Page 89 of Blood

I feel tiny pieces of my soul flaking away like sawdust. I’m not sure I’ll ever be whole again after what I’ve learned. My entire life, I blamed myself for what happened to my family, and I was right to. If I didn’t have the powers I have, my family would still be alive, I wouldn’t have spent years in detention, and...

And I never would’ve met Violet or Barret.

I can’t think about that—I can’t think about anything but the pain barraging me from every direction and the noose tightening around my neck. Any second, the floor will drop out from under me, and I’ll just be a swinging corpse.

Pan and Spidey chose to murder my family and lock me away for power—power they knew came from innocent souls.

The poison of that discovery slides deep into my veins.

“Violet...” My voice is guttural. I’m barely conscious of my surroundings as I home in on the two monsters who ruined my life. Sure, there may have been others on the council at the time, but these two are in front of me, waiting for my wrath.

A wicked grin warps my girl’s beautiful features. “Kill them, Cal. Make them suffer.”

In front of us, Spidey and Pan begin to scream.

I don’t remember what happens next.

I lose myself to the dark fae inside of me—the monster who calls for blood and pain and death. Screams echo through the cavernous room, but they enter one ear and go out the other.

When I come back to myself, it’s to see the mutilated bodies of Pan and Spidey laid out in front of me, their faces ripped to shreds and their limbs in thousands of pieces. Dorian has pushed himself flush against the far wall, fear splayed across his face, but Frankenstein and the White Stag remain at the table, watching with impassive eyes.

Violet kneels in the bloody carnage on one side of me, while Barret sits on the other. Both of them are covered head to toe in red.

Without a word, I reach for them and tug them toward me, the warmth of their touch sending heat skittering through my body.

For years, I wanted to seek revenge on the monsters who took my family from me, and now I finally did. There will always be a hole inside of me, but hopefully, in time, it won’t be as prominent.

And I have Violet and Barret to thank for that.

So, covered in blood and gore and other disgusting body parts, I hug the two monsters I love most in the world. Pain continues to ravage my mind, body, and soul, but it’s muted by the affection and adoration cascading through my veins.

Once upon a time, my family was taken away from me.

I refuse to allow that to happen again.

I make a vow to myself—right then and there—that I will fight to protect those I love. No matter the cost, no matter the consequences, I won’t lose another person.

I refuse to.

CHAPTER 31

VIOLET

“We can’t eat Zeus,” I lament for the one millionth time as I scrub a hand down my face. “That would be cannibalism, and we’re better than that.”

“But—” Ares begins to protest, but I hold up a hand to stop him.

“No.” I shake my head vigorously. “Besides, how would that even work?”

Barret, who’s sitting beside me at the long table, waves his hand back and forth in the air. A wide, belligerent smile spreads across his handsome face. “Oh! I know! I know!” He waits until he’s garnered all of our attention before happily continuing. “First, we have to capture him, and for that, we’ll need rope. Once we have him all tied up, we can shove one stick into his asshole and the other into his mouth. Then we’ll heave him up over a fire and turn him one hundred and eighty degrees every thirty minutes, so his skin is all nice and toasty—”

“You’re talking about literally spit-roasting Zeus,” I deadpan.

“It scares me how much thought you put into this,” Vin adds, his normally olive complexion taking on a green tint.

Barret’s smile begins to waver at the edges. “You asked me a question, and I answered.” He sounds genuinely confused and a little self-conscious.

Love for him punctures my heart as I give his arm a reassuring squeeze. “Thank you, Barret. That was helpful,” I tell him.

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