Page 160 of Our Sins in Blood (Coven of Sin 1)

Vincent threw himself on top of me and his brother, shielding us with his own body.

“NOOOO!” My scream was lost in the chaos.

I laid there on my back beneath my dark knight, staring up into his eyes as he took countless silver bullets to his back. His body jerked violently with every bullet that found its mark.

He opened his mouth to speak, blood gushing from his lips. When he spoke, it was a miracle I heard him at all through the blast of all the rifle fire.

“I was wrong…” he choked out, barely able to cobble words together.

Tears welled in my eyes. “About what?”

“Two things. The first was that day in the corridor when I told you that Thomas Knight’s progeny weren’t capable of loving you. I was wrong.” He shuddered and clenched his jaw, holding out for as long as he could as silver bullets continued to rain down on him, shells clattering to the concrete all around us. “We love you. Even me—” Vincent faltered and winced as he moved to place a bloody kiss on my lips. “Especiallyme.”

I tried to blink my tears away, but they were flowing freely now. “Vincent…”

“The second thing that I was wrong about is you.” His eyes blazed with a fire that warmed my whole being, burning hot and bright. He cupped my cheeks, streaking my skin in his blood. “You, My Queen, will bring the world to its knees. Your enemies will fall before you in terror, your allies will kneel in piety, and your mates will bow down to you in fucking unholy worship.”

On the same breath, he raised a hulking arm and smashed his fist through the door, knocking it clean off its hinges. He raised his body to shield me from the bullets. “Now, run.”

“I–I can’t leave you!”

He was shaking, struggling to even hold himself up with his arms. “For fuck’s sake,RUN!”

I don’t know how I found my feet, but I did. I sprinted out of the garage and ran as fast as my feet could carry me.

I couldn’t stop myself from casting one last glance over my shoulder.

I shouldn’t have looked.

Vincent Feral was lying lifeless on the ground.

Dead.

Gone.

Even in death, he was the constant protector. A knight through and through. Not only had he used the last breath in his lungs to help me escape, but he had curled himself around Eros to protect him from getting shot.

I was numb all over.

My legs pumped, carrying my body forward as I ran, but I couldn’t feel anything.

Vincent was dead. If it had been normal bullets, he would have survived, but they were silver.

And even though Vincent had saved Eros from the initial gunfire, Sharpe would probably finish him off next.

All I wanted to do was curl up into a ball and recede inside myself. But I couldn’t. Vincent had sacrificed his life to earn me a few precious extra seconds. I couldn’t waste them. I wouldn’t let his sacrifice be in vain.

My boots slapped hard against the gravel lot as I ran faster than I ever had in my life.

The second I made it to where I’d left my bike parked on the street, I reached for my keys. My hands were tremoring so badly, I dropped the keys as I pulled them from my hoodie pocket. “Shit!”

Picking them up, I threw myself onto the bike and had a total panic attack when the bike wouldn’t start.

Oh, God. It wasn’t starting! Someone had tampered with it while I was inside.

Abandoning the vehicle, I opted to make a run for it. What else was there to do? I still wore the tiara. It had to be how Vincent had tracked me, meaning Sterling and Corry couldn’t be too far away.

I almost didn’t want them to come. I couldn’t survive losing anyone else.

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