Page 49 of Blood

The portal spits me out, and I tumble across the ground, pain reverberating through my body as it hits every rock and stick along the way.

“Ugh,” I groan, already pushing to my feet as I take in the large room we’ve found ourselves in.

The first thing I note is the huge stone directly in front of me. Tiny trenches have been carved into the rock, and as I watch, transfixed, a red substance slides upward, defying the law of gravity itself.

Is that...blood?

My tired, abused body latches on to that one fact as I twist my head. Surprise lances through me when I see Alex, of all people, passed out on the floor beside me. He seems relatively unharmed—there’s not a scratch on him that I can see—so it doesn’t make sense why he would be unconscious.

And then Dimitri’s roar of pure, unbridled rage pierces through my remaining numbness.

I scramble around completely and hurry toward the sound, my heart playing leapfrog in my chest, becoming stuck somewhere in the general vicinity of my throat.

No. No. No.

Hux’s voice is a low, melancholic cry as he screams, Precious Treasure!

Lying in a human-shaped trench in the ground is none other than Violet Dracula.

Numerous cuts and slashes line her perfect body, blood flowing freely. All of that blood enters one of the various trenches surrounding her and travels straight to the stone door, where it climbs upward, filling every crack and recess carved into it.

My mate’s body is still, her face ashen, her pulse low and thready.

“No!” I fall to my knees beside her and reach for her. I’m belatedly aware of Dimitri saying, “Don’t touch her!” but I can’t stop myself.

The second my hand would’ve made contact with her pale cheek, it ricochets off an invisible barrier. Electricity thrums through my body.

“What the fuck?” I bellow. Or maybe Hux bellows. It’s hard to tell who has control of the body at this moment. We’re both aligned for the first time in forever. Our souls, our hearts, our minds... They’re not our own. They belong to the pale, still woman lying inside the ground.

“You can’t touch her until the spell is complete,” a droll voice announces from the opposite side of the room. I turn, moderately surprised to see Memphis standing there, his beady red eyes fixated on Violet’s prone form. “Her blood is needed to open the doors holding the Fomorians.”

“Stop this!” Dimitri rages, his icy blue eyes alight with fury. He looks every inch the ruthless, savage assassin that stalks the streets of the monster world. I can see his fingers palm the hilt of his dagger.

“I can’t.” Memphis shrugs nonchalantly. “No one can. Only when the spell’s completed and the Fomorians are free will you be able to touch your Violet.”

“She’s dying,” I whisper brokenly.

“She knew that when she began the spell.”

Dimitri whirls toward Violet, his eyes frantic with madness and pain. He drops to his knees beside her and hovers his hands over her frozen form.

“You stupid, irritating woman. How could you do this to me? To us? If you die, we’re just going to have to follow you to the next life. You know that, don’t you? There’s no point in being here without you.” Dimitri’s voice takes on a pleading edge I’ve never heard from him before. “You need to remain alive, Violet Dracula, so I can tell you that I love you. I love you, and I hate you for it, but that doesn’t change the fact that you are my entire world. I’ll kill anyone who dares try to take you from me—even if it’s yourself. Please, Violet. Please.”

I feel as if my heart is cracking down the middle.

A world without Violet in it?

It’s not one I want to live in.

I move to kneel opposite Dimitri in the strange, cavernous room. Almost belatedly, I take in the dark brimstone, the molten lava, the fire scorching the walls like grasping claws. This...this is what I always expected Hell to be like.

And it’s the one place Violet Dracula should never, ever be.

She’s too pure, too innocent, too full of light to find herself down here.

If she were able to talk, she would make a quip about how she always knew she was fated to end up in Hell.

She’s going to live! Hux bellows, the noise causing my brain to rattle. It’s almost as if he believes the louder he screams, the more likely she is to hear us and listen.

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