Page 95 of Shadow Bound

“I’m worth more than you,” I wheeze out. “I have someone who loves me. Other than your anger and vengeance to keep you company, what do you have, Nessa?”

“Someone wholoves you?” she cackles. “You’re not worth the energy it takes to love someone. I’m doing them a favor by ridding them of you.”

This time when her fist moves in my direction, I’m ready, I move out of the way just in time, shifting to stand behind her. Grabbing hold of her arm, I twist it at an odd angle behind her, hyperextending the limb. In one quick movement, I turn it until it snaps beneath my fingers.

I don’t give her time to recover, instead I continue my assault. The knife in my hand pierces through her flesh, impaling deep in her side. I twist the knife, creating a bigger wound for good measure before yanking it from her body.

She cries out and I grin wickedly as my foot connects with her spine, she flies forward in the snow, but catches herself before she falls on her face. Spinning to face me, she pulls a knife from her waistband with her good hand. It’s catapulting through the air and landing in my shoulder before I can move out of the way.

Nessa’s fist crashes into my face once before her booted foot connects with my stomach. She grabs the knife from my body while I’m recovering, only to try and plunge it into my heart. Luckily, I’m able to block her attack.

As her hand flies at me, I slash through her forearm with my own knife. I cut through the tendons, forcing her to drop the knife into the snow.

With a snarl, she attacks me with her fists, getting in a couple good jabs here and there. In a quick movement, I stab into her side again, before digging my other blade into her thigh.

We are both covered in blood, our bodies weeping from the multiple wounds we’ve caused each other. Neither one of us slows down or gives in. For the most part, we are equally matched. For each blow I deliver to Nessa’s body, she retaliates with one of her own. Other than when I was being poisoned by the blood, I haven’t felt this kind of physical pain in a long time. I didn’t think my nerves were capable of feeling such a thing anymore, but I was wrong.

My body feels like it’s been hit by a semitruck. I’m also starting to tire, I’ve lost a lot of blood and most of the knife wounds are from silver blades.

With my hands wrapped around Nessa’s arm, I throw her through the air. Her spine collides with the trunk of a nearby tree. She lands in a heap in the snow and I clear the distance between us just as she’s starting to climb onto her hands and knees. Giving her a bloody smirk, I kick her square in the chin, making her head snap back and her teeth clash together with a satisfying cracking noise. She falls to her stomach in the snow.

Finally, I’ve got her weak enough that I am straddling her back. My bloody fingers grab a handful of her short hair and yank her head back to expose her neck.

Ten months of searching and I finally have her at my mercy. I’ve pictured myself killing her since I was seven years old, the thought of running a blade across her neck would lull me to sleep at night. Alexandre would touch the rose carved into the wall and I’d imagine myself killing our mother… we all have different self-soothing methods, I guess.

“When you see Hugo again, tell him all about what you’ve been up to for the past couple centuries, see if he approves of what you’ve turned into,” I whisper harshly into her ear as I bring my blade up to her neck.

I just barely touch it to her skin before something large slams into me and throws me multiple feet in the air. I land roughly on the snowy ground, rolling multiple times before I come to a stop.

Blinking to clear my rattled head, I find Noah standing above me. He reaches down and pulls me up by gripping the collar of my torn and bloody shirt.

“Noah, she isn’t your friend,” I attempt to plead. “Don’t save her life, she sure as hell wouldn’t save yours in return.”

Noah shakes his head, not letting me go. “I don’t need her to save my life. I need her to save Addison’s.” His voice cracks. “Kaius won’t bring back Addie without Nessa’s approval. I’ve done everything they asked. I collected the rogues for months, I brought them here…”

“Don’t act like you didn’t want revenge too,” Nessa groans from where she struggles to get to her feet. “You hate the witch because she refused to bring your mate back. You hate the girl, Pruitt, for taking Addison away from you for over a decade.Hell! You even blame the old alpha for not being strong enough to take on the threats that made Addison hide away with Pru to begin with.”

“I did—I do want revenge,” he corrects quickly. “I need Addison back more.”

“Noah,” I try to plead. “You see what Alexandre is like, you don’t want Addison to come back like he did. She won’t be the same, Noah. She won’t be the woman you fell in love with. She’ll look like her, sure, but she’ll be cold and heartless. She’ll be violent. You don’t want that version of your mate back.” He looks at Alexandre who is still impaled and snarling against the tree. His dead-looking eyes are full of rage as he fights against the knife holding him in place. “Winslow said she’s at peace, just let Addison stay that way. Please.”I never say please.

“I need her,” he croaks.

“I know, trust me, I know,” I say softly. “I didn’t used to understand how anyone could need a person as much as you need Addison, but now I do. I need Ransom just as much, if not more.” God, do I need him. “If I lost him as you’ve lost Addison, I’d be devastated, but I love him enough to know that bringing him back from the dead would be selfish. He wouldn’t like the person he’d come back as, just like Addison wouldn’t.”

For a second I think I’m getting through to him, his eyes start to clear, the crazy look in them fading. I get a glimpse of the real Noah for a brief moment, not the grief-stricken person I’ve met before. The moment is fleeting though, because when he shakes his head and blinks his eyes a couple of times, the crazy has returned.

The hand that holds my shirt tightens and his other hand rears back, his claws ready. “I’m sorry, Isabeau, but I don’t care what she comes back as, I just need my mate here with me.”

My eyes close as his claws come down to slash open my throat. Ransom’s face flashes in my head. The fact that I never told him I loved him makes regret and sadness fill my soul.

God, how I love that man.

He’ll be okay without me; I attempt to console myself. Ransom is strong, he’ll be able to survive the breaking of the blood bond.

The sound of a deep guttural growl makes my eyes snap open just in time to watch as Noah is tackled by a giant gray and black wolf.Ransom.

They land in a messy heap feet away from me. Noah hollers and yells, pushing the beast’s head away as Ransom’s wolf tries to clamp its jaw around Noah’s throat. The wolf’s fur is matted with blood, I can tell from the scent that some of it is his, but a majority belongs to rogue wolves and vampires. It appears he’s been as busy as I have.

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