Page 150 of Fated In Blood

The broken knife glinted in the firelight, flashing yellow and silver, a reminder we were completely out of options.

Gold.

The knife’s core was made ofgold.

Somehow, that struck me as important, but I was busy trying to breathe as I hung there, blood pouring from my broken nose, air hissing from my mouth.

Tyrell was wearing a metal breastplate.He had to be. Commonplace with Roman soldiers, he must have continued the tradition. Any body blow would be futile, but how was I supposed to kill an immortal with a broken sword?

I wasn’t.

But maybe…I could incapacitate him long enough for Riordan and Blake to finish him.

Malachi lay prone, back clearly broken, incapable of moving anything but his smart mouth, and Blake was fighting Tyrell’s compulsion, roaring out my name as he struggled, arms straining as he tried to reach me.

Riordan was bleeding so bad his shirt was drenched with blood, and Valaine…

My heart crashed into my ribs as he rose like some monstrous apparition, tottering on unsteady feet, his ravaged face twisting in pain, a macabre sight as he tried to yank the stake from the back of his head.

Tyrell’s gamey breath poured over my face. “I’ll give Valaine another minute, then you are all his, Evangeline. I admit, you came close to killing me, but you will never get another chance.” Tyrell dragged me by the hair toward his executioner, trampling over Blake’s reaching fingers so hard they cracked.

“You’ve failed. Four of you against me and you couldn’t land a single blow. Pathetic. Your father was right.” He yanked me close until our noses touched. “Females are worthless. But your blood will make me a god.”

My vision cleared enough for my eyes to drift once more to the dagger’s fragment, my gaze catching the glint of yellow.

Gold. Something about gold.

“You’ll never be a god, not in this world or the next. You are the rot at the inside of a fallen tree, waiting to consume the last, ruined pieces.” I gained enough leverage to swing the broken, worthless knife once more, but he caught my right armand twisted, snapping delicate bones as easily as he’d crushed Blake’s hand. Pain blared and the knife fell to the carpet, the ruby on the pommel picking up the dying firelight.

Riordan lifted his head and our eyes locked for an instant.If you make it out of here,take care of my sister like you promised. That’s all I ask.A tremor shook him, his mouth worked, but Tyrell kept heading toward his executioner, and I knew how this ended.

With me tied to one of those metal tables downstairs, and once Valaine went to work, I’d never leave this castle again.

Valaine reached behind his head, then blinked at his hand, speckled with gray matter. “Looks like your executioners a bit busy stuffing his brains back into his skull.” I smirked. “While we wait, why don’t I show you what a worthless female can accomplish in only a few seconds?”

One chance.

All or nothing.

I’d lost our best weapon, but I still had a regular knife in my thigh holster, a working hand, and nothing to lose. A single blow would be all I could manage, but maybe…just maybe the pain would break Tyrell's concentration long enough for Riordan or Blake or even Malachi to make their move.

The knife slid into the side of Tyrell’s neck too easily, puncturing skin like tissue paper, and I had him right where I wanted him, until his hand closed around mine and tore the knife out of his throat with impossible strength.

The world spun in a nauseating circle, then I was on my knees in front of him, that same knife pressed againstmyjugular, and while he couldn’t outright kill me because of my supposedly magic blood, that blade would be a good way to get it.

“You little fucking half-breed.” He yanked my head back, the knife edge slicing through skin with a stinging bite. No surprise, since Blake was probably the one who’d sharpened it.

“Do you know how fast you’ll bleed out when I sever your aorta?”

I did, in fact.

Seven minutes.

Faster, probably, given how fast my heart was racing.

I closed my eyes and dropped my shoulders in defeat, glad my sister was unconscious and wouldn’t have to watch this bullshit play out a second time. This was over. There was no saving any of us now.

Get the knife, Slayer.

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