Page 74 of A Heart Of Bitter Poison
No. Nono.
I bite into my arm and tear his shirt open, even as he shakes his head and tries to give a reassuring smile. He catches my wrist before I can drip blood into the wound. Tears blur my vision as I meet his eyes.
“No, Leucosia. Andrà tutto bene.” he whispers. His body starts to shake. His throat strains as he struggles to take a breath. “Thank you, for all these years.Ti devo la vita.”
I shake my head. I grab his hand and squeeze. “I don’t want you to go.”
Cassian gives a failing smile before his body convulses. His hand is like an iron vice around mine, but I refuse to cry out.
“You’re a good man, Cassian. You’re a good man.” I tell him again and again, until he gives a rattling exhalation and dies in my hands. And still I grip his palm in mine, even when it goes slack and his arm is heavy in my grasp. I hold on until the last faint beats of his heart pass into oblivion.
“Very interesting,” Ember muses as her gaze flows from the hilt of my blade to the tip. Her eyes slide to mine. “Angelwing. Well, one last vampire in the world is no great loss, I suppose, though it would have been nice to drag him to the Shadow Realm with us.”
I vibrate with rage.
Ember leans a little closer. Her blood hisses when it drips onto the snow. “Are you done? I would rather like to get going. We have much to accomplish together.”
I’m going to fight with every breath. I’m going to make every second of this as hard on her as I can. If it’s going to be misery for me, you’d better fucking believe I’m going to make it misery for her too.
A poisonous smile spreads across Ember’s face as she extends her arm, her hand spread like a claw that’s coming for my hair.
A flash of light burns my eyes. For an instant I wonder if it’s the pain I'm expecting to feel.
And then a scream.
“Embrace your end, demon. For these are your last breaths in any realm,” a deep, familiar voice booms above the blinding light. Ember is still screaming when I shield my eyes and look into the light.
Blood pours from her severed arm. Ember’s hand lies in the snow, curled up at me like a dying spider.
The angel of Saqqara looms over Ember. She tries to swing thekatanatoward him, but doesn’t even have a chance to connect with the angel’s glowing blade. He swings his massive sword in a sharp arc and it cuts a swath across Ember’s stomach. Her viscera tumble from her abdomen and she screeches, falling to her knees in the snow. The angel’s blade makes a return pass, and Ember’s head flies from her shoulders, that awful shriek falling into blessed silence.
I’m unable to move as I watch Ember’s body twitch and jerk. Blood saturates the snow, creeping ever further as it consumes the pristine powder. It’s… deeply satisfying.
The angel moves to stand before me, obstructing my view of the gory scene with his shimmering wings spread wide behind him. He extends his hand to me.
“Come with me to the Realm of Light. We have much to discuss, Leucosia.”
CHAPTER28
The angel of Saqqara is bigger than I remembered. Too tall. Like, freakishly tall. Also insanely beautiful. Without his weird white shroud, I can actually see his features. Dark skin, emerald eyes. Sharp cheekbones, full lips. He’s a study in contrasts, every aspect of his being in perfect balance. Even the expression on his face holds a harmony of conflicting emotions, the glint of satisfaction in his eyes paired with the gleam of his fury.
“How do you know my name?” I ask.
“What a pertinent question,” the angel says with a smile of both approval and malice as he sheathes his sword. “Come with me and you shall have your answer.”
“The last time I saw you, you sliced my cheek like Hannibal Lecter looking for a fucking snack. While I appreciate your intervention, I’m not super stoked about going anywhere with you.”
“You are correct, I did. My most sincere apologies,” he says with a little bow, though he doesn’t sound sincere at all.
My only reply is to narrow my eyes.
“I can assure you, it will not happen again.”
My brows tilt with doubt.
“You do not have much of a choice.”
ThatI actually believe. There’s no question who holds the power here.
