Page 46 of Until the Heart Stops
“I’m not your fucking son.”
“—obey or she dies,” he finished as if he’d not been interrupted.
Callum would not look at me, but through the bond his anger was palpable, hard as stone and sharp as steel. His wide shoulders vibrated with fury, but when he took a step forward Mael gave a softtsk.
“Tell me your answer.”
Henry gave a strangled groan behind him, fisting his hair and pulling. “You’re fucking insane.”
Their maker only waited, fingers swirling in my blood. I coughed again, reaching for the hilt of the dagger. There was no indecision in the bond: Callum would obey. But I dreaded what would come next, the shackles Mael would place him in, the horrors in store for us all.
“Callum,” I wheezed,“no.”
His eyes closed slowly, the ripple of pain through the bond almost as great as the wound in my belly. The wild, white-blond hair around his shoulders shifted with the shake of his head, and blood streaked down his cheeks from his tears. My resolve hardened at the sight and I took short, steady breaths as my hand slid across the bodice of my dress.
“Shall I turn her?” Mael mused, slipping an arm beneath my shoulders.
I groaned as the dagger shifted. His skin was ice cold, hard the way Callum’s was now, and there was a drumming power within his touch whispering of the millennia he’d been alive. The powerful blood he’d been transformed with from the very first vampire, Seth, making him into the closest approximation of a god.
Callum roared, eyes wild, and he surged forward.
Mael could not turn me.Thatwould drive Callum mad, twisting the bond between us into something unrecognizable. Or I would reject the change, as some did, dying before the transformation ever took hold.
Either way, I would be dead.
Mael’s mouth descended toward my throat with each step Callum took until his teeth brushed the crescent scar on my skin. I took a deep breath, sending a silent prayer not to the goddess, but to Callum through the bond that we might meet again in another life.
Then I jerked the dagger from my stomach and plunged it into Mael’s heart.
Chapter 26
Iscreamed until my throat tore and the windows shook.
Last night when we had realized Gabrielle was gone and Lilith was in danger, the sun was already rising. We’d barely had time to shut the door in Gabrielle’s room before the paralysis overtook us. And tonight? The moment I’d woken, a few minutes before the others, a strange tang coated my tongue and my head swam. Desire pulsed through my veins only to be blotted out and I’d had to breathe slowly, reaching through my emotions to discover the feeling was coming from Lilith not me.
But Mael’s followers had barricaded us inside Gabrielle’s resting chamber. It wasn’t enough to keep us out, not with my new strength and the help of Mateo and Henry, but it was enough to slow us down.
I’d known I was going to kill Mael the moment I saw him. Tonight he would die and the world would be rid of him. Once he was dead, I would hunt down each and every one of his worshippers until they were nothing but ash.
But now, as Lilith pulled his ceremonial knife from her body, I thought I wouldn’t see the day when the world would be purged of the Covenant. Because if she was going to die then I would follow right after. Her name was on my lips, my hand reaching out for her, before she reared back and plunged the dagger into his chest.
Mael froze with wide eyes. It was the only indication of his shock he gave. Slowly, he looked down at the hilt now protruding from his chest, staggering back a step. I surged forward as my brothers did. Mateo and I came at our maker from both sides while Henry ran toward Gabrielle.
He could not live another moment—I would not allow it. The blade through his heart was enough to slow him down, as the barricade had been for us, and I could only hope the strength Seth had given me would be enough to do the rest. I leaped, tackled him to the floor and wrapped my hands around his head.
Using the very ends of my strength, I twisted while Mateo helped me pin his shoulders. A screech filled the room followed by an unearthly cry, and I wrenched my hands back. Blood exploded around us as I tore Mael’s head from his body. His mouth moved while his eyes flicked back and forth between my own. Mateo grunted with the effort to hold his body still as Mael’s hands tried to reach to reattach his head.
“You turned me into a weapon, you turned my mate into a pawn,” I growled. “Now I will turn you into a pyre.”
I threw his head across the room and reached out, summoning the candelabra set within one alcove. His robes caught quickly and Mateo leapt up, shaking off the flames latching to his trousers. Mael’s body writhed while Mateo vanished for a heartbeat, grabbed up another flame and set his head ablaze across the room.
A low gurgle caught my attention and I turned, rushedback to the table. Lilith was bent over with one hand outstretched, blood pouring from her mouth and belly. Too much blood—too much for our bond to repair fast enough. I grabbed her hand, drawing it to my lips before I cradled her face.
“Shhh, I have you,” I said. Tears streamed down her face and her attention slid to the burning body of my maker. “He’s dead, he’s dead, all thanks to you.”
Lilith’s heartbeat in my chest faltered and I slipped my arm around her until I could cradle her head. “I’m going to make it all better, my love, I promise.”
I lifted my wrist to my mouth, slashing at the vein. Blood ran down the wound and onto her stomach. I had to heal this first or else she would be unable to take in more. The gash knitted and the blood from her mouth slowed as she choked and coughed. I shushed her again, brushing my lips across her brow. “Here it comes. Eternity here, in my arms.”
