“Unfortunately, I’m going to have to break this promise.”
Mali’s protest was cut off by a wave of his hand. One second she was
staring up at him, eyes hopeful, and the next she was thrown against the wall.
She let out a startled yelp, and I immediately ran towards her.
My feet stopped working after only one step in her direction, and I glared
at Zack’s display of power.
“You’re going to kill me,” I said. It wasn’t a question.
Zack shrugged nonchalantly, ignoring the cries and pleas of his mate still
pinned to the wall.
“I’m doing you a favor,” he said. “The poison that was in your cup would
take months to take effect. Months of absolute agony.”
Poison?
I distantly recalled having a sip of water at dinner. I had stupidly believed
that it would be safe to drink. After all, nobody knew my true identity.
Nobody, that was, except Mali and Diego.
Mali was crying in earnest now, as if she had just finally realized the
consequences of her actions: my life.
“It’s nothing personal,” Zack continued. Despite his apathetic words,
there was a malicious gleam to his eyes that hinted that this was, in fact, very
much personal to him. “Perhaps I would’ve even spared your life if Aaliyah
hadn’t insisted on your death.”
“Aaliyah?”
It was the third time I had heard her name.
“Why is she attacking the princes?” I continued. I didn’t even know her,
and I already hated that bitch.
At my question, Zack let out a whoop of laughter. The sound made
unpleasant goosebumps erupt on my skin. It was the type of laugh you would
hear in your nightmares. There was no humor in it, just noise, as if he was a
robot going through the motions. I supposed he was in a way. I didn’t think a
man like him was even capable of empathy, love, or joy.
“Stupid girl. The princes were never her target.” His rancid breath hit my
face as he leaned into me. “She was going after you.”
I didn’t have to ponder this newfound information, for Zack had
unsheathed a silver blade. I knew with absolute clarity that I was going to die.
My body was immobile, held captive by Zack’s power. There was nothing I
could do to fight my imminent death, no pleas I could give that would spare
me or convince him that my life was worth living. In a way, this death would
be merciful if what he said about the poison was true.
I was going to die. I had found my mates, a near impossible feat, and I
was going to be slain before I would get to know them. I would never be able
to kiss Killian’s blushing cheeks, listen to Lupe’s booming laugh, laugh at
Ryland’s antics. Would they find a new mate after I was gone? Would they
even want to?
Did it make me selfish that I wanted them to hold onto our relationship as
tightly as I was?
Three things happened in a span of seconds. First, Zack raised his hand
that held the blade, and I braced myself for the inevitable pain. I knew it
would be painful with a weapon as sharp as that. Second, Mali was able to
break free of whatever restraints Zack had spelled on her. And finally, Diego
threw himself in front of me.
I heard Zack let out a scream, but my attention was fixated on Diego.
Diego falling.
Diego with blood seeping through his shirt.
Diego with a sword - a sword that was meant for me - in his chest
With a cry of anguish, I dropped to my knees beside him. I didn’t care
that Zack was only inches away and could easily kill me. I didn’t care that
blood stained my beautiful purple dress and my hands like a second skin. I
didn’t care about any of that.
His breathing was shallow as I shakily ran a hand through his brown hair.
“You’re okay. You’re going to be okay,” I whispered. God, there was so
much blood. It was everywhere.
I pressed my hands against the wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding.
“You’re going to be okay. I promise. Okay?” I felt something salty hit my
lips. Salty and wet. Tears? Was I crying?
Diego cracked a small smile, and I saw that blood stained his teeth.
“I love you, Z,” he croaked. More tears dropped down my face.
“Shut up. Save your strength. You’re going to be fine.” My hands were
shaking so badly, but I still held them against his chest. The bleeding had to
stop. It had to.
So much blood…
“Tell HH-” He coughed, blood dripping down his chapped lips.
“You can tell him yourself,” I said, my resolve strengthening. “Because
you’re going to be fine.”
“...that I love him.”
And then his eyes closed, and his chest went still. I could feel my sanity
splintering. My thoughts were an incoherent mesh of words and phrases.
No.
No.
No.
“Wake up!” I screamed, shaking Diego’s shoulder. “You have to wake
up! Wake! Up!” I punctuated each word with a slap to his cold face.
He was only sleeping. He had to be. He would wake up, smile, and then
make a perverted joke about my position overtop of him.
But his eyes remained closed. His expression was serene, almost
peaceful, and his black lashes were feathered against his cheekbones.
No. No. No.
“Wake up!” I was screaming. Crying. Hitting. “You can’t leave me! You
promised! You fucking promised! Get your ass back up right now!”
My screams turned into heart-wrenching sobs, and I threw myself over
his body. Not Diego. Not him.
No. No. No.
He had took him from me.
Something cracked inside of me just then. I wouldn’t be able to tell you
what it was. My last hold on humanity?
I could barely think straight. A red sheen coated my vision with each step
I took towards him. The monster. The murderer.
Mali stood over his prone body, body trembling as she stabbed yet
another stake into his arm. I could tell she had no intent on killing him, just
harming him and rendering him immobile.
He would not receive the same leniency with me.
Without a word, I grabbed a dagger from its sheath and unceremoniously
stabbed it into his chest. There was no cat and mouse games. No playing. I
wanted him to die - and I wanted my face to be the last thing he saw.
He laughed, the sound making my blood curdle, and whispered three final
words before the life drained from his eyes.
