Page 298 of The Lands Defying
We come to a stop before Charles, our hands covered in purple as we stare down the male who ruined my life. Ruined Darius’s life.
Ruined so many other lives.
Darius growls into my neck, at the wrong scent there and without taking our eyes off of Charles, I tilt my neck and offer it.
Darius’s teeth are piercing my skin in the next moment, and I lift a hand to his head, soothing him and pulling him closer, feeling that he needs this right now.
“It’s okay,”I tell him, and he purrs softly, a rumble coming from his chest as he digs in deeper and I breathe a sigh of relief.
Drax and Runa suddenly come to a stop next to us, growling down at this piece of shit and then I see it in his eyes.
Fear.
I catch my breath as heavy snow falls, the moon high in the sky as Charles continues to struggle.
Darius peels himself from my back and turns me, looking me over for injury. When he finds none, I see the relief in his eyes, along with anger at what I just did but we will deal with that later.
For now…
Darius takes my wrist in his hand, covering it with his power, then in the next moment, the cuff is burning and it drops to the ground.
Warmth rushes through me and I sag in relief.
I don’t know how he managed to get it off, but I don’t care.
Darius pulls me close, taking my face in his hands and he leans his forehead to mine, a slight tremble to his fingers and I grip his wrists, rubbing my nose with his.
He releases me suddenly, grabbing a sword off the ground and hands it to me. “Do what you will with him. End it.” He tilts my head up toward him, and places a soft kiss to my lips. “End him, Vihnarn.”
He steps back and Drax nudges my side. I lift my hand to stroke him before I do the same with Runa, trying to calm her as she growls down at the monster who has plagued our minds.
I look back down at Charles as I move to his side, crouching down. “You took my childhood, as you did with many others, took my parents, as you did with many others.” I look down at the sword and turn it this way and that. “You are worse than nothing,” I tell him. “You will never accomplish what you have set out to do all these years.”
He laughs, eyes crazed. “You think you can end me, girl? Look at you. I can’t wait to get you in a cage again, I can’t wait to feel you skin-to-skin and test how much you can take—” Darius kicks his side, his feet covered in his power.
Then he does it again and again, taking hold of his hand that he had in my hair and breaking his fingers one by one.
I look to him. “Calm, Vihnarn. He can’t hurt me anymore. He cannot hurt anyone.” Charles continues to laugh at that, even as he struggles to get free.
I look down at the sword again, and there are so many ways I could hurt him. Torture him even, and I want to.
I can feel it in my bones how much I want to make him suffer. How much I want to constantly cause him pain like he has done to me and so many others.
But as I look down at him, spouting all kinds of ways he will hurt me again, how he will be free, how he is above everyone.
I just want to rid the lands of him.
“I knelt at your feet once, chained and vulnerable. Now you are below me, your life in my hands.”
“You think this is the end of me? This is only the beginning!” he spits, wriggling his body from side-to-side.
“You are pathetic. A small male trying to be bigger than he is. You are sick and greedy, Charles. A poison.”
“I deserve power! I have given years to these lands, to the people. Why do you get to receive magic as old as the moon, over me!”
“Because I am worthy, and you are not.”
He continues spouting all the things he wants to do to me, all things he has done to others as he watches me, but I don’t listen to a single word.
