Twelve
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Dianna
I walked down the hall using the back of my long sleeve to wipe
Samkiel’s blood from my tongue and lips. I needed the fucking taste of
him off of me. Out of my head, out of my mouth, out of my… I stilled as I heard Santiago’s damned heart thumping a floor below me. Fire danced against my palm, and I sent a powerful column of flame into the metal at my feet. It lit with a red-yellow glow and melted, dripping onto the floor below. I jumped through the hole I’d made, landing in a crouch. Santiago glanced back, and I saw him mouth the word ‘fuck’ before disappearing around a corner. I elongated my nails and reached out to scrape them along the wall, taking my time walking down the hallway as I whistled an old Eorian melody. Sparks and chips flew from beneath my nails, the sound a piercing shriek. I was coming for him, and I didn’t care that he knew.
This was a hunt, and he was my prey. I wanted to savor it. He was trapped with nowhere to go and no one to save him. I came around the corner right as a thick metal door closed. It was mere seconds before I was in front of it, and with one solid kick, it flew off its hinges. A loud bang ricocheted through the room as it hit the wall and fell to the floor.
“Seriously, Santiago, this is getting embarrassing. Even for you.” I laughed and stepped inside the small, dimly lit room, expecting to find him huddled in a corner, pissing himself, but it was empty. What the fuck? I saw him come here, and there was no way out.
“Looking for me?”
I spun, my lips curling back in a snarl as I prepared to rip his throat out with my teeth. He lifted his hand and blew a fine powder in my face. I blinked reflexively, sending whatever it was deeper into my system. I
stumbled back, feeling the metal dent when I hit the wall. Searing pain made my eyes water and my throat burn. I grabbed at my face, clawing and scratching at my eyes, trying to get it off.
“You know, that’s terrible stuff. Not only can it blind you, but it also attacks your central nervous system. Kaden knew you’d come after us and gave everyone a little way to defend themselves. Although, I guess it didn’t help the Vanderkais and Camilla.”
Opening my eyes, I had to squint to see him, my vision blurry and uneven. I saw two of him, his form wavering until I concentrated and forced him back into focus.
“I’m going to rip you to pieces,” I snapped, my body beginning to tremble. My legs and arms felt weak, but I struggled to my hands and knees, trying to push past it and stand.
Santiago wiped his hands on his pants. “Your boyfriend really thought he did something by cutting off my hands, but you didn’t tell him about that little gift Kaden gave me when I joined, did you?” He shrugged before kicking me in the ribs hard enough to knock the breath from me. “He really does fall for that whole helpless act, doesn’t he?”
“You’re a piece of shit, Santiago. Always were.” I grabbed at my midsection and rose to my knees, using the wall to brace myself as I stood.
It felt like half of my powers had been sucked right out of me. Standing straight, I tried to wipe more of that damned powder off as I walked toward him. There were multiple Santiagos again, and all of them laughed at me, which only enraged me more. I slashed at them with my claws but hit nothing but air as I stumbled. I swiped again, and their positions changed once more. “Stop fucking moving! Be still, and let me kill you!” I bellowed.
His fist shot out, hitting me in the face and sending me to the floor. The effects of that powder had taken over a little quicker than I liked. Fucking witches. A hand grabbed me by the back of my hair and twisted hard enough to make me wince. He kneeled behind me, yanking my head back. I gritted my teeth against the pain. His face came into view mere inches from mine. His sneer filled with lust as he looked me over, his eyes dropping to the deep neckline of my jumpsuit.
“I always pictured taking you like this, you know. Call me curious, but I just wondered what felt so godsdamn good that Kaden would halt plans for a thousand years.” His mouth was hot against my cheek, making the bile in
my stomach rise. I could feel the beast in me, writhing and bucking, fighting against the spell he’d cast. Slowly, my strength was coming back.
“I can’t wait until Kaden gets you back. Maybe he will let me have you then as punishment for your tantrum. I mean, that’s what this is. He has more important things to worry about than you crying over your dead sister.”
My hand shot up, grabbing him by the back of the head. I twisted and flipped him onto his back, wincing as he pulled a handful of my hair out.
Before he had time to react, I was on top of him, lifting him toward me as my fangs descended upon his neck. Blood, hot and bitter, coated my tongue, and I focused on shuffling through every memory he had.
Pain, sharp and blinding, burst through my skull. I screamed and pushed away from him, my head feeling like it would explode. I snarled, fangs dripping with his blood as I snapped, “What did you do to me?”
“You really think we didn’t have a contingency plan? Gods, how dumb are you?”
I struggled to my feet, my head pounding as he summoned more energy in his hands. “Kaden spelled the blood of every Otherworld creature, everyone in the world that is important to him so that you can’t find him.
You should know by now that he won’t be found until he wants to be.”
“Gods, what a bunch of pussies. You can’t even die with dignity. Good to know you’re all running around with your tail between your legs like the good little bitches you are.”
