I flick her away as one would a fly, a gnat, a rodent. She crashes against the wall.
“Hey!” she screams and comes at me, claws out. “Where is she?”
Druin grabs her shoulder. “Juno, I wouldn’t?—”
I stab my claws through her and slam her to the floor, pinning her there.
She screams and writhes, a spider on its back.
“Do not speak to me of her. Do not speak her name.” I yank my hand free, her blood and gore hot and smeared up to my wrist.
I continue to my bedroom and slam the door, then lean against it.
My mate. My Blood. How I’d loved sensing her unbridled emotions, her fits of pique, her burning desires and timid curiosities. Now there is nothing. A long, silent darkness. And just as it is empty, so am I.
The itch under my skin grows, Gregor pulling my strings, dragging his puppet back to him.
Atlanta is done. Blood Tantun was decimated, the humans winning a decisive victory in their bid for survival. Only Corvidion and Dragonis remain strong enough to prosecute Gregor’s war. One I intend to end tonight. Gregor will die, and Georgia will finally be free. Safe.Alive.
Our bond severed, her tree will flourish and grow as mine blackens and fades to dust.
“Valen?” Coal’s voice outside my door.
How long have I been standing here?
“What?” I bark.
“Let me in.”
I sigh and go to my sink; Juno’s insides congealed on my hand. I wash it off and strip away my bloodied shirt.
“He’s summoning me.” I splash the cold water on my face.
“For the assault on the base?” Coal watches me in the mirror.
“Likely.” I wipe my face with a towel and catch her scent on it. Faint. So faint. But it’s there, my mate is somewhere here in these looping fibers. Parts of her. Parts of me.
“I’ll go with you.”
“No.” I place the towel on the counter, my fingers hovering over it for a moment, the longing in me so strong it almost breaks me. Georgia. A phantom now, a piece of me that’s gone. I had to break our bond. Even if it killed part of me. Because it’s the only way she’ll survive when I die.
“You can’t do this alone. You’ll need?—”
“He’ll already have his guard up. If you’re there, it’ll be up even more.” I drag a black shirt from a hanger and pull it over my head, then open a lower drawer and pull out two silver blades, the handles in black walnut, inlaid with golden dragons. Shrugging on a holster, I conceal the blades beneath a black coat. “And I’ll need you somewhere far enough away to avoid his fury if his compulsion gets to me before I can finish him. You’re the only one who’d stand a chance of taking him down.”
“Or taking you down, you mean?”
I finally look at him, meeting his familiar gaze, the face of my only friend, as Georgia put it. “If he compels me to kill you, you’ll be dead. Don’t let it come to that. Take him down before he can use me against you.” I button my coat and check my mental wallsand locks, ensuring I’ve blocked out anything with Georgia or the human resistance. I can’t falter now, not when I’m so close to ending Gregor’s reign.
Coal shakes his head. “Your arrogance is one of the many things I can’t fucking stand about you.”
“Just as I can’t stand your dogged optimism.” I sweep past him. “You’ll never beat me in a fight, and you know it. Always aim for the weakness, for the chink in the armor. Take his head or more will suffer.” Gregor’s hooks are embedded deeply now, his displeasure growing with each moment he has to wait for my arrival. I must go.
“What’s your plan?” Coal walks along with me as I descend the stairs.
“Simple. Get close enough to him to plunge my dagger through his heart before he can compel me to eat the fucking blade.”
Coal makes a discontented noise but doesn’t argue.
