Page 123 of Break Her Heart
I forced myself not to move, though my body trembled. I already knew who it was.
The hunger inside me stirred again, clawing at my insides. I clenched my teeth and kept my eyes closed. They were red. I knew they were red.
I didn’t want him to see me like this. Not yet.
The door flew open with a heavy slam that echoed through the stone chamber. I flinched but didn’t move, keeping my eyes shut, my breathing shallow.
“Is my dear wife asleep?” he drawled, amusement laced in every syllable.
Still, I didn’t move.
He crouched in front of me, his presence thick and dark, pressing in all around me like smoke seeping into my lungs. His hand trailed slowly up my bare leg, pausing at my knee before his mouth latched onto my thigh. Fangs pierced my skin—sharp, possessive, certain he still owned me.
But I smiled as my eyes snapped open.
The sound he made was a wet gurgle, his hands clawing for his throat. His arms went slack, his body toppling backward, confusion flooding his gaze.
Vampire blood was poison to other vampires.
I sat up and hummed as I looked down at my hands. The ugly metal gloves still clung to my skin—too tight, fused with pain and time. I flexed my fingers and slowly began to tug at the edge of one. It resisted at first, the edges catching against raw, tender skin. Then it gave way with a sickening pull. Skin tore. Blood welled.
But the pain faded almost instantly, replaced by a strange tingling warmth. I watched, breath caught, as the skin began to stitch itself back together, slow but sure.
I pulled off the second glove. More flesh came with it. More blood. But again, it healed.
I stared at my bare hands, flexing them slowly. The skin was pink and new, but stronger. The black veins still curled up myleft arm, stark against my skin—a mark of what we had failed to do.
I straddled him and cradled his face, desperate for one more glimpse of the man I had once loved. My chest ached with the want to believe I could find him again, but that man was gone.
“Where is my baby?”
Carrow tried to speak, but nothing came out.
I patted his cheek. “Come on, I know you can do it. Tell me where she is.”
A sinister smile twisted his lips. “D-d—” he choked, the vampire blood still eating away at his control. “Dead.”
Rage ignited in my chest, raw and wild. My hands shook as I pressed one flat against his ribs. He didn’t even have time to blink before I plunged my hand into his chest. Flesh gave way. Bone cracked. My fingers closed around the thrumming organ that had once belonged to the man I trusted.
His eyes widened, a choked sound escaping his lips.
I felt nothing but fire.
“This is for her. And him. And every fucking thing you’ve taken from me.”
His eyes shifted into something softer and closer to fear. “No—it’s me. I’m still here.”
I hesitated, just for a second.
“It’s me, Bronwen.” His voice cracked like something human, something buried.
My grip on his heart tightened, fingers digging into the muscle. “He didn’t call me Bronwen.”
His expression twisted with anger, but before he could say another word, I rose from the floor with his heart clenched in my fist.
Epilogue
Bronwen stepped through the hall slowly, intending at first to head straight to the great room, but her feet betrayed her. They carried her up several flights of stairs, through the corridor, and halted before the door she’d seen Lavina slip into countless times.