I hit a nerve. Santiago’s hand flicked out, the tangle of green energy blasting from his palm. It hit me in the chest and sent me through the metal wall at my back. I landed with a pained grunt, my lungs not working and my chest concave. The bones beneath my skin popped back into place as I sat up, thankful I had been eating enough, or that blow would have knocked me damn near unconscious.
“You’re stronger now. Powerful. I like it. You finally gave in fully, huh?
I guess he was right. All you needed was a little push.”
I tossed my hair from my face as Santiago stepped inside, ducking to avoid the sharp points of metal lining the hole my body had made. He glowed, dimly illuminated by the energy he wielded, and it shone brighter as he summoned more power to his hands.
Bands of green energy shot out, clasping my throat and hauling me up.
My feet dragged across the floor as he pulled me toward him. Santiago’s teeth flashed white as his fingers curled, tightening the band around my
neck. I just needed to get him a little closer, keep him talking, and keep him thinking he had the upper hand.
“You know, I don’t think you could kill Kaden even if you found him. It will take an army to stop him at this point, and you’re all alone. You have no one, and once he opens these realms, you will wish you’d stayed.” He stopped me a few feet away and smirked, the green tendrils releasing me.
“That’s Kaden’s master plan? He wants to open the realms with iron?
The realms only open when Samkiel dies, and iron cannot kill an immortal fucking god. You’re both idiots.”
Santiago laughed like I’d told a joke. “We are? Please, it’s just one ingredient.”
I hid the smile behind my facade as he did the exact thing I needed him
to. Talk.
“Oh, just one?”
The smile fell from his face as he realized what he had just said. “You are a bitch.”
“I know, but I’m a smart bitch.” I summoned the forsaken blade from the ring Camilla had made for me and rose to my feet in one fluid motion.
Santiago leaned back in shock, swirling green energy dancing across his knuckles. He threw the magic toward me in desperation. I stepped back and brought the blade up, his power bouncing off it just as Camilla said it would. He cast another ball of energy, then another, and we danced for what felt like forever.
Every hit was intentional and deadly. There was a reason Kaden favored us both. I slid across the floor, landing a kick that sent him sailing across the hall and into another room. I chased him, which was stupid on my part.
As soon as I stepped into the threshold, Santiago used his magic to slam the large steel door against my head. I stumbled back, knocked off balance, and he threw a tangle of green magic at me. It encased me from my throat to my knees, holding my arms tight against my body. He squeezed and lifted me into the air.
He stepped forward, his hand raised as he tossed me against one wall, then another. Pain ripped through me as I felt my shoulder pop out of the socket, but I had no time to focus on it as he threw me against the ceiling and then slammed me to the floor.
He lifted me into the air again, and I caught the maniacal glee warping his expression. He would kill me here if he could, and if not, he would
incapacitate me enough to take me to Kaden. My muscles bunched beneath the magic as I strained.
“I can’t wait to return to him with the iron and you. What’s that mortal saying? Two birds, one sto—” Santiago stopped mid-word. I strained to look at him. He frowned, and I saw the flash of a silver blade.
One minute he stood. The next, his body fell into two separate pieces, split completely down the center. The power binding me disappeared, and I fell to the floor, landing on my ass with a thud. Samkiel’s eyes remained focused on me as he stepped over Santiago’s corpse. He stopped in front of me and reached out to help me up. I glared at him, my nostrils flaring as I
slapped his hand away.
“Why did you do that?” I shouted.
He frowned, offended. “Do what? Save you.”
“Save me?” I scoffed. “He had information, and I was getting it until you showed up to play the hero again and killed him.”
“Information? Between him wrapping you in magic or throwing you across the room until you are bruised and bloody?” He looked insulted.
“You were—”
“I wasn’t anything, you incompetent ass.”
I hopped to my feet and popped my shoulder back into place with a grunt. I stormed past him and stepped through the hole in the wall. He swore, and I heard his heavy footsteps following behind me, always
following me.
“Dianna.”
“No!” I shouted, storming through the ship. “Stop trying to save me, help me, and for the love of the gods, stop following me like a lost fucking
puppy!”
“What does that even mean?”
“It means stop talking to me like we’re suddenly friends again because we are not.”
“Great. I despise that word. I wish to be so much more than friends.”
Heat suffused my entire body as a sudden memory of just how much he hated that word flooded in. He did that every fucking time. He always got in.
I spun. “How many times do I have to set you on fire, drop a building on you, or stab you before you leave me alone?”
“After what you just did?” He didn’t even look phased as he shrugged a single shoulder. “At this point, I’m starting to think the violence is foreplay
for you.”
“We both know that’s not what I like.”
“It’s not?” He stepped closer, encompassing me in his warmth and scent. “Come home and teach me what you do like.”
Home. The word pulled at me, and I faltered. I felt my body slip as if I were taking a step forward, as if I considered it, as if he was my home. But no. I was doing it again, letting him get in, letting him distract me and make me feel. My leg shot out, and my foot connected, kicking him between the legs so fast that he didn’t have time to dodge. He groaned and fell to the floor, crumpling in on himself.
I glared at him, hating what he made me feel, and headed toward the exit.
“You can keep pretending that what we have done and been through meant nothing to you, but I know the truth. You have affected me on some deep level, Dianna, and I know you feel it too. I know it,” he called after me.
That’s what hurts the most, isn’t it? You fell in love with him while Kaden took your sister. I’ve been there. You guys might not have been fucking when he took her, but you weren’t there when she needed you. You
weren’t there because you—
A lock on a door in a house rattled.
I saw red.
“You know nothing!” I hissed, flames dancing on my hands. I spun and stalked back toward him as he pushed to his feet.
“The flames on your hands tell me differently. There is passion between us.”
My heart lurched, and I hated it. Hated him. He was wrong. He was lying, and he was distracting me. I closed my eyes, willing the flames away.
I shook my head before opening my eyes again to glare at him.
“Look, I get it. It’s natural. You haven’t been with a woman or anyone for a thousand years. It’s normal to get attached, but it’s not real. What we did or had; it wasn’t real.”
I have never seen Samkiel recoil as fast as he did. You would have thought I slapped him or said the most disrespectful thing I could.
“Do not try to simplify my feelings. Ever.”
“Oh, my gods. You’re over a thousand years old, and you stuck your hand down my pants one time. And what? Thought you saw god?”
His expression darkened as anger bit at his brows. “That wasn’t the only thing we did, and you know it.”
My core went liquid, and heat suffused my body. Memories and images of what we’d done in that damned cabin, how he tasted, how he’d touched me, and the sounds he’d made came flooding back. I struggled to contain my reactions, fighting to extinguish the emotions and hunger they roused.
“You know what I know? We are on opposite sides. We always have been. I would have killed Zekiel. Did you forget that? Did you forget that the only reason I even worked for you was because of my sister? Because you had something I needed, and I had something you needed. So, we made a trade.”
Lie! Hurt him! The beast screamed. Make him leave.
Pain flashed through his dark gray eyes. “Don’t do that. Don’t trivialize it.”
“Isn’t it? That’s it. That’s all it was. All it ever was, and you are as big a fool as me if you thought differently. You’ve had a thousand lovers, and you’ll have a thousand more. I’m not that special.” I spun from him, walking away.
Samkiel appeared in front of me. “Do you really think you mean that little to me?”
I groaned, frustrated at him, this conversation, and so damned much more. My hands fell to my hips as I tilted my gaze toward him. “You know what I think? I trusted another beautiful stranger to help keep my sister safe when I should have done it myself. I should have always relied on myself.”
“You said I taught you, but you taught me things too.” Samkiel’s gaze narrowed. “You can’t do everything alone, Dianna.”
“Oh, save the hero speech.” I rolled my eyes, attempting to turn away.
He moved in a flash, invading my space and forcing me to lean my head back to look up at him. It drove me wild. Egotistical, arrogant god king who knew he could have anyone he wanted. He knew he could have me, and I would gladly allow it. I tried and failed to step around him as he blocked me in.
“You don’t think I know what this is? You let Kaden get into that beautiful head far too easily. Let his words twist what we both know is untrue. I would never hurt you or abandon you, Dianna. What happened to
everything we said? What happened to your burdens becoming mine? I know you are in more pain than anyone should have to bear. Let me help shoulder some of this weight for you.”
He reached out to brush a strand of hair away from my face. A sliver of heat burned me to my core at the slightest touch of his finger against my face, and that thumping in my chest increased tenfold. In that moment, I forgot how much pain I was in, how much my world sucked. I forgot about her, forgot what they’d done to her. He offered me a place to lay it all down.
He offered to help me carry this burden, and I hated him even more for it. I could bend my shape, transform into terrible beasts, and breathe fire. I had super strength, but I wasn’t strong when it came to him and my feelings.
Not by a long shot. As much as I fought it, I knew he was right. A part of me behind a locked door of chains and steel ached for it, begging me to lay this at his feet and rest. But that part of me had to die.
“You know what you can help me with? Leaving. I don’t want you or need your help. I’m going to say this one last time so you get it through your thick skull. You mean nothing to me.” I growled low in my throat and braced myself to shove him away from me, but something exploded, and the boat rocked violently. Sirens screamed, and we fell hard against the neighboring wall. Samkiel’s eyes cut to mine as if questioning what I had
done.
“It’s not me,” I snapped.
He pushed away, struggling to stand, when another, louder explosion went off, this one closer to us. Flames rushed through the hall, and large chunks of metal flew toward us, all of it headed for him.
I tackled him, pushing him to the ship's floor. He hit the ground with a thud, and I cried out in pain as the metal shrapnel raked across my back. His eyes lit, triumphant silver meeting mine. I realized what I’d just done and how it proved everything I’d said was a fucking lie. I pushed up and opened my mouth to hurl more insults at him, to prove I was still a lost cause, but the ocean beat me to it. Waves rushed forward, stealing our air and sucking us into the sea.
Santiago said Kaden had a contingency plan. If he failed to bring the shipment, if I had caught and killed him, the ship would blow up, and the cargo would go with it.
Kaden did not want to be found, and he was determined to make sure he
wasn’t.
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