Page 45 of Fated Blood

“What is this?” she screams, as the shadows swallow Adam and I completely.

“Witchcraft…” I say, and she freezes. I’ve used my shadows to cover my movement, and now I’m right behind her and whispering in her ear.

“This…can’t be happening…” she whispers in denial.

“Let those words echo in your mind, Angel. They will be your last,” I hiss. With one arm, I hold Adam to my chest, and my other hand falls on top of Angel’s head almost gently. She shakes it, denial even in her last moments, and I squeeze. Her skull is being crushed in my hand, her brain running out of her nose and ears.

“I pray you were right, Angel, and my Arria will return to me someday. I hope you never return, I hope you find yourself in the underworld reliving this moment for eternity.”

Her head is gone, pulp in my hands. I take a deep, shuddering breath, and drop my shadows. My men have retrieved Arria’s remains and set them together near me. I walk over to her body and sink slowly to my knees. I take her hand in mine, staring into her vacant eyes.

“I vow this, my love. I will kill Vladimir, destroy his whole family, if it takes every day for the rest of eternity to finish. I will raise our son to be a fighter, and I will never, ever, stop looking for you.” I bring her fingers to my lips and kiss her knuckles.

“I will get you back, Arria. We are Forever Bound, it is destiny…”

Chapter19

Sebastian

“How long have you known?” Zarius hisses.

“Since Thaddeus changed me,” Angelica seems to sing, as if every moment of this is a victory for her, even if all her sons and creatures are dying. “I always felt I was born for greater things, even as I spat out useless weak children. The moment Thad found me and took what he wanted I seized my freedom and left them where they belonged, destitute and destined for a human death!”

I wrap my arms around Fayla and Arria, pulling them into the safety of my armored protection. Zarius lost Arria once before, becoming the monster I thought he was. I won’t let him lose her again. I think about watching someone kill Fayla, and now I understand what corrupted Zarius Cadell. I drop every ounce of my hatred for him in this moment.

Everything makes sense now.

Angelica laughs. “It’s time this ended the right way, time for this ancient battle to finish. You may have killed my father, Zarius, but you will not end his bloodline. I will end yours, as was destined long ago. Here and now, you will all die!”

As if cued to her words, the sun drops below the horizon.

Nightfall… No!

The groaning of her monsters intensifies as they pour from the castle and into the darkness. The battle has resumed. Everyone turns toward the enemy, ready to fight, and in the sky Lilith tucks her wings and dives into her mother’s middle.

“Bane, catch!” Dominique yells.

I throw my hand in the air as she hurls a black box at me. I catch it in my hand and immediately hear the chatter of the Blood Knights.

“I kept my radio! It disappeared for a while, and I think you’ve met the woman who tried to warn you’d lose that battle with Angelica when you got captured!” Dom looks down at Fayla and shakes her head.

My mind shoots back to that warning, that sweet voice that pleaded for me to listen. Everything clicks into place, and I know it was Fayla.

“They don’t believe you’re alive! Call in the calvary, boss!” Dom mockingly salutes me and then turns to shoot her silver blood daggers through the crowd.

“She’s a traitor, we can’t trust her! Bane is dead, and Dominique throws acid in our wounds!” a voice says over the radio, trying to calm everyone who heard her say I’m alive.

“I’m very much alive, and we need your help,” I roar into the radio. “Come to where I fell, the Monroes must die, the Cadells are on our side. Hurry!”

For a moment the only response is the crackle of static then military jargon starts flooding the airwaves, people stating their call signs and where they are. The Blood Knights are mobilizing, no questions asked. Their leader is alive, and he’s called them to arms. In the distance, I hear the sound of helicopters taking flight. Soon, they’ll arrive, and this battle’s odds will even out.

I turn to Fayla, who’s in her mother’s embrace still and my heart swells with love for her. It was she who warned me that day. She was the last person I spoke to before Angelica captured me. It was destined all along. I step toward them and Arria looks at me with wary, suspicious eyes.

“Who, exactly, are you?” she asks, trying to put herself between Fayla and me.

My laughter bubbles up from deep in my gut, and when I’m bent over at the waist with tears streaming down my face, Arria is looking at me like I’ve fallen off the deep end.

“I’m sorry,” I say, trying to regain my control. It’s just so strange that we’re on a battlefield of vampires and zombies and soon to be Blood Knights and this woman is more worried about me being around her daughter than any of the looming threats. “I’m Fayla’s Forever Bound,” I say, extending my hand.

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