Page 125 of Land of Monsters

“Slave?” He chuckled. “I get freedom here to be who I truly am. Iacob cut us off from our true nature. We couldn’t use magic inside the camp walls, besides my protection spell. He limited us, kept us docile and weak. No weapons of any kind, including ourselves.”

“Why didn’t you just leave, then?”

“Because he saved my life a long time ago.” Dubthach’s lip curled. “I was bound to him.”

“Until you paid him back.”

“I have now savedhislife.” Dubthach motioned under us. “He lives… and is even better off. Superior to his human form.”

“Not sure he will feel the same.”

“Once his transition is done,” Sonya spoke up. “He will see the truth.”

“And what’s your truth, Sonya?” I sneered, but every word was a struggle, slurring and slow, the toxins burning into my veins.

“That the weakest will always be weeded out.” A mirthless smile hinted on her lips, her eyebrow cocking at me before she stared back at the carnage below, her hand once again going to her abdomen. “Laws of nature. The strong take out the weak.” She stared off, then yawned. “Iain, my love, before you fuck that girl in front of me, like you did to Sergiu before I killed Lazar…”

What? Lazar was dead?

“Oh yes, such fun.” Iain chuckled. “He thought himself so tough, so alpha until I fucked it right out of him as his father watched, had him moaning so loud, even after his father was shot right in front of him.”

Vomit coated my throat, seeing for the first time how truly sick Iain was. I shouldn’t have been surprised—he shot his own brother in the head without hesitation.

“I don’t need you to rehash the moment, my dear.” She patted his arm, the one still wrapped around Raven. “ThePrimulare having too much fun playing with their toys, and I am desperate for a bath and a snack. Is Kalaraja ready?”

“I think so,” Iain responded.

She leaned over the wall. “Kill them all!”

A chattering hiss filled the air. Z stepped further into the field, his tail curled over his head, and wrapped his hand around someone’s throat, picking him off the ground. Their short frame struggled in his grip. I recognized him.

Kozlov.

As fast as a bullet, Z’s stinger stabbed through his neck, breaking through bone, cartilage, and guts. Dimitri Kozlov’s eyes widened, understanding filling them before Z yanked his tail back, almost tearing off the president’s head, the body going limp in his arms. Z flung the corpse to the ground with no thought and headed for his next victim.

Not far from his corpse, Eve laid dead, an arrow still sticking out of her chest.

The squeal of a wild boar echoed across the garden, thePrimulrunning into a group, his tusks slicing into Wesley’s legs.

I tried to scream, to bark out a warning, but my voice got lost, drowning in my weakness. I pleaded with the nature gods, demanded them to rise, to burn the world down. Nothing happened, except darkness prickling at the edges of my vision.

Iain’s hands started to move down Raven’s body, yanking on her pants. He fixed his gaze on me, making sure to keep my attention on what he was doing.

I fell further into hell, trapped in my body, hearing the screams of my friends dying, watching my mate being touched by a psychopath, and I could do nothing to prevent it.

Dziubus. Sajnálom.I expressed my sorrow, my soul aching.

Don’t you dare give up on me.I could see her glare back at me, but grief and devastation hinted in her emerald eyes.You are not allowed to leave me. You understand me?

I wish that was a promise I could make her.

Ash! Please don’t give up.

Did she think I wanted to leave her? To go out like this? Once again, I had let her down. She would be the one to watch me die, and I was helpless to stop it.

My legs dropped to the stone, numbness moving into my brain. I had finally found my soul, my heart, and I lost it all before it even started.

CRACK!

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