AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You told me he was a good male. That you tricked him by appearing to him as someone else.”
“Good is a bit subjective. But that last part is true,” Uziah says, his crimson eyes flashing with the first hint of animosity toward my mother. “She did take the form of another when she came to me that night. And I won’t lie and say I didn’t feel betrayed. But I came around eventually. As will you.”
I bare my teeth, allowing the heat and smoke to pour from my mouth as I snarl at the vampire asshole who sired me.
“Are you done being dramatic?” my mother snaps. “We have work to do.”
“Legion?” Tori gasps.
I glance down to see that she’s pale with a sheen of sweat coating her skin. Her eyes are glassy, and my fear threatens to paralyze me as I watch her succumbing to a slow death. I never thought I’d wish for her poisoned skin, but I wish it now. At least then she’d have a chance against the infection.
The fire inside me winks out.
I cannot carry her away from here. Not when she’ll die and the only person in the world with the power to save her is watching me, waiting for me to realize the decision has already been made.
I shove my beast down, ignoring its desperate pleas to stay and fight. Or even to flee.
“Let her go,” I say, voice raspy from the hellfire still burning my throat. “It is the only way I will come with you.”
Something grips my throat. An invisible hand squeezing until my breath catches. My mother’s magic is an unseen thing, but that only makes it more dangerous.
“It’s hardly the only way,” my mother says, and despite the purr in her voice, my muscles tense and coil at the invisible grip her magic has on me already. It’s nothing I can’t fight off—for now—but I don’t. All that matters is saving Tori.
“We both know the blood oath must be taken willingly,” I snarl, my words choked. The invisible cord my mother’s wrapped around my throat squeezes tighter. When she doesn’t release me, I spit the words, “Now who’s being dramatic.”
Uziah turns to her. “Darling.”
The invisible vise releases me. I remain where I am, my body shielding Tori. She is wheezing now, the poison working its way into her organs.
“Heal her,” I snap. “Or I will unleash what I have and all that I am against both of you.”
My mother lifts her hand, and the first knife, the one that missed, is suddenly airborne as she calls it into her palm. She comes forward, and I watch her warily.
“You look strong,” she says, eyeing me like one would any weapon.
“Strong enough to find a way to destroy you,” I say.
She kneels beside Tori, unaffected by my threats. “This is the one Fate chose for you.”
Her tone makes it clear she means the words as an insult. My hands curl into fists, but it’s Tori who speaks.
“You’re Em, his asshole mother.”
“And you’re the bitch who brought him back to me.”
“He’s not yours.” Tori’s eyes flash with a conviction and strength that make my heart swell. But underneath that strength, she is fading.
“Well, he’ll certainly never be yours, will he?” my mother says with malicious enjoyment.
“You really thought cursing my skin would keep him from falling for me?” Tori fires back. “Honestly, I think it brought us closer, so thanks for that.”
My mother’s eyes narrow.
“Heal her now,” I demand, but my mother’s already wrapping her hand around the blade’s hilt.
“No. Don’t save me if it means–” Tori tries to move away, but Maricha pulls the knife free.
Tori makes a guttural sound and clutches her leg. Maricha utters a string of words—ancient magic, dark and strong enough to shudder through me as I stand beside them.
