Page 152 of Fated In Blood

Blake was…cradling a broken hand, but up and moving. Riordan’s bleeding was slowing, both of them shifting to trap Valaine between them.

Malachi had a theory.I told them. He was right.

Not that I would give the traitorous bastard too much credit, since he practically handed me over to Tyrell in the first place, most likely to save his own skin.

Semantics, my dear. You got the job done, that’s all that matters.

Fuck off.

Tyrell screamed but no sound came out. It usually didn’t when your vocal cords were severed—liquefied, in this case—and he couldn’t even make a pathetic whine. His body was disintegrating around him like melting snow, rotting hands clawing at the knife lodged deep in his flesh. I must have wedged the broken end in his skull, because no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t pull it out.

“I hope this hurts,” I said softly, Angel watching raptly, her pulse pounding beneath my hand where I held onto her. “I hope whatever story your kind has about the afterlife, you end up somewhere hideous, suffering for an eternity.”

Laurent Tyrell was fading away before us, eyes white as the moon, his face carved from skin and bone, so little flesh I could now see the broken blade with my own eyes.

The air around me trembled, a wicked wind whipping through the room and smothering the fire, acrid smoke coating the gooseflesh on my bared arms. “What is happening?” Angel swayed against me and Blake and Riordan trembled, the air humming hard enough to shatter my teeth.

The once mighty Tyrell collapsed into a pile of bone, as decayed as if he’d been in a tomb these past thousand years.

The next second I was shoved to my knees as a hideous crack rent the air, like the veil between time was tearing apart, and the darkness grew smothering, some unseen force pressing down and down and down until I wondered if we would all be crushed.

Valaine crawled toward the door, dematerializing before he reached the opening, leaving a smear of blood and brains across the floor. Blake lunged after him, but Riordan yanked him back. “No. Too dangerous.”

“What is this?” I could barely speak, weighed down by exhaustion and pain and crushing darkness. “What’s happening?”

We were all going to die.

Whatever this magic was, would kill us when Tyrell had failed.

Riordan threw his head back and barked out a hollow laugh. “Tyrell’s dead. This is the blood hierarchy breaking. This is two millennia of dominance and control falling away. Tyrell can’t fucking touch us now. This is our new beginning.Mynew beginning.”

No, this was like weathering an earthquake, booms of power reverberating through my bones and tearing me apart at the seams. Blake’s mouth opened in a silent scream, and I tried to reach for him but my body wouldn’t obey. A crescendo of shadow and echoing sound swept through the room, plunging everything into total darkness.

Cold rolled over me, bitter and heavy, like winter’s first blast but kissed with the faint scent of rich, spiced coffee.That scent.Why was that smell so familiar? Then everything stopped, leaving a shiver of energy buzzing in the air.

A sweat-soaked Blake reached me first, arm circling my waist, then Riordan was there, brushing a finger down my cheek. I sagged in relief. My two saviors in every way that counted. My shield and my sword, and I couldn’t believe we’d all survived.

“Oh God, is he really gone?” Angel leaned into me, sobbing so hard she gasped for air. I tucked her beneath my chin, even though my arm bleated in pain and my body still trembled from that strange power shift.

But…I glanced at the pile of brown bones. Tyrellwasgone.

“It’ll be okay, Angel. Everything’s going to be okay. We’ll go somewhere far away and start over again.”

I tried to ignore the way my heart twisted at the thought of leaving.

Blake’s and my situation was complicated, and while we had made some promises to one another, family came first. Angelcame first. Surely, given what happened with his own sister, he’d understand.

But Riordan…he and I were just a business transaction. Riordan had been crystal clear about his terms, and I’d kept my end of the bargain.

As far as the blood addiction…that washisproblem.

“We’ll leave as soon as we can travel. Tomorrow morning, maybe.” My mind whirled.

I’d dreamed of this moment for a year. I’d never wanted anything as badly as saving Angel and keeping my word to Mom. Except…except I was acutely aware of the two vampires glaring holes in the back of my head.

“Can I get a little help over here?” Malachi lay at a grotesque angle, head facing the wrong direction. “I’d think you’d all be a little more grateful, since I pretty much saved your asses.”

“We should leave the bastard. Torch the place around him,” Blake said matter-of-factly with not a trace of humor.

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