“Long live Aaliyah.”
And then he was gone.
Dead.
Just like Diego.
I felt a hand against my shoulder, and I immediately went still.
“Z…” Mali sobbed. I jumped to my feet, the dagger I had used to kill her
mate inches from her throat. I barely registered the shock on her face.
“Don’t,” I whispered. “Don’t talk to me ever again.”
“I am so sorry,” she cried, her words nearly inarticulate. I pressed the
blade deeper into her neck, nicking skin in the process. She winced, but did
not pull away. Her eyes were anguished as they met mine. “I didn’t know. I
didn’t realize he was such a monster. Diego-”
“Don’t say his name. It’s your fault that he’s dead. Yours. You betrayed
us. You're lucky I don’t kill you right now.” My hand tightened over the
copper handle. “I don’t ever want to see your face again. You’re dead to me.”
“Z…” she sobbed.
“Go!”
“I’m so sorry!”
“Go! Get the fuck out of here! Go! Go!”
I could still hear her cries as she ran from the room. I hoped she
remembered this moment, the moment when she realized she was all alone in
the world. I hated her.
And I hated myself.
A sob rose up in me as I took in Diego’s body on the ground, blood a
thick pool around him.
No. No. No.
I curled into a ball beside him and placed my head into the crook of his
neck.
No. No. No.
Maybe if I denied it enough times, it would no longer be true.
THIRTY
RYLAND
Ididn’t think anything could possibly break me. My mind was an
impenetrable fortress, and my heart was nearly as guarded. I had never
allowed my emotions to get in the way - never allowed myself to feel.
But walking into that room? Seeing Z sobbing into a dead Mage’s neck?
That nearly destroyed me.
For the first time in forever, I wished that I wasn’t restricted to the
shadows. She deserved the light, and I would never be the type of person who
could give that to her.
Devlin moved beside her, kneeling. His hand tentatively moved to brush
as the blood-soaked hair sticking to her cheek.
“Baby…” he said helplessly. His eyes were wet with unshed tears as he
watched her. I remembered when he had been burning with jealousy over Z’s
relationship with Diego. Now, Devlin stared at the Mage’s body as if they
were long lost brothers instead of strangers. I wondered if his bond with Z
was advanced enough to the point where he felt her pain. Even I could feel
trickles of agony reverberating through the bond. I nearly gasped at the
intensity of such an overwhelming emotion.
She had loved him. Maybe not in the same way she had loved, and still
loved, Devlin, but in a way that was similar to what I felt for my brothers.
“He was alive.” Her voice was so soft I had to strain to hear it. “He was
alive, and then he threw himself in front of me. Isn’t that bullshit? His death
is bullshit. He should still be alive. He should still be…” She trailed off as
sobs shook her body. The transformation from a huntress to a shriveling child
was startling. I knew she would hate herself later for displaying such
vulnerability in front of us. We were alike in that respect.
Devlin leaned down to pull her into his arms, and she came willingly.
Once her body was settled snugly against his chest, he began to walk.
I could hear her sobs, muffled by his chest, and his soothing voice
attempting to comfort her. My chest ached painfully. I yearned to hold her
myself, to comfort her, to kiss all of her tears away. But she didn’t need me
right now, and she most definitely didn’t need my darkness.
As I stared at her tear-stained face, I wondered if this was something she
would be able to survive. There was only so many times you could break
before it became nearly impossible to pull yourself back together again. S
he
had lost a member of her family, and I knew that was something she wouldn’t
be able to forget.
There were only two options for her: survive or succumb. I could only
hope she would choose the former.
Bash moved to stand over Diego’s body, expression unreadable. He knelt
down and tentatively reached for something in the other Mage’s jacket
pocket.
“What is it?” I asked.
Slowly, movements almost calculated, Bash held up a strange object. It
appeared to be a bag twined tightly with hair. Inked onto the side was a
familiar symbol - the same one we had seen on the two dead men that had
attacked Killian.
“It’s a hex,” he said, twisting the bag between his long fingers. “I’ve
never seen such powerful magic before.”
I ventured a step closer, struck by the awe and fear on Bash’s face. It was
such a strange combination that my hands turned clammy by my sides. If
something was capable of scaring Bash, it must be bad.
“What does it do?”
I almost didn’t want to hear his answer.
“It takes away your powers.” Bash’s inquisitive gaze flickered from the
hex bag to Diego. “It makes you basically human.”
A spell that dampened the powers of a Nightmare? I shuddered.
It didn’t even sound possible. If Bash hadn’t told me himself, I would’ve
laughed at the absurdity of it all. Our powers were a biological function; it
was something that made us inherently different from one another. Inherently
us. You couldn’t just take away a Mage’s magic. It would be the equivalent
of changing a human’s eye color. Impossible.
Only...it was.
Bash shook his head, eyes still trained on Diego’s face sadly.
“Do you think he knew, when he came here, that he would have no
powers? Why would he do this?”
“Because he loved her,” I answered easily. “And you would do anything
for the people you love.”
Something flickered in his eyes then. Something there and gone too
quickly for me to decipher.
Hand clenching around the hex bag, Bash slowly ambled to his feet. His
eyes were dazed as they surveyed the macabre scene before him. So much
blood. It stained the walls. The floor. The two dead bodies.
“He loved her enough to walk into a slaughter.” He couldn’t seem to
wrap his head around that concept. Taking a shuddering breath, he glanced
