Page 96 of Land of Monsters

“I won’t miss this time.” Kalaraja pressed the hot barrel of his gun between my eyes. Joska’s bullet waited to enter the back of my head just in case that one didn’t kill me.

“Nooooooo!” A muffled wail sounded against her gag. Raven strained against the metal keeping her crippled, her body bowing as she tried to push beyond it, only draining her powers more.

“Dziubus.” My eyes lifted to hers, my eyes watering. I knew she could read my expression, the apology for not being strong enough, for leaving her like this, the plea for her to live.

“Don’t stop fighting. Ever. You live, you hear me? Live a beautiful full life for me,” I whispered to her. Her head wagged, tears spilling down her cheeks, a sob racking her chest. “Kocham cie.”I love you.I said in Polish, switching to Hungarian. “Ön a lelkem.” You are my soul.

Raven howled, trying to reach for me, her legs giving out on her, forcing Balazs to hold her up.

I grit my teeth, not wanting to leave her, understanding something deep in my core. I had always felt like I let Kek and Lukas down, that I failed them. I deserved to live in hell, to punish myself.

Being on the other side, my life about to end, I realized I was wrong. Love didn’t make you want the other to suffer. I didn’t want the burden of revenge and anger to hang on Raven like it had me. I wanted her to be happy, even if it meant falling in love with someone else someday.

Keeping my eyes on Raven, telling her all I could without words, I watched her wither and wail, shoving at her captor, trying to get to me. Sound felt far away, but she was what I held on to, her beauty… as I prepared for the darkness to come.

I sensed the bullet leave the chamber.

BOOOOOOOOOM!!

My body went flying into the air, my brain spiraling, trying to understand what was happening. The explosion shook the school’s foundation, flipping and rolling everyone like we were dice in a cup. I hit the ground in a brutal roll, slamming into a pew with a choked groan. My head swam with confusion, understanding one thing—I was still alive.

“Raven…” Pain sliced through me, but I pushed myself up, the room still spinning. Dust and debris choked the air, my ears ringing from the blast. “Raven?” I called her name out stronger, crawling through the rubble. Only a few feet away, I saw her body against the wall, blood oozing from her forehead. “Raven!” Glass from the windows cut through my knees, but I felt nothing. I gripped her face, turning her to me, her body limp. “Baby…” I ripped down the gag, wiping the glass and plaster off her skin. “Please, wake up.” Relief exhaled through me when her lids blinked open, her blurry eyes staring up at me.

“Ash,” she croaked, tears filling her eyes, her hands trying to reach up to touch my face, but her heavy cuffs dropped them back down again. “You’re alive.”

“Yeah.” I pressed my forehead to hers, needing a moment to feel her warmth, bask in her life. “I’m here.”

Voices and commotion shuffled around us in the hazy chamber; it wouldn’t be long before they came for us again.

Booooommm!

Another explosion shook the ground like an aftershock, sounding like a car exploding in front of the school, pulling the focus outside. Sonya’s men rushed for the door.

It seemed like it was meant to lure them out. To get them outside.

“Oh. Holy. Fuck,” I muttered. There was no way. Yet the nagging sensation tugged at me. “A distraction,” I whispered to myself.

“What?”

“We need to get out of here.” I stood up. “Can you stand?”

“I think so.” She nodded. “Where’s my brother?” She gripped my arm as I pulled her to her feet, the feel of the goblin metal cuffing her soaking into my skin. “We need to find him!”

I squinted through the haze, trying to find the prince, tripping over a dead body.

Nikolay the Bloody lay under my boot. Half human/half Vampir, a feared top solider of the Russian mafia, and he was taken out in seconds by the Lord of Death.

I stopped short. Bloody locks of blonde hair spilled from under debris next to Nikolay.

Eve.

Raven paused, seeing Eve’s noticeable hair, her jaw locking.

“Raven.” I said her name softly, not sure what I was going to say beyond that.I’m sorryfelt strange after all Eve had done, but no matter what, Eve had once been her friend, someone in her life who she trusted.

Raven quickly hid the pain, swallowing back the hurt and betrayal, and turned away from her.

“Rook?” Raven called out for her brother. “Rook?” We scoured through the remains, not finding her twin among the deceased on the floor.

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