Page 97 of Depths of Desire
I glance at Nico—my heart clenches.
He’s in nothing but pajama pants, one hand braced on the back of a wrought iron chair. He looks calm. But I know him. I see the truth in the paleness of his skin, the slight tremor in his fingers. We’d just… and now…Malrick is right. Nico doesn’t have the strength to fight him right now. And my heart sinks all the way to the stone beneath my feet.
Malrick’s grip tightens on my arms, claws digging in just as Nico takes a single step forward.
“Let her go,” Nico says again, calmer now. Deadlier.
Malrick grins, his fangs glinting in the moonlight. “You really want to test me, cripple?”
Something shifts in Nico’s posture. His spine straightens. His eyes darken until they’re endless pools of shadow rimmed with light. “You have touched what’s mine. And you will pay for that transgression.” He reaches behind the chair and draws out a sword—long, dark with age and etched with glowing, ancient runes—I swear the air itself stills in reverence.
Malrick grins. “I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time.” He throws me aside like I’m nothing. I hit the terrace hard, pain radiating down my side, but I manage to scramble back and get to my knees, watching as the two vampires circle each other like predators.
Malrick lunges first, fast and brutal. Nico parries, but the movement is stiff. He’s still not fully recovered, and his weakness shows.
Malrick slashes again, and Nico narrowly ducks, the blade slicing a lock of his dark hair. He twists and counters, thesword moving with uncanny grace, as if it knows the shape of vengeance.
Then it happens—Nico’s entire body erupts in a glow, a faint silver light pulsing beneath his skin like liquid starlight. I blink, stunned.
Malrick hesitates for half a second—and that’s all Nico needs.
He lifts his free hand and unleashes a crackling arc of blue-white energy. It slams into Malrick’s chest, sending him skidding back against the stone balustrade with a roar. Smoke curls from his blackened jacket.
“You little bastard,” Malrick snarls, his voice feral now. “What did you do to yourself?”
“Evolved,” Nico says flatly.
They clash again. Nico’s movements grow stronger, faster, and the glow beneath his skin pulses brighter every time he calls on the power. Another blast of energy sends Malrick reeling. Another strike with the sword drives him to one knee.
But Malrick doesn’t stay down. He rises with a roar of pure rage.
“If I can’t have her…” he growls, voice crackling with fury as he turns to me. “Then no one will.” He’s on me in a blink. I try to scramble back, to move, to scream—but I’m too slow. His blade slices across my torso—deep, vicious, a red line of agony that opens up beneath my ribs. I collapse to the ground, choking on pain and blood.
I hear Nico’s voice. Not words. A roar. A storm made flesh. Magick explodes from him—so bright it lights up the entire terrace. Malrick stumbles, stunned—and Nico moves like lightning. In one heartbeat, he’s across the terrace, and in the next, the sword in his hand arcs high. The blade slices clean through Malrick’s neck.
Silence. Malrick’s head hits the stone with a sickening thud, followed by his body.
Then Nico throws away the sword and drops to his knees beside me. “Luna,” he breathes, voice cracked open. His hands press against my wound, desperate. “Stay with me. Please, stay with me.”
“I’m… okay,” I whisper. It’s a lie. Everything hurts. The world sways. Blood pools beneath me—so much blood. I never realized how much blood is in the human body. My body. Only now it’s not inside. It’s on the terrace flagstones. Life is ebbing out of me as the pool grows. I meet Nico’s gaze. “I love you,” I murmur before the world turns black.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
At the sound of footsteps pounding up the stairs. I whirl, fangs out, ready to pounce, but Renzo bursts onto the terrace, Luca right behind him. They stop cold at the sight of Malrick’s headless corpse… and Luna bleeding out in my arms.
“Merda,” Renzo growls, striding toward us. “What the hell happened?”
“He decided he wanted Luna no matter what.”
I stare down at her, and my heart contracts. I love this woman. I cannot let her die. A part of me will die with her, the best part. I need her to live.
“I need to give her some of my blood so she doesn’t die but…”
“The curse…” Luca says quietly. “This is the moment from the prophecy. If we give her blood, she becomes a sister and the curse comes true.”
I look up, rage and grief flowing through every cell in my body. “I don’t care. She’s not dying. I cannot let her go.”
“We can stop it,” Luca says, already pulling a blade from his belt. “We do it the same way we did with Pippa and Mia.”
