Eleven
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Samkiel
T hunder clapped again, and I knew it had not originated from the
swollen clouds crowding the sky. I stood on the deck, unable to take
my eyes off the massive dark wyvern that circled the ship. She knew I was here with Santiago, and I could feel her calculating her odds.
She cut through a swath of clouds and I turned, waiting for her to reappear. The rhythmic beat of her powerful wings stopped, and the only sounds were the howl of the wind, the ceaseless brush of the sea against the ship, and the patter of the rain. Where had she gone? I knew she wouldn’t just leave. I turned in a slow circle, stopping when lightning flashed, illuminating the deck for an instant before darkness fell again, concern and tension building in my chest. Another bolt danced across the sky, and my heart skipped. One moment I was alone on the deck. The next, she was standing a few feet from me.
It was as if she’d appeared from the darkness itself.
Gods, was she always this beautiful? It had been far too long since I had seen her last, and I was hungry for the sight of her. She stared back at me, her eyes glowing red, their depths too alien for me to read her emotions.
The outfit she wore hugged her body lovingly. I had memorized every one of those curves in my dreams when sleep took me against my will. The wind cut, blowing sharp and cold, the storm growing.
She cocked her head, her body still as if listening for something below. I realized she was searching for him even as she stood here with me.
“I dislike being apart from you this long,” I called to her.
Her head snapped toward me, those crimson eyes shifting for a split second, and I swore I saw a hint of hazel. Joy sparked through me that my
words had some effect on her, even if it was fleeting. It hinted at a chance, a small sliver of hope. Her eyes stayed on me this time, but she still did not speak, the rain and wind building to a tumult around us.
I gave her a slow smile, working at keeping her focus on me. “See something you like?”
Dianna’s lips twisted in a small grin. “I forgot how massive you are. Too many mortal men, I suppose.”
She meant for that jab to sting, to distract me, and it did hurt. She was not mine, not entirely. Given what we’d been dealing with at the time, we’d never discussed being exclusive, but it burned me to my core that she was with anyone else, and she knew it. I saw it on her face.
“Thanks for leaving your clues, by the way,” I shouted over the clap of thunder. “I thought you’d at least be more careful. Unless you wanted me to find you.” Dianna moved to the right, slowly, deliberately, then back to the left, pacing. She reminded me once more of the riztoure beasts, large, beautiful, sleek, yet fearsome felines from Rashearim. She was all of that, and here she was, sizing me up like prey.
“Webster was a lowlife arms dealer who sold more than weapons. He deserved what he got.”
“If you didn’t want me to find you, you probably shouldn’t set places aflame.” I paused, another part of me raging to the surface. “Or leave your lacy undergarments behind.”
“Lacy undergarments?” Her laugh rolled off her tongue like a purr, echoing through the storm. “They are called panties, Samkiel. You know
that, and you’ve seen plenty.”
“Yes, but I distinctly remember yours.”
“I’m glad. I left them as a parting gift,” she called back with another tip of her chin. “Another way to tell you that the girl you’re so desperate to save is long gone, and she is not coming back.”
I smirked, ignoring her blatant attempt to push me further away, even as it ripped at my heart. I had another plan.
“I will admit, I enjoy the fact you thought of me while you were with others,” I called over the raging storm. “Did it help you come, or are you still deprived, my Dianna?”
Whatever retort she’d prepared died the second those words left my lips. She faltered, and even though she corrected herself almost immediately, I saw her reaction to me calling her mine. I saw the flicker of
recognition in her posture as if she still craved and treasured those words. In that moment, I knew I’d won. She knew it too.
“I’ll take your silence as a no.”
I watched her shake her head, rain plastering her hair to her face.
“Please, is that jealousy I hear? Does the mighty World Ender, the legend himself, get jealous? I don’t remember that in your memories.”
“I am not fond of others touching what’s mine.”
“Yours?” A sharp laugh escaped her, followed by a huff of smoke that curled from her nose. “When did we agree on that? When we hated each other? The one night we finally touched? Or was it when I stayed with you
when they took her? Which part?”
“Dianna.” Her name came out as a plea.
