Page 37 of Vampire Runner

“I was interested in seeing what your merry little band of thieves intended,” he admits. “Though I’d expected you to be spies for that so-called king of yours. Or something more mundane, like jewelry thieves.”

Ashe begins to rise and Aeternaphiel shoves him in the side with a foot, sending him skidding across the floor and crashing into the wall. He turns his attention back to me, but all I can do is look at the male I love. His chest is rising and falling rapidly, his breathing loud enough for me to hear the wet rattle.

Aeternaphiel snaps his fingers and I look back at him. “Indulge me for a moment. Why did you come here, seeking this of all things?”

I swallow back my first response. If Eris is gone, does it really matter if I tell him? “I made a bargain with a demon. She saved us and in return, I promised to help her seek vengeance against you.”

Aeternaphiel looks at me for a long moment, a bit slack-jawed. Then he tosses his head back, laughing. He even slaps his thigh. “Oh, I’d wondered what happened to Eris after she was sent to the bowels of the celestial realm. So, she survived that little clash we had.” Dawning understanding lights his face up and my stomach lurches when he looks back at Ashe. “You’re the little bastard that stabbed me.”

“She’s gone!” I blurt out, hoping to distract him from Ashe. “Whatever you did to her, she didn’t survive it. If you don’t believe me, search my essence. I’ve been possessed by her for the last hundred and fifty years.”

Aeternaphiel considers me for a long moment, then he waves my request away. “I don’t need to, witch. I thought I could smell the stench of a second demon earlier. Seeing as it’s entirely gone now, it means I’ve finally dealt with that loose end.”

Charged silence fills the room. My heart is a war drum in my ears, drowning out everything. Aeternaphiel stands there, hands in his front pockets, looking at Ashe with consideration. It isn’t long before I break.

“What are you going to do with us?”

Aeternaphiel startles, as if he’d entirely forgotten about my presence. “You?” At my nod, he shrugs dismissively and waves at the door. “You were nothing but an innocent pawn in the schemes of Eris. Well, perhaps not entirely innocent as you bargained with a demon. But that is neither here nor there.”

My nostrils flare and foreboding scratches the back of my mind.

“And him?” I force out.

Aeternaphiel’s gaze returns to Ashe, who’s beginning to prop himself up against the wall. Ashe’s golden eyes, bloodshot and swollen, meet mine under his lashes. He’s too weak to even lift his head up. Tears burn at my eyes.

“Him?” Aeternaphiel’s tone turns gleeful. “Well, seeing as I’ve lost one pet because of him, it seems only fitting for him to take Ezra’s place.”

“No!” I protest, staggering forward, heart ripping in two.

Aeternaphiel turns an icy gaze to me. “No?” He drawls out, raising a brow. “It is that, or I kill him now. Which would you prefer?”

I swallow hard, unable to break the stone of fear in my throat.

“Go,” Ashe rasps, wet and weak. “I’ll—” He coughs and I whimper. “I’ll be fine. Go.”

I can’t leave him. How can he ask this of me? I can’t let him sacrifice himself for me.

He holds my gaze, pleading filling them. Love and desperation ripple down the bond between us. Then, horrifyingly, I understand. I understand the pain that I caused him when I saved his life at the price of my own.

Tears run down my cheeks.

“I love you,” I get out, sobbing the final word.

Ashe closes his eyes, his head lolling forward.

I run. I run from the room, unseeing from my tears. I don’t know if anyone tries to stop me. I hear nothing as I burst from the estate. As my feet fly across the grounds and through the trees.

There’s nothing but pain and terror shredding my very soul as I collapse on an asphalt road. Nothing but rage at Ashe and myself as someone lifts me into their arms. Even the pain becomes a dull sense of gray as the reality of losing my mate overwhelms everything else.

Then from the gray of desperation, I become nothing. A hollowed-out, soulless person without her mate.

Chapter Twelve

ASHE

Asharp stabbing pain lances through my right side as one of Aeternaphiel’s lackeys yanks my arm up. I have at least one broken rib, likely more. I grit my teeth, breathing through the pain. Staying conscious is more important than fighting against the metal cuffs being slapped around my wrists. It’s all I’ve been able to do since they dragged me here and threw me to my knees.

My thoughts are muddied by pain; my entire body is one large pulsating ache. My other hand is secured above my head, the fucker using the same amount of tender care as the first time. Even half out of it, the scent of his human blood is strong. He must be one of the guards I injured. Explains the hospitality, or lack thereof. If he gets close enough, I could sink my fangs into him. Drink him down and speed up my body’s healing.

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