Page 82 of Inevitably Yves

“I happened,” I whisper, smiling as Vivienne hands me a bowl of very red, very mortal blood. It smells rancid, like death, and it’s exactly what I need.

The Admiral is on his feet, rushing Hadrian, and though the mafioso is much bigger than my maker, he’s no match, even in Hadrian’s weakened state. Hadrian grips the Admiral’s neck, squeezing until his eyes bulge.

They struggle as Hadrian tries to pour something down the Admiral’s throat, so I take that as my opportunity. I pour the dead blood into my own mouth, holding it there even as it burns my tongue, but it will be worth it.

Come to me, Hadrian.

He pauses his actions, not turning to me completely, but hesitating. Ah, his pride and desire to own me are as strong as they ever were.

I have missed you. I beg for your forgiveness.

He drops the Admiral to the ground, twisting to face me. His head tilts as his eyes flicker, not quite able to fully glow.

“You do not want Damiano to know you love me still.”

Damiano groans, but I hope he knows he can trust me. After all we’ve been through, he must know.

Come to me, lover.

Hadrian smiles, his demeanor relaxing. “I knew it. You can’t deny your maker forever. You can heal me, Cillian. You have the power to restore me.”

I manage to nod, sending him a painful request. Kiss me.

Hadrian grips my chin, searching my eyes, but if I’ve learned anything in my centuries of life, it’s an excellent poker face, even under the gaze of my maker.

He presses his mouth to mine, and I part my lips, flooding his mouth with the dead blood. I’m able to raise my arm and grip his neck to force it down his throat. At that moment, whatever spell he had over us all fails, and we all fall away from the wall.

I spit the remnants of the blood out, watching as Hadrian chokes on it, hissing in pain. Damiano is immediately by my side.

“Well played, beloved,” he says.

“You knew it was a game, right?”

“Absolutely. All I felt from you was love. Now let’s finish this bastard off.”

“You can’t kill me with dead blood,” Hadrian gasps as he crawls away from us.

“Oh, we know,” Damiano says. He kicks our maker in the stomach, rolling him onto his back. “We know what to do now.” He grips Hadrian’s chin tightly. “We know why you kept us apart. Our love is fated. You knew it, didn’t you? You couldn’t stand to lose Cillian to me.”

Hadrian’s eyes finally glow as he screams, tossing Damiano across the room. Okay, fuck, he’s not as weakened as he looks.

The Admiral takes off for the door, but Thorn and Syn are on him, preventing it, while the rest of my coven goes through the process of dragging the dead vampires out of the way. Hadrian panics, his stench getting stronger as he looks around at it all falling apart.

Damiano rushes back, unharmed, and stands beside me. I hold his hand, aiming my gaze at Hadrian as he pushes himself off the floor. He turns to us, clearly ready to fight, but it’s as if a shield is around us.

Hadrian screams again in frustration, making my ears ring and my body vibrate. We’re still so connected that I can feel his emotions as if they are my own. I focus on my love for Damiano, for my brothers, our growing family, my sisters, and my city.

Hadrian steps back, glaring at us as his skin grows even paler. He twitches and jerks as if being hit with something unseen and unpleasant, and I realize it’s me. I’m repelling his evil with love.

Vivienne and Viper appear behind him, and I watch in awe as Viper stabs him with a knife and collects his blood, while he hisses and swings at them. He just catches Viper, clawing at her arm, which makes her briefly visible to him as she screams in pain. He appears confused when she vanishes from his sight again.

I start to rush toward them, but Vivienne raises her hand to stop me, scooping the other witch up in her arms and running to the back. While I’m momentarily distracted, Hadrian raises his arms and flicks some kind of liquid out, hitting several dead vampires.

The dead vampires seem to animate, their bodies twitching, but Eros and Raphael stake them while Midnight pulls the head off a particularly feisty one.

“No!” Hadrian screams, launching himself into the air and straight into me.

I stumble backward in his clutches and tumble to the floor, the weight of his body far heavier than he appears.

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