Page 74 of The Secret of Pain

"I will say it as I have said before. I will share your heart, so long as you will have me. Mine belongs solely to you, always and forever. I will take whatever pieces of you I can."

His words make my heart swell, knowing that no matter what, he will be at my side.

"I could not ask that of you."

"Sure you can," Luc says with a laugh, and I roll my eyes at him.

"You do not ask, my love. It is offered willingly. I will not let you go again."

I nod at his words, unsure what to say.

"I cannot promise the others will be as willing, but I have seen how they love you. I think you may be worrying about things that do not matter, or will not matter once you are honest with yourself and with them."

Would having all three of them really be a possibility? Would it make me selfish to want more than one, but not allow them to find another, because Fates knows that the more I remember, the worse my jealousy grows.

"Thank you," I say and walk back into his open arms.

"Now that's all cleared up, do you want to come with us?"

"Where are you heading?" I ask, knowing I will say yes regardless.

"Quiet," Kain says sharply, and I practically hold my breath. They both go so still, sensing something beyond my Hunter capabilities.

"Shit," Luc hisses. Kain looks at him, talking in that way that only people who have known each other lifetimes can. Luc nods subtly before moving closer to us.

"What’s going on?" I ask quietly as Kain lets me go and flashes away from us.

"Rogues. So many rogues," Luc says. "We need to get you out of here."

"I will not run from a fight, Luc. Not when you both hurl yourself toward it. That is not who I am."

"I know, but I had to try. He will kill me if anything happens to you under my watch." He hands me a sword from his belt, palming the other.

"It’s not what you are used to, and probably a little heavy, but since you are practically unarmed, this will have to do."

I curse myself for not arming myself before coming here, the idea of it still foreign, though I don't think I'll forget again.

"How many?" I ask quietly as I follow him up the stairs to the next floor as swiftly as I can.

"At least fifty," he hisses. "They must have scented him."

"Why are they attacking him? He is their leader."

"Not everyone appreciates the way of the Dracul. Some people rebel against the Hunters’ tyranny, blaming Kain for its longevity. Think he is unsuitable to lead, despite his history, because of you. That his feelings are tainted and that his duty to his own kind comes second." He shakes his head. "It is ridiculous, but the murmurings of mad men have raised riots and rebellions throughout history. It is why there are so many rogues right now. The house numbers are shrinking, we are still a force, but they are gathering, much like your Hunters."

His words barely leave his mouth when he darts forward as a Dracul rushes us. He grabs the rogue by the throat and tears with his claws, blood pooling on the floor beneath him faster than I can blink.

"They are coming." The only warning I get before the front doors burst open and the hall is flooded with bodies. Half rush forward, off into the direction that Kain fled, the rest up the stairs toward us.

I shut down the thoughts in my mind and give myself over to the Hunter instincts that guide me, slipping into that killing calm. I rush forward to meet them, the sword an extension of myself as I cut through one of them, and two surround me. I curse myself again for not having brought my own weapons.

They charge at me, and I fly backward from a force at my back. It takes a second to realize that Kain now stands where I stood and the two Dracul are already headless. I blink, watching as if mesmerized, as the man who has been so gentle with me becomes the man legend talks of. In the time it takes Luc to dispatch of the two Dracul with him and join me, Kain has torn through the rest of them, like a man possessed. Covered in blood from head to toe, he faces the last standing rogue.

"How dare you come here, to my home, and attack me!" His voice bellows, the foundations of the hotel practically shaking at the force of the sound.

The Dracul almost curls in on himself at the shout, but Kain does not stand down. He grabs the rogue by the neck and lifts the man into the air. I watch as he squeezes the rogue’s throat, cutting off his air. Not enough to kill him, but enough to make him hurt.

"They said you had betrayed us. Sided with the Hunters. That’s why so many of us are disappearing." The words come out scratchy as he tries to speak around the lack of air.

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