Page 37 of Thorn of Sorrow

Turning to face Osiris, a single blood-red tear slipped free. “No level of violence exists for the amount of pain I want to inflict on you. So, pick a god, pick a prayer, doesn’t matter. Because I’m not stopping until I hear you break.”

I slammed the void closed, ripped the daggers from his palms and tossed them aside, then rained blow after blow down on him. When Osiris tried to escape through his mouth, I broke his jaw. When he tried to summon the energy in his hands, I snapped his wrists.

Behind every crash of my fists was anguish, loss, and soul-crushing heartache. I wanted him to feel what I felt, I wanted him to suffer until he cried out for death. But most of all, I wanted my petit oiseau back in my arms.

When Osiris dropped, I turned to retrieve my daggers, but caught the sword midair that Malachi had tossed to me. The dragon hilt curled tightly around my hand before I poured everything I felt into each and every cleave.

Staggering backward, the sword fell from my loose grip, my chest heaving. But as hard as I tried, I couldn’t numb the pain again, as if my body was forcing me to face my sorrow.

In a fog, I turned and made my way to where Kyson was lying. My legs buckled beneath me, and I collapsed to my knees, pulling him into my arms and holding him close to my heart.

For the first time ever, I openly wept. Overwhelmed by grief, I sobbed, pleading for Kyson to return to me, to forgive me for failing him, for not keeping him safe.

I threw my head back and let out an ear-piercing wail.

Chapter Nine

Giovanni

“Convert him.”

I slowly lifted my gaze to meet Malachi’s. “No,” I said firmly. “Kyson would despise me for eternity if I turned him into a monster.”

Being human was his most prized treasure, his sense of self in a castle shrouded in darkness.

I would rather lose myself to the void than to dishonor him in such a heinous way.

No matter how much I desperately yearned to have him back—to see his smile, hear his laughter, and make love to him again—reviving him as a vampire would be a selfish indulgence of my own desires.

Not his.

My love for him ran too deep to betray him, even in death. He had suffered enough already, and I couldn’t bear the thought of seeing hatred burning in his eyes every time he glanced at me.

“But at least he would be alive to hate you,” Malachi argued. “With your powers flowing through him, no vampire would be foolish enough to approach him.”

“Do you hear yourself!” My arms tightened around Kyson, cradling him close because I wasn’t ready to let him go. I wanted to hold him, to make him feel safe, to know I was here for him, even though I’d failed him. “You would be willing to turn him into something he despises?” I slowly shook my head, glaring at my brother. “That’s selfishness talking, Malachi. It’s your guilt for allowing this to happen! Where were you when he was being attacked, prince? If you’d heeded my warning about not turning our home into a sanctuary, Kyson would still be alive!”

Guilt ate away at me like a ravenous beast, refusing me even a moment’s respite. For five long years I had lived with regret for not saving him from Osiris. Kyson had suffered greatly, only to face one final blow.

A horrifying death.

And I would carry that guilt with me as I welcomed the sun.

“He doesn’t have to be converted.” Richard walked into the kitchen, his steps so quiet not even I had detected them. “Give him to me.”

I snarled, baring my fangs, crushing Kyson to me. “I don’t even know what you are.”

“All you need to know is that I can save him,” Richard snapped.

“How?” Dane shot to his feet, a glimmer of hope in his blue eyes. “I don’t care if you’re a goblin with fairy wings. How can you save him?”

Richard stared at Dane as if he were a loon.

“He’s a phoenix,” Malachi confessed.

Dane’s brows shot up. “No way!”

Richard’s eyes glowed brightly as he glared at Malachi. “You said you would never reveal what I am to anyone.”

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