Page 119 of Tempest of Wrath and Vengeance

He looked around at the shops that lined the road. Once again, he didn’t remember leaving the foyer or walking out here. Looking back over his shoulder, the House of Four toweredbehind him. He was never stepping foot in there again. When this was over, if Theon needed something from the vampyres, he could go himself.

The penthouse.

That was where she said she was.

It became his singular focus as he made his way through the roads of the Underground. He passed others—Night Children, Shifters, Witches, and Fae. Oddly enough, he didn’t even care about the Fae. Because she was getting closer. He could feel it.

The only time he paused was when he passed the turn for the Leisure District. The faint scent of jasmine and citrus caught his attention, that underlying smokiness and spices almost having him turning in that direction. But what would she be doing in the Leisure District? That was where people went for pleasure of all kinds. Opioids. Taverns. Sex.

Something inside of him went feral at the idea.

His.

She was his.

If she had gone there for any of their offerings…

No. Somehow he knew she wasn’t there. Something in him was drawing him away from that path and towards the Charter District. That was where she’d said she was. Or the voice inside his head had said that. This…kitten.

Gods, maybe he was still hallucinating.

But even if he was, he was still free from the House of Four.

So he continued on, those scents growing as strong as the pull in his gut.

“Late night, huh?” the doorman said in a gruff voice as Axel drew near the building that housed the penthouse. He’d shown up here bloody and disheveled more than once, so his appearance wasn’t out of the ordinary.

He nodded to the male, but didn’t linger because she was here. He could feel it in his bones, in his blood, in the center of his soul.

The lift seemed to take hours to finally get to the top, and when he stepped into the living area, the space was dark. Everyone here was likely sleeping, and since the wards recognized him, they wouldn’t have alerted Theon or Luka to his presence.

Somehow knowing exactly where she was, Axel climbed the stairs to the second floor. Luka’s room was down the hall, and Theon would be on the third floor with Tessa. He stopped outside his room, fingers trembling as he reached for the doorknob. Feeling the surrounding wards unlock, he slipped inside, quietly closing the door behind him.

And there she was. Asleep in his bed. Waiting for him.

Except she wasn’t asleep.

She lurched upright, a hand coming to her chest. Her amber eyes almost glowed in the dark room. Coils of black hair framed her face and fell around her shoulders. She blinked several times, that hand moving from her chest to her mouth as she stared at him.

“Don’t be scared, kitten,” he said, watching her while he leaned against the closed door.

“Axel? I… How are you here?”

She slid from the bed, but she didn’t come any closer. One hand rested on her stomach, a black Mark on the back of it, while she twisted the fingers of the other into the sheets.

“You told me where to find you,” he said in a low tone, every last shred of self-control going into keeping himself on this door. He’d been waiting so long for this moment. He was going to savor it.

“I did, but I didn’t expect you to… You have been unwell,” she said, her stare never leaving his.

“How would you know that?”

“I… We learned some things. Let me get Theon,” she said, taking a single step.

Then she stilled when Axel straightened. There was no way she was leaving here. Not now that he finally had her in his grasp. Not until he’d tasted her, the warm blood on his tongue, feeding every part of him.

She swallowed, her throat bobbing. “Axel,” she whispered. “Let me go get Theon. Please.”

“Theon won’t understand,” he said, transfixed on the pulse point in her throat now. He could hear it beating wildly like the wings of a hummingbird. He couldfeelher, both relieved and terrified, but there was something else there. Something he couldn’t place with the mania of being this close to her and her blood and blessed paradise when he finally got to take it from her.

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