Page 256 of Tempest of Wrath and Vengeance

Something sparked in her honey-colored eyes, and he couldn’t decide what it was. Intrigue? Understanding? Disappointment?

“Where did you say you found her?” she asked, moving to try to get a better look at Kat.

“I didn’t,” Axel growled.

“And am I correct in understanding you are no longer honoring your agreement to pledge allegiance to my House?”

“That agreement was never made.”

Bree hissed. An honest-to-the-gods hiss of fury came from the female. “You owe me, Axel St. Orcas. I let you leave in good faith and only asked that you repay the favor.”

“Ioweyou?” he scoffed in outrage. “You preyed on me when I was at my most vulnerable. You saved me only to torture me yourself. Then you ‘let me go’ assuming I would kill her.”

“But you didn’t, did you?” Bree said, her eyes fixed over his shoulder. “Instead, you brought her back with you. Tell me, how did you manage such a feat? You should have been consumed with blood lust, even if she was your fated.”

“I did nearly kill her,” he sneered. “If Theon hadn’t been there, I would have.”

“Let’s meet her properly then,” Bree snarled. “Let me meet the thing you are throwing away everything for.”

Before he could stop her, Kat stepped to his side, her chin held high as she stared back at Bree. Part of him wanted to shove her back and ask her what the fuck she was thinking. The other part of him was so godsdamn proud of her for showing no fear in the face of someone they should definitely be fearing. If there was a fragile peace among the kingdoms of Devram, that fragile peace was mirrored among the Districts of the Underground.There was no doubt in his mind where this was going to lead, and he was going to need Theon’s help to deal with it. But without Tessa, without a Source to make his power supremely unmatched, would it be enough? If Bree managed to unite the Underground, he wasn’t sure Theon alone would be enough to bring them all to heel.

The look of shock on Bree’s face quickly morphed into something smug and sinister. “Perhaps not a vessel for blood, but clearly still a vessel,” she said, her hungry gaze fixed on Kat’s swollen stomach.

Kat’s hand landed on her belly protectively as she shrank into Axel’s side, his arm slipping around her waist.

“Stop referring to her as that,” Axel said darkly, baring his own fangs.

Her eyes roamed over Kat some more. “Based on how far along she appears, I assume that babe came to be before you turned?”

“Obviously,” he replied coldly. “The Night Children cannot create young.”

There was an icy lilt of laughter. “My dear little heir, why would you ever think such a thing?” Before he could question her further on that statement, she mused, “I should have known you wouldn’t kill her. I thought you were beyond the bond when you couldn’t even recall her name.”

Axel sprang forward, that speed he’d acquired propelling him in the blink of an eye. His hand wrapped around Bree’s slender throat, and the vampyre’s eyes went wide as he slammed her against the wall. In the back of his mind, he knew he shouldn’t be able to. Bree was stronger than him, but he was too furious to process that in the moment.

“Let me beveryclear, Bree,” he snarled. “The only reason Katya isn’t dead is because Theon was there to stop me. If I had killed her, it would not have accomplished what you thinkit would have. You think I was crazed from bloodlust? I would have beenferallearning I had killed her. Then to learn I had killed mysonon top of that? And thatyouwere the cause? There is nowhere you could have gone to hide from me. I would have hunted you down across the stars.”

He released her, slowly taking a few steps back.

Her glare was all predator as she smoothed down the red fabric of her dress. “You are creating an enemy, young heir.” Her head cocked, and a sadistic smile formed. “Then again, you aren’t really an heir anymore, are you?”

His returned smile was just as sadistic. “Oh, I think I am. Not the heir I thought I was, but the heir I was always meant to be.”

“Do tell,” she purred.

He stepped forward again, still towering over her, even in her heels. “The Underground ismine, Bree. All of it.Thisis my kingdom. Always has been. If you want it, you’ll go through me.”

“Careful, darling, you’re about to start a war.”

He bared his fangs. “You started it the moment you sent me to kill my wife.” Bree blinked at the words. “Get out of my house, Bree. I’ll summon you when you’re needed.”

He turned his back on her, making his way back to Katya, who was staring back at him. He had to give her credit. She didn’t let an ounce of confusion show at his statement. Instead, she held her head high. A solid presence at his side.

A perfect balance.

Fire and shadows. The only difference was he’d rule in the shadowed lands of the Underground rather than control the shadows themselves.

He’d leave that to his son.

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