Page 54 of Slay Me

Valentina gets to her feet, cheeks crimson. “You’re going to regret that.”

“Bring it, fairy dust.”

She moves so fast that I have no time to prepare. Her body slams into me, wings taking us both up to my ceiling before she slams me to the ground—repeatedly. Every inch of my body burns, my vision blurring.

Finally, the assault stops, and Valentina pushes to her feet, leaving me on the floor. I roll over and start to crawl toward the door. If I can open it, I break the seal of the magic.

Apollo will hear me.

He has to hear me.

Her slender fingers wrap around my ankle, and she rips me backward, wrapping her hand around my throat. “Little Liv. Little fucking whore!” Her free hand cracks against my cheek.

Then, she turns away and stalks toward my bed, retrieving the baseball bat I keep there. “You stole him from me.”

“I didn’t steal anyone,” I choke out as I manage to sit up against the wall.

“You did,” she replies. “And now I’m going to take him back.” She charges. Her pixie blood has her moving so fast I don’t have time to stop. The bat sings through the air and hits my shoulder. Pain burns in my arm, shooting straight to my fingers and up into my neck.

But she doesn’t stop there. She swings again, and it cracks across the side of my head. My magic dissipates. She grips me, and I feel the ground disappear beneath my feet though my vision is so blurry I can’t see a damn thing.

“Up and up we go. Such a shame you can’t fly like your mother. Such. A. Shame.” She releases me, and I scream as I plummet to the floor.

I slam into it, bones cracking.

The pain is overwhelming now.

“Valentina, stop!” I cry out as I try to pull myself toward the door once more.

She grips my ankle again and flips me over. I blink away the tears, the brain-splitting pain making it nearly impossible to see anything but blurred shapes. “Help!” I scream, but with the magic still in place, no one can hear me.

Black spots invade my vision as the knowledge of what’s about to happen sinks in. She’s going to kill me. Not Ernesto or his henchmen. Valentina. All because the Ringmaster chose me. “He doesn’t want me,” I whimper. “Please. You have to believe me.”

“Lies.” She grins at me. “And not even he is going to save you, bitch. He’s busy, remember? Probably has his cock buried in someone else. Burns, doesn’t it? To be dismissed.”

She swings and brings the bat down on my knee. It shatters, bones crunching, and I scream until my throat runs hoarse.

“He wasmine,” she growls. “Any last words?”

The pain is enough to render me mute as I slump back, vision fading in and out. My body turns numb, starting at my toes and climbing up through my limbs.

I prepared for the final blow.

A deafening roar splits the sky as Valentina screams. I manage to open my eyes enough to see a shirtless man holding her head in his hand. Eyes nearly completely red, he glares at me, breathing deeply, blood splattering his chest.

I fall to the side.

“Liv!” He screams my name as I drift away.

One heartbeat.

Two.

And then warmth spreads through my body as I’m lifted and carried away.

Chapter18

Dante

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