“Samkiel.” She mocked me, clicking her tongue. “Besides, your jealousy is misplaced on Malone. He only lasted a few minutes before I ripped him to pieces.” Her smile was deadly.
I tried to act as if her mentioning her tryst so nonchalantly didn’t set my nerves and temper in overdrive, but the sky betrayed me. A bolt of lightning split the sky, followed by a clap of thunder, my energy disrupting the atmosphere. She caught it, her head tipping back as a laugh made of sin left her lips. The rain poured on her face, water flowing down her neck.
“Are you still having issues, lover? Not sleeping?” She glanced at me as the air continued to rumble.
“I’ll be honest with you if you will be with me.”
“Honesty?”
“Yes. Honestly, you helped more than you know, and I plan to do the same for you. No matter what words you toss at me or taunts you know affect me. I refuse to let you continue down this destructive path, Dianna.”
She glanced down, nodding as if she were contemplating my words.
Water dripped from the tip of her nose before she glanced at me again.
Beautiful, she was beautiful even now. Not one single part of her scared me, no matter how hard she tried. The fangs, the eyes, every part was still her, and she was the only one I wanted. I longed for her just as she was, from the thick lashes she closed against the rain to that full sensual mouth now painted a deep shade of red, to her hair slicked back from her face and hanging far past her shoulders. I could see how losing Gabriella, how the blood she had consumed, had changed her, but to me, she was still my sweet, protective, caring, fiery Dianna.
“Honesty, then. Fine, I’ll be honest.” A flicker of emotion danced behind her eyes that raging persona slipping for a second. Her throat bobbed as she continued to stare at me. “This was a waste of time. Every second I spent with you was a waste of time. You were a means to an end.
You were to keep my sister safe, and you failed even in that. I should have left the second I had the chance. Anyone smart would have. Now she is dead because of you just as much as me because we couldn’t keep our hands off each other. Kaden killed her because of you, because of me. Once again, I was reminded that I am not a normal girl with a crush on a normal boy who gave her flowers and told her she was pretty. I was stupid to think I could have even a semblance of normalcy in my life. I was weak and pathetic and didn’t realize that normal died the second I did in that fucking burning desert. And honestly? I’ll never be her again.”
There it was. Dianna tried to hide behind the violence and lovers she took, wearing it like armor to protect her shattered heart. She’d left the message, trying to prove to me she was truly gone. Only I felt in my soul how wrong it was. She was Dianna, my Dianna, and I saw clearly how broken she was now. The words she threw at me were meant to hurt me, but they originated in her overwhelming grief and pain. The same pain that clawed its way into my soul when Rashearim fell.
“You’re wrong, Dianna. You are trying to convince yourself, but you know I would have done anything for you and your sister. Blaming yourself and me will not bring her back.” My heart sank as she turned ever so slightly, her eyes glowing a shade brighter. “I still care about you. Need you. Want you. I always will.”
“Well then, I guess that’s a problem because I don’t care about you. Not when the cost of it took everything from me.” Her lips pursed into a thin line. “You’re not worth it.”
I had hit a nerve, and she’d struck back.
“Don’t project onto me. I know you, even if you hate it. You care about me. I know what I felt then, and I know what you felt. It was real. It’s the only thing I can still feel from you, and I will stop at nothing to have you back with me. I won’t let you suffer alone. You know I won’t. I’m too damned stubborn.”
A crackle of lightning hissed across the sky. A corner of her lips twisted up as she glanced at it. She swallowed, the long narrow column of her throat bobbing as she tilted her head back. “They wrote stories about us.
Me, the Ig’Morruthen, and you, Samkiel, the World Ender. Two creatures destined to spill each other’s blood until the cosmos bleed.” She looked at me, her gaze meeting mine and holding. “Not fuck each other.”
I merely shrugged as the storm raged on. “Well, times change.”
She smiled, but it was one of annoyance, not the bright one I craved.
She clapped her hands together. “Hmm, well, this was fun, Samkiel, but I have a witch to kill. So…”
I knew what she was doing. Her attempt at avoidance was apparent, but it was more than that. I knew where she was better than anyone. When my father died, and I’d destroyed Rashearim, I’d locked myself away on the remains of my world. She was only locking her emotions inside, trying to push me away, trying to block me out, trying not to feel.
