Page 46 of Blood Gift

Vanessa had been too upset before letting me leave to notice the extra thickness under the leather. She never would’ve let me leave if she had.

“I have to kill us both.”

“You’re insane.”

“Maybe. Maybe I’ve always been.” I slid the detonator from my pocket and held it up for his examination. “If you try any magic to kill me before I press this button, you’ll set off the explosives yourself. So, it’s really up to either you or me when we die.”

He shook his head, falling back a step.

He had imagined multiple scenarios—that was how his mind worked—but none of them involved me doing this.

“Why would you…?”

“Because you came here with the intention of killing me. You can’t stand the reminder of what you’ve done, and you can’t live with the possibility of my telling the clan about it. It will be much easier for you with me out of the way. The thing is, I would be fine with that.”

He scowled. “Be serious.”

“You don’t think this is me being serious?” I asked, almost laughing at how ridiculous he sounded. “I don’t know how much more serious I could possibly be.”

“You don’t want me to kill you, or else you wouldn’t have gone to all this trouble. Where did you even get your hands on that?”

“You’d be surprised what a person can purchase when they’re determined enough. That’s beside the point. And I meant it when I said I want you to kill me.” I moved closer to him, and took pleasure in the way his eyes widened. The sadist in me hadn’t completely faded away. “I’m not sure I want to live with the memory of what I’ve done. I’m not sure I deserve to live. You would be doing me a mercy, just like you tell yourself you did for her.” I jerked my head in the direction of the grave.

“So why go to all this trouble, as I asked?”

“I can’t let you hurt anyone I care about when I’m gone.”

Understanding touched his features, and he went back to being the cold, imperious sorcerer I recognized. “I see. This is all for her. You think you love her, don’t you?”

“Perhaps I do.”

“You’re weak.”

“Perhaps I am.”

“You always were.”

“I don’t disagree with you. Do you think these accusations will hurt me?” I asked with a smile. “You can’t hurt me anymore. I’m beyond that point. And I understand why you can’t comprehend what I’m doing now. You always considered love a weakness.”

“It is. It makes us do stupid things. Case in point.”

“This is the smartest thing I’ve ever done. The smartest and the best.” I held up the detonator. “I hope you’ve made peace with your life, because it’s about to end.”

The snap of a twig caused us both to look toward a large, gnarled tree a few dozen feet away.

From behind it stepped a hulking figure, cloaked in darkness.

Even though I couldn’t make out the face, I already knew the shape. He’d only tried to kill me several times.

Holden.

My heart sank.

Because if he was there…

“Gentry? What do you think you’re doing?” Vanessa stepped out beside him.

She didn’t know she had just ruined everything I’d barely managed to convince myself to do.

It was difficult enough to kill myself, but knowing I was leaving her had made the decision ten times harder. I couldn’t do it with her there.

Dominic’s laughter rang through the cold air. “Oh, my goodness. This just got interesting.”

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