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Syn gasps, drawing my attention to him. “Gods, Yves,” he whispers. “You look…”
“Magnificent,” Thorn says.
“Dangerous,” Eros adds.
“Breathtaking,” Raphael whispers.
“All vampire,” Midnight says.
“This is the man I met,” Damiano says, carding his fingers through my hair. “Unbridled, free, beautifully violent.”
A tremor of who I am, who I want to be, clings to me, just enough to remind me of who my target is. “I will not reduce myself to what Hadrian is. Please don’t let me lose myself in my rage towards him. I need you all to pull me back when it’s over.”
“We’ll be here,” Syn says. “You know that.”
Damiano rubs his nose in the crook of my neck. “My beast,” he whispers. “I will be by your side through it all, and when it’s over, you’ll teach me how to be like you.”
I turn my head and catch his lips in a heated kiss, uncaring that my brothers are present. Damiano’s return is the fuel I need to defeat our maker once and for all. I will not lose. When I break the kiss, I turn to face my brothers, who look on with curious and shocked expressions.
“My decision is made,” I begin. “We’ll make it easy for Hadrian to confront us.”
“We’re going out?” Thorn asks, nearly bouncing with excitement.
“We are. We’re going to The Church. If anyone is hurt, please return here for Viper and Viv to help. Bring our dead here, and if any of you find Hadrian before I do, send for me.”
“Don’t attempt to fight him yourself,” Damiano warns them, glancing at me.
“Yes, please don’t do that. Your instincts will want you to attack him, but he cannot be trusted. Send for me and I will come. I’m who he wants, after all.”
Thorn kicks open the door of Lair and we all file out. I look back once at my girls tending to Hemsley before twisting back to gaze out at the day turning to night. This is when Hadrian becomes active. And if my instinct is right, he knows I’m coming, even with Vivienne’s potion blocking me.
But something is happening. The farther my brothers get from me, the less I feel them, which sends a shiver of panic through me.
“What’s wrong?” Damiano asks.
“The link to my brothers is weak. How will they call for me if they find Hadrian?”
Damiano stops walking and puts his hand over my heart. “How is your link to me?”
A warmth like nothing I’ve felt bounces through me, like a spark dancing on a live wire that connects me to Damiano.
“Strong.”
He smiles. “Yes, I feel it too. Trust your link to me.”
Nodding, I kiss him again. “I forgot what this feels like.”
Damiano searches my eyes. “You’re stunning. Hadrian’s knees will buckle when he sees again what he created and lost.”
“I hope his eyes bleed when he gazes upon me.”
“We will ensure that result.” He turns in the direction of my brothers. “Shall we proceed?”
I nod, exhaling a slow breath. “Let’s do this.”
TWENTY-TWO
Damiano