“Dianna.” I took a single step forward. She thrust her hand toward me, a dark ring on her finger glowing for a mere second as she summoned a sharp, jagged forsaken sword made of serrated bone and held it between us.
Shock grounded my feet in place, my stomach twisting.
Inconceivable.
“How?” My voice was a broken whisper.
She’d summoned a blade from a ring. It was impossible that she had the raw magic it took to even stabilize the power it contained.
“Another honest moment between us. I remember the things you taught me. How to fight better, be quicker, how to take down something far larger than me, how to be lethal. Every little thing you showed me in that damned mansion when you just wanted to be close to me after our little argument. I remember every word you said, including how you must always have a weapon.” She lifted the blade, assessing it. “Camilla made it for me. Took a while, but here we are.”
“That’s what you needed her for? To fight me?”
Why did rage and jealousy flair to life in my gut at that realization?
“I knew you’d only get in my way. Just like the blood that runs through that perfect body of yours, saving people is ingrained in your DNA. And honestly, how cool is this? The rings really are a great idea.”
Camilla had forged a blade born ring. I knew her powers were unparalleled even here, but that much power and strength were catastrophic.
And now, two of the most powerful women I knew had joined forces.
“I am a creature born of chaos, born to destroy you.” She lifted her blade, pointing it at me. “You are the protector of all twelve realms and
every dimension in between. Shall we be what we were always destined to be, lover?”
She moved quickly, too quickly. I summoned my blade and raised it, stopping her strike just before it connected with my face. The heavy sound of steel rang out, and a part of me broke.
M y body hit the floor , all the air exploding from my lungs . I pushed to my feet, summoning another ablazed weapon. I refused to give up on her. She was still in there. It had only been a flicker, buried under anger and vengeance, but I’d seen it, and it was enough.
Lights flashed, casting a gray-blue tint with every rotation of the focused yellow beams. I scanned the hole she had made in the deck after hitting me with enough flame to sting. My clothes remained intact, minus the few cuts she had gotten in with her blade. She practically danced with that weapon. Even as her target, she was damn impressive.
I peeked into the hole and followed her in. The moment my feet hit, I went to my knees. Dianna’s sword hit the metal just above my head and stuck. Her eyes blazed as she yanked the blade from the wall.
I rose and stepped to the side, out of her reach. “How did you get so good at wielding a sword? You despise swords.”
She rushed forward, and I blocked the swipe she aimed at me. I held her there for a few seconds, the force behind her strike tenfold. She leaned in close and smiled, snapping canines sharp as the blade she wielded. Her first shot connected with my jaw hard enough to send me into the neighboring wall. I pushed off, ducking once more as she swung, the blade sparking against the wall where I’d stood.
“You can only perfect something if you train.” She tossed my words back at me in a mocking voice. “Another lesson you taught me.”
“Oh, so you do pay attention to what I say?”
A pipe burst where she had struck the wall, sending a plume of steam hissing into the hallway.
“You know, I saw you on the screen, prancing around and smiling at those stupid mortals as if nothing had happened. So precious, telling everyone how they have nothing to fear. What a joke you are.” She stalked me through the gray steam, spinning the blade as she rotated her wrist.
“I have to maintain face, Dianna. That’s all that was. You know that.
The mortals are already in an uproar.”
“Yes, you looked so miserable with everyone practically drooling over you.”
A thought crossed my mind. “Is that how I looked? How long did you
stare at me?”
She moved again, and I blocked it.
“He put her on display, Samkiel, just like that, and you go on there like it meant nothing. Lie to me again about how much you care for me,” she growled, her foot shooting out to kick me in the chest. I flew back, the wall groaning as my body hit. I rubbed at the lingering ache in my sternum and stood. Yes, she was definitely stronger and meaner. As I caught my breath, her words sank in.
“Dianna. I have to make the world, the mortals, feel safe so The Council of Hadrameil stays away. That’s all. I would never willingly do anything to cause you more pain.”
Steam continued to billow from the pipe, filling the hall with a thin fog.
I could only see her red glowing eyes and silhouette as she took a step back, then another.
“I wouldn’t worry about me being in pain,” she said with a smile, her white teeth flashing in the gloom.
One minute she was there, and then the next, gone. I shot to my feet and dashed to where she had been. Smoke twined around my body, but the corridor was empty.
“Fuck,” I growled under my breath, another word Dianna had taught me spilling from my lips. She was baiting me, feeling for him, zeroing in on his location, and once I was far enough away that I couldn’t reach her, she’d vanished.
I turned, summoning the ablazed weapon back into my ring before darting down the hall. Knowing I wouldn’t reach him before she did, I stopped and portalled, reappearing outside the metal door. I grabbed the lever and yanked, ripping the door from its hinges. Santiago jumped, his
eyes wide with fear and shock. Not giving him time to react, I reached inside and grabbed him by the front of his shirt, pulling him out.
“You look terrible,” he said, his face grim as he took in the cuts and blood on my jacket. I had not noticed how many swipes she had gotten in during our battle, but apparently, she had done some damage.
I dragged him along, looking down every hallway and around every corner, waiting for her to appear. I was surprised she hadn’t gotten to him yet. Santiago caught on to my unease and hurried to keep pace with me.
“You know I could have just portalled both of us out of here if you hadn’t taken my fucking hands.”
“Shut up,” I snapped, reaching the end of the hall. I peered right and left, but the only movement was the shadows created by the dull flashing of the lights. I pushed Santiago toward the right and the exit sign at the end of
the hallway.
“Why are you protecting me?”
My shoulders bunched as I stopped and spun to face him, forcing him to take a step back. “I’m not,” I said from between gritted teeth.
“Sure looks like it,” Dianna purred from the other end of the hall.
Santiago’s eyes went wide, his gaze focusing behind me. I turned slowly to face Dianna. She leaned against the wall, tapping the forsaken sword against the tip of her heel. How had she snuck up on me? This was the second time.
“Why can I not feel you anymore?” My brows furrowed, and I heard Santiago gulp behind me.
Her eyes connected with mine. She shrugged, pushing off the wall and twirling the sword in her hand, just like I had taught her. “It’s a secret, and we’re not best friends anymore.”
My lip curled, ready to tell her once more how deeply I loathed that word, but Santiago whispered behind me. “You are more Kaden than ever before.”
“Something like that.” A slow half-smile crept over her face. “Are you ready to die now?”
I moved, blocking him with my body. “Dianna. As much as I want him dead, we can’t. You can’t.”
She paused, her smile turning lethal as she shook her head. “Oh, yes, I can. Do you want to watch?”
I raised my hand. “Think about it. He knows where Kaden is and where they are shipping this. He said Azrael is alive, Dianna. Do you know what that means?”
She closed her eyes briefly, her shoulders sagging as she tipped her head back. I saw her lower the blade, but her grip tightened.
“That’s all you fucking care about,” she said, her voice but a whisper.
“What? No.” I shook my head, dropping my hand. “He’s valuable, Dianna. That’s it.”
“No,” She looked at me, and for a second, I saw the hurt and pain flash in her ember-filled eyes as she pointed the blade at me, “she was.”
“She was, and he is going to pay for that. Do you really think I care if Santiago lives after everything he has done to you?” Dianna tipped her head, listening. I had her attention, and I hurried on. “I need information, and I plan to extract that the same way I have done for centuries.”
Dianna folded her arms, the sword held lazily in her hand.
“So, that’s your plan? Use the energy you did on me until he talks and
tells you where Kaden is?”
“Yes.” I nodded.
“And then what? Kill him after?”
I waved a hand. “He will pay for his crimes. The Council of Hadrameil will see to his execution as they have done for eons.”
“For his crimes? Such a hero.” She stifled a laugh. “You’re adorable, always so kind to help the monsters, but we could skip all that, and you could let me have him. You don’t even have to get those perfect hands dirty.”
“Or,” I swallowed the growing lump in my throat, “we could come to an agreement and work together as we once did.”
“Been there, done that. Didn’t work out for us, did it?” She frowned and shrugged. “So, I’ll pass. You have to do everything by the book, and I’d much rather maim, you know? I mean, he would be what? A captive for you
and this mythical council?”
“He would be a prisoner of war, yes.”
She tapped her foot on the floor as she glanced down for a moment.
“Well, your prisoner of war is gone, so…”
I turned behind me and saw nothing but an empty hall. The small lights down the corridor still spinning. I cursed under my breath and placed my hands on my hips, before turning back to her.
“How did I not hear him?”
Dianna unfolded her arms, her long wavy hair bouncing against her shoulders as she shrugged. “You were really into your speech. Honestly, I didn’t want to interrupt you. Santiago is a creep and likes to spell his feet so he can sneak around. He’s a weasel like that.”
“Ah,” I said. A part of me missed this, and all of me missed her. It felt so right being in her presence, hearing her voice, bantering, the way we had worked together, all of it. Even if she denied our bond, I still felt it with razor-sharpness. Gods, I missed it all, but my nostalgia was short-lived.
“Did you see him leave?”
She nodded. “Yeah.”
“And you let him.”
She nodded again. “Yeah.”
“Why?”
She blew out a slow breath, her cheeks puffing from the air as she strode forward. “To be fair, I was going to come for you after I finished Santiago, but since you’re here now,” her voice dropped an octave, her eyes blazing a shade brighter, fangs lowering to grace the edge of her bottom lip as if the Ig’Morruthen inside of her had risen to the surface, “I have a better plan.”
Dianna lunged, swinging her sword over her head and toward me. I sidestepped, calling a blade from my ring and raising it to block her. Her attacks were hard and brutal, making even me grimace at the sheer force behind them. She was strong before, but now her strength was damn near terrifying.
I pushed away from her second blow, forcing her to step back. It was only a second before she came forward again, so quickly I didn’t even see her bend the shadows around her. One minute she was in front of me, the next behind me, just like when we fought in Zarall. My sword swept behind me, knocking away her blade as she tried to slash my back. I spun toward her, but she was gone again. Pain shot across my shoulder blade. Another brush of air and fire slid along my side, followed by a deep sting and a rush of blood from my arm. She was so fucking fast. I tried to block her, but another slash hit the back of my knee, dropping me. Her heels clicked across the floor as she walked around me and stopped, facing me. A smile graced her lips as she forced my chin up with the flat of her blade. “Look at that. Gods do know how to bow.”
“If you wanted me on my knees, Dianna, all you had to do was ask. You know that.”
“Tempting.” She rocked the blade under my chin, forcing my head back.
“You should grow the scruff back, though. I like the way it tickles.”
“Whatever you want.”
Her smile was all fangs and cold brutality. “Whatever I want?”
“Always.”
“I do want something from you.” She leaned a fraction closer, the tip of her blade pressing into my neck. “I need you to bleed.”
Faster than I could track, she grabbed me by my throat and lifted me with a predator’s ease, the small muscles in her arm bunching from my weight. My feet barely touched the floor, which said a lot, given that I towered over her. I didn’t have a chance to say anything before she drove her blade through my midsection, pinning me to the ship’s metal hull. I groaned, reaching for the blade as she pushed it farther into my gut. Her eyes stared into mine as she bit the side of her lip and leaned in close.
“Did I ever tell you how much I love the sounds you make?” Her nails dug into the side of my neck. “Make them again.”
Her voice was like liquid velvet across my skin, my soul, even with a jagged blade through my midsection. She released my throat slowly, trailing her fingers along my neck, tracing my collarbone to caress my chest. Blood pooled and dripped from my wound, but now it was rushing toward another part of my body. She heard my breathing hitch, and her grin spread, revealing canines sharper than daggers. She sliced through my shirt with a single nail before dipping her head. The sound I let out when her tongue flattened against my bare flesh was not one of pain. She glanced up through thick lashes, and it was a look I had fantasized about since Chasin.
“There it is,” she said, following the trail of blood below the blade with her tongue.
She stepped back, my body going cold without her near. I watched as she pulled a small vial attached to a chain from between her breasts. She popped the lid off, spitting my blood inside. Desire morphed into worry as she filled it up, closed the top, and tucked it beneath her blouse once more.
I jerked forward, but to no avail. Whatever she had run through me and into the wall made it so I couldn’t budge. My toes barely touched the floor, and I couldn’t gain any leverage to pull it out.
“Hang tight.” She winked at me before disappearing in a cloud of black mist.
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