Page 43 of The Serpent's Bride
Someone wouldbleedfor this.
He managed to get to his feet just as the smoke began to clear enough to see what was going on. Bodies lay strewn about, blood pooling from wounds. It was only a moment later that Ivan and Hank were at his side, with Ivan handing Raziel his secondary firearm. There were no words exchanged. There was no need.
It seemed the invaders had achieved their goal. The attackers had come, done their damage, and fled. There was only one body on the ground that was not dressed in formal wedding attire. One of the attackers.
Walking up to the single corpse, Raziel ignored the rest of the chaos as his guards did their jobs of chasing—and hopefully capturing—the bastards who’d dared do this. Nudging the body with his foot, he rolled it over onto its back. A human man, dressed in a green, simple linen shirt underneath a black wool vest. His eyes were open, locked on a view he would never see again.
Hank grunted. “Lee Iltani.”
“Fuck.”Raziel shut his eyes. Of course. Ofcoursethe Iltani gang were to blame for this. “Of course.Of course!”Snarling, he clenched his fist at his side. He warned his brother—didn’t he? That damned fool—fae and the humans who bred with them were allanimals.Rabid things, meant to be put down, not kept aspets.
One of the wedding attendants rushed up to them, trembling, her eyes wide in a panic. Her hands were clutched in front of her, and she was trying to make herself seem as small as possible, clearly fearing his wrath. “Sir! Sir!”
“What?” He barked the word at her, baring his fangs. He had more important things to deal with than the fact that the dessert course was ruined. “Spit it out!”
“It’s—your bride, sir—she’s…they took her.”
Raziel turned on his heel, surveying the scene. Sure enough, Monica was nowhere to be found. “She might have run.” It would have been the sensible thing to do, after all. Run and hide.
“No. I—I saw—I saw them carrying her out. A few of us did, sir.”
Raziel shut his eyes and began to laugh. Oh, how absolutelywonderful.Here he stood, married to a woman he did not wish to wed, who he was meant tokill,and who his enemies had justdaredto steal from him?
“You are going after her.” Volencia stormed up to him, not a blessed hair out of place. How that woman managed to get through an explosion without a smudge, he would never know, yet he was somehow not surprised.
“It’s likely too late for her, she’s probably dead already. It’s not worth risking the men.” Raziel tucked the gun into the back of his belt.
His mother took two steps closer to him, pulled back a hand, andslapped him.The sound was more jarring than the blow itself, but his head moved with the gesture, all the same.
Rage boiled in him. His jaw ticked. But he held perfectly still.
His mother was not to be trifled with.
“Youidiot boy,”she hissed. “She is asacrifice.These are theold ways.You do not piss on family traditions like one of your rented whores. Do you understand me? You will fetch her, and you will complete what must be done!”
Several of his more loyal foot soldiers had gathered in front of him. Mael was there as well, soot from the blast smeared across his forehead, his lips thin and his jaw fixed in anger. This was now a full-on family matter.
Even Lana stood prepared for the fight.
Raziel laughed quietly, shutting his eyes. What a farce. What an abomination. “This is your fault, Mael—your pet dogs have grown rabid. You’re coming with me to fetchmywife.”
His brother wordlessly nodded, knowing not to get in the middle of the mess in front of him.
Cracking his neck from one side to the other, Raziel let out a breath. “Tonight, we hunt the Iltanis. Tonight, we end their miserable bloodline.”
Was it ever okay to murder someone?
That was the thought that ran through Nadi’s head as she went in and out of consciousness. It was hard to remember what had happened. She was wearing someone else’s face and marrying her worst enemy. They were about to dance, and then…
A grenade?
Was murder ever acceptable?
Not killing. Murdering. Two different words for two different reasons.Killingandmurder.Though the line between the two was usually up for debate depending on one’s point of view. One could kill a cow for meat or consider it murder to take an animal’s life.
She remembered the first time she evermurdered.It was the second time she hadkilledanybody. The first time she took a man’s life it had been in self-defense. He had dragged her into an alleyway after she left a bar. And no matter how she cried out for help, people had only glanced into the alley and kept walking.
No one would help her.
