Page 94 of Blood

“I have reason to believe that Hera, Dracula, and Lucifer are being held in the tunnels beneath Prodigium,” Dimitri interrupts, once again grabbing the room by the balls and squeezing. If being an assassin doesn’t pan out for him, he should consider a job as an actor. He’s truly capable of bespelling a room full of people with just a single look. “You two will go and extract the three of them and then return to the battle. There’s a portal in my office that will lead you there.”

“Why the fuck would we go?” Vin demands, agitation causing his leg to bounce. I can tell he hates the idea of being parted from me in the middle of a battle.

“Because.” Dimitri pinches the bridge of his nose and then blows out a breath, as if praying for patience. That only seems to exacerbate Vin’s rage. He practically trembles with the force of it, the lines around his mouth deepening, his eyes turning molten with anger. “Frankie knows more about the tunnels than anyone here, and you’re one of our best fighters. You’ll be able to defend him.”

“But—”

“Lucifer, Hera, and Dracula can make all the difference in this battle,” Dimitri interrupts, his voice glacial. “If we don’t free them, we don’t have a chance of winning. Do you understand what I’m saying?” His eyes momentarily flick to me before focusing once more on the Van Helsing.

Vin’s jaw clenches, but he finally nods. “Fine. But you bet your ass we’re heading straight to the battle after we free them.”

Dimitri’s smile is as cold as an icicle and just as sharp. It slices through my skin like the serrated edge of a blade. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

CHAPTER 32

VIOLET

I can’t say goodbye.

No matter how hard I try, no matter how many times I tell myself to, that one word gets trapped in the confines of my throat. It settles on my tongue like gritty dirt, and I’m forced to swallow convulsively around it.

Goodbye.

Goodbye.

Goodbye.

I allow my gaze to drift over the faces of all my mates who are present—my greatest loves.

Vin, who saw me as an enemy he needed to destroy before realizing I’m not so different from him, after all. He always encourages me to push harder, to be better, to fight for what I believe in.

Frankie, the first monster I ever saw at Prodigium Academy and one of the smartest creatures I know. We both chipped away at each other’s walls and learned what it means to be in a relationship. What it means to be loved.

Jack and Hux, as different from each other as night and day, yet eerily similar all the same. One regards me as an equal and never seeks to hide me away or coddle me in bubble wrap. The other stares at me as if I’m the most precious creature he’s ever had the pleasure of knowing in his long, long existence. Both make my heart skip a beat and surround me in the glow of new love.

Dimitri, a condescending asshole who I hated, then loved, then hated, then loved, then hated, then loved. It seems as if our story has always been fated to be a whirlwind of ups and downs, twists and turns, lows and highs. But I know, despite our arguments, he’ll protect me with every ounce of darkness permeating his being. I never doubted that for a second, even when I thought he hated me. He pried me open with every acerbic barb and carved his name on my heart.

Cal, my sweet, cocky cupid. He spent almost an entire lifetime alone, and I yearn to wipe those horrid memories away once and for all. He needs to know that there’s an entire group of monsters who love and cherish him. All of us here would fight for him...and die for him. He has a family, and though it may not replace the one he lost, I hope our presence will at least alleviate the ache in his chest.

Barret, who never fails to make me smile. He sees life the way I desperately desire to—through rose-tinted glasses. Everything is black and white with him. Some may perceive that as a weakness, but not me. There’s a naïveté about the way he views the world, and I desperately hope to replicate it. I hope he never loses that innocence.

Alex, who once made me shit my pants in front of the entire cafeteria. Maybe that shouldn’t be the first thing that springs to mind when I think of my newest mate, but it only proves to me how far we’ve come. Our relationship will always be a push-and-pull dynamic. He’ll press every single one of my buttons, but by doing so, he’ll make me stronger.

And finally, Mason. Sweet, beautiful, perfect Mason. There will always be a pain in my heart at just the thought of my gorgon mate—an ache that’ll refuse to dissipate with time. He’s the knife jabbed beneath my rib cage, precariously close to my heart, but I don’t dare remove it. If I do, I’ll bleed out. His death is a dark, crackling energy rolling over me with the stifling weight of a heavy wave. But if drowning is my penitence for failing him, then so be it. I’ll embrace the ocean with open arms.

The immensity of my emotions for these men barrages me. It quite literally drags me into the vicious winds of a hurricane kicking and screaming, sucking me into its orbit and then spitting me back out, gasping for sweet, precious air.

I can’t say goodbye to them.

I refuse to.

Because this won’t be goodbye. It can’t be.

Vin pulls me into his arms first, his burnt cinnamon scent enveloping me. I squeeze my eyes shut to hold back the onslaught of tears that threaten to fall. He presses his lips against the crown of my head, a tender, reverent kiss I feel reverberating through my entire body and embedding itself into my soul, before stepping back.

Frankie immediately comes to take his place. My scientist’s eyes drift over my face, as if he wishes to memorize every dip and curve. They linger on my lips a second longer before he forces his gaze away.

“We’ll see you soon, Violet,” he whispers, moving toward a stone-faced Vin.

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