Page 121 of Break Her Heart
I wanted to cry. I wanted to fall apart in his arms, but I couldn’t. I had no tears left. Only the silence and the weight of everything I had lost. I clung to him anyway.
“I didn’t know if you’d really come,” I whispered.
He pulled back enough to look at me. “You found me first, remember? You never stopped fighting. I just had to catch up.”
His hands trembled as they touched my arms, as if he didn’t believe I was real.
“You look like hell,” he said softly.
“Thanks,” I rasped. “Did you bring anything for that?”
His gaze dropped to my hands, to the ugly metal gloves still fused to my skin. He reached out slowly, fingers brushing the edge of one as if testing its resistance. Then he tugged, gentle but firm.
“Don’t,” I said. “It’s no use. My skin’s probably grown around them by now. It would take a lot of magic to get them off without tearing my hands apart in the process.”
He froze, eyes meeting mine. The guilt in them made my chest ache. “I didn’t know they hurt like that.”
“They don’t. Not anymore,” I lied. “Or maybe I’ve just stopped noticing. That’s the same thing, right?”
He smiled for a second. Just a second. “We’re going to get far away from here. But first—B, I need you to hold on. I only haveenough magic to take us part of the way. Once we’re clear, I’ll get more. I promise.”
“No.”
He froze. “What do you mean no? We have to get out of here before anyone finds out.”
The easiest way out would be to go with Adar now and run. But I’d let my heart overpower my head for too long. And it had done nothing for me.
I needed to finish what I was born to do. Put an end to the person who had taken everything from me.
“Bring me a vampire.”
43
Bronwen
Adar didn’t try to change my mind. He just looked at me, and something in his eyes shifted. He knew he couldn’t sway me. Not now.
I closed my eyes and sent the image into his mind. A place where I knew one vampire would be alone. Always alone.
Adar nodded once, jaw tight, and vanished before my eyes with a soft snap of pressure in the air. And I waited, hands clenched into fists, every nerve in my body bracing for what was to come.
I blinked—Adar was back, with Benedict slumped unconscious in his arms. Adar let out a breath, his chest heaving as he flexed his fingers, magic still crackling faintly around them.
“What—?” Benedict gasped, stirring as he hit the floor. His eyes locked on mine. “Bronwen.”
I didn’t answer.
Adar looked at me. “What now?”
I couldn’t tell him. But if I did, he might have tried to stop me.
“Give me a blade.”
He hesitated for a fraction of a second, then reached beneath his coat and passed me a dagger, handle-first.
Benedict moved to rise, but Adar’s hand clamped down on his shoulder, forcing him still. I stepped forward, the blade steady in my grip. I didn’t ask permission. I didn’t explain. I just sliced a clean, precise line across Benedict’s forearm. Blood welled immediately.
And I brought it to my mouth